My little wife makes terrific chili dawgs. Since we both went to UGA all things "dog" must be spelled with an "aw." I was reading a blog about how to order at the varsity this morning, just for amusement of course since I know how to order at the varsity. We had two in Athens in the old days. Only one today. And I got a hankering for a chili dawg. The wife makes chili every so often (without the beans for me) and freezes some small containers of the fine stuff, just enough in each container to slather on two nekkid dawgs. Now if we can only figure out how they make those rings.

I remember my Dad taking me there in the 57 chevy, back about that time and how it frightened me when a man jumped on our car hood and started singing and spouting poetry. He was of course a "car hop" and took our order and brought us our food. About the only thing I would eat back then was a nekkid dawg. Stupid kid. You jump on someone's beamer today and they'll pull out a gun and shoot you. And it will just barely make the paper.

Our team lost its first football game 49 to 14 last night. This same team beat us 44 to 6 last year but had to forfeit to us because one of their players turned out to be 23. We don't do well in football. It looks like to me that maybe we should stop playing. I've been here for 10 years now and I don't think we've won 20 games in all that time. Couldn't we find something else to spend a million dollars a year on in our community? We have a new football field. We are talking dirt here. The old dirt was not satisfactory, didn't drain properly and all. So they took away our old dirt and we got $50,000 worth of new dirt and grass last year. They laid it down with a laser beam so the crown was exactly right. (The other day before the second preseason game ((That's right! I said preseason game. When exactly did high school boys start having preseason games? We also have games for ninth graders and junior varsity games)) we had a downpour and the field was under water on one end so we had to play the whole game going south. When teams got to the 50 we turned them around. Fortunately no one broke a long one and had to swim for the goal line.) And we also got a new stadium and press box and sound system. The place looks great. Every year the kids pour out to cheer for the first couple of games and then by the last game (I go to them all), you can throw a rock in the stands and not hit anyone. Do you know that the football coach is usually the highest paid staff member on almost every high school faculty. At least in Georgia that is the case. A half dozen years ago they published all the coaches salaries in the news paper. I was astonished to see that most made over $80,000 and some over $100,000. I think I was bringing in about $32,000 at the time and felt a little humiliated. And all that remuneration for the coach is good for principals as well since they have to make more than any faculty member. You guessed it. Principals are not against high salaries for football coaches.

I coach singers and I get a stipend for that too. I get the same stipend that the assistant baskeball coach gets.