Before last week, it had been 15 years since my last visit to the town of Athens and the campus of the University of Georgia. How nice it was, then, to see the Red Coat Marching Band lined up Milledge Avenue as they played the UGA Fight Song in honor of my arrival. They must have been standing there for hours not knowing the exact time I would be strolling in for a couple of days.

The main purpose of this trip was to attend the Georgia-Georgia Tech basketball game at Stegman Coliseum, a way-past-bedtime tipoff of 9 p.m. and an ESPN2 telecast. The irony of it all is that – 15 years ago – the last time I was in Athens was to take in a Bulldog basketball game at Stegman Coliseum. This was New Year’s Eve 2002 and an early afternoon start against the University of Pittsburgh.

This was when, more ironies, the Georgia football team won the SEC Championship in the second season under then head coach Mark Richt. It was a full house that day, even though a story came out that players were concerned it would be an empty arena with all the Bulldog fans flocking to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.

So here it is 2017, and I am making pre-Christmas week plans to use much earned time off, and it was a no-brainer when I saw that the Dogs were scheduled to face the Yellow Jackets at that time. Later on, second-year football head coach Kirby Smart leads Georgia to victory in the SEC Championship game. The excitement in this area is bound to be overflowing. Could not wait to be a small part of it.

Since graduating from the University in 1992, I’ve only had four occasions to go to Athens. The first two were for editorial seminars put on by the company by which I was employed which happened to be headquartered there. One of those was a round trip, but in both cases there wasn’t any real time to do anything on one’s own. I’ve already described the third trip, which was also getting there and going back the same day.

Finally, not only is Matthew going to Athens and UGA, but he’s going to stay a little while and remember what it was like spending a significant portion of one’s growing up there. So, while the last visit was 15 years ago, there were parts of the campus I had not seen in person since graduation just over 25 years ago.

One of those parts would be Sanford Stadium. I had forgotten just how massive that thing is.

Not far from Stegman Coliseum is Foley Field, home of UGA Bulldog baseball. In between these facilities is the much talked about brand new addition to the UGA grounds. That would be the indoor athletic facility. Right now that’s what it’s called, in big black letters near the main entrance, INDOOR ATHLETIC FACILITY. Unfortunately, it was not open for public viewing inside.

Stegman Coliseum is where it’s always been, but so much’s been done to transform the inside of the arena that now it provides you with an NBA-like experience. New seats, big new scoreboard with the new video screens hanging from the ceiling, and all the promotions and giveaways (i.e. T-shirt cannon) during breaks in the action.

But who saw this coming on this particular evening? Perhaps it wasn’t a big surprise after all. The first half ends with the Bulldogs up by two, so we are all enjoying a competitive basketball game. When those teams go to the lockers for their break, out from another corridor walks the special guests. Once we see that aforementioned fellow named Smart, we know who all is following. Here comes those SEC Champions from the football field, not only the players but the trophies for winning that SEC title over the Auburn Tigers and the Governor’s Cup for defeating the gridiron Georgia Tech team.

So we in the crowd give them a nice send-off to California and the Rose Bowl.

Back to the basketball game, the Dogs pull away from the Jackets. Head coach Mark Fox said afterwards it was a beautiful night for basketball. Can’t help but agree. This night confirmed how important this sport is at this university and to its fan base.

One of the great things about following Georgia basketball is you get to see great players at this level develop over a full four-year career. No, we don’t get too many victories against the homes of ‘one-and-done’ like Kentucky, but I don’t want to see a whole new team every year. I regret not seeing the likes of J.J. Frazier, that super guard, play live. He is playing professionally in France, by the way.

Later last week, Georgia beat Temple at home, and that was no small achievement considering Temple’s history. I was not there, and the crowd for this game was about 2,000 less than the 10,000 that was there Tuesday. Up next, on New Year’s Eve, it’s the first Southeastern Conference tilt against … Kentucky … at Rupp Arena. It’s like trying to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa wearing helmets and shoulder pads.

THE STATE FINAL

Having been away from the Observer sports desk for the past week, this is my first opportunity to make personal comment on how the high school football season ended and Colquitt County’s shocking loss at North Gwinnett High. What kind of chance did we have with an officiating crew featuring Ebenezer Scrooge, M.O. (Mean One) Grinch and the Snow Miser? (The Heat Miser was at the Corky Kell Classic game back in August, at least that’s what the Norcross High people would say).

There were some people left scratching their heads at the fact that a team – in this case North Gwinnett – was able to run a play after time had expired. So you explain it, no half – first or second – can end on a defensive penalty. There was a flag for pass interference on the Packer defense as regulation time ran out. Instead of resetting the time, it’s one untimed down (provided there’s no other defensive foul).

“Learn something new” is the response.

Think about it, though. When Ryan Fitzgerald boots a kickoff into or beyond the end zone, no time goes off the clock on a touchback. When he did that famous 60-yard free kick field goal at Archer, that too was essentially an untimed play. Only if the football had landed short of the end zone and someone from the other team picked it up to return it would game time elapse (and there was only seven seconds left in that first half).

If the state final was reported on a major network sports highlights show, we might get a montage package of similar ‘walk-off’ football endings. It would include the ‘Kick-6’ Iron Bowl where Auburn beats Alabama, Tennessee’s win over Georgia last year and the best of them all when LSU beat Kentucky in Lexington when the Wildcat coach was already doused with water, students are hanging on the goal posts at one end, but it’s LSU really celebrating when the deflected last pass falls into Tiger hands.

What I did not realize at the time was that North Gwinnett’s kicker, Cameron Clark, was hurting from something that happened during warm-ups. He didn’t have the best of games up to that point, missing one field goal and the PAT that we must remember was 25 yards thanks to a penalty.

Colquitt County’s Packers … let’s just say that’s not a bad showing for a JV team, for one that wasn’t going to win another game at one point. Three region champions welcomed us to their homes during the playoffs, and CC knocks all three off. Yes, we faced a fourth one, but didn’t think it would be on their home field. That’s just how it turned out.

The team itself may have been young, but that’s not always a negative trait. A lot of the underclassmen already had a year of experience, like the running backs Daijun Edwards and Ty Leggett, defenders like Camari Louis and Brian Merritt and that kicker Fitzgerald. The senior class, you couldn’t ask for better ones on both sides from Cam to Kaleb to Steven to JJ.

How did the Packers get that far? Because it was still a pretty good team.