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Send a letter to the editor to P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534; fax (706) 265-3276; or email to editor@dawsonnews.com.
DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2022
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
opinions of the writers and artists, and they
may not reflect our views.
Russell belongs in
College Football
Hall of Fame
Erk Russell
should be in the
College Football
Hall of Fame.
Period. End of
story. But since I
still have quite a
bit of space to
fill here, let me
tell you why he should be and why he is not.
For those of you who recently arrived in
our fair state, Erskine “Erk” Russell was the
head coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles
football team in Statesboro; the man who
resuscitated the program after a 40-year hia
tus. Georgia Southern had fielded a football
team until World War II whereupon it was
suspended and lay dormant until 1981. That
is when Russell arrived.
Between 1981 and 1989, the Eagles won
three NCAA Division 1-AA national cham
pionships and finished second once. In addi
tion, Georgia Southern became the first
15-0 team of the 20th century.
Prior to restarting football at GSU, Erk
Russell was the legendary defensive coordi
nator at the University of Georgia for 17
years, including the 1980 national champi
onship team. Russell helped popularize the
now-familiar phrase, “Junkyard Dawgs.”
“There isn’t anything meaner than a junk
yard dog,” he once said. “They aren’t good
for nothing except for being mean and
ornery. That’s what we want our defense to
be.” And they were. And so was Erk Russell.
He was famous for head-butting his helmet-
ed players on the sideline to fire them up and
leaving himself with a bloody forehead.
Many thought Russell would succeed
Vince Dooley as head football when Dooley
retired, but the job went to Ray Goff instead.
We all know how that turned out.
Erk Russell was a master motivator,
always looking for ways to inspire his play
ers. At Georgia Southern, he renamed a tiny
stream that ran through the practice grounds
“Beautiful Eagle Creek.” He would have
players scoop the supposedly magical waters
from the creek in a jar and pour the contents
onto the opponent’s field at away games as a
motivational tactic.
In the early days of the program, the team
was transported to and from games in two
yellow school buses that the Bulloch County
school system sold the Georgia Southern
Athletic Department for $1 each. Long after
the school could afford charter buses,
Russell insisted the team stick with the yel
low school buses as a way of staying con
nected to their humble beginnings as a col
lege football startup. Today, the players still
ride yellow school buses to home games.
Russell, who died in 2006 at the age of 80,
was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of
Fame in 1987 and into the Alabama Sports
Hall of Fame in 1991 (He was a four-sport
letterman at Auburn University) and was
named Georgia Coach of the Decade by
USA Today in 1989.
So, why isn’t he in the College Football
Hall of Fame? According to the rules of
those who make the selections, he doesn’t
qualify. Coaches must have coached 100
games and had at least a .600 winning per
centage. Erk Russell coached 106 games and
had a winning percentage of 78.3.
But the rales also state that candidates
must have been a head coach for 10 years.
Therein lies the rub. Russell coached only
eight seasons at Georgia Southern. And for a
mere 730 days, one of the greatest coaches,
motivators and miracle workers to ever grace
the game of football is denied his rightful
place in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Incidentally, one of this year’s inductees,
Billy Jack Murphy who coached at Memphis
from 1958 to 1971, had a winning percent
age of 67% and never won a national cham
pionship.
The roadblock seems to be Steve Hatchett,
CEO of the National Football Foundation.
Erk Russell’s inclusion would require a
waiver. Georgia Southern University presi
dent Kyle Marrero and athletic director Jared
Benko sent Hatchett a letter on Aug. 5 for
mally requesting a waiver on the 10-year
requirement. To date, no response.
Gov. Brian Kemp has contacted Hatchett,
as well. “Georgia is proud that the College
Football Hall of Fame calls the Peach State
home, and we ask you in the spirit of Coach
Russell’s motto — “Just one more time” —
you honor him with this distinction,” Kemp
wrote. Stitt no response from Hatchett.
Let’s all be positive and think that Hatchett
and the National Football Foundation will do
the right thing and grant a most-deserved
waiver for Erk Russell to join the College
Football Hall of Fame. If not, that crowd will
clearly be the loser because Coach Erskine
“Erk” Russell is and always will be the epit
ome of a winner.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dick-
yarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta,
GA 31139; online at dickyarbrough.com or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.
Transparency is foundational to a government of the people,
by the people, for the people.
SSSKSKSSSi* ——
!85 follows.
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Aflo an initial levict jocunwo's with
©2022CREATORS.COM
WWW.TOMSTIGLICH.COM
The magic of yet
A new word has risen
through the ranks to become
my Number 1. besting even
my long-term favorite of no.
Yet.
A three letter word, so
simple and full of such
promise.
I had never recognized
the power this word held
until I started coaching full time.
Working towards a goal - any goal -
can be a process and there’s always that
time in between the starting point and
the finish line where it feels like it may
never happen.
We can start to feel discouraged and
like giving up.
But then we can be reminded of all
the other times it took a while to reach a
destination and how that three letter
word helped us stay patient.
“Are we there?”
“Not yet,” we’re told, “but soon.”
We’ve all asked this on numerous car
rides, and hearing the word yet let us
know that it was coming.
Even with the word not in front of it,
we feel that peace that it is coming —
it’s just within reach.
I started thinking of all the things that
have been slow to materialize in my life,
despite my grit and determination to
make them happen.
Discouragement can be both frustrat
ing and overwhelming at times, and can
make even someone who strives to be
optimistic feel defeated.
Yet has become a source of comfort.
Just because I don’t see it happening,
doesn’t mean it won’t.
Growing up, there were a
lot of things that just felt
like they took forever.
Christmas was one of
them, if not the main one.
I’d start at the beginning
of the school year, bugging
the adults in my house how
much longer it would be
until Christmas.
“You’ve got to wait,” Granny would
tell me.
“How long?”
“Not long.”
A few days would go by and I’d ask
again. “Is it Christmas?” “Not yet.”
I just had to be patient.
I needed to wait.
After Christmas came, I wanted to
know when school would be out for
summer, and once it was summer, I
wanted to know when I’d go back.
I was always told “not yet.”
“You’re always trying to rash things
up,” Granny commented one day when I
asked how much longer until the yet
would occur.
“It just feels like it takes so long and
all you tell me is not yet,” I replied for
lornly.
She nodded, putting her needle through
a quilt square.
“It does take a long time sometimes,”
she said quietly. “But sometimes know
ing those things are coming helps the
time pass. You know there’s something to
look forward to. You’ve just got to get
through the waiting part.”
“But that’s the hardest part,” I said, on
the same wavelength as Tom Petty.
She nodded again. “I know. You ain’t
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
telling me nothing new. But just think
about how much you will appreciate
those moments when you do get there.”
This was hard for a young child to
understand. As an adult, it can be hard,
because as I wait, I am anticipating all
kinds of things now - there can be anxi
ety over whether or not it will go as I had
hoped or be as special as I had expected.
And worrying I am somehow messing
things up before I even reach them.
“What am I supposed to do in the
meantime?” I asked.
Granny turned the pieces of fabric over
as she worked with a knot in her thread.
It was giving her the opportunity to think
of an answer and probably reflect on
what she did as well.
“Depends,” she said. “You can either
get ready for whatever it is or you can
just keep doing what you normally do.
Since you’s asking about Christmas, I
reckon you’d better be nicer and behave
more.”
As we wait in that magical timeframe
of yet, we have those options.
We can do as Granny said and get
ready to reach our goals, achieve those
things we’re working towards, or even
prepare for whatever it is we’re waiting
for or trying to do.
Or we can always just let time pass by
normally, and go about our daily lives the
best we can, even though we’re anxiously
waiting for the yet to arrive.
One thing’s for certain though.
When we finally get what we were
waiting for in those moments between
the beginning and the ‘yet’, we’ll find out
it was all worth it.
Sudie Crouch is an award winning
humor columnist and author of "The
Dahlman Files: ATony Dahlman
Paranormal Mystery."
DR. ANDERSON
Do your part to make COVID go away
By Dr. Larry Anderson
Anderson Family Medicine
This is beginning to
sound like a worn out
record. Flu cases are stay
ing at the same level.
Monkeypox continues to
rise. COVID cases continue
to rise. 50% of Dawsonites
have had at least one vac
cine. 46% are considered
fully vaccinated. Not sure
why I expect to see differ
ent results each week. Hope
springs eternal. Do your
part to make this go away.
We have Ukraine refu
gees in our community.
More are coming. It is not
just about leaving your
country, but splitting up
your family. If you have 3
or more children under the
age of 18 or a child with
special medical needs, then
one adult male can come
with you. Not necessarily
Dad but could be a child 18
or older. Families are sepa
rated but at least they are
alive. Two quotes come to
mind. One is to paraphrase
Benjamin Franklin:
“Ukraine, it’s your country
if you can keep it.” The
other is from Thomas
Jefferson: “The tree of lib
erty must be refreshed from
time to time with the blood
of patriots and tyrants”.
They are fighting for their
country and for their lives
and their families. They
deserve our prayers and
support. More to come
later.
LETTERTOTHE EDITOR
Not Again, please
I am an old guy who is a conserva
tive. I think change should be slow
and careful. Generally over my life I
have voted Republican. No matter
what happens, I do not think I can
ever bring myself to vote for a
Democrat again. They are caught up
in the wokism stuff and have lost their
minds. The Democrats have about
wrecked our country in a short time.
But I do not want Donald Trump in
the White House again. “Please Lord
do not let Donald Tramp run for the
presidency again. Make him a senior
advisor to the party,” is my daily
prayer. If he runs, I am afraid the
Democrats might win again with
someone as sorry as Biden. I do not
want those crazy new age Democrats
to remain in power. There will be no
country left.
I find myself in agreement with
Trump on almost all national policy
matters but I do not think he is a good
leader. He cannot stand criticism even
if it is true. He fights with everyone,
even the people who are loyal helpers.
Good leaders know when to shut up.
He does not.
A lot of my friends are his devoted
supporters. If he runs, they will get on
the bandwagon. There are a lot of
Republicans like me who do not want
him and his drama back in the White
House. That will split the party and
insure that the Progressive Democrats
will hold and maybe even win again.
The country needs younger and
more able conservative leadership,
and we do not need any more crazy
progressive wokens.
Gary Pichon
Marble Hill
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