Brian and I are fortunate that we have some spare time to do this and thankful for our supporters. But we all need to realize that sport is a diversion from every day life and things happen in life that sport does not overcome. I wanted to take today's Who's Who to take a look at my friend and brother, Matthew Wilkerson. He passed away in a car accident tragically a little over a week ago. My friends and I gathered this past weekend to say goodbye and celebrate his life. I wanted to continue that for all of you.
Matt wasn't a professional athlete. He was a skinny kid from Cordele, Ga. He went to school at UGA and was a member of the Redcoat Marching Band. It was through some mutual friends in the band that we met. There was an instant connection and we have been best friends ever since.
Matt loved baseball and he was smart as hell. He translated good performance on the field to proper mechanics and could describe what was happening through physics. Because of his deep understanding of the Laws of Motion, he had a hell of an arm and was a bitch to play catch with. Why he didn't tryout for his high school team was beyond me. The boy could throw. I once watched him in an intramural softball game hit the home plate umpire dead between the eyes on a throw from center field when he didn't realize that the catch he made was the third out.
Through his love of baseball, and the miracle of TBS, Matt was a huge Braves fan. While he appreciated the the flame throwers that other teams trotted out there to pitch against the Bravos, he was a much bigger fan of the precision of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. That was until they left his beloved Braves. I once heard him taunt a halftime contestant for one of those tuition giveaways for tuition by yelling "You throw like Glavine!" after an errant throw. He had just signed with the Mets, turning down an offer from the hometown team.
Matt loved UGA football. He was a proud member of the Redcoats and followed their efforts after he left the band. I can't tell you all of the stories I have of him from road trips we had continued to take every year with friends. He would've been emailing me on Wednesday asking about the recruits UGA would have been bringing in on National Signing Day. My dad told a story at his memorial service about the time he told Tennessee fans that he would come back and dance a jig at their tailgate after the Dawgs whipped them. And he did. He once called Domino's to get Pizza Hut's phone number because we didn't want to leave the hotel room after a defeat by South Carolina. He taunted Florida fans fans after they scored a TD by saying, "That's ok. You'll be the ones serving me french fries after the game!" The man loved his Dawgs, there's little doubt.
Through his participation in the band, Matt also traveled to some great destinations with other friends. He opted to be a member of the pep band for the women's basketball team because of the higher likelihood of postseason play. Over the years, I've heard stories of their misadventures and it was, no doubt, one of the greatest times of his life.
The past few years, Matt has worked for the Department of Defense in Virginia. Because of the nature of his work, I knew very little about what he did on a day to day basis. But, I know it was stressful. Matt wound down by playing with his 3 kids and cooking dinner when he got home. He was trying to learn Gaelic in his spare time and was a lover of all things Scottish (except, ironically, golf).
He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, his 8 year old son, Benjamin, and his twin 2 year old daughters, Abby and Grace. He will be greatly missed, not just by me, but by a collection of friends and family that he loved.
I'll leave you with this though. It has been a tradition for my college friends and I to pick UGA's football record, game-by-game before the season started. It won't be the same this year without Matt. He never picked Georgia to lose a single game. He often made outlandish predictions such as "Kendrell Bell will sack Jared Lorenzon and decapitate in the process. Fatty's head will remain in the helmet. UGA wins 56-0." If the Dawgs pull it together and figure out a way to win a championship this year (or if someone is actually decapitated in a game), I'll know he had something to do with. Godspeed, my friend.
The past few years, Matt has worked for the Department of Defense in Virginia. Because of the nature of his work, I knew very little about what he did on a day to day basis. But, I know it was stressful. Matt wound down by playing with his 3 kids and cooking dinner when he got home. He was trying to learn Gaelic in his spare time and was a lover of all things Scottish (except, ironically, golf).
He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, his 8 year old son, Benjamin, and his twin 2 year old daughters, Abby and Grace. He will be greatly missed, not just by me, but by a collection of friends and family that he loved.
I'll leave you with this though. It has been a tradition for my college friends and I to pick UGA's football record, game-by-game before the season started. It won't be the same this year without Matt. He never picked Georgia to lose a single game. He often made outlandish predictions such as "Kendrell Bell will sack Jared Lorenzon and decapitate in the process. Fatty's head will remain in the helmet. UGA wins 56-0." If the Dawgs pull it together and figure out a way to win a championship this year (or if someone is actually decapitated in a game), I'll know he had something to do with. Godspeed, my friend.
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