Mr. College Football

By GTNE80

November 22, 2005 04:33 PM | Link to this

I can understand these 19 year-old kids saying that kind of stuff. They live in an insulated world that is different than most of us have to deal with. To them, their biggest rival means the opponent in the game that means the most regarding the judgement of success or failure of their season. Tennessee had a (way) down year. Florida was the biggest obstacle to getting to the SEC championship game and a shot at a BCS bid. It stung them to lose to UF, so they’re still smarting and wanting some “get back”. In their eyes, who could be a bigger rival? Besides, no one on the UGA roster that’s not a senior remembers losing to Tech.

For us fans, particularly the long suffering ones, it’s very clear who the biggest rival is and always will be.

Occasionally a UGA fan will spout off that the Tech rivalry “doesn’t mean what it used to.” We all know that’s crap. Most of the time it’s just their way of trying to goad Tech fans. Occasionally they will fool themselves into actually believing it. That usually occurs when their short term memory (which usually lasts about 3 years) doesn’t include a loss to Tech. Let us beat them once and listen to them howl, especially if there’s any hint of a controversial call that went our way.

It’s those of us that live with it 24-7-365 that know the real truth. Especially those of us who will sit across the Thanksgiving and Christmas table(s) and have to look at one or more of our own family members wearing the offensive colors of that year’s victors.

As a Tech fan this may be the first time in my life that I’ve actually found myself agreeing with Vince Dooley, Ray Goff, Jim Donnan, and (yes) even Tony Barnhart.

By geechee

November 22, 2005 04:39 PM | Link to this

Wow Tony, how’d we luck into getting you on our blog, welcome and feel free to drop by any time. We all know inside that a lot to do with Florida has been Spurrier and the losing streak. In the words of one Dog’s player (I think it was Jennings) “Florida, Auburn, and Tech are all big but people lose jobs over the Tech game so I guess that’s bigger”

By Rico

November 22, 2005 04:45 PM | Link to this

Ask Quincy Carter which one he hates the most. If Tech beats UGA this weekend there will be no comparison to UF. Just so happens that UGA is on a 4 year win streak.

GO JACKETS!

By g

November 22, 2005 04:52 PM | Link to this

Dog fans claim UF is the top rival only when they sense there is a chance they will lose to GT or when they actually do lose to GT. Besides, the Gators are only a rival becasue UGA can’t beat them

By Hamilton McWhorter

November 22, 2005 04:55 PM | Link to this

People ask the wrong question when it comes to who your biggest rival is.

Some people think your biggest rival is determined by the question, “Whom would you most like to beat?” Georgia people will give a few different answers to this question.

However, if you ask the question “Whom would you least like to lose to?”, then, I believe, the overwhelming number of Georgia people would say “Georgia Tech”.

Your biggest rival will always be determined by which team inflicts the most pain upon losing to them…and that will always be Tech.

By GWJ

November 22, 2005 05:02 PM | Link to this

Tech will ALWAYS be Georgia’s top rival.This IS the most important game EVERY year. There is not a better feeling in the world than when UGA beats Tech.

By dawgpound

November 22, 2005 05:27 PM | Link to this

i have found that when one travels around the state of georgia you get different answers.

it is reasonable to think that if you live in and around atlanta that it is tech,but if you go to the western part of the state such as columbus it would be auburn.

waycross,savannah and valdosta it will be florida or head east to augusta and you will say south carolina.head north toward cartersville and dalton there you would say tennessee.

when it’s all said and done, georgia has many rivals and not just one.

i would say that after tech left the SEC the games have taken on less meaning since we do not compete for then same conference championship.

By Cotton

November 22, 2005 05:45 PM | Link to this

and ‘To Hell with Georgia Tech’

By John

November 22, 2005 05:48 PM | Link to this

Tech is our biggest rival for our Atlanta area alumni and contingent. But the rest of the state will tell you different. We only have to deal w/a couple of Techies a year and they are usually the biggest nerds in town. Losing to your friends’ alma maters like Auburn is much more painful.

The only thing that hurts regarding Tech is having to listen to carpetbagging morons like Bradley and Moore in the AJC yacking it up about the Trade school.

By DANNO

November 22, 2005 06:29 PM | Link to this

Ask the mutt fans who their biggest rival is this coming Sunday.

By SEC FAN

November 22, 2005 06:50 PM | Link to this

Tony, Tony, Tony

When was the last time you went to the “Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” pre Spurrier? “Think again” go in 06 then write your article!

By kentuckykade

November 22, 2005 07:06 PM | Link to this

is ray goff still under contract?…we’re looking for a new coach///NOT!!!!

By wild thing

November 22, 2005 07:56 PM | Link to this

this is the biggest game for both teams…even if you go 10-0 going in to and lose…the season will not be considered a success….am sure georgia thinx sec east title will be tainted and tech think wins at auburn and miami anulled….should be great game as definitely can go either way

By classof83

November 22, 2005 07:56 PM | Link to this

I wouldn’t pull for Tech if both engines were out on the team plane.

And I’d rather lose to Florida than lose to Wake Forest or Duke every year.

By Palmetto State Dawg

November 22, 2005 08:17 PM | Link to this

Good article Tony. I agree that our biggest rival is Tech just because we share the same state. Kentuckykade, why are you even still on this blog? I seem to remember the Dawgs taking the Cats to the woodshed this past Saturday. Shouldn’t you be on the Knoxville News Sentinal blog talking smack? In case you had forgotten, the Cats & the Vols play this Saturday for the title of, “Worst Team in the SEC East”.

By Freedawg

November 22, 2005 09:31 PM | Link to this

Hamilton,

Very very well said, I couldn’t agree with you more. There is nothing worse than listening to Tech people!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAWGS!!!!

By RxDawg

November 22, 2005 09:42 PM | Link to this

The idea of where you are located in the state defintely makes a difference in your biggest rival. I live in the western part therefore Auburn is my biggest rival. I hate losing to them. Mainly because of all my AU friends. I know mabey 1 Tech fan. It hurt me more in that AU game when we lost than it did in the Fla game even though I knew the Fla game ment more to the season at that time. It seems that everyone loves to get up and play UGA. We are everyones rival. I guess its our beautiful red and black uniforms. Duno, but Tech sure does take a close 2nd in the rival department. There are more Atl fans than any other so as a whole I suppose Tech is #1. Who knows. I know orange sux and yellow does too. GO DAWGS!!!! To hell w tech.

By Brett

November 22, 2005 09:48 PM | Link to this

Let’s turn this question around…

Tech has other rivalries, too. There’s the “friendly rivalry” we have with Clemson. There’s the long-running series with Duke—and you can’t play the “we have better academics” card with them. Then there’s our Tennessee, the team we lose to more often than we should, the team that is often our spoiler as much as we are theirs, with the most obnoxious fans in the ACC, Virginia.

Everyone thought that FSU would become a natural rivalry, but our record against them is not much worse than UGA’s against Florida, and the ACC divisional split has pretty much put an end to that. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of VT and Miami.

Meanwhile, back to the task at hand. What’s the good word?

By frankentech

November 22, 2005 11:03 PM | Link to this

GO TECH! TO HELL WITH GEORGIA

By john

November 23, 2005 05:35 AM | Link to this

If GT pulls it out Saturday night, you will see GT back on top of UGAg’s list of rivalrys. CMR will be put on the “hotseat” just as Dooley, Goff, and Don_an were.

And the UGAg fans will pull out every excuse in the book on why they lost the game and blame everything from SEC officials to global warming to President Bush. They NEVER give Tech credit for being better or even outplaying UGAg.

That being said, as a loyal GT fan, I have lived through heartbreaks over the years and I will never predicted a GT win over UGAg because it is known that GT is UGAg “female dog.” UGAg simply does not accept wins by Tech over them in anything. Period. Hell I expected UGAg to pull out another stunner in hoops last year!

And because of that….TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!

john

By MURPHY

November 23, 2005 07:04 AM | Link to this

Kant-win-tucky Kade,

I thought we ran you out of town ? hasnt basketball started ? if you will be a good kitty,after we slap TECH around we will let you stay and hang out with Ramble On and Wireless Buzzzzzz. all of you have alot in common: Both of your football programs are in shambles, all of you will be home for the holidays,or wait !-you can go to see TECH play in the silicon valley probation bowl! HA! PLEASE DO ME A FAVOR,BEAT THE VOLS!!!

By GT fan from Athens

November 23, 2005 07:11 AM | Link to this

Nothing sweater than watching 95,000 dawg fans drag their tails out of the stadium after blowing one to Auburn.

Georgia is a better team than Tech because of Tech’s lousy kicking game. Georgia’s strength is its kicking game. If Shockley can deal with Tech’s rush UGA will win. If Tech drops punts and misses field goals it will lose.

If Reggie Ball gets psyched like he did his freshman year, Tech will lose.

UGA should win, but Miami should have also.

This will be a war.

Go Jackets!

By GT 79

November 23, 2005 07:42 AM | Link to this

Was sitting in endzone in Athens when Tech won 35-18, and all those fair weather UGA fans were pouring out of the stadium at halftime - would love for Reggie and Jackets to follow Auburn strategy against Alabama - score soon and often - by halftime you won’t see a red shirt anywhere on North Ave - just a bunch of John Deere tractors on their way back to the farm. GO TECH! STING ‘EM!

By kendall

November 23, 2005 07:48 AM | Link to this

To John the tech fan. UVa is your Tennessee? What does that mean? We have beaten ut 5 out of the last 6 years. They are changing that ugly T that overlooks the river up there to a nice black G. The only reason I hate losing to yech is because they are nerds that dont know anything about football, but pretend they do when they get lucky and the sun shines on there nerdy arses once every blue moon. We will have a tally board at the tailgate to keep up with every pocket protector, pair of high water pants, stupid haircut, ugly tech girl, every everquest t shirt, sandals with socks, star trek gear, or anything otherwise nerdly that we see before the game. I expect it to be a full tally board.

By kendall

November 23, 2005 07:50 AM | Link to this

And yes, its their, not there.

By confused doggies

November 23, 2005 07:51 AM | Link to this

How about this spin on this issue. Does anyone really think Florida considers Georgia thier biggest rival? I doubt it. The cocktail party may be a nasty game, and a lot of fun for all the fans, but ask Florida fans about playing one of those “other” Florida schools.

By c-dawg

November 23, 2005 07:52 AM | Link to this

it’s difficult to say, because the drive back from jacksonville is a lot longer than the one from atlanta. also, keep in mind which game is played at a “neutral” site.

i’d agree with whoever said that we call florida the rivalry because we can’t beat them…spurrier made us mad as hell. tech has the history, of course, but i think i call it a draw for ga/ga tech, and major hate for florida. it’d take a lot more UGA wins over UF before people will change their minds again (at least the younger fans)

By confused doggies

November 23, 2005 08:17 AM | Link to this

By the way Kendall,

You must be a true trend setter. Can I borrow your latest copy of Vogue? Make sure and wear your matching oversized bulldawg athletic jumpsuit to the game Saturday. It really compliments your fat a*. Bet your a great golfer.

By confused doggies

November 23, 2005 08:21 AM | Link to this

yes, it’s “you’re” not “your”.

By Chris

November 23, 2005 08:26 AM | Link to this

I love beating Tech, but I would hate to lose to them even more. The years that UGA loses to Tech are not successful years and a loss to Tech hurts more than a loss to any other team. Its a good thing we have dominated them

By Tom

November 23, 2005 09:05 AM | Link to this

Tech means nothing to me. NOTHING. And when it comes to running a pie hole, who is better than Ray Goof? He was the worst thing that ever happened to Georgia and I’m glad he’s gone. There’s a reason he is selling chicken today. Tech is not even on my radar: I put it somewhere between Vandy and Kentucky. A rival is a team like Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee. Tech is just a dismal way to end the season. I’d rather play Clemson than Tech any day.

By MURPHY

November 23, 2005 10:14 AM | Link to this

hey guys look at this way,

we beat TECH on sat, then beat COLORADO next year-THAT MEANS WE BEAT BOTH THE 1990 NATIONAL CHAMPS!! that is unless the NCAA makes TECH strike that win from their records also!

By Harper

November 23, 2005 10:33 AM | Link to this

Auburn has been smoking you guys. Maybe you should stop considering them rivals and just start beating them consistently like we do. As for Florida, I don’t really see any difference in your pathetic attempts vs UF than ours vs FSU/Miami. It’s not like we were getting blown out by FSU during our “vacated wins” period. It’s unfortunate that we did not get to play that washed up program this year or last.

I’ll give you credit for smacking around Tenn., but hurry up with those fries!

By JSGT81

November 23, 2005 11:10 AM | Link to this

My two favorite teams are Georgia Tech and whoever plays Georgia! Go Jackets, Sting ‘em!

By NGA Dawg

November 23, 2005 11:37 AM | Link to this

Do we want to beat ‘Tech? Of course! Is it a big rivalry game for Georgia? Obviously. Okay here comes the “but” part: ‘Tech is truly a “must-win” for the Dawgs but for one reason only: it’s an in-state game. Everyone knows that it’s still important, but it is undeniable that the rivalry changed significantly when ‘Tech left the SEC to become an independent. When they joined the ACC, it was merely a shrug to UGA: they were still ‘Tech. But when ‘Tech vacated the SEC, other rivalries became more pronounced for old State U. That doesn’t make the ‘Tech rivalry any less important from the “state championship” point of view, but being in different conferences did take some of the sheen off of it—and placed more emphasis on some of the out of state SEC rivals for UGA. I don’t even think that’s arguable.
While to me, it’s just as important to beat ‘Tech as to beat anyone else, however it is no longer a conference game—which would increase the meaning of this game in spades. Think of this: if Georgia had to win this Saturday in order to get to the SEC Championship game the rivalry would be three times bigger than it is today.

This game pales in comparison to what it might have been had ‘Tech stayed put in the conference. Sorry Tony, times have changed.

By firephats

November 23, 2005 11:47 AM | Link to this

kentuckykade…pleez beat us so we can farm out phats fulmer to the phat farm…this is your year as i predict we will be back next year after his resignation!!!!WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR……..VOLS!!!!!!!!!!!and our apologies to sec for lame 4th quarter in south bend

By SDW

November 23, 2005 12:23 PM | Link to this

For all of you new UGAg fans out there (I’m talking to the 15 - 25 set) I can see why UF is your big rival, especially since you can’t seem to beat them. I understand why Auburn is a hated rival since you seem to always loose to them at home? And I can also see why you say UT is considered a rival since you are really good a losing to them, especially when the season is on the line (remember last year, the SEC East title, as well as your national title hopes, was loaded onto the UT bus and shipped back to Knoxville)

But for those of us old school fans of the game (I am talking to both Jacket fans and UGAg Fans) for as many years as we could walk, there is no other game bigger every year than the GT - UGAg game.

Talk to anyone that has been to this annual game. Ask them who won the year or years that they we actually at the game, I bet they probably could tell you the score and keys to the win. I was there, at all three games that we beat the Farmers college, I remember every play, I remember going out in Athens after the game with my Old Gold and White on and watching you puppies run around with tears in your eyes.

Ask them about the days before the game, ask them about sitting across from family members at the diner table that wear the wrong colors, and the discussions that took place. Ask them about reading the AJC on Saturday morning prior to the game for all of the keys to the game and hoping that the paper was either right or wrong depending on which team captures your loyalty. Talk to them about walking into the opponents stadiums and seeing the hated colors of the Farmers College where the Old Gold and White usually color the seats, or Vice versa.

For those of us who have followed this game, this annual event dubbed ‘Clean old fashioned hate� this is the biggest game of the year, records are tossed out the window, families are divided, friends become enemies and the success or failure of the season is decided in 60 minuets. For those of you who don’t think this the biggest game of the year, ask a former player, alumni, head coach or the average Joe on the street, ask them what it feels like to carry this loss for 365 days, and they can tell you that it hurts worse than any loss to UF, UT or Auburn.

On Saturday I will yell “To hell with Georgia, that’s what my daddy used to do!�

GT – 21 Farmers College – 17

By NGA Dawg

November 23, 2005 01:22 PM | Link to this

I’m certainly not a new fan: I’m as “old school” as anyone, but way before my time Auburn and Florida were ALWAYS huge rivals for UGA—not just recently. UGA and Auburn have been playing against each other almost as long as ‘Tech has been in existence! Remarks about UGA not beating Florida, etc. are inane. While Spurrier was there, NO ONE beat UF much; additionally, the ’90s were also one of the worst decades for UGA football. I’m also “old school” enough to remember that too…

As I said earlier (above), no doubt about it: ‘Tech is a huge rivalry game for UGA—because it’s in-state. That’ll never change. But this “old school” fan also knows that if ‘Tech were still in the SEC, this rivalry would take on another level of enormity that the current situation can’t match. Those Thanksgiving dinner scowls would be much more riveting if one of the two schools still had to go through the other one to win an SEC crown. It’s state braggin’ rights and nothing more. Actually, because of someone named Bobby Dodd, that’s all it is now and that’s too bad. The rivalry meant much more on a regional and national level when both of the state’s big-time schools were in the same conference. Don’t think the conference angle is important? Try this: there is a photo in existence of Coach Paul Bryant wearing a football helmet on the sidelines of Grant Field—to keep from being hit with whiskey bottles. Just imagine if right now with UGA/’Tech’s records, they faced off this weekend in Atlanta as an SEC East Showdown!

That said, it’s still a great game and a credit to football in the State of Georgia that we have such a colorful and storied rivalry. For instance, to my knowledge there are books written about UGA/GT, UGA/FLA, Bama/Auburn, Bama/UT, OSU/Mich., ND/USC…notice that only two of these books comes from a rivalry that resides in the same state.

Go Dawgs, beat ‘Tech and GATA!

By Curious

November 23, 2005 03:26 PM | Link to this

SDW is old gold that color that is seen in the snow after the dog relieves himself?