R.I.P. Uga VII

Over the past two seasons, we’ve been able to spend a good deal of time with some great Georgia Bulldogs fans.

A chunk of us were lucky enough to make the trip down to Athens and be embraced by the warm hospitality of Georgia fans.

Of course, one of the staples of Georgia football is their live mascot, a line of pure white bulldogs that roam the sidelines at UGA games.

Today, the Uga that made the trip to Tempe and guarded Sanford Stadium when ASU went down to Georgia earlier this season passed away.

Uga VII, whose official name was “Loran’s Best,” apparently had a heart attack without warning and died this morning.

He goes down as having the shortest tenure of any Uga in Georgia history. The Bulldogs went 16-7 with Uga VII on the sideline.

Savannah, GA natives Sonny and Cecelia Seiler have been breeding English bulldogs to be Georgia mascots since 1956 and Sonny said that Uga VII died “without warning.”

I got to hang around with the Dawgs mascot during their trip to ASU last season and he couldn’t have been sweeter. You all have probably read my recollection of my meeting with him, which involved Uga, then only in his 4th game as the Georgia mascot, chewing on the bottom of my jeans as I stood on the sideline.

Georgia won’t have a mascot on their sidelines this weekend when the Bulldogs take on Kentucky in Athens.

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