Georgia

A tribute to ‘Senator Blutarsky.’ The Bulldog fan (and critic) behind ‘Get The Picture’ blog

Published

2 years ago

February 10, 2024

A tribute to ‘Senator Blutarsky.’ The Bulldog fan (and critic) behind ‘Get The Picture’ blog

Writing about Georgia football serves a passionate fan base that wants to know about every nook and cranny going on with the program.

We have metrics that tell you which stories click with readers and which ones fizzle.

There are writing awards that are a measure of quality work. A pay increase shows you are appreciated as well.

Really, though, there’s probably nothing as a beat writer that validated your work more than if Michael Brochstein, who posted under the handle “Senator Blutarsky,” thought it was worthy of offering his sharp insight into a story you wrote on his “Get The Picture,” Georgia-centric blog.

If he did, it often times felt like hitting a home run. If he didn’t, you thought, huh, maybe that wasn’t as good an angle as I thought.

We bring all this up because it’s a sad weekend for the countless Georgia fans who went to Brochstein’s blog for his perspective—not hot takes—on everything from Mike Bobo and Todd Monken’s playcalling, Kirby Smart’s “manball” philosophy to players emerging from an alley on scooters and getting ticketed by UGA police years ago.

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In the fall, his “Observations From the 35,” gave his sharp-eyed take on what he saw from his Sanford Stadium seat of the game that just passed.

It was an online community for fans to gather to see and chime in on Brochstein’s view on hot button issues in college football and everything and anything related to Georgia football.

The blog had some stops and starts more recently due to health issues—”getting old leaves something to be desired” he wrote in the first week of January after a slowdown on the blog. His final post came on Jan. 23 asking how much Georgia fans were contributing to the Bulldogs’ collective given Ohio State fans reportedly were shelling out big bucks.

Brochstein passed away Thursday, according to a post on his blog Friday night.

Who was the man behind Senator Blutarsky? Here’s what he said in an email to me on Oct. 20, 2014 when I had him and other Georgia bloggers join us for our old podcast.

“As far as background goes, I’m a 1980 graduate of the UGA law school and a season ticket holder since 1981. I live in Atlanta. I started the blog immediately after the 2006 Georgia-Georgia Tech game and haven’t looked back since.”

The photo on top of the blog was Vince Dooley and James Brown together.

“Dooley’s Junkyard Dawgs” is the greatest college football song ever,” he wrote as a truth that is self evident on the blog.

That fit perfectly for someone who did musical palate cleansers with videos of the likes of the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, Beatles and most recently the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.’

The tributes poured in starting Friday night on X (formerly Twitter):

“This hits hard. Georgia fans have lost one of their best voices. I enjoyed everything he wrote (envy and jealousy, indeed,) and I marveled at how he kept at it day after day. I hope he knew how essential he was to so many of us. RIP, Senator.—Brian Sugrue who posts at Dawgsonline.com.

“The Senator was the gold standard of CFB blogging, an inspiration. Legend. From his daily guidance of NCAA muddy waters, to fun sh** like the Montana Project,the @MummePoll,his viewpoint ‘tween the hedges…deeply sad. So RIP good Senator Blutarsky, will miss you daily—Chris Burnette of Bernie’s Dawg Blog.

“Damn this is really, really terrible news. He had by far the best Georgia specific blog that I’ve been reading for 15 years at least. I always looked forward to his recaps And good Lord did he hate Auburn Rest in Peace Senator Blutarsky. We’re really gonna miss you.”—Three Year Letterman, a light-hearted account that portrays himself as a “Youth Football Coaching Legend.”

“The Senator was the best of Dawg Nation. There aren’t really any words, only he might would have the right ones. Prayers to his family and Heaven got another DGD tonight.”—CoachBG30.

Brochstein was born in Houston and lived in Athens since 1960, according to his LinkedIn page. He graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Economics in 1977.

“Three years of watching Virginia’s football program go down the toilet had soured me on the sport as a whole,” he wrote for a Bill Connelly SB Nation story in 2013 where he listed his 10 favorite college football games. “ [Georgia radio announcer] Larry Munson rekindled my love in one night with a radio call that Lewis Grizzard aptly described as ‘better than being there.’ Munson never did call the winning kick good. It didn’t matter.”

Brochstein practiced law in the areas of residential and commercial real estate after becoming a cum laude graduate of the UGA School of Law. He was a speaker on regulation and compliance topics to bank and mortgage companies.

Brochstein surely would have had something to say Friday about Chip Kelly bolting from the UCLA head coaching job to become Ohio State offensive coordinator.

His voice will be sorely missed.

Marc Weiszer is the UGA beat writer for the Athens Banner-Herald. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @marcweiszer.

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Georgia

Georgia Men Defeat Florida State; Women Take Down Florida State and Arkansas

Published

7 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Georgia Men Defeat Florida State; Women Take Down Florida State and Arkansas

Georgia vs Arkansas vs Florida State

January 10, 2026
Athens, GA — Gabrielsen Natatorium
SCY (25 Yards)
Full Meet Results
Team Scores Women
- #14 Georgia 170 — Florida State 116
- #14 Georgia 169 — Arkansas 124
- Arkansas 195 — Florida State 101
Team Scores Men
- #4 Georgia 183.5 — #10 Florida State 114.5

The Georgia Bulldogs swept Florida State and the women also took down Arkansas in their first dual meet of 2026. The Arkansas women beat Florida State in their dual, 195 to 101.

Women’s Meet Recap

The #14 ranked UGA women easily defeated Florida State and Arkansas in their double dual meet on Saturday, outscoring Florida State by more than 50 and Arkansas by more than 40.

Despite earning the overall win, the Georgia women did not take home either relay titles, but they had the fastest times in most of the individual events.

Freshman Kennedi Dobson continued to build on her strong NCAA season, taking home three event wins with the top times in the 1000 free, 200 back, and 500 free. In the 1000, she swam 9:29.05, a new personal best time and the 3rd fastest time in the country this season.

She also swam the 200 back and 500 free double, which sees only the 200 breast come in between, setting a new best time in the 200 back of 1:53.66 and in the 500 free, she swam 4:39.48 for the win.

The only other Georgia swimmer to set the fastest time in multiple events was Ieva Maluka. She won the 200 fly in 1:56.29, a new season best time. She also had the fastest time in the 200 IM, touching in 1:58.11, but the Bulldogs exhibitioned the last event to allow Arkansas and Florida State to score more points.

Charlotte Headland and Elizabeth Nawrocki split the breaststroke events for Georgia. Headland swam the 100 breast in a personal best 1:00.50, building on her progression this season. She came into the year at 1:01.39, and has dropped three times since then.

Nawrocki, a freshman, swam 2:11.48, just missing her personal and season best of 2:08.44 This swim was still more than a second faster than the 2:13.00 she started college with.

Marie Landreneau won the women’s 200 freestyle for Georgia, touching in 1:44.46 to beat teammate Shea Furse‘s 1:46.77 by a little over two seconds.

Finally, senior Olivia Della Torre won the 100 fly in 53.09, just off her season and personal best of 52.95 from the UGA Fall Invitational.

Arkansas bested Florida State in their dual meet, due, in part, to the strong performance from Harriet Rogers. Rogers won both the 50 and 100 free, swimming 22.23 in the 50 and 48.77 in the 100 to earn the top spots.

Holly Robinson won the 200 IM with her 2:03.06 coming in as the fastest non-Georgia swimmer, so she won the event, picking up nine points for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas also won the 400 free relay. Tammy Greenwood led off in 49.69. Rogers swam 48.38. Delaney Harrison was 3rd in 49.54, and Viola Petrini swam 49.73.

They also had the top two divers at the meet with Lotti Hubert earning the top spot on the 1 meter board in 314.75, leading three other Razorbacks to take the top four overall spots in the event. The 3 meter went to Maria Jose Sanchez in 348.00, more than 20 points ahead of 2nd place Kayleigh Clark from Florida State.

Florida State won one individual event and one relay. They started the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay with their team of Alice Velden (24.50), Martina Fanunza (28.07), Maryn McDade (22.95), and Mary Leigh Hardman (22.20) swimming 1:37.72 to beat the Georgia ‘A’ team by half-a-second.

Velden also won the 100 backstroke in 53.76, missing her season best of 52.40 by about a second.

Men’s Meet Recap

The men’s meet was just a dual meet between Georgia and Florida State, and the Bulldogs came out on top, scoring 183.5 points to Florida State’s 114.5.

Georgia won both relays, starting with the top time in the 200 medley relay where they swam 1:24.38 to come in just two tenths ahead of Florida State. Luca Urlando led off for Georgia, splitting 21.10 to earn the Georgia team a near seven tenth lead. Elliot Woodburn was 23.94 on the breaststroke, Ruard Van Renen split 20.18 on the butterfly, and Tane Bidois was 19.16 on the freestyle.

Florida State’s relay consisted of Max Wilson (21.77), Tommaso Baravelli (23.72), Michel Arkhangelskiy (19.91), and Sam Bork (19.20), and they touched in 1:24.60.

The 400 freestyle relay was made up of Van Renen (43.26), Tomas Koski (42.81), Bidois (43.04), and Luke Sandberg (43.21) swimming 2:52.32 to win the event by more than two seconds.

Luca Urlando won three events for the Bulldogs, swimming 1:39.59 in the 200 fly to win by almost four seconds over teammate Drew Hitchcock. He also won the 100 fly in 45.27, coming in more than a second ahead of Florida State’s Michel Arkhangelskiy‘s 46.72

Urlando also swam the 200 IM for the first time this season, touching in 1:42.95, the 15th fastest time in the country this season.

Georgia freshman Sean Green won two events, swimming 8:57.64 in the 1000 and 4:19.57 in the 500.

Hayden Meyers and Ruard Van Renen split the backstroke events. Van Renen won the 100 back in 44.68 and Meyers won the 200 back in 1:41.66.

Florida State picked up event wins in both distances of breaststroke and the 50 and 100 freestyles. Michel Arkhangelskiy won the 50 free in 19.64 and he won the 100 free in 42.92, off his season best times in both.

Tommaso Baravelli won the 100 breast for the Seminoles in 53.63, coming in more than half-a-second ahead of teammate Liam O’Connor‘s 54.26 in 2nd.

Mathias Christensen won the 200 breast in 1:57.15, just 17 hundredths ahead of Georgia’s Cale Martter, who swam 1:57.32.

Up Next

Georgia will race Tennessee on January 24th in Knoxville.

Florida State will host Florida on January 30th.

Arkansas will race kansas on January 23rd in Kansas.

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Georgia

Alabama linebacker to transfer to Georgia Tech

Published

19 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Georgia Tech

Pro Football Focus graded Noah Carter Alabama’s third-best tackler this season.

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton runs against Alabama linebacker Noah Carter during the first half of a Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (Mike Stewart/AP)

A third Alabama player is transferring to Georgia Tech for the 2026 season.

Noah Carter, a 6-foot-4, 243-pound linebacker, intends to transfer to Tech, On3 reported Saturday. Carter spent two seasons with the Crimson Tide.

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Chad Bishop is a Georgia Tech sports reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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Georgia

Arsenal lead hunt for Georgia Stanway with England midfielder to leave Bayern in summer

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Arsenal lead hunt for Georgia Stanway with England midfielder to leave Bayern in summer

Arsenal are among the leading candidates to sign Georgia Stanway this summer after Bayern Munich confirmed the England midfielder would leave the German club when her contract expires.

According to sources, the north London club are understood to be one of a number of teams interested in acquiring the 27-year-old on a free transfer, but Renée Slegers’ team are leading the running having tracked Stanway’s progress and are eager to add a world-class midfielder to their squad.

Stanway helped England win back-to-back European titles as well as being part of a Bayern Munich team that have won three consecutive Frauen Bundesliga titles since she arrived in the summer of 2022.

Bayern’s director of women’s football, Bianca Rech, praised her “commitment and character”, adding in a statement on Saturday: “As the first English player at FC Bayern Women, Georgia Stanway not only made history but also stole our hearts. We talked a lot and openly about her future, and when she told us that she now wanted to try something new, her reasons were completely understandable.”

Stanway posted on social media that she had made lifelong friends at the German club and told the club: “I will give everything for the club and its sporting success until my very last day, just as I have for the past three and a half years. And I want to say goodbye to the club and the fans at the end of the season with as many titles as possible.”

Aston Villa are set to sign the France midfielder Oriane Jean-François from Chelsea for £450,000 in a club-record fee for a sale by the London side. It is understood that the deal is agreed and the 24-year-old’s move should be finalised in the coming days. The former Paris Saint-Germain player has been with Chelsea since 2024.

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