AJC > Blog > Archives > 2006 > November > 24
Friday, November 24, 2006
Sitting out Tech-UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is always the toughest time of year at Enemy Watch Worldwide Headquarters — and not just because this erstwhile blogger never knows what to get anyone for the holidays.
There was the decorative football that opened to the sounds of the Redcoat Marching Band playing “Glory, Glory to Old Georgia” that the stepfather enjoyed heartily. His son, recently departed, was such a big Bulldogs fan that he was laid to rest in a UGA cap, just days after returning from what was his last game, a bitter loss at Kentucky. They both despised Tech intensely. Mention Pepper Rodgers, and watch them break out into an instant, all-consuming rash.
Years ago, a Tech-loving uncle with an unyielding hatred for UGA howled with delight at the sight of a heaving 400-pound red-and-black uniformed player barely able to run on the field before a Dogs-Jackets freshman game: “Bow WOW! Is he gonna play for Ray Goof next year?”
There are other conflicting loyalties: Father likes anything in Auburn blue and orange, and the rest of his family bleeds Crimson Tide red.
Yes, the holidays are essentially a time of football consternation for Enemy Watch, who’s at least thankful there aren’t Vols or Gators hanging from the family tree. This probably prompted the career path to sportswriting more than anything.
So when it comes to what one author has entitled “Clean Old-Fashioned Hate,” Enemy Watch can’t work up any partisan fervor either way. It’s off to Switzerland for the weekend, watching from a distance and — forgive the hackneyed phrase — hoping for a good game. Something to stir the rivalry with some new energy.
After years of watching this game, however, there is one constant — why it isn’t on the same scale as other bitter or in-state feuds. Part of it is that Tech and UGA rarely have been together in the national elite in recent years. The Yellow Jackets are buzzing high right now, while the Dogs lack championship bite, their win at Auburn notwithstanding.
What will it take to raise Tech-UGA to the level of Florida-Florida State, for example? Auburn-Alabama? Duke-Carolina? Michigan-Ohio State? Red Sox-Yankees? Can this game ever get that big? Do you think it is anyway? Or does none of that matter to you?
Lots of questions, Mutts and Gnats, to be sure. But a dedicated impartial, near-native observer wants to know what you think.
