AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > November > 26
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Clean Old Fashioned Hate…Memories?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Its that time of year Yellow Jacket fans…the week of Thanksgiving and the biggest weekend of the year if you are a football fan. My family takes turns spending the holiday seasons between grandparents’ houses in central Georgia and Tampa Florida.
We have things set up so that we’re in Georgia on years when the GT vs UGA game is in Bobby Dodd Stadium and we’re in Tampa on years when the GT vs UGA game is in Sanford & Son Stadium there in Athens. I’ll very likely watch the game at a sports bar in Orlando with my buddy Dave, who is visiting family over near Vero Beach. He’s got the same arrangement that I do and Orlando has some great sports bars where we can meet up at in the middle of the state. (If any Orlando alumni club folks read this blog, feel free to post up the details on where the official watch party will be…)
I used to make special trips back to Georgia in order to make it to this game. I was there in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. So I not only witnessed Brad Chamber’s field goal and Godsey’s dominance but also 51-7 and Reggie’s infamous 4th down play. (I still maintain the down wasn’t marked correctly on the endzone scoreboard…) Once we added kids to the mix, I had to give up the special trips. Its just not realistic to leave the wife driving solo with two kids for seven hours.
Honestly, I don’t miss the bi-yearly trips to the Cess Pool. I’ve wound up in shouting matches during every trip and nearly wound up in a fight in 2002. (Some UGA fans just don’t know how to react around female fans and my mother didn’t raise me to stand by and watch a girl have expletives screamed in her ear…regardless of which team she cheers for…)
My crew and I have decided that all future games in Athens are “men only” trips. Its just not worth the risk of getting into a fight when the inevitable drunken mutt decides to pick on a supposedly easy (female or young) target.
I’ll post more about the game itself on Friday while working off my turkey hangover. For right now I’m curious about personal experiences that my fellow GT fans have had in Athens. I have heard from people who have gotten into altercations, have had their vehicles vandalized, have had beer poured on them, and have been urinated on among other things.
I’m interested in hearing from GT fans who are heading to Athens this weekend or GT fans who have stories about previous trips to watch the Jackets and mutts play. What are your memories and recollections. What gets you cranked up and excited about this game. What motivates you to venture into an unwashed sea of drooling and barking clowns dressed in red and black?
Go Jackets!
THWG!
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