“The story of Harry Mehre is quite remarkable,” Maxwell penned in chapter one. “He played football at Notre Dame under the legendary Coach Knute Rockne. He held the position of head coach at the University of Georgia and at Ole Miss. Later, Harry enjoyed a second career as a highly-respected sports writer and football analyst.”

Maxwell’s 240-page book chronicles Mehre’s life and career through the use of photos, interviews, news clippings, as well as audio and video.

“The most important thing to understand about Harry Mehre is there’s never been one like him, and there never will be,” Maxwell told the Athens Banner-Herald. “This book is my attempt to capture the complexity and diversity that made Harry Mehre great.”

Covering Coach Mehre’s life chronologically, the book begins with his career as a Notre Dame football player in the early 1920s.

Maxwell then dives into Athens, where Mehre started his career as a University of Georgia assistant football coach in 1924 and head football coach four years later.

Maxwell tells this part of Mehre’s story using personal letters between the legendary coach and his mentor, Notre Dame Coach Knute Rockne.

“One of the really cool chapters in the book are the Knute Rockne letters, letters between Rockne and Mehre talking about their common enemy — Georgia Tech,” Maxwell said.

The author said that the book is just as much about Notre Dame as it is about UGA.

“People forget that Mehre was a ‘Damer.’ That’s where he learned it all,” he said.

​Also in the book is life after retirement, his 25-year career as a sports writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the end of his life that includes obituaries written by notable people such as Lewis Grizzard and Furman Bisher.

Maxwell also included more than 60 scannable QR codes, which give the reader access to over four hours of audio and video footage with game film; interviews with Vince Dooley and Charlie Trippi as well as the last known audio of Mehre.

“It’s cool to tell these stories,” Maxwell said. “But how much cooler is it to hear the person who lived it tell it?”
 
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Playing at the Rose Bowl may have seemed more like a dream than a reality for many Georgia football players well before the season started, as far as back as their last year on their high school football team.

“As a young kid I wasn’t worried about football very much,” senior tail back Nick Chubb told The Red & Black.

Chubb played at Cedartown High School while fellow senior tail back Sony Michel was at American Heritage and senior offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn was at Lakewood High School.

“I never thought about it or even considered playing in California,” Wynn said. “But I think it will be a good experience.”

Built in 1922, the Rose Bowl Stadium is host to the oldest bowl game in the nation – the Rose Bowl Game.  Just like the Notre Dame game, this is one of the historic sites Georgia fans dream of going to watch their team play at.

For the players, their frame of mind during the next few days is much different although they still appreciate the history of the place they will be playing and are thrilled about it.

“Not many SEC teams can say they’ve had the chance to play in the Rose Bowl,” Michel said. “So I think it’s a very special opportunity for us to be able to play in that game.”

Still, the coaching staff for the Bulldogs is trying to make sure the No. 3 team avoids distractions before the big game in Pasadena, California.

“None of us have been out there, none of us have had the chance to experience it, we’ve only seen it on TV and heard about it,” senior linebacker Lorenzo Carter said. “But I’m sure Coach Smart will make sure we’re not too overwhelmed, or too caught up in the experience because at the end of the day we have a game to play.”
 
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Last weekend former Georgia golfer Harang Lee received conditional status for the 2018 LPGA Tour after tying for 45th place in the final stage of Q School at the LPGA International Courses in Daytona, Florida.

The Spanish native was a two-time All-American for the Georgia Bulldogs before graduating last year. She covered the 90-hole event at 2-over 362.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted,” Lee told The Red & Black. “It wasn’t exactly the week I wanted to have because I made some mistakes and didn’t get full status.”

Of the 166 players who participated in the event, the top 20 golfers earned full status while those finishing 21st-45th place got conditional status for next year’s Tour.

LPGA status is actually reshuffled twice within the season, which gives conditional players who perform well the chance to upgrade to full status.

When she is not competing in LPGA tournaments next year, Lee will play on the Symetra Futures Tour.

“I’m really happy for Harang to achieve conditional status and be a member of the LPGA,” Georgia women’s golf head coach Josh Brewer said. “She came here to Georgia because she wanted to play the Tour, and now she gets that opportunity. Whether she’s playing in tournaments on the LPGA or Symetra Tour next year, Harang will be competing against the best players in the world. I’m very confident she will have great success.”

Lee opened the tournament with a 1-over 73 that put her in a tie for 45th place.

“I knew going into the final round I needed a low round to get full status,” Lee said. “I was hitting it close and had some great chances, but it seemed like I wasn’t able to make any of them.”

Lee managed a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the fifth round to secure her conditional status for next year’s Tour.

“I didn’t know it made the difference at the time,” Lee said. “I didn’t know for sure until later.”

While at Georgia, Lee earned All-America and first-team All-SEC recognition for the second consecutive year last spring to complete her collegiate career. She competed in 43 events for the Bulldogs from 2013-2017, earning 13 top-10 and 21 top-20 individual finishes.

Lee is the 18th Georgia golfer to earn playing status on the LPGA Tour.

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Last Sunday Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith was named the winner of the 2017 Butkus Award, which is an honor given to the top linebacker in the nation. Smith was the first player in Georgia history to receive this special distinction.

The junior took 60 percent of the first place votes for the award just a day after racking up 13 tackles and recovering two fumbles to lead Georgia's defense in a 28-7 win over Auburn in the SEC championship.

He also earned MVP honors in the game, as reported in The Red & Black. In the 2017 season, Smith has led the team with 113 tackles and recorded 5.5 sacks.

The Montezuma, Ga., native competed with four other finalists, Michigan's Devin Bush, Virginia Tech's Tremaine Edwards, Wisconsin's T.J. Edwards and Clemson's Dorian O'Daniel.

Georgia's defense, which was led by Smith, ranks fourth in total defense, allowing 279 yards per game to opposing offenses.

Despite the good news of the SEC Championship win and Smith’s award, the Bulldogs also received some bad news.

Georgia linebacker Natrez Patrick was arrested following the game according to an online booking report, as first reported by UGASports.com.

According to the report, the arrest took place at 11:50 p.m. in Barrow County. Patrick’s bond was set at $1,030.

No other details were provided in the report. 

Sixth on the team this season with 35 total tackles, he has also recorded 2.5 tackles for a loss on the year. He also made three tackles in the SEC championship game.

This would make Patrick’s third arrest while on the Georgia football team, and the second one of the year. Patrick was suspended four games earlier in the year after his second arrest for marijuana possession. 

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