Georgia Bulldogs' Spring Football | A Sport Within A Sport
BY: Scott Duvall | @JawaviFilms
People tend to get very poetic about the seasons. I'm talking Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer. Why is that? I suppose it could be that three months is about the longest amount of time anyone really wants to experience the same weather?
We live in Athens, Georgia. Meteorologically speaking - the great thing about where we broadcast our podcast from is that Athens is about as much of a "four seasons" town as you can find. Sure, the winters are pretty benign, but more often than not, we'll get that one week where there is measurable snow and super-cold temperatures to satisfy our need for posting a few winter-themed Instagram pictures or videos.
March 20th is the first day of spring and it usually coincides with the NCAA basketball tournament's first round of games. This date (and the basketball tournament) seems to put sports on fast forward. The tournament always tends to fly by and before you know it you're watching the championship game and thinking to yourself how great of a life long-time CBS broadcaster, Jim Nantz has (allow me to explain).
Not only does Jim get to spend his March calling all of the biggest games of the NCAA tournament, but also the day after the Monday championship game, he jets on over to Augusta, Georgia to fulfill his role as THE ubiquitous tv voice for the Masters, but I digress.
Next thing you know it's the second week of April. You quickly realize that your sports viewing schedule is already jam packed and will only continue to get better and better as the months get warmer.
Major League Baseball has started, the NBA Playoffs are about to get good (you know the part of the 8 month NBA season that people actually pay attention to) and the players actually play hard for the entire game. Throw in the NHL playoffs and the NFL Draft and it's a cornucopia of completely engaging sports stories to choose from.
Oh yeah, I left something out. A sport within a sport that we in the South take very serious. College football teams from around the country are finishing up a brief period of time where they actually put on pads, run plays and practice - in April! Spring football practice and the glorified scrimmage to follow is the panacea to every college football fan's winter induced depression.
There are plenty of articles, segments on major networks and podcasts dedicated to all of the new recruits, how they fit in, what rising juniors and seniors will make a difference and how that coach of yours is going to live up to expectations in the fall.
The Piece de Resistance lies in the annual spring football game. Here in Athens, we refer to that as G-Day. Ever since Coach Kirby Smart began his inaugural season in 2016, it has been understood that he takes his spring games very serious and fans should (and do) as well.
April 21, 2018 was the University of Georgia's spring football game and it drew a little over 86,000 fans - there would have been more had the west end zone not been under a renovation project. But the three of us, Will, Tony and myself, we attended the game with our friends and families. The Black team beat the Red team 21-13. Justin Fields, the newly signed 5-star football recruit played well and was fun to watch make plays in that #1 jersey.
But, really, it was all about "practice tailgating" as Tony likes to put it and enjoying typical beautiful, spring Athens, Georgia weather. Spring has indeed arrived, we got our taste of football once again and our sights are clearly set on counting down the days until September 1st. But let's not forget that it will not seem like it takes that long because spring will soon turn into summer and our passion for watching MLB, the NBA, and the MLS will keep us going until we reach the start of the 2018 college football season. Basically, it'll seem like a long time, but it will/should/might pass quickly.
So, as an homage to Georgia's 2018 spring football game, here's a little video I made of our (my kids, Tony and Will) experience for G-Day a week or so ago.
*Note - you might have noticed that this is a blog post from the WSLS podcast guys. That's right! After 3 years, we finally have a website. So bookmark it if you like, check back often as it will change and don't mind the misplaced pictures and spelling errors at times, we're working on it. But thanks for listening and thanks for checking out our NEW website.
Scott Duvall is the producer and co-host of the Waitin' Since Last Saturday podcast. He is the owner of a freelance video company, Jawavi Films. You can find more of his work by checking out his YouTube page, Instagram account or even his website
April 21, 2018 - G-Day in Athens, Georgia. Just another reason to get excited about Georgia Football, tailgate and hope and plan for the 2018 season to get here. Video by Scott Duvall