Episode 17: Tony Barnhart | Mr. College Football and SEC Network TV Studio Analyst
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National Champion Prediction:Alabama
Grew up in small town in Georgia (Union Point)Fell in love with baseball early on but once he went to a football game at the University of Georgia he was hooked on footballWent to Georgia Southern because he wanted to be away from Athens which felt too close to homePlanned on being a PE teacher until he saw a salary chart for teacher’s salary in the state of Georgia and had second thoughtsSaw an ad on the student board for help in the Sports Department for the school newspaper and inquiredFell in love with seeing his name on the byline in the paper and knew he wanted to be in journalism and transferred to the University of GeorgiaGot his first job as the one-man sports department for a small newspaper in Union, SCMoved then to Greensboro, NC and had some of the best years of his career there before getting the call to join the staff for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in AtlantaBecame the beat writer covering the University of Georgia Bulldogs football teamPromoted to Assistant Sports Director for AJC and learned so much on the job but was miserable not being close to the game and went back to being a beat writer for UGA in 1987Most memorable games to cover have been the National Championships and the greatest game he ever saw was the Texas vs. USC game in January 2006 for the national titleSocial media completely changed how he did his job and a relative convinced him that he should be on TwitterHis goal was to have 100 Followers and he now has over 122,000Scott Peacock can be credited with giving Tony the name Mr. College Football after suggesting that Tony start writing a blog called “Mr. College Football”Prepares by compiling binders on each team with updated information during the off-seasonSports completely defined his professional career and never dreamed that he would ever reach these heightsWill celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary on August 14th and owes a lot of his success to his wife MariaWords of Wisdom from Tony: “You’ve got you got to be yourself. Figure out what works for you. Don’t try to be somebody else. Everybody’s road is different. ”
Weekly Words of Wisdom: “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.” – Elbert Hubbard
To Follow Tony Barnhart on Twitter: @MrCFB
Find Tony Barnhart on the Web: www.tonybarnhart.com
To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports
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