Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, December 27,2023/Page 2B
5tje Aiiuancg
Loran
continued from page 1B
ries of the 1959 season.
Coach Wallace Butts,
the toast of the colle
giate game in the forties
when his pass-oriented
offenses dominated the
SEC, had fallen on hard
times in the fifties. He
didn’t recruit as well, and
he had difficulty defeat
ing his cross-state rival,
Georgia Tech.
When Theron Sapp’s
one yard touchdown
plunge broke the drought
in 1957, the worm turned
and turned dramatically.
Since that time, the Bull
dogs have dominated the
series with their archri
val, 49-18.
Butts’ rebound in
1959 was heartwarm
ing throughout the state
of Georgia as the legion
of Dawg fans were anx
ious to pay tribute to the
Bulldogs in every one of
the 159 counties—from
Raburn Gap to Hahira;
Tybee Light, to Lookout
Mountain.
The favorites to win
the SEC were LSU, Ole
Miss and Auburn. LSU,
the defending national
champion, eliminated
Ole Miss with Billy Can
non’s historic punt re
turn on Halloween night
in Baton Rouge. The
next week in Knoxville,
Cannon’s effort to keep
the Tigers undefeated
failed as the home team
stopped Cannon on a
two-point conversion at
tempt which eliminated
LSU from the title chase.
When the Bulldogs,
led by Fran Tarkenton,
upset Auburn in one of
the classic all-time games
between the hedges,
Georgia became the sur
prise SEC champions.
Those were heady
days. Athens became in
toxicated, euphoric, and
emotionally out of con
trol. It continued right on
through the Orange Bowl
where two Tarkenton
touchdown passes to the
late Bill McKenny and
the late Aaron Box took
the measure of Missouri
14-0.
I have never seen the
state so receptive to a
championship team as it
was following the Orange
Bowl. Butts was back and
so were All-Americans
Fran Tarkenton and Pat
Dye—for the 1960 sea
son. Season ticket sales
were over the top, at least
for the times.
Dan Magill, the
sports information direc
tor, Bulldog Club Sec
retary, and tennis coach
was at this all-time best,
organizing celebrations
and tributes across the
state. In conjunction with
the Touchdown Club
of Athens, Magill came
with a coronation party
that celebrated Georgia’s
noteworthy success with
a “hard times are over”
theme.
It was short lived,
however. In the spring of
60, line coach J. B. Whit
worth, whose leadership
had a monumental im
pact on the team’s atti
tude and performance,
This week on
Straight Talk
with
Wilson Johnson
Guests:
Vidalia City Manager
William E. Bedingfield
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died of a heart attack
in the spring as a snow
storm hit Athens.
The Bulldogs posted
a 6-4 record in 1969 but
defeated Tech 7-6 in Ath
ens with Dye’s big-play
playmaking the differ
ence. Moving to defen
sive end where his speed
and quickness were im
pactful, he blocked a
Tech field goal attempt
and an extra point at
tempt which turned out
to be the margin of vic
tory.
Butts’ last four years
were bittersweet. The
‘57 team won only three
games and the ’58 team
four, but his teams de
feated Tech each year to
perpetuate a four-game
streak.
The highlight was
the Orange Bowl invi
tation. The team flew
from Atlanta to Miami,
the first airplane ride
for many of the players.
Florida Highway A1A
was overrun with cars,
featuring Georgia license
plates. Some fans drove
down U. S. 441 so they
could visit Silver Springs,
a big tourist attraction in
those days, to see the fa
mous herpetologist, Ross
Allen, milk rattlesnakes.
Everybody enjoyed Mi
ami Beach and tourists
flocked to hotels such as
the Eden Rock and Fon-
tianbleau just to see all
that luxury.
The Georgia players
were amazed at the jai alai
competition, the “fast
est game ever played,” its
promoters said. There
was horseracing and res
taurants with extravagant
menu prices and pretty,
white beaches.
Tarkenton led the
Dogs to victory, and you
would have thought that
Athens was the center
of the universe had you
walked into the down
town Varsity for a couple
of chili dogs and a frosted
orange for the next six
months.
2023
continued from page 1B
nificance of golf in high
school sports.
This is a big project
for the city, and it is
something that this com
munity needs. With the
pedigree of Vidalia High
School golf, and the big
changes that Toombs
County High School has
made for their golf pro
gram, this will be some
thing that will help both
of those programs. Rob
ert Toombs Christian
Academy also has a golf
program as does Mont
gomery County and Her
itage Academy. All
schools will be able to
benefit from this project
as well.
It will also be great
for the many charities
such as the Sweet Onion
Classic, the United Way
Golf Tournament, and
the many other busi
nesses and nonprofits
that will be able to hold
events there. The amount
of money that has been
raised for this commu
nity through charity golf
events, and the help that
it has provided over the
years has been tremen
dous.
With the course con
struction underway, this
community should be ex
cited about this endeavor
and what it truly means
for this area. Golf may
not be everyone’s cup of
tea, but the impact that a
course has on a commu
nity cannot be under
stated. It touches every
one in one way or an
other through the chari
ties, through the schools,
or through the business
that it helps to bring to
the area.
Onion Run
It was a great morn
ing for the Kiwanis Vida
lia Onion Run on Satur
day morning during the
Onion Festival. They had
the largest turnout in
race history with over
800 runners signing up
Please see 2023 page 3B
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