I had lunch with Vince Dooley the other day. The former Georgia football coach and athletic director and I sat and ate fried chicken, sipping sweet iced tea as Dooley told me some great stories about his days on the field.
He also spent some time talking about his new book that’s just about to hit the streets, called Dooley’s Playbook: The 34 Most Memorable Plays in Georgia Football History.
Now, Dooley is no stranger to writing. He has penned several books including ones for children but this one is special and should be in any college football book collection.
Teaming up with illustrator Steve Penley (stevepenley.com), Dooley takes the reader through the greatest plays in school history, giving very detailed insight on each of them, starting with Catfish Smith’s great performance against Yale on Oct. 12, 1929, in the inaugural game at Sanford Stadium. Each chapter includes at least one illustration by Penley, a Georgia graduate best known for his iconic portraits and one of America’s most popular southern artists. All the illustrations in the book incorporate bold colors, strong brush strokes and vivid imagery. Dooley does his own illustrating by drawing out each of the plays, showing on paper how the plays went down.
Why he picked 34 plays is obvious to any Georgia fan, or college football fan for that matter, as that was Herschel Walker’s number and his great running physique is right there on the cover.
Dooley also does a good job of interviewing many of the former players including some great quotes from Bulldog great Charlie Trippi, who blew the Georgia Tech game open in 1942 (The Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 1 in most polls at the time) on an 86-yard run called “Harvard 29 Pass.’’ Of course there was George Patton’s interception return for a touchdown in a win over Alabama in 1965, a year that featured another one of the 34 plays, the “Flea Flicker Left” from Kirby Moore to Pat Hodgson to Bob Taylor.
There is plenty of Herschel in the book, though Dooley readily admits the greatest play had to be the pass from Buck Belue to Lindsay Scott to beat Florida in the national championship season of 1980. The play was simply called “Left 76.” Dooley said that after watching the film the next day, “at least five different Florida players, had they reacted immediately after the catch, could have made the tackle. They reason they didn’t, I concluded, was due to their premature celebration which prevented them from being totally focused. It was a great lesson that I referred to often in coaching.’’
Dooley also included a chapter on some of the great kickers in Georgia history and another on other great Georgia moments, which included former Auburn coach Pat Dye, who in 1960 blocked a Georgia Tech extra point to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 victory.
The book is $29.95, will by mid-month be available in most bookstores and is a great gift for the holidays, whether you’re a Georgia fan or just someone who loves college football. Dooley will be signing the book around the state and you can get the schedule by going to the calendar section on scoreatl.com.
FALCONS KEEP ROLLING …
Unbelievable. There is no other way to describe the Falcons and their 8-4 record. Now, all of sudden, this team has a chance to go 12-4 and win the division and a first-round bye or 11-5 or 10-6 and get the second wild card spot. Right now they are tied with Dallas for the second wild card spot but look at the rest of the Cowboys’ schedule compared to the Falcons’. Dallas has to travel to 9-3 Pittsburgh, then come back home for games against the Giants (11-1) and Baltimore (8-4) before closing out with the Eagles (6-5-1) in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Falcons have games in New Orleans (6-6) this Sunday against a slumping Saints team, then come back here for a key game against Tampa Bay before closing out in Minnesota (7-5) and then home against the Rams (2-10). I’d bet on the Falcons there. And by the way, the Falcons have to be one of the most balanced teams in the NFL and they are winning games even when they make mistakes. For instance, in the victory over the Chargers Sunday, they committed three more turnovers than San Diego. It was the first regular-season win in franchise history in which Atlanta had at least three more giveaways than takeaways, following 83 consecutive losses in such games. Like I have been saying for weeks, this is really reminding me of the 1991 Braves.
WORKING BOTH WAYS …
Actually, Georgia Tech’s win over Georgia was a perfect scenario for both teams. First of all, the Yellow Jackets had lost seven straight to the Bulldogs and the win was a great way for new coach Paul Johnson to put a cap on what has been a very good regular season, with the Jackets finishing at 9-3. Eventually, Tech was going to beat Georgia, and for the Bulldogs in what has been a very disappointing season, a win over the Jackets would have left little satisfaction for a team that came into the season ranked No. 1. Either way, the Bulldogs were likely going to end up in the Capital One Bowl. It wasn’t like the Bulldogs went into the game with a chance to go to a BCS Bowl or win a national championship. I will say that Tech has certainly moved itself closer to Georgia when it comes to the talent, coaching and competitiveness of each program. For the Bulldogs, however, it would appear head coach Mark Richt is going to have to sit down and make some big decisions on the defensive side of his program. This Georgia team was terrible on defense, giving up 25.6 points a game and a total of 135 points in its three losses to Alabama, Florida and Tech. Will defensive coordinator Willie Martinez be back? We all know how loyal Richt is when it comes to his assistants but Georgia has the best passing quarterback in the conference in Matt Stafford and the best running back in Knowshon Moreno and didn’t come close to winning the conference title. That’s something hard to think about. Tech fans, meanwhile, have a lot to look forward to with players such as quarterback Josh Nesbitt and running backs Jonathan Dwyer and redshirt freshman Roddy Jones, the latter rushing for 214 in Athens on Saturday. Yes, the Tech-Georgia rivalry is finally back.
You can listen to Rosenberg every Sunday during the Falcons game on Score Atlanta’s NFL Scoreboard Show on 790 The Zone. This week’s show will be from 1-4 p.m. Rosenberg can be reached at ijrosenberg@scoreatl.com and 404-256-1572.
VINCE DOOLEY BOOK SIGNINGS (DOOLEY’S PLAYBOOK: The 34 Most Memorable Plays in Georgia Football History)
December 4 Dallas (GA) Chamber
December 11 Sandersville Chamber
December 12 West Central GA Bank in Thomaston
December 15 Statesboro Mall (tentative date)
December 19 GA Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville
December 19 Quinlan Arts Center in Gainesville
December 23 Toccoa Clinic in Toccoa
December 23 Lavonia Clinic in Lavonia
If you are interested in hosting a Dooley signing then email RainMkerSS@aol.com
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