FanHouse UGA

The University of Georgia's awesome English bulldog UGA VI died Saturday at the age of nine of congestive heart failure.

He is a dog so these things happen from time to time, and Georgia will most certainly have a succession pooch ready in short order. But it's sad news just the same, as UGA is one of the better live mascots in all of sport and a face for the entire Georgia athletics program.

UGA was a fixture "between the hedges" on the Georgia sidelines at football games, taking in his 'Dawgs and offering a few barks when the mood struck. He actually goes down as the winningest UGA in program history, as Georgia football went 87-27 during his tenure. How much of that was due to coach Mark Richt and how much was the good grace of UGA, we'll let you decide.

Regardless we enjoyed writing about him here. There was actually speculation last year might be his last before heading to retirement, but it appears a call to puppy heaven made that decision for his owner, Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler. Our condolences to Seiler and the entire Georgia athletics family.

Interesting trivia: Seiler -- and UGA V -- were prominently featured in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil".

Much more coverage can be found at Georgia Sports Blog.

And I couldn't be happier. Too bad he can't run anymore.

"He's no spring chicken," [owner Sonny] Seiler said of Uga VI, who took over as a 1-year-old for the second game of the 1999 season. "We can't run him anymore. But he still does his thing, which is mostly eat, sleep and poop."

I'm a late arrival to the whole Uga fandom thing, but I'm glad I got in on it. I was sold after seeing the English bulldog and his owner star in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". The movie is based on Seiler's real-life lawyering in defense of one of the movie's characters. His acting chops were solid enough to earn him the role despite no acting background.

Seiler and his family double as real-life owners of the line of 'Dawgs that represent the University on the sidelines each Saturday afternon.

There's been speculation that this year will be the current Uga's last as he's entering uncharted territory.

He celebrated his ninth birthday with a backyard party at Seiler's Savannah home on July 22. Only Uga I (1956-66) served as mascot past his 10th birthday. "

Hopefully he can make it through many more. I'm not a Georgia alum or fan, but there's no other way to end this other than with 'Go Dawgs!'

(Via: Ben Maller)