Georgia

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

Published

11 months 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

Texas ran all over Clemson, and the Longhorns may have Georgia to thank for that

Published

6 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Texas ran all over Clemson, and the Longhorns may have Georgia to thank for that

AUSTIN — Yeah, yeah, sure. Georgia has beaten Texas twice already this year. The Bulldogs have done their best to ruin a perfectly good season on the Forty Acres. If not for Georgia, well, Texas wouldn’t even have had to go to work Saturday.

But hear us out: Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

After all, Texas got another Bevo Walk, one more time for an experienced senior class to soak in the atmosphere of 101,150 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It gave the Longhorns one more opportunity to hear Matthew McConaughey get weird on the sound system. Most importantly, it gave the Longhorns another opportunity to get back to what they actually do really well: Run the damn ball.

In a 38-24 win over Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff, Texas outmuscled and then outran the overmatched Tigers defense for a season-high 292 yards and four touchdowns. Texas will take its regrouped ground game back to Atlanta, site of the most recent loss to Georgia, to play Arizona State in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl on Jan. 1.

Texas split things up pretty evenly: Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue each got two. Wisner did most of the hard running early; Blue — who had touchdown runs of 38 and 77 yards, the latter coming after Clemson had closed within one score — did the speed work. End of the night: Blue had 146 yards, Wisner, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter to rest a knee he “banged” late in the first half, had 110.

It was, in a lot of ways, just like coach Steve Sarkisian drew it up after Georgia held the Longhorns to 31 yards 10 days ago in a 22-19 overtime loss in the SEC Championship.

“One of the first bullet points I put up in the room was ‘run to win,’” Sarkisian said of his workweek message to his team. “We needed to run to win this game. And we’re going to need to run the football to advance in these playoffs. That’s what playoff football is about. So, we really challenged them on the run game.”

They responded. Just as they did the first time Georgia beat them back in October and held the running game to 29 yards. Texas followed that up with three 200-plus-yard games on the ground in the five games ‘twixt Georgia meetings.

Against Clemson, it was important to demonstrate that the issue was just a Georgia thing. Clemson was the perfect opponent for Texas to reestablish the ground game. Clemson entered the playoff ranked 73rd in the country — last among the playoff teams — in run defense. There was a weakness to exploit and eventually a message to send to the rest of the remaining playoff field: Sarkisian may have been a quarterback once and may remain a quarterback at heart, but Texas will run to win. Arizona State, consider your Sun Devils warned.

“The run game is really important for us on a lot of levels,” Sarkisian said. “One, our offense is better when we can run it, because then the balance can really kick in for us. It opens up a lot that we do. When we can run it effectively, teams have to prepare for a lot when they’re getting ready to play us.”

On Saturday, this is how effective Texas’ running game was: It literally didn’t matter who was where on the offensive line. Texas got left tackle Kelvin Banks, who missed the SEC championship game, back Saturday, but lost center Jake Majors and right tackle Cameron Williams on successive plays late in the first half. Guard Hayden Conner moved over to center and Cole Hutson moved into the offensive line, which was jumbled to say the least. Worked good enough to spring Blue on a 77-yard TD run through the right side three plays after Clemson had cut a onetime 28-10 lead to 31-24. On both of Blue’s long touchdown runs, Ewers had checked off a pass play after reading the Clemson defensive set.

It was also good vindication for Blue, who dealt with issues holding on to the ball earlier this season, and had fallen into more of a secondary role to Wisner.

“The guys up front, those guys paved the way for me,” Blue said. “We made a big emphasis that we’re going to have to run the ball in order to win this game.”

For that, Texas can somehow thank Georgia for the reminder.

So far, so good: See photos from Texas’ first-round College Football Playoff win over Clemson in Austin

Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Georgia

Notre Dame vs. Georgia: Odds and how to watch the Allstate Sugar Bowl

Published

14 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Notre Dame vs. Georgia: Odds and how to watch the Allstate Sugar Bowl

The first round of the College Football Playoff lived up to expectations, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish claimed a quarterfinal spot after defeating the Indiana Hoosiers in snowy South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish will face the No. 2 seeded Georgia Bulldogs in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish secured their first playoff victory in the new era of the College Football Playoff with a 27-17 win over Indiana. Quarterback Riley Leonard delivered a stellar performance against the Hoosiers, completing 71.9% of his passes for 201 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while also scoring a touchdown on the ground. On defense, safety Xavier Watts was the standout player, recording 10 tackles and an interception to help the Fighting Irish clinch the victory.

The Bulldogs, who received a bye, are gearing up for a run at the College Football Playoff without their starting quarterback, Carson Beck. He will likely be sidelined due to an elbow injury on his throwing arm, which he sustained during the final play of the first half in the SEC Championship game against Texas. This injury forced him to leave the game early. Sophomore Gunner Stockton stepped in and successfully led the Bulldogs to a 22-19 victory. Gunner has a completion rate of 78.1% and has thrown for 206 yards in the three games he played this season. He is expected to lead the offense moving forward.

Here is everything to know ahead of kickoff at the All-State Sugar Bowl.

Allstate Sugar Bowl odds, lines: Notre Dame vs. Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs are favorites to defeat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, according to the BetMGM college football odds.

Odds as of afternoon on Saturday, Dec. 21.

Spread: Georgia (-1.5)
Moneylines: Georgia (-120); Notre Dame (+102)
Over/under: 44.5

How to watch Notre Dame vs. Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl

Date: Wednesday, Jan. 1
Time: 8:45 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Stream: Fubo
Where: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans, LA)

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Georgia

Georgia Disaster Recovery Centers to be closed for Christmas, New Year holidays

Published

22 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Georgia Disaster Recovery Centers to be closed for Christmas, New Year holidays

ATLANTA, Ga. (WALB) – All Georgia Disaster Recovery Centers will be closed for the holidays.

For the upcoming Christmas holiday, the centers will be closed from Tuesday, Dec. 24, until Thursday, Dec. 26.

The centers will be closed from Tuesday, Dec. 31, until Thursday, Jan. 2, for the New Year holiday.

All centers are also closed on Sundays.

While the centers are closed, you can call the FEMA helpline at (800) 621-3362, or apply or check your application on https://www.disasterassistance.gov/. The helpline will be closed on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.

Survivors may visit any one of the FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers throughout the state to apply for assistance. Click here to find a center near you.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.