LORAN SMITH: Two longtime UGA fans have memories of Sanford Stadium’s debut

Sanford Stadium was built “in the hollow at the foot of Lumpkin Street,” historians have often reminded us, and what a glorious day it was on October 12, 1929, when the pristine facility was dedicated with an overflowing crowd that included dignitaries from several Southern States.

Even 89 years after that memorable day in which Georgia defeated Yale, 15-0, it is fun recalling the game accounts along with the countless sidebars, vignettes and satellite events which make it one of the most unforgettable football Saturdays in intercollegiate history.

Many of the heroes of the game became good friends — including Catfish Smith, Bobby Rose, Herb Maffett, Spurgeon Chandler and Red Leathers. The Georgia coach, Harry Mehre, had retired from coaching by the time I landed in Athens but he was a fixture with the press (media was not yet in vogue) with a seasoned penchant for insightful critique and a bent for humor.

Fifty years later in 1979, the game played closest to the anniversary date was the LSU game on Oct. 13. A milestone reunion brought most of the living players back after a half century. With the able financial assistance of Coach Bill Hartman, Chairman of the Georgia Student Educational Fund, we were able to include Waldo Greene, the Yale Captain in 1929, in the festivities.

As long as Sanford Stadium stands, there will be flashbacks and recollections to its “birthday.” It is a handsome and becoming facility which was ahead of its time when it hosted Yale between the infant hedges. Its history will endure with distinction.

There remains a link to that glorious day. At least two fans who saw the game are living and enjoy recalling their connection with that piece of Bulldog history, Mrs. Louise Jordan of Albany and Carolyn Kimsey Griffeth of Athens.

I have interviewed both, who remain loyal UGA fans. Louise Jordan soon will be 106 years old, and Carolyn Griffeth is 100 years old. Ask each one of them about the big star of the game and they quickly sound forth, “Catfish Smith.”

As all serious Georgia fans are aware, Catfish scored all 15 points in the shutout of Yale. One New York newspaper headline sounded forth with, “Catfish 15, Yale 0.”

Recently, Carolyn Griffeth was honored by a visit from head coach Kirby Smart, who thanked her for “…one hundred years of support.” He left her with an autographed football, which made her day. As her black cat, “Conway Twitty,” purred about, she asked Kirby a familiar refrain. She wanted to know if he were going “to win all the games this fall.”

Born in Gainesville, Mrs. Griffith was driving her car into her late 90s. She was the housemother at the AOPi and Tri Delta sororities at Georgia, but admitted to “foreign assignment” at the University of Florida and Florida State in the decade of the 1980s.

She has had a close tie with Georgia football since she was a small girl. In the old days she got to go into the press box with her dad, who worked for Western Union.

“That was a lot of fun sitting in the press box,” she said.

More than likely she met Dan Magill, who was a stringer for the Athens Banner-Herald about that time and later would become Georgia’s versatile and accomplished sports information director. She, too, probably crossed paths with the aforementioned Harry Mehre, the coach who became a sportswriter.

While she can no longer make it to games between the hedges, you will find her keeping up with the Bulldogs via television. She likes to reminisce about the great players whom she saw perform between the hedges. She can tick off their names: Bill Hartman. Catfish Smith. Frank Sinkwich. Charley Trippi. Fran Tarkenton and Pat Dye.

“I have seen some great football players in my time,” she said.

Her doting family nodded in agreement. With that, John Parker, who arranged for the young Bulldogs coach to some spend time with Mrs. Griffeth, said, “And you have just met one of Georgia’s greatest coaches. He’s early in his career, but he is destined to become a coaching legend.”

She enthusiastically nodded in agreement.

Loran Smith is co-host of “The Tailgate Show” and sideline announcer for Georgia football. He is also a freelance writer and columnist.