College Sports

ATHENS, Ga. — This was a funeral, complete with real tears.

Uga VI, the University of Georgia's beloved bulldog mascot who died Friday, was laid to rest Monday at Sanford Stadium with all the pomp and circumstance befitting the best of human beings.

The body of the dog, whose registered name was "UGA V's Whatchagot Loran," was flown to Athens from Savannah along with the Seiler family. The dog entered the stadium from the northeast corner inside his famous kennel on the back of a golf cart and was driven across the field. His modest procession was accompanied by the song, "The Battle Hymn of the Bulldog Nation," which is played before Georgia football games.

Pallbearers Charles Seiler, his main handler, and Waldo Terrell, Georgia's chief groundskeeper, removed the kennel and placed it at the foot of a red marble mausoleum where Uga's five predecessors are buried. Uga's jersey and collar were draped over the kennel.

The family of Frank "Sonny" Seiler, who has overseen the breeding and care of Georgia's bulldog mascots since 1956, sat on the front row of two-dozen black folding chairs, most of which were occupied. Attending the service were UGA president Michael Adams, who made opening remarks, members of the athletics board and athletics department, and friends of the Seiler family.

"There are probably some who think it odd for us to pay this much attention to an animal, a puppy, a dog," said Adams, dressed in khakis and a red UGA golf shirt. "But we recognize Uga VI in a way that is very special to the University of Georgia. I would suggest to you that Uga is a very powerful symbol, symbolism of the tenacity and strength of the university, Uga VI particularly."

The Rev. Claude McBride of Athens, a Baptist preacher and former football team chaplain, presided. He offered words of gratitude and appreciation to the Seiler family and a long prayer, which he concluded with, "Sic 'em, Uga. Woof, woof! Amen."

Sonny Seiler did not speak during the ceremony but addressed a dozen reporters afterward.

"His record speaks for itself," Seiler said of UGA's winningest mascot in football (87-27). "He was the biggest by far. ... And he had a great big heart, which finally played out."

Seiler's wife, Cecelia, whose puppy started the current line of mascots in 1956, did not attend. "She was too distraught," Sonny Seiler said.

Numerous flower arrangements, mostly of red roses and white and red carnations, adorned the memorial plot in the southwest corner of the stadium. The card on one was signed "Tusk," the razorback mascot from the University of Arkansas.