GATArchives - Erk's August Calendar

First off, I view this as a true Dawg relic. I'm sure it's made rounds over the years, but I had never seen it before until Mac sent it to me several weeks ago. It came to him by way of Kid; a man named John H. Terrell who is aptly described as the "most loyal Dawg fan of this century". I hope you were able to catch yesterday's tribute to him. 


It also comes with this subplot. Erk's typewriter fad fine print, of course. As it well should. The image below has been touched up as best as myself (who failed at it, miserably) and Steve were able to. Steve, aka BassinDawg, was able to clear up some of the print and make it a bit more readable. However, you may still need to get out a magnifying glass, real or electronic.


Right click, save as, magnify...do whatcha gotta do dawg.


Some historical background. This "Friendly Reminder Calendar" was "published" and distributed in the summer of 1969. Georgia's opener that season was Tulane on September 20th. They were coming off a loss in the Sugar Bowl to Arkansas that capped off a very successful 8-0-2 regular season. It's clear that Coach Russell was a little worried about off season complacency.


With all that being said, please take the time to enjoy this. It's full of terrific history and GATA attitude. From reminding his men that for the first time since 1965 the Dawgs will be "without Dicks", to various ways to build "big necks"...like while in the church's front pew on Sunday morning.

CLICK HERE for bigger copy

I'm a better man just having read that. In the end, Georgia trounced Tulane 35-0 before marching up and across Lake Hartwell to also beat the snot out of Clemson 30-0. After scoring a season high 41 points on South Carolina at home, the road got tougher in SEC play with losses to Ole Miss and Auburn, and a tie in Jacksonville. So as the end result of 5-5-1 might have fallen short of Erk's goal to "beat everybody", the message was clear as to what the expectations were. Even when his players were at home, miles away, eating mama's fried chicken and melting in the August heat, Erk was there in their ears to run further and do more neck iso's.


That's clear and constant communication well before the days of cell phones and BookFace. And like Erk Russell said himself, "A good sense of humor even helps in football."


So as the boys of summer begin to strap on the pads and the coaches blow their whistles, I hope Coach Russell is there at Woodruff looking over them...telling them to: "Think BIG today. Get a BIG neck. Run a BIG mile."