Remembering UGA VI: An overly personal encounter

As we honor the passing of legendary college mascot Uga VI, here’s a personal story of my “encounter” with that hunk of a 65 lb. bulldog.

It was a spring day down in Savannah, GA, at the home of the family that selects and cares for all the University of Georgia bulldogs. As a graduate of that fine school, this was really exciting for me. Our crew was there shooting a segment on the great college football mascots for a now-defunct regional network. We walked Uga (pronounced Ugg-uh, by the way) down along the river, shared the memories and saw the old photos of Ugas of the past – who are numbered, actually, starting with the well-remembered Uga 1 back in the 1920s. We even saw the little bulldog tuxedo Uga wears for special occasions…

Now “6” as they called him was MUCH larger than his predecessor, “5” – a point made clear in a side-by-side comparison of their tuxedos. However, “5” was the only animal mascot to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. So … every dog truly does have his day. But I digress.

Here’s the shocking NEVER BEFORE REVEALED STORY of how Uga VI tried to take advantage of me:

At the end of the shoot, everyone was walking out and “6” was resting on the tile floor of the sunroom in front of an oscillating fan. I dashed to the ladies room ahead of the long drive back to Atlanta. We were alone in the house.

On the way out I gave Uga one last pat on the head. He seemed vaguely unsatisfied. So I bumped it up a notch with my patented dog-butt-rub and said, “Who’s a dog? Who’s a big dog?”

Well… some would say I was asking for it. Uga got up and made a face I’ll never forget. Then he jumped up on my leg (I was in a skirt, thanks) and proceeded to get bizzzzzzy. I was shocked but laughing, then horrified, and eventually a scratched-up mess. I could not get him off of me. Then I screamed at the top of my lungs for Corey the PA and Mrs. Seiler: HELP!!!!!

Before they strolled leisurely around to the sunroom of shame, “6” was back down in front of the fan. When Corey and Mrs. Seiler got to the crime scene, she just laughed her charming laugh and said, “Was that good, 6?” Then she looked at me with new respect: “He looks happy.” Wow. It was suddenly like nothing had happened. Except for the scratches. Except for the fact that on hearing the news about 6’s passing this weekend, I could only say, with a sigh, “the CAD!”

Check out the history of UGA's bulldog mascots by clicking here.