Just how ugly did coach Mark Richt's inbox get after Georgia's disastrous 38-10 loss to Alabama?
Actually: not that bad.
A look through some of the emails received by Richt and other top University of Georgia athletic department staff, Claude Felton and Greg McGarity, in the days since that game shows the usual spread of fan reactions after a bad loss — the disappointment, the frustration, the armchair quarterbacking.
(These emails were obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution under Georgia’s Open Records Act and were redacted by the university.)
But there was little outright outrage, exuberance or use of all-caps ... with some exceptions.
Here is one fan's message for their "negative" brethren.
Of course, there were complaints.
One student even wrote in to say they had spent "a large portion" of their savings on a ticket to the game, but was so disappointed they vowed to never do that again.
"Do you know what the definition of insanity is?" waxed one fan, in opening:
They weren't the only ones unhappy.
But as one person wrote in, the despair following the Alabama loss was nothing less than similar to the despair faced by the astronauts on Apollo 13.
Indeed, some of the most passion came through from people encouraging Richt and the team, instead of tearing them down.
Even, yes, an email from an Alabama fan, who ended with:
And then ... there were emails like this, which didn't fit any particular category.
