Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. All of my family on my mom’s side travels to my hometown of Statesboro, Georgia, and we have the greatest time at my grandparents’ farm. We play football, hunt and eat until we can barely move. The week is great, but there is a football game on Saturday that splits the entire family on two sides.
The Georgia Tech vs. UGA rivalry is a very hateful thing—aptly referred to as “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.” There are a lot of jabs thrown throughout the week, and whoever won the year before usually talks the most trash. For me, I got the brunt of most of those growing up. I was a Tech fan, and they lost virtually every game when I was younger. From 2001-2007, the Yellow Jackets never could pull out a win.
The state has a majority of UGA fans as well, not quite like Auburn. Alabama fans control a majority, sure, but I was the only Tech fan among my classmates and I had to listen to trash talk for years and years. It wasn’t until my eighth grade year that I finally had a chance to fight back.
My dad graduated from Georgia Southern, but his dad went to Tech. He grew up loving to hate UGA, so naturally I grew up to do the same.
The 2008 Bulldogs were having one of their best seasons with Matthew Stafford approaching the NFL draft. They were ranked No. 1 at one point in the season, and that is what made the late-November upset so much sweeter.
UGA dominated the first half of the in-state clash and led 28-12. It was going to be like every other year, another year of coming to school every day to hear that you were a fan of a nobody. Then, the incredible happened. Tech reeled off 26 unanswered points and never lost control in the second half to win 45-42. Paul Johnson had done it in his first year, and at Sanford Stadium of all places. I can tell you now. That was one of the happiest moments of my life.
I was finally allowed to talk some trash after that game, and I want to tell you what really bothers me about UGA fans. They don’t take losses well.
After I endured years and years of turmoil, UGA fans couldn’t take just a little backlash, and frankly, I don’t understand their fans. They believe that every year is their year, but the fact is, UGA hasn’t won a national title in 35 years. Georgia Tech actually won a national title in 1990 and has a total of four compared to UGA’s two. So what makes them believe that their program is the best in the country and is going to win it all every year? I don’t know. I never will.
Every Saturday, I love to hate UGA almost as much as I love to root for my favorite teams. This week, the school I attend has their first matchup with UGA since I’ve been a student, and just like every Saturday, I am pulling for UGA to lose.
