A Season in the Press Box

This has been a football season to remember.  I know it’s technically not over yet, but we’ve shut the lights at Sanford Stadium for the year.  I can’t put into words how fast these last 14 weeks have flown by or what they’ve meant to me.

Since first stepping foot on the beautiful campus of the University of Georgia in Athens last September, I knew this was a place I needed to be.  Fifteen months later, I’m living in that wonderful town and just wrapped up my first season as a Bulldog.  This was also the first time I’ve spent a season watching games from the press box. 

Every Saturday that the Dawgs were home in Athens, I was in the press box at Sanford Stadium.  Being a part of the communications/stat team this season has been unreal and not a day went by that I didn’t feel grateful or have “pinch me” moments. 

Saturdays in Athens are wonderfully hectic and exciting.  Distributing information/stats and making sure the press box was set for media personnel was the first thing we’d do.  With a credential around my neck, I would spend some time on the sideline with my co-workers during warm ups.  I would make my way back up to the press box in time for the team to make their dramatic entrance and the singing of the National Anthem.

I usually felt a string of butterflies as the teams were getting ready to kick off and the crowd was wild with anticipation.  The string of butterflies was often joined by giddy excitement and just like that the Dawgs were ready to tee it up Between the Hedges. 

The atmosphere at Sanford Stadium never ceased to amaze me.  I’ve never experienced anything like it.  It’s an experience not adequately described with words but with emotions that simply over take you- the passion, intensity, camaraderie and tradition that is Georgia.  If you’re a sports fan, it’ll change your soul. 

A part from being proud to be a Georgia Bulldog, I am extremely blessed to be learning from the best of the best here at Georgia.  I’m not only immersing myself in the culture of this wonderful town, but taking full advantage of every opportunity to enrich my career.  Athens is a special place and I can’t wait to see what else it has in store for me.