Dawgs Daily

Charles Seiler Explains Why Uga Won't Be Making the Trip to Los Angeles

Georgia will be without their beloved mascot, Uga X, as they play for another national championship. Charles Seiler, Uga's owner, explains why they're not making the trip.

Christian Goeckel

Uga X, otherwise known as Que, will not be making the trip to Los Angeles for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between his Georgia Bulldogs and the TCU Horned Frogs.

We caught up with Charles Sieler, the owner and handler of the Ugas, to get an update on the world’s most famous canine.

Charles Seiler, the son of Cecelia & Frank W. “Sonny” Seiler, and Uga's owner & handler

Obvious question: Why isn’t Uga making the trip to the National Championship?

“Que flew to L.A. for the Rose Bowl back in, what? 2017, but when he did, he was four. Well, now he’s nine-and-a-half, and that trip is about nine hours without him having a potty break. So, ya know, that’s more than twice what he’s trained for.” said Seiler.

“We train him for four hour intervals, because that’s the distance between Savannah and Athens, and so, at his age, we didn’t want to put him through that.”

What is the longest trip this Uga has done?

“[The Rose Bowl] is the longest trip he’s done, and that is by far the longest trip that any of the bulldogs have done. With other dogs, we’ve been to Phoenix; we’ve been to Albuquerque. We went to Albuquerque for a Final Four basketball game. But typically, his plane rides are on the team plane, and they’re those regional jets out of Athens, and they’re typically maybe an hour, an hour-and-a-half, and that’s what he’s used to. The trip to California is extremely long. Ya know, the trip from Atlanta to California is five hours; the problem is he’s got a bus ride on the front end and a bus ride on the back end. So, that’s what makes it really long.”

How’s Uga’s health?

“He’s fine. He’s a little mad at me because he’s usually had a little supper by now. It’s funny, I’m having more media requests because the dog is not going to the game, as opposed to regularly going to the game, so it’s a little awkward.”

On the hilarious image of Uga snoozing during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve:

“Well, what’s happened to us is, as you know, T.V. kind of dictates when the games are going to happen. So, when you’re winning, you typically get the better time slot, and the better time slot is primetime, and that’s usually the later game. So, it’s hard for me to keep him on some kind of schedule.” said Seiler. 

“Because of the Peach Bowl being in Atlanta, we actually drove up that morning, so he had an earlier than usual wake up call, and then he did the game, and then we drove back. So, we didn’t get back to Savannah until five in the morning, and that’s okay as long as he’s in his box and can sleep, but what’s happened is those eight o’clock games just get to him.”

So if Charles and Que aren’t going to be in Los Angeles, how are they going to consume the game?

“When I’m working a game, I’m pretty much posing the dog the whole time, and if I catch some of the game it’s typically on the jumbotron. So, I’m kind of looking forward to watching it firsthand this time.”

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Christian Goeckel
CHRISTIAN GOECKEL

Christian Goeckel is a Staff Writer for Dawgs Daily on SI.com. Christian has covered College Football for nearly a decade, writing for multiple sites and hosting radio shows across Southern Georgia and South Carolina. 

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