I took the above picture with my phone just before sitting next to "Buzz" on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags two years ago. I've never smelled such a pungent odor combination of whiskey, Clearasil, and mothballs.OK, so it's very possible that most older Georgia fans out there already know this, but I know that there are plenty in the Bulldog Nation who don't.
In 1983, an artist named Mike Lester designed a yellow jacket named Buzz. Mike Lester is a Georgia alumnus.
WHAT?
So the beloved mascot and logo of Georgia Tech, a school where most of the fans LIVE to hate Georgia, was created by a former Dawg?
My first question is: Why would Tech let this happen, even back in the 1980s? They have always hated Georgia, and when choosing their new mascot and logo, why did they HAVE to choose one created by a Georgia alumnus? Couldn't someone else in the state draw a bee and give it a cutesy name?
Now I don't know Mike Lester, and apparently a lot of Tech fans already know about this and act like they're fine with it. Hey, maybe Mike Lester actually hated Georgia even though he went to school there. Maybe he was always a Tech fan. I don't know at all. But even if he was, why would Tech choose a logo created by a Georgia alum?
Imagine if having a white English bulldog named Uga was an idea given to Sonny Seiler by a Tech grad. Or if a Tech grad designed Sanford Stadium. Wouldn't that be a constant teasing point for Tech fans to chuckle at Georgia?
I just thought it was interesting.
PS: This is not meant in any way to make fun of Mike Lester. Anyone would be happy to sell their work to a big school, even if it was a rival institution. I'm more confused as to why Tech would want to use a Georgia alum's work in the first place.
I had once heard that some of the dorms were designed by a Tech grad and that he was actually attempting to spell out TECH from a birds eye view of the dorms. UGA put the kibash on this once they found out, but you can still see through the designs what he was trying to sneak in.
ReplyDeletenot sure how much truth there is in all that
I also heard a rumor from a Tech student that there is brickwork somwhere on UGA's campus that has a subtle GT logo.
ReplyDeleteJust think if TMZ ran with this story.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteI've heard a similar rumor, but I was told that it was a Tennessee fan/grad who made Creswell dormitory shaped like a T from above.
Anon at 11:56,
I haven't heard that one before. Interesting.
Anon at 11:58,
I'm trying my hardest to sell it to them. They're way too busy with Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson right now. They did, though, find time to write about A.J. Green yesterday.
http://www.tmz.com/2010/07/21/university-of-georgia-bulldogs-football-aj-green-investigation-south-beach-party/
I've noticed that the johns in the restrooms at UGA are shaped like Buzz's head.
ReplyDeleteThis is not true. A GT Alumni Richie Bland started the BUZZ mascot. Your facts are all wrong
ReplyDelete