SEC Championship game 12.4.2021 UGA v Alabama
Here I sit at 5:53 am Monday morning December 6. I nursed my Alabama hangover all day yesterday.
I did a deal with the devil and bought two very expensive tickets to the SEC Championship because this was the year UGA was going to beat Alabama and I had to be there.
HOPE IS A 4 LETTER WORD
I have two daughters at UGA, a senior and sophomore, and my senior scored a ticket through the lottery. She was at the game sitting just below me and my husband. The pregame was electric. The game, not so much.
By chance, we ran into her on Northside Drive leaving the game. Her anger, frustration and disappointment was palpable. All I could say was, “Katherine, you met Hope and welcome to the club”. Amazing how attending UGA makes you a die-hard UGA forever football fan. I tried for years to get her to understand my passion but it took four years in her beyond most favorite city on the planet to convert her to, well, me and the rest of Bulldog Nation.
Let all the non-Dawg fans say and joke all they want…laugh, make fun, whatever. Send the Gif’s, come up with more ring jokes…it’s okay, we have dinosaur thick skin. Even the ones who said they were cheering for UGA…deep down we know they all wanted us to lose.
Yes, my heart is broken, temporarily. Today is a new day and I find myself, again, singing…Luke Combs…”Longneck, ice cold beer never broke my heart…like diamond rings and football teams have torn this boy apart”.
Yesterday, UGA was invited to the Orange Bowl and we have another chance. Here we go again…Hope. And, to quote Ted Lasso and the Richmond fans…”it’s the Hope that kills ya.”
Well…let me tell you about Hope.
Dawg fans, rabid and loyal. Devoted and starving. This is what makes our beloved UGA great. A few years ago, the Alabama students didn’t show up for a game because they were playing a team they knew they were going to destroy. National Championship Fatigue.
Dawg fans show up. Everywhere. Ask Notre Dame. I think there is a UGA Bar in every city in America.
Park Burger in Denver is one of the greatest. Park Burger is where we were for the Rose Bowl game when we beat Oklahoma…I thought I was in Athens. The next day while skiing in Breckenridge, we ran into some Dawg fans. They had had their ski trip planned for over a year. What did they do? They called an audible. They hopped on a plane from Denver, went to the Rose Bowl and flew back the next day to finish their ski trip, completely spontaneous. That is a UGA Bulldog fan…multiply that by every UGA graduate and then some…that is Bulldog Nation.
IT IS ALL ABOUT FOOTBALL
UGA has won so many National Championships in so many other sports with incredible teams, not to mention Olympians out the wazoo, but the nay-sayers only want to talk about football.
We listen to Jeff Dantzler and Kevin Butler on the Bulldog pre and post-game show every week. This week was painful. But, they are correct…it is not like the coaches are trying to upset Bulldog Nation, they know what is best based on their every day. We can get a do-over…we just need to get there…through Miami, Michigan, the new city and state I created. Tough road, but our beloved Bulldogs are different this year. They will do it. Good grief, Hope.
What scared me at the SEC Champ game was the crowd. It was 75% UGA. But guess what, we were all nervous. It was eerie how tense we all were. I bet the players felt it. I went to a lot of games this season, home and away to include Clemson and this game felt different.
The Arkansas game was the best game I can ever remember attending in all my years. The crowd was there early…ELITE…that was Kirby. It was the most amazing experience to be part of Bulldog Nation in that setting. I will never forget it and no one can take that away from us.
Moving forward, we have nothing to lose. Just do the job. We have to beat Michigan. We will be confident and we will win. Alabama has to beat Cincinnati. Alabama believes they can win out, that is who they are…they have moxie. We have Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Brock Bowers, James Cook, Jake Camarda, Zamir White, Stetson Bennett, J.T. Daniels…and the list goes on. We have more, we can beat Bryce Young…he’s a cool cucumber, make him uncomfortable.
UGA FANS...BULLDOG NATION
UGA…we have the greatest fan base of any sports team in the world. We are everywhere. We have the best team we have ever had. To quote Ted Lasso …”Believe.”
So, as I wallow in my sorrow after putting all of my eggs in one basket, and not being able to attend anymore UGA games this season, I will leave you with the following:
We are not only Bulldogs now, we are Raptors. We are SMARTer.
All season, my husband kept saying to me…unfortunately, we are going to have to beat Alabama twice. Guess what Bulldog Nation, if we take care of business in Miami, Michigan…we only have to beat ‘bama once.
Go Dawgs!
