ATHENS, Ga. --- Some Georgia football players are making sure they aren't unprepared for what awaits them in Orlando, Fla.
That's why they spent time before leaving for the Christmas break coming up with a game plan for success. Not just for Michigan State, but to be prepared for a perk that comes with their trip to the Capital One Bowl.
The $400 Best Buy shopping spree. That's the big bowl gift that the folks at Florida Citrus Sports, which runs the Capital One Bowl, have come up with for the players.
"I was just walking through there doing some scouting," sophomore linebacker Rennie Curran said of a trip to the top electronics retailer. "There's about a million TVs, washers, dryers, so much stuff."
Georgia players, who arrive in Orlando on Friday for the Jan. 1 game, will hit a local Best Buy on Sunday evening after an afternoon practice. It will be their only chance to buy the merchandise.
"You've got to spend it in that little period of time," linebacker Dannell Ellerbe said.
That's why safety Andrew Williams made sure to stop by a Best Buy to get a sneak peek.
"I kind of got my feel. Looked around and saw what I can get," he said.
Williams received a sixth year of eligibility because of injury, which means he is living large when it comes to bowl gifts. This is his second Capital One Bowl, and he also was a member of teams that went to the Outback, Sugar (twice) and Chick-Fil-A Bowls.
"A ton of stuff, man," Williams said of his haul of bowl gifts. "The year the iPod was real popular was my freshman year, which is telling my age. We got an iPod the first time we went to the Capital One Bowl. Then we got a TV for winning the SEC championship in 2005 and then in the Sugar Bowl, we got tons of gifts. They're very generous. It's great to get those gifts."
Schools also are allowed to give $350 in gifts to players. Georgia players this year are getting a $250 card from Visa to use to purchase merchandise, as well as a game jersey and replica football each valued at $50.
The bowls are to supply gifts to 125 players.
Georgia plans to use any unused funds from the players' shopping spree to purchase materials needed for the Boys and Girls Club of Athens.
Reach Marc Weiszer at marc.weiszer@onlineathens.com.
JUST HOW MERRY?
Under NCAA rules, each bowl may provide athletes with up to $500 in bowl gifts.
Each Georgia player will receive a $400 Best Buy shopping spree, a commemorative watch valued at $80 and a welcome gift bag valued at $20.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Wow, is that what you win for being #1. Sounds like chump change...
Where have all the dawg fans gone, ah, the christmas bells are ringing, they are all down in the soup line, watching Herchel Walker second personality cleaning.