1952 Bowman Large Football

I'm scared to death about the Dawgs' SEC opener in South Carolina today. What is that you ask? Why would a top ranked team be worried about a bunch of Cocks? Well, this is why:

1. South Carolina freaking HATES us. I know several Gamecock fans and there is no greater joy in their life than beating Georgia.
2. The game is in Colombia this year.
3. They whooped our ass last year in our own house and cost us a shot at the National Championship.
4. Three little words: STEVE. FECKING. SPURRIER.

So yeah, I'm terrified. I'll probably commiserate with Larry Munson on the radio while flipping back and forth between the Dawgs, Jackets and Braves (have fun Mark!) on TV. Hopefully Knowshon can run over some people and the Dawgs can control the ball. As a lucky talisman to ward off disaster here's an old Bulldog card from 1952 to coax Lady Luck out of hiding.

This is a 1952 Bowman football card. This is the large sized version and is the size of Bowman's '53-'55 sets. There is also a mini version of the set in the size of their '52 baseball cards. I think these are the first large sized cards from Bowman. The change in size was probably a reaction to Topps' huge '52 baseball set.

Claude was one of many Georgia All-Americans from the olden days. The d-back from Waycross served in the Marines and was later drafted by the Steelers. He played for two years in the league and I guess he went on to use that marketing degree as I can't find any recent information on him. No time to look now, it's almost kickoff! Maybe Claude will be there in spirit to pick off a couple passes from Beecher or Smelley (the guy's actual name*) or whoever will be quarterbacking the Cocks today.

Gooooooooooooo Dawgs! Sic 'em! WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF

*(No I'm not going to make the obvious joke, you already thought it anyway. )

UPDATE: See why this damn game always scares me to death? One slip up against these guys and the season is ruined. The offense always goes to hell during this game too, Spurrier has spies in Athens or something. The spirit of Claude came through for the Dawgs with Rashad Jones' interception in the closing seconds to save the game. I'm sure he had something to do with Asher fumble recovery also. Talk about hunkering down... Next week won't be any easier, as the Dawgs travel to the desert to take on Arizona State. Then it's Alabama and Tennessee. Man, the schedule is brutal this year.