I was told about this story yesterday by my sister, and immediately I doubted the validity of it. I tried to find a story on it yesterday with no luck. Then this morning when I was looking on yahoo it was one of the headlines: "Unusual Idea for Replacing College Mascot". PETA, in another act of brilliance, has suggested that Georgia does not replace Uga VII with another bulldog, but with an animatronic dog. They go on to say that basically if they do not do this that they should just stick with Hairy Dawg, the mascot worn by a student. Readers, get ready for a very long rant.

  THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE ABSOLUTE DUMBEST THING I'VE EVER READ IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! A robotic mascot? This isn't The Jetsons! A robotic mascot has no feelings, no emotion, which is what mascots are all about. Do you think a robot bulldog could jump up and bite a rival player? Heck No! That's why having a live mascot is so much fun. The uncertainty and the spontaneous reactions are priceless. If you put a animatronic dog on the sideline, no one will care. But when (not if) Uga VIII comes out next year, I guarantee there will be a huge crowd of people around that English Bulldog. 

  Is PETA serious with this release? I don't think anyone with half a brain would consider this a possible resolution to Georgia's lack of a mascot. There is no way the Seiler family is going to read this and think "Wow, they are right. Those 53 years of raising Bulldogs for Georgia were a huge mistake. Let's go down to Toy's R Us and buy The Robotic Junkyard Dog and stick him on the sidelines starting next year against Louisiana!"

   Does PETA think that these bulldogs are treated horribly? Sure, the Southern heat is not good for bulldogs, but does that mean that PETA is going to go throughout the Deep South and take away all the English Bulldogs that sit out in the sun all day? I guarantee you that Uga is treated better than any English Bulldog in the country! For crying out loud, he has an air-conditioned dog house! He also sits on a big bag of ice during the games just to make sure he doesn't get too hot. Some people would probably kill for the life of a Georgia mascot.

   This whole situation has given me an idea of how to start off the 2010 season against Louisiana. Sure, the fans are not really going to be excited to see the Dawgs play a Sun Belt team, but here's how it gets spiced up. It is announced the week before the game that the new mascot will be unveiled, but no pictures are released, leaving fans to imagine what this new Uga will look like. Finally game day arrives. There is a big ceremony about 15 minutes before the players are to take the field for the pre-game stretches. Some of the Seiler family arrives on a little cart with a dog carrier on the back. They open it up, and out comes a robotic little bulldog. The group gasps in surprise. That's when Charles Seiler, Sonny's son, reaches on the back of the cart and picks up a sledgehammer. He then proceeds to smash the little robotic dog to pieces. That's when the real Uga VIII leads his Georgia Bulldogs out onto the field to kick off the 2010 season, his first as the Georgia mascot.