In 1978 my dad received a new assignment to Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, GA and brought my siblings and I there. One summer day I perused the local newspaper, 'The Valdosta Daily Times', and saw an article about former Valdosta HS quarterback Buck Belue. The former Wildcats star athlete was heading to UGA in August to play football and baseball for the Dawgs. When I was doing outside chores, I'd listen to the radio. One day I came across Larry Munson talking about UGA football and started listening to him because of the local connection. That fall I became hooked on the Dawgs and have been following them ever since.
After a stint as an enlisted member in the USAF, I enrolled at UGA in 1991. On 5 October I witnessed the Dawgs upset #6-ranked Clemson in Sanford Stadium. In that game, highly touted true freshman QB Eric Zeier (UGA's first mid-year [January] enrollee) came off the bench to lead UGA to a come-from-behind win over the Tigers, snapping the Tigers' three-game win streak in the series.
In April 1996, four months after graduating from UGA, I was browsing the internet for the first time and discovered 'The Dawgvent' website. I was amazed that there was an online group of passionate Dawg fans (some of them I still communicate with today) talking about UGA sports. That day I registered as "AirForceDawg" and have used that handle on various message boards (e.g., Dawg Run [RIP], Dawg Post, Hair of the Dawg, Talk'n Dawgs) for more than 27 years now.
In October 1996 I reentered the USAF via Officer Training School and received my commission in February 1997. Over the Fourth of July weekend in 1999 I created a UGA sports website called 'Dawg Treasures' and ran it for seven years. Sadly, I closed it since I had a newborn, toddler, spouse, a demanding 12-hour/day job, and had to complete Air Command and Staff College by correspondence in my spare time.
For the last 45+ years I've closely followed the Dawgs and bleed red and black. I'm not a lurker, but a contributor. Thanks to stevedawg for setting me up with an account here. Negaholics and snarky posters have driven me away from other sites. I look forward to being part of this group of mature Dawg fans.
AFD (UGA 1991-'95)
