The dollars and cents of UGA's win + top news
The Update 1/12/22
Welcome to my freemium newsletter by me, King Williams. A documentary filmmaker, journalist, podcast host, and author based in Atlanta, Georgia. This is a newsletter covering the hidden connections of Atlanta to everything else.
-The Dawgs finally did it!
UGA wins the natty!
The drought is over, the University of Georgia has finally won the national championship defeating the perennial powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18. UGA’s win breaks at a 41-year title drought, with the team coming close in 2012 and 2017 to be in the title contention only to lose both games to Alabama in a heartbreaking fashion. A drought that has been more pronounced in the last 15 years with the rise of its home conference, the Southeastern Conference (bka the SEC).
The SEC has been a different level of dominance in the 21st century.
Since 2000, the SEC has won 13 of 22 championships. This includes a streak of winning the championship every year from 2006-12, as well as the conference seeing 5 different teams (Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and LSU) win the title, the most for any conference since 2000. Additionally, since 2006, only the 2014/15 season has seen a championship game played without an SEC team participating.
Nick Saban is the GOAT of college coaches…
For UGA, the win finally breaks them free of losing to Nick Saban, arguably the greatest college football coach in history. Saban is also the former defensive coordinator of Bill Belichick, the greatest coach in NFL history. Both men coached for three years with the Cleveland Browns in the early 1990s. After the Browns stint, Saban went on to coach at Michigan State University, then at LSU, winning the school its first title in decades in 2003. Since Saban began coaching at Alabama in 2007, the team has never lost to Georgia. In addition, Alabama has won 6 national titles, played in 10 championship games, and registered the most wins of any other team in the process since he began coaching at Alabama. Saban has 7 championships overall.
Adding more pain for UGA fans is how Alabama under head coach Nick Saban has halted their title dreams on several occasions dating back to an ill-fated 2008 game beginning a decade-plus of heartbreak. Alabama has directly thwarted UGA’s title ambitions in 2008, 2012, and again in 2017. Not to mention both coaches Mark Richt (2001-15), and Kirby Smart (2016-present), both have lopsided records against Saban—Richt was (0-4) against Saban, Smart was (prior to the championship) 0-4 against Saban.
….and Kirby Smart modeled UGA after that system
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was a former defensive coordinator for Saban at LSU where he won his first championship in 2003, then followed Saban during his two-year NFL head coaching stint with the Miami Dolphins.
Also during Saban’s tenure as HC, he still managed to lead to eventual torture for Atlanta/Georgia sports fans by which facilitating the trade that brought Drew Brees to the New Orleans Saints, which has their own recent success at humiliating the Falcons. After an unsuccessful second year, Saban moved on to coaching at the University of Alabama where Smart followed. The pair would go on two win the 2009, 2011,2012, and 2015 college football titles.
Since departing Alabama as defensive coordinator to become the head coach for UGA in late 2015, Smart has built the UGA football program as a near carbon copy of Alabama.
This includes a new $80 million dollar practice facility, more football training staff, a similar coaching style, a similar team makeup to Alabama, and recruiting staff that has yielded Georgia with a top-5 recruiting class every year for the last 5 years, becoming a new powerhouse for the late 2010s-present. Since then Georgia has been a team constantly on the cusp of a championship, often just behind Alabama, who has either won or played in every championship game except for the 2015 and 2019 season. Smart’s approach to replicating Saban point-for-point now feels validated.
You can read more about the business of college football in my October 2021 articles:
What does college football realignment mean for schools like Georgia State? - PART ONE
What does college football realignment mean for schools like Georgia State? - PART TWO
You can also listen to the business of college football on my podcast episode with Ben Moore of 24/7 Sports
It’s available on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, and on SoundCloud. You can follow Ben on Twitter @BenMoore247. You can also read Ben’s article: Five Reasons why GSU is staying in the Sun Belt. It compliments well to my two articles and the podcast.
Events
The Department of City Planning is hosting a virtual event —Future Places Project: Redefining Historic Preservation in Atlanta on Friday at 1pm. You can register here.
On Thursday at 7pm, the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center is hosting a virtual event regarding new Gwinnett State House and Senate Delegations. This is in regards to the proposed redistricting maps of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners and Gwinnett County Board of Education. You can register here. Or stream it on their website TvGwinnettLive or visit their Vimeo channel.
The city of Sandy Springs is looking for feedback on a new Roswell Road management plan via a virtual meeting on January 24th at 6pm. You can register here.
Red Clay News
A Houston County deputy has been suspended after a Facebook comment that Ahmaud Arbery ‘still got the death penalty’.
Teachers in Georgia have been told it’s okay to work if they test positive for covid, provided they aren’t showing visible symptoms.
Brian Kemp appointed Ana Maria Martinez as the first Latina State Court Judge.
The Midtown Art Walk is set to break ground this week.
The Athens Public Safety Civilian Oversight Board is taking applications.
Columbus lawmaker Calvin Smyre will be leaving to take a US Ambassadorship to the Dominican Republic.
Hall County has received $1 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to address a backlog of court cases.
Decatur Schools have settled two lawsuits by former employees for an undisclosed amount.
A plan to demolish Lakewood Elementary has been put on hold.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is still considering whether to charge Trump concerning his role in spreading the 2020 election falsehoods.
Scientists at UGA have discovered an antibiotic-resistant gene, MCR-9 in an undisclosed metro Atlanta sewage water sample.
Clayton County will be distributing covid tests to senior centers.
Clayton County also has the highest covid death rates per 100,000 in the metro.
Gwinnett County will begin offering voter materials in 4 languages: Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, and Vietnamese.
Fulton County has approved the expansion of MARTA in the suburbs.
The Georgia House has taken up another proposal for cityhood, this time in East Cobb.
Private equity firm Blackstone has purchased a 298-unit Decatur apartment complex for $100 million.
Lawyers for the State of Georgia say it’s too late to change the state’s gerrymandered maps ahead of the November elections.
A legal dispute in Camden County has arisen on whether or not the county commissioners can move forward with a planned spaceport.
For the first time in 40 years, Valdosta State University will have its first Black head football coach.
National News
Sesame Street has introduced its first Asian character.
Bank of America is lowering overdraft fees nationally from $35 to $10 dollars.
A new study says workers don’t know they're underpaid.
65,000+ LA public school staff and students have tested positive for covid-19.
Two suspects in the murder of Memphis rapper Young Dolph have been captured.
An off-duty North Carolina cop who killed an unarmed black man, Jason Walker is gaining national traction and protests, the officer has been placed on administrative leave.
International News
US diplomats are boycotting the upcoming Winter Olympics in China.
Josephine Baker was honored posthumously in France.
There is a maple syrup shortage in Canada.
Just for clarification, UGA and quarterback Matthew Stafford beat Alabama in 2007, Nick Saban’s first year as their head coach. The game is moderately famous for Vern Lundquist asking Gary Danielson “What is Britney doing with her life” as the game went into overtime.
Thanks for your work!