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January 30, 2008

2008 UGA Football Schedule: Are Your Bags Packed?


If you're ranking the greatest inventions of all-time, Google Maps would certainly not outshine the Copper Still, Yeast, DVR or the Brasserie, but it's not too shabby. For bloggers looking to do a travel article about the toughest rough schedule in school history it's an irreplaceable tool.

Next year's UGA Football Schedule looks like this:
    vs Georgia Southern (Athens)
    vs Central Michigan (Athens)
    at South Carolina (Columbia)
    at Arizona State (Tempe)
    vs Alabama (Athens)
    IDLE
    vs Tennessee (Athens)
    vs Vanderbilt (Athens)
    at LSU (Baton Rouge)
    at Florida (Jacksonville "Home Team")
    at Kentucky (Lexington)
    at Auburn (Auburn)
    IDLE
    vs Georgia Tech (home)
The interactive map below shows that the Bulldogs will travel 7,338 miles from Athens to those six road venues. That's right...

7,338 Miles

To quote my brother upon being confronted with these stats, "The earth only has a 24,901 mile circumference at the equator. When you factor in home games and a bowl game, I will travel 1/3 of the distance around the globe for football. That is hardcore. I'm fired up."

The mileage stats are obviously inflated by 3,827 mile swing to the desert that any right minded Georgia-based Dawg fan will be making via plane. The stats also don't include an SEC Championship Appearance (add 140 miles round trip from Athens) or a bowl trip to Miami (add 1,300 miles) or NOLA (add 900 miles). A trip to the SECC and National Title games would bring the total up to 8,806 miles.

The schedule's murderous section includes four consecutive SEC road games in Baton Rouge, Jacksonville, Lexington and Auburn. That's 3,164 miles in 23 days for the four game swing. Or 2,795 miles in 16 days for the LSU to UF to UK swing.

Any complaints about the four consecutive games away from Athens that the SEC stuck us with are appropriate. In a recent article, the AJC said that the ACC and SEC league offices work hard to "avoid putting a team on the road for two consecutive conference games." Apparently, four consecutive games is no biggie, but two is completely out of the question? Huh?

Those distances also don't include side trips a fan might make to places like New Orleans, St. Simons or The Grand Canyon. Mileage is strictly computed from 1 Selig Circle (the Butts-Mehre Building) to the opponent's stadium (which is visible in the maps below).

Check out this interactive map:


View Larger Map


If you play with the map, you can follow the complete travel route of the team. The map works better if you just go the big version here. If you want to adjust the map to change 1 Selig Circle to your home address, that's as simple as clicking on the "edit" buttons to the left of the larger map. But I digress.

If you're interested in shortening the time spent in the car, you could always pull the Dorsey Hill move. From Lewis Grizzard's column following the 1980 Cocktail Party:
God is a Bulldog
Jacksonville, Fla. - Dorsey Hill, the world's biggest Bulldog fan, left here Sunday afternoon, bound for Auburn, Ala., where Georgia's undefeated football team next appears.

"I don't think you can get from Jacksonville to Auburn," I had said to him.

"You can change buses in Waycross and Columbus," Dorsey answered.

"You aren't going home first?"

"Home?" He screamed back. "I haven't worked since Texas A&M, and I haven't slept since Clemson. You expect me to go back home when we play Auburn in only six more days?"
Ol' Dorsey would definitely leave Baton Rouge headed straight for Jacksonville. That's a great way to shave 300 miles off your journey!

Over the coming weeks and months, we'll try and offer some travel suggestions for the Arizona State game. In the meantime, I'll say this...if you're planning on using frequent flyer miles to get out there then:
    A. I hope you're not with Delta or don't mind a layover.
    B. Are flying from or through a city other than Atlanta.
I only say those things because the great frequent flyer deals (best time slots and direct flights) on Delta have been filling up very quickly.


There will probably be some grumbling about the travel distance and expense from Dawg fans this season...particularly the ASU trip. My response to that: We haven't left the Southeast since we beat Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1965. The Athletic Department gave us a few years to save up. lol. (Image: Sun Devil Stadium)

In all seriousness, most every hardcore Dawg fan that I know is planning on going to this game. I can't imagine what the demand for tickets will be, but it wouldn't shock me to see us take at least 10,000 to Tempe. I personally know more people who are at least tentatively planning on going to Tempe than Jacksonville.

I'm looking forward to this season with more anticipation than any I can remember. Although, I'm not looking forward to dozens and dozens of articles mentioning the 1965-2008 streak without leaving the South. But you gotta take the good with the bad.

After an '08 trip to Tempe, '09 trip to Stillwater, '10 trip to Boulder and '11 trip to Louisville, we should never have to listen to that again.

See Also:
-- Who Travels and Who Doesn't - The Wizard of Odds
-- MapGameday.com
-- Future and Historical UGA Schedules - Sicemdawgs.com

PWD


NOTE: If you're a Phoenix or Tempe based travel agent with expertise in Tempe/Grand Canyon type programs. Give me a shout. I'll interview you and give you a plug. I'd like to recommend sites and destinations for Dawgs coming in early.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

You may want to tell your readers to check out Columbia SC for better flights to Tempe. We used our skymiles to fly out of Columbia. Their airport is 55 miles from Augusta.if using miles do it sooner than later
Great site, thanks for all the Dawg info

T
callingthedawgs.com

Smitty said...

I'm in for Tempe. Booked a room with two queen beds for $125 a night at the Four Points by Sheraton. They are closed for renovations until March so they have plenty of rooms. Walking distance to the stadium too. 480-968-3451.

Anonymous said...

We booked a rental months ago for Tempe. The realtor was sort of shocked. We plan on flying Wednesday and making a vacation out of it. Can't wait!

Anonymous said...

"Ol' Dorsey would definitely leave Baton Rouge headed straight for Jacksonville. That's a great way to shave 300 miles off your journey!"

Don't laugh - a group of us are considering renting an RV and doing just that (with a stopover in NOLA, of course).

I'm just not sure my 52 year old body will hold up from that much sustained debauchery.

Anonymous said...

Technically the GA/FL game is a "home" game, as we will be wearing our red (or possibly even black) jerseys. We only have the Lexington & Auburn games back to back where we're listed as the away team, Regardless of how far we have to travel for our "home" game

Unknown said...

There's also probably some great deals out of B'ham on Southwest.

The fares on delta are running around $350 give or take right now from ATL to PHX direct.

I bet you'll be able to get some better deals later. Especially, if you're willing to take the redeye out on Sunday night.

Unknown said...

Blutarsky,

We considered the same thing (without the RV). The thinking was...if we're going to hit NOLA on Friday or Thursday and then Jax on Thursday...why not just shift the trip and do NOLA on Sunday-Monday....stop over in P'cola or P'City for the night and hit the beach....then hit Jax.

The problems are:
1. I can't stand hanging around anyone for 8 straight days. Much less 8 in an RV.

2. Heaven forbid we lose at LSU. We'll all be miserable til we shake it off 24-48 hours later.

Unknown said...

MH - I know some folks are flying into Vegas on Thurs. Then driving into Tempe. Then flying out of PHX.

Will said...

If I could win six figures in the lottery or some other legal, non wrongful death/injury lawsuit kind of way, this would be the season to have that kind of money.
So many cool detours that would be worth taking the whole week off for:
1. Hitting up Vegas either before or after the ASU weekend, maybe swinging by some of those nice golf courses I've heard about too.
2. Detouring from Red Stick to fill up on good eats in NOLA, maybe hit up the gulf coast and the lesser casinos
3. St. Simons/Jekyll Island prior to JAX
4. Does the UK weekend fall near any good horse races?

Meanwhile, somewhere, somehow, some Big 10 homer will accuse UGA of poor scheduling as we don't play anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line in '08. Just watch.

Anonymous said...

"2. Heaven forbid we lose at LSU. We'll all be miserable til we shake it off 24-48 hours later."

That's what New Orleans is for.

Anonymous said...

We are taking a little over a week. We will go out on Friday night or Saturday when we play USC. I am banking on a late CBS or ESPN uno, dos, or ocho start.

Take the kids up to the Grand Canyon for a few days. Back to Phoenix by middle of the week to play some golf. Watch the Dawgs on Saturday and then slog home on Sunday.

I am planning on selling my tickets to weeks 1,2,& 3 to help defray the costs of the trip.

Unknown said...

Anon - 10:13

I've looked at the early schedules so far for big teams across the nation. We're a near mortal lock for ABC 8:00 pm EST start.

Assuming we beat the Gamecocks, it's also a near lock for ESPN Gameday telecast. We'll be the center of the football world that week.

UGA will be ranked in the Top 3-4 by then and ASU should be undefeated and Top 15. Note: OSU vs. USC is the week or 2 before so we should have advanced over the loser of that game if we aren't already ranked above them.

ABC would love a cross sectional match-up like UGA / ASU

PWD

DAve said...

Anyone have any recommendations for golf in the Phoenix/Tempe area? I'd like to do anything I can to narrow down my choices - that area is like Myrtle freakin Beach when it comes to number of courses.

Hat tip to mh for hooking us up with the rental property. Should be a fun trip.

Anonymous said...

Great work Paul, this is what makes the blogosphere great! I'm with you on looking forward to this season more than any other, should be fun.

82 said...

there are also some casinos in the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe area

Badger Tracker said...

7300+ miles and the Dawgs STILL won't play a road game north of Kentucky. Bawk bawk bawk, Georgia!

Hobnail_Boot said...

Pollack just sacked Stocco again..

Astronaut Mike Dexter said...

Badger, if you're going to talk smack to an SEC team, you might want to pick an SEC team that Wisconsin has beaten. Ever.

Will said...

Wow...it only took about five hours.

I guess the subzero temps means that the Big 10 (sic) folks just sit inside all day monitoring sports blogs for anything they can complain about.

Anonymous said...

So how does one go about getting tickets to the ASU game?

Anonymous said...

hey do u think 2008s defense is worthy to be called the junkyard dawgs? after seeing what we did to brennan, i cant see why not. this could be the best d since the 80s.

Anonymous said...

This guy will be at the Georgia LSU game!!!

It's nice having a step-dad whose best friend has season tickets to LSU, and not having to pay HOWEVER THE HELL MUCH IT IS...

I'll also be there supporting my dawgs for the Tennessee, Georgia Southern, and Florida game...

God has been good to me in 2008 lets just hope the same is for the dawgs

Anonymous said...

UGA should be #1 at the beginning of the season, no excuses. The SEC is by far the hardest conference in college football. I'm sick of crap teams like WVU being ranked #2(by the way, tough loss... NOT!). I believe that whoever comes out of the SEC with 2 or fewer losses/wins the SEC should be in the National Championship game... hands down.

-Josh

Anonymous said...

I know there a lot of people out there who aren't Georgia fans, but I honestly believe they should run the table, despite having to play LSU, this season. Let's hope so anyway! Go Dawgs!

-Josh

Anonymous said...

Oh and one more thing... I believe it should be Georgia and USC (of course if all goes well) in the BCS National Championship game. If the Rose Bowl Selection Committee had any sense at all, we would have already seen this epic game in the Rose Bowl Presented by Citi. It would have to be the game of the year no doubt, possibly the decade. Once again, Go Dawgs!

-Josh

Beatuofa said...

A note on the Four Points in Tempe for Smitty (and anyone else) -- they are not closed for renovations, they are closed for not even existing yet! It's a brand new hotel, but it will have a great location -- bout three-quarters of a mile from the stadium, on the east side of campus. I have no personal experience with that particular property but it looks nice driving by. There is a liquor store to purchase pregame libations a couple of doors down, and a campus store that will have lots of stuff if you want some memorabilia for the trip. The main drag in Tempe, Mill Avenue, is about a mile away -- walkable in the evening and want to stretch your legs, but an easy cab ride away if you don't.

I'm getting in touch with PWD to help yall out with more info as needed -- looking forward to the visit from the Dawgs!

GO DEVILS!!!

 
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