My Personal Bobby Dodd Story
My father told me an interesting story about Bobby Dodd a couple of weeks ago. I asked him how much time Mama had actually spent with his father. This is the story he told:
First a little background. My father was a cheerleader at Ga Tech. He loved it - both the school and being a cheerleader. He was too small to play football, so that was his only way to get on the field. Through cheerleading he could be on the field and still be sociable. He didn't have to practice nearly as much as the guys who played football. Also, his best friend was a cheerleader too. It was a great thing for him.
So anyway... In case you live outside the state of Georgia, the big college rivalry here is Ga Tech vs. University of Ga. That football game is always played over Thanksgiving weekend. I don't know if Daddy regularly got two tickets to every game because he was a cheerleader or just because he was a student. Anyway, one particular year both of his tickets were spoken for between my mother (who he was only dating at the time) and his brother.
But Daddy really wanted his father to come to the game. Since it was over Thanksgiving, I guess my grandfather decided that he could come. So Daddy was trying to get a third ticket every way he knew. Being the biggest game of the season, he couldn't find a ticket anywhere. He finally decided to go straight to the top and ask Coach Bobby Dodd.
He put on his cheerleading uniform and approached Coach Dodd. He explained that his father had never been to a college game, but he really wanted his father to see this game. He ended his story by asking, "Coach do you have one ticket I can buy?" Coach Dodd answered, "I don't have a ticket you can buy, but you can have this ticket." How cool. My grandfather got to see his son cheer at the biggest game of the year thanks to Bobby Dodd. (I can't find a link to know who won the game, though.)
The touching ending to this story is that my grandfather died on December 7th of that year. So he was in Atlanta all weekend, hung out with my mother, went to the game at Coach Dodd's generosity and then died a couple of weeks later.
First a little background. My father was a cheerleader at Ga Tech. He loved it - both the school and being a cheerleader. He was too small to play football, so that was his only way to get on the field. Through cheerleading he could be on the field and still be sociable. He didn't have to practice nearly as much as the guys who played football. Also, his best friend was a cheerleader too. It was a great thing for him.
So anyway... In case you live outside the state of Georgia, the big college rivalry here is Ga Tech vs. University of Ga. That football game is always played over Thanksgiving weekend. I don't know if Daddy regularly got two tickets to every game because he was a cheerleader or just because he was a student. Anyway, one particular year both of his tickets were spoken for between my mother (who he was only dating at the time) and his brother.
But Daddy really wanted his father to come to the game. Since it was over Thanksgiving, I guess my grandfather decided that he could come. So Daddy was trying to get a third ticket every way he knew. Being the biggest game of the season, he couldn't find a ticket anywhere. He finally decided to go straight to the top and ask Coach Bobby Dodd.
He put on his cheerleading uniform and approached Coach Dodd. He explained that his father had never been to a college game, but he really wanted his father to see this game. He ended his story by asking, "Coach do you have one ticket I can buy?" Coach Dodd answered, "I don't have a ticket you can buy, but you can have this ticket." How cool. My grandfather got to see his son cheer at the biggest game of the year thanks to Bobby Dodd. (I can't find a link to know who won the game, though.)
The touching ending to this story is that my grandfather died on December 7th of that year. So he was in Atlanta all weekend, hung out with my mother, went to the game at Coach Dodd's generosity and then died a couple of weeks later.
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