Coming off a dominant national championship win against Alabama a few months ago, many say the Georgia Bulldogs are poised for another impressive season, It’s time to question if they will meet the all-time high expectations, despite a record setting 15 players being drafted into the NFL

“They’re talented players and hopefully they can fill the shoes of the ones that left,” said Claude Felton, a senior associate athletic director. “There was a time when those 15 guys who got drafted weren’t known either.”

Felton provided insight into how the program is run, including the process of recruiting and rebuilding year after year. He also spoke on the funding of the program, just for being in the SEC. “We received a $50 million check from the Southeastern Conference about a month ago,” said Felton. “Other schools like Vanderbilt received the same amount.”

All teams from the SEC are equal from a funding standpoint, but where they differentiate is in what they do independently to raise funds. Students have to pay a small athletic fee per semester to contribute. For fans and alumni who want season tickets, they must donate a certain amount to be eligible for the tickets. Amazingly, standard tickets have stayed the same price for three years now, according to Felton. All this contributes to the program’s budget.

Each school is allowed 85 football scholarships, so depending on how many holes and needs there are, the signing size will vary. According to Felton, the number is usually around 25 per year.

Some important players who moved onto the NFL are Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, George Pickens, and James Cook.

“Consistency is the key thing to maintaining the level we have experienced this past year,” said Felton. “If you look at the last 4-5 years, we’ve been in many bowl games.”

In fact, the Bulldogs have not only gone to bowl games, but have made two national championship appearances in the last six years. They have posted a 6-1 record in bowl games, and a 1-1 in national championship games.

There are no guarantees, but Felton is confident in the coaching staff, players, and program to do well this upcoming season. Although Felton acknowledges the Bulldogs lost several cornerstones of the team, he feels the 2022 team should be successful..

“It’s all about recruiting really,” said Felton. “We lost some good players, but that doesn’t mean upcoming players won’t become as good as the guys who left.”

I recently saw an ad in the Denver metro area for a car dealer that shocked me. Basic cars going for extreme prices. A 2022 Honda Santa Fe for $55,000, Hyundai Ioniq 5 for $60,000, and a Kia Sorento for $40,000.

How can cars be so expensive these days? Hundreds of millions of people rely on cars in their day to day lives, and many of them can’t spend very much money on a car. The nationwide chip and part shortages has Americans spending more than they can afford on regular products.

Christie Smith lives in Athens, Georgia and has been car shopping for months. “Im waiting until prices go down,” and then she said “I would get a Honda CRV, Toyota Rav 4, or Hyundai Tusan,” Smith said. Christie narrowed her search down to these cars. “Honda and Toyota had no cars on their lot.”

She explained that she could order a Honda or Toyota, however the dealers couldn’t lock in a price. If she ordered one of these, she would be locked into a contract to buy it, however not know the price until she gets the car. “Hyundai had Tusan cars in stock, but the dealer would add many fees to the price, and the car would be $8000 dollars more than the sticker price,” she said.

These are called scarcity tactics; dealers increasing the price because the cars are so hard to find. It is basic supply and demand, where low supply in addition with high demand equates to a large price. Smith currently has an eleven year old Honda CRV, that she bought new for about $27,000. Today, a Honda CRV would be around $35,000, however with the added fees, it could be $40,000.

Smith is in the same position as millions of people. A local Athens resident said that he bought his daughter a car, and it was the same model he bought his other daughter 5 years ago, and it was $5,000 dollars more than 5 years ago.

As the world opens up after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, and more ships with microchips come into America, car prices should go down; but until we see that day, people are going to have to pay more for cars.

My name is Arthur Walton and I was born and raised in Marietta. I am American but my parents have a background from Europe and South America. Both of my parents were born in Brazil, but my dad lived in a secluded English community and he moved back and forth from England and Porto Alegre. I am fluent in Portuguese and currently learning Spanish in the International Spanish Academy at my high school, Walton.

My biggest passion is sports, and no other is close. I was on Walton’s freshman team last season, and I hope to jump up to the JV team. After basketball, the 2nd place trophy goes to football. I have minimal experience playing tackle because I am an only child and my mom doesn’t want anything bad to happen. Off the court and field, I love everything about the two sports; playing fantasy football and basketball, looking at analytics to compare players, and reading articles of draft recaps, predictions, power rankings, etc. Since I read a lot of media articles, I decided to look into journalism.

With my new interest, I decided to join the Sports Media club. To start off the season, I wrote a piece summarizing one of our games, and one more for the girl’s flag football tournament. One day I would like to be a sports analyst, broadcaster or journalist.

Today the story of Joe Dennis, a professor at Piedmont University, the man with the striking fedora, is uncovered during a journalism camp interview.

“Bruno Mars was popular around then, and I come to learn he’s Filipino, which is what I am too.” said Dr. Joe Dennis, when asked why his signature item is a fedora. “I was like that’s it, i’m going to wear a fedora.”

The interview held in Grady’s Journalism building for the University of Georgia’s summer journalism camp took place on June 13, where Dr. Dennis participated in one of two interviews, and provided deep moments and big change in his life. He set the groundwork for many students to write a piece about him by giving statements along with multiple stories.

“Family is everything,” Joe said when talking about his upbringing. “When I was a child I wanted nothing to do with my Filipino background because I was embarrassed by it, but as I got older I really started to embrace it more.”

With his career as a teacher and experience as a journalist, Dr. Dennis is guiding upcoming aspiring journalists to pursue their dreams.