A touch of Scotland in Atlanta

With the 7:30 a.m. kickoff, fans of each club around the world, including a Celtic patron from Atlanta who is near the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, and 4 1/2 –month-old Luca in his full Rangers kit at Fado's, stopped everything to watch.

"My earliest recollection was always the blue jersey," said Colin Mayo, 46, a Rangers fan and Atlanta resident originally from Dunfermline.

"It's one or the other," said Mick Honan, a Celtic supporter and Atlanta resident from Glasgow who was interviewed earlier in the week. The only thing that pulled him away from the game was a chance to climb Africa's tallest mountain, a trek that began Thursday but wouldn't stop him from trying to watch the match online.

Literally it would take a mountain to stop a fan from getting an eyeful.

Unlike an Atlanta sports fan, who grows up rooting for the Cowboys, Yankees or Lakers without shame, fans in Glasgow are divided by religion and politics between their two teams: Protestants and loyalists support Rangers; Catholics and Republicans favor Celtic. It's been that way since the two first played in 1888 and the nickname "Old Firm" was coined by a reporter.

Mayo, a senior vice president for an underwriting company, said it's like Georgia and Florida in football, but magnified to a greater degree.

The rivalry is so old, the dislike is almost genetic.

Honan described how as boy he would walk to Catholic primary school every day, pass a Protestant school and get hit by rocks.

It's hard to understand the hatred, said Honan, a capital planning manager at Coca-Cola Enterprises. He admits to fights with Rangers fans when he was a younger man, something that wouldn't happen now.. "When you're younger you don't think about it, but as you get older and more sensible you wonder why you behaved that way," he said.

For fans, those feelings are tempered over time. Mayo refuses to wear anything green, but his best man was a Celtic supporter. Mayo and Honan, each a chairman for supporters clubs for their teams in Atlanta, get along well at these game-watching events. They pay for the satellite subscription together that allows fans to gather and watch, including the 20 or so who showed up Sunday.

For some, however, the ill feelings never end. The hatred turned into a Civil War-sized brawl between 9,000 fans in 1980 after a game at the Rangers' Ibrox Stadium, known as Castle Greyskull to Celtic supporters. Politicians moved to defuse the tension between teams, outlawing certain sectarian songs and chants at Ibrox and Celtic Park, known as Legoland to Rangers supporters.

At Fado's on Sunday, no songs were sung and no chants were recited, though one Celtic fan was singing under his breath.

The large room was mostly quiet as nerves settled and the game developed a flow. A red card to Celtic's Scott Brown for a questionable penalty brought the first wave of emotion. Hoops' fans, unhappy with the referees all season, protested loudly.

"It's a disgrace," said Gary Higgins, a salesman and Glasgow native who went to dozens of games while growing up in Scotland.

Rangers fans, naturally, were slightly more forgiving of the officiating.

Steadily the noise picked up, with fans moving from their bar stools closer to the TV, as the action intensified in the second half.

Celtics fans admitted before the game that this was a must-win situation. Yet their beloved Hoops couldn't control the ball in the second half.

Rangers finally broke through in the 93rd minute when U.S. international Maurice Edu punched the ball into the net following a scrum in front of the goal.

"Ga'un the Rangers!" Jimmy Wylie, father of young Luca, screamed out.

A few seconds later, the final whistle blew.

Celtic fans shook hands, said their goodbyes and walked out. Rangers fans stood around savoring the win and watching highlights.

"Story of our season," said Celtic fan David O'Shea, an economics teacher at St. Pius.

O'Shea and the others will carry the loss only until next week's game, when they again will wait outside Fado's for the doors to open.

After all, what choice do they have?

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For more on Celtic, go to www.bebo.com/atlantacsc

For more on Rangers, go to www.rangerssupportersclub.com