Rivalry with UGA defines Tech
UGA fans don't view the rivalry the same way Tech fans do.
It’s a given that Georgia fans hate to see the Dogs lose to Georgia Tech.
They are, after all, our in-state rival, and you always hate to lose such a game. But aside from bragging rights, UGA fans don’t attach nearly as much significance to the rivalry as do the folks from North Avenue.
We also hate to lose to Florida, Auburn or Tennessee. In fact, the Florida rivalry has a pretty strong claim to being the biggest one in the eyes of Bulldogs fans.
Whereas with the Techies, there’s no question at all who ranks No. 1 in their thoughts 365 days a year: Georgia.
It’s an obsession at Tech. I understand they indoctrinate incoming students at orientation with the importance of hating the school in Athens. They have “to hell with Georgia” in the official lyrics of their fight song. (UGA’s fight song makes no mention of Tech, and even the unofficial version sporting a “to hell with …” line sung by the student section substitutes whoever the Dogs are playing that week.)
Tech puts fans in the stands up on the Grant Field scoreboard video screen during a game to recite their mantra, “to hell with Georgia.” They put Bulldog stickers in some of the urinals at Grant Field. First thing Paul Johnson did after coming to Tech was declare that beating Georgia would be paramount for his team.
How large do the Dogs loom in the Jackets’ consciousness? They actually engraved the score of last year’s win over Georgia (Tech’s first in eight years) on the rings given to players the end of the season!
The lopsided nature of the results in football over the past four decades have also ingrained an insecurity in Tech fandom that even Johnson taking the Jackets back into the Top 10 can’t erase. Amid the usual trash talking this week in comments posted by Tech fans on Georgia blogs have been a surprising number of folks worrying that the Dogs somehow will pull out another win this year, despite the Jackets being the clear favorite.
I think an upset win by Georgia this year is unlikely. The 2009 Dogs are just too deeply flawed. But it could happen. And if it does, Dogs fans will be thrilled and surprised. But it will be just another Georgia win over Tech. The universe restored to its normal order.
If Tech wins, it’ll be just one more disappointment in an ugly season for Georgia fans. But in the Tech world, it will be time to put up a statue or something.
Their hatred of the Dogs is what defines them. After all, you can’t spell Georgia Tech without G-E-O-R-G-I-A!
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418 comments Add your comment
45ACP
November 27th, 2009
3:32 pm
I believe the Dawgs will win every game they play.
How bout them Dawgs!
45ACP
November 27th, 2009
3:36 pm
Cuz – The Dawgs have 8 plays?
That’s great. I thought it was 4. Pass, run left, run up the gut or run right.
We got this in the bag. No worries.
Buckhead Bulldog
November 27th, 2009
3:37 pm
Make no MISTAKE Bill. GT always is, has, and always will be UGA’s A#1 Rivalry. UF, AU, even UT come and go through the years but no one can compare to GT as a rival.
EVERY fricking day this past year I have heard or read something regarding GT victory in Athens. Maybe because I grew up in ATL, and currently live in ATL I hear that Buzzzzz sound all the time. I’m sure the people in S GA hear more UF stuff, and Columbus people hear the AU stuff.
Sic’ ‘em Dogs!
Can we get some bias here?
November 27th, 2009
3:40 pm
AJC: One question. Why is it you have one of your staff exclusively writing for you which supports UGa?
Rest of World: Not quite sure if I buy into Bill’s diatribe re GT being obsessed with UGa. Here are a few observations:
1) UGa’s student body is over twice the size of GT’s and it used to be three times. So you have more alumni therefore more supporters.
2) Many GT graduates, highly regarded in their individual fields, leave the state of Georgia to pursue careers all over the world so our local fan base is smaller, but no less spirited.
3) UGa Fans are the worst ever. They are barking (in your face) when they win and barking (crying) when things don’t go their way.
4) GT fans took 7 years of Chan Gailey, who may be a fine x and o’s coach but couldn’t motivate the players. One down season and UGa wants to fire everyone. Geeze.
5) Bill mentioned the score on the seniors rings. Well that is alot more classy than the UGa players selling theirs on E-Bay.
Lastly, Go Jackets and I will be there tomorrow night.
GT fan ...
November 27th, 2009
3:42 pm
People, if Bill King doesn’t think GT is his biggest rivalry he’s lacking more than sense, and many refer to them as gonads, nuts, cajones, balls, etc.
Keep trying to convince yourself there Billy that GT ain’t your biggest rivalry … there’s a guy named Paul Johnson that will soon bring you back to reality.
Can we get some bias here?
November 27th, 2009
3:43 pm
Dang, I left off one. Whenever UGa is not on top, they revert to name calling and criticism. This entire story from Bill is all negative toward GT. When your losing, again with the crying. Even the writers are in on it.
RAMBLE ON!!!
November 27th, 2009
3:44 pm
What cha gonna do when we put 60 on ya?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjD4eWEUgMM
You stand no chance little man. I don’t care how ugly you are.
Bill King
November 27th, 2009
3:44 pm
Buckhead Bulldog:
I’m sure with a lot of folks, particularly the older part of Bulldogs fandom, Tech is indeed still the No. 1 rival. But that doesn’t change the fact that the rivalry clearly is a bigger deal to Tech and Tech fandom than it is on our side. Beating Georgia is their No. 1 goal. Winning the SEC is Georgia’s.
JC
November 27th, 2009
3:45 pm
One day in an elementary school in Athens, GA, a teacher asks her class if the Georgia Bulldogs are their favorite football team. The whole class says yes, except for Little Jimmy.
The teacher asks, “What’s your favorite football team Jimmy?”
Little Jimmy says, “The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ”
The teacher asks, “Well, why is that?”
Little Jimmy says, “Well, my dad is a Yellow Jacket fan, my mom is a Yellow Jacket fan, I guess that makes me a Yellow Jacket fan.”
The teacher angered by his reply says, “If your dad was a moron and your mom was an idiot what would that make you?”
Little Jimmy says, “Well, I guess that would make me a Georgia fan.”
Can we get some bias here?
November 27th, 2009
3:45 pm
Ramble on: I can answer that. Cry!
Bill King
November 27th, 2009
3:46 pm
Mister T:
I see your point. Kinda like being an Auburn fan in Alabama.
Bill King
November 27th, 2009
3:48 pm
Charles:
Go back and I think you’ll find many Georgia fans felt that way during the Dogs’ most recent seven-win streak. And even before that. I remember in the early 1980s many Georgia fans saying that Clemson was our biggest rivalry of that era.
Bill King
November 27th, 2009
3:51 pm
GT baby:
I’ll believe that you’re not just an aberration when I see Tech fans saying THWC all year long.
Solid Gold Dancer
November 27th, 2009
3:52 pm
Bill, your logic doesn’t hold water. If it were the other way around with Tech dominating the series, you cannot tell me that uga would not target Tech as the #1 goal. That’s why uga is so envious of Florida right now. Also remember Tennessee a few years back. Once a team starts to have success against another, it eases tensions. We’ll see what happens if or when Tech beats the dawgs 3 years in a row. Heads will roll. I’m about as die hard a Tech fan as it gets. I would love to get to the point to where uga is not the #1 goal. But when fans go through 6 and 7 year streaks that’s exactly what happens. Coach Paul Johnson stated in his weekly press conference, that he will get Georgia Tech to the point in believing that there is much more important goals than beating uga. He will reach that goal by being more successful and competitive with georgia.
Bill King
November 27th, 2009
3:55 pm
Falcon71:
You must not read very carefully. I never said Tech runs the wishbone.
I was making an allusion to the cyclical nature of offenses in college football.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
3:56 pm
All of the other Tech rivalries (except Clemson) went away when Tech left the SEC.
Bill King
November 27th, 2009
3:57 pm
JC:
Come back when you get some fresh material. That one’s got moss on it.
45ACP
November 27th, 2009
4:02 pm
When did the Jackets leave the SEC? 1960 or 61?
GT45
November 27th, 2009
4:03 pm
Bill, I’m sure that Gator fans don’t think of you humpers as much of a rival!
Solid Gold Dancer
November 27th, 2009
4:07 pm
In looking back over the past twenty years, I bet that most football fans around the nation do not see the Tech/uga game as a huge rivalry. Just as they don’t see the uga/ Florida game as a big rivalry. As far as great match-up rivalries for Tech and georgia, it’s been Clemson for Tech and Auburn for georgia.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:09 pm
45ACP – 1963
dh
November 27th, 2009
4:14 pm
I’ll buy a little of your argument Bill. One reason I believe this is so is that with Tech in the ACC, it’s hard to have a good rivalry except Clemson, because there is no passion among many of the ACC schools. Plus, Tech is located in the heart of uga country, with a lot of fans & alumni living in the metro area. Yes Tech has its fair share of obnoxious fans, but since Tech is outnumbered in the area uga fans act like bullies, causing Tech to hate them even more. I am a realistic Tech fan here. I know they don’t sell out their stadium. I know they are in a weaker conference. Until Tech closes the gap in the series (which might not happen since it is such a large margin) then uga fans will still not see Tech as main rival. The very nature of this article is one that Tech fans have to endure. However, there are a fair share of dog fans on Tech blogs, posting things that would make one think that Tech was their main rival. You also responded to someone that if Tech does win tomorrow it still won’t change your opinion about Tech being a main rival. However it might get a spark going, because I know dog fans will not like hearing Tech fans for another 365 days. Plus I will say if uga wins tomorrow, it won’t be treated as merely beating Tech again. I don’t think they will make rings for it, but I know uga fans will deal out a lot of crow.
With all that being said, you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that. BTW, this is coming from a UT grad, so I know all about obnoxious fans causing one to despise another team for that very reason.
Tech Man
November 27th, 2009
4:15 pm
I respectfully disagree with you Mr. King. Beating “Georgie” (as Bobby Dodd loved to refer to UGA) is important to the Tech fans that I speak with on a regular basis, but winning the ACC and going to a BCS bowl and winning it is much more important. For example, beating Virginia Tech when they were ranked Number 4 in the country was much more important than beating “Georgie”. Beating Clemson to win the ACC next week is much more important than beating “Georgie”. What I am trying to say is, winning the big games is much more important (and beating “Georgie” this year just does not qualify as a big game). Maybe, in years past when “Georgie” was a better team it would mean more, but not this year.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:16 pm
I imagine most fans around the country would say Oregon-Oregon St, USC-UCLA, and Georgia-Georgia Tech are big rivalries. They not really care about the outcome. If Georgia-Georgia Tech isn’t a big rivalry, why all of the posting about this game, even in early and midseason?
45ACP
November 27th, 2009
4:16 pm
That’s when USCe joined the SEC, right?
GIT and USCe traded positions so to speak?
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:21 pm
Tech Man – I disagree, because it will be “important” if Tech loses. I don’t think that Georgia will just brush off a loss to Tech, either.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:24 pm
45ACP – I don’t recall if it was swap like that, or if S. Carolina joined the SEC when Tech joined the ACC. I was out of the state for an extended period (13 years) while that was going on.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:27 pm
The Kentucky-Tennessee *loser* goes to the “Peach Bowl?” So says the TV. Wow…
It is spelled D-O-G, you don't look smarter by complicating it
November 27th, 2009
4:28 pm
I’m an Atlanta native who just moved to Hawaii, and I must say it’s refreshing to be living around so many people who share my mutual spite for UGAy (no, I don’t have sexuality issues). If people see that monstrosity of a logo here, they think the fan has Green Bay’s colors all wrong, but I digress. The game doesn’t even kick off for another 28 hours and their fans are already in defense mode by downplaying their rival. So when UGAy loses, their fans can act like they don’t care. And if they win, they can give us the typical “SEC is superior to all other conferences” arrogance. Either way, all their bases are covered. UGAy fans aren’t too bright, but I’ll give them credit for being able to manipulate a situation when their team sucks. Either way, their fans should call the Humane Society cause the DOGS are going the way of Old Yeller (or for that matter, UGA VII) in Atlanta tomorrow night. I suggest that during the off-season your stadium workers call some Tech engineers to fix your game clock or build you a new one. We’ll call it a consolation prize.
UGAy: 24
GT: 35
GO JACKETS!!!
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:29 pm
45ACP – Tulane left the SEC too, of course.
George P
November 27th, 2009
4:29 pm
This is the type of post that hopes the game is a nasty, 3rd string QB at end type blow out. To say that this game means nothing is the biggest smack in the face and the total abandonment of your team. A win would be a pleasant surprise and a loss would just be a small bruise for the battered team… what kind of fan would say that? You should be embarrassed to show so little faith in your highly ranked recruiting class. You should be willing to face Tech, with our players passed over by UGA, and take the fight standing up, not assuming defeat.
45ACP
November 27th, 2009
4:30 pm
As a life long Dawg fan a win over Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama or LSU would mean more to me than a win over the Jackets. Conference game wins are critical.
George P
November 27th, 2009
4:30 pm
*that MAKES ME hope
Florida Man
November 27th, 2009
4:30 pm
Bill, from your “reasoning”, you say that Georgia Tech is not a big rival of Georgia because Georgia has been so dominant of late. You stated “The lopsided nature of the results in football over the past four decades have also ingrained an insecurity in Tech fandom…” Using your reasoning, I guess that this is why Florida does not truly view Georgia as a big rival since Florida has won 17 of the last 20 games. However, I guess this futility has ingrained an insecurity in Georgia fandom. So, you must understand how Tech fans must feel. However, what I have seen last year and this year from Tech and Georgia leads me to believe that Tech fans do not really have that insecurity that you refer to. In fact, I believe they are quite encouraged about this year and future years. I do hope that Georgia can regain some of the competiveness from years ago, because a lot of Florida fans are not excited about the game with Georgia like they used to be.
Cuz
November 27th, 2009
4:31 pm
Spell it, one more time. We spell it Dawgs to differentiate from the other Bull”dog”s of Miss. State. I own a dog. I pull for the Dawgs. Not hard.
FJR
November 27th, 2009
4:32 pm
lol, if this was some lame commenter, it would still be really bad flame bait bill. It really is a sad statement for UGA’s fans that its come to bitter blogs like this from an official AJC blogger. Sad indeed. And I’m not even a tech fan. You make mention of the fact that UGA considers UF their biggest rival. The funniest thing of all is that UF probably considers UGA their third, maybe fourth biggest rival now (even though they don’t play alabama every year, I think most UF fans would consider them a bigger rival right now). UGA just doesn’t even really register as a rivalry for most UF fans. So, you could write this entire blog and just substitute Florida for Georgia and Georgia for Georgia Tech and it would probably ring even truer.
How about you stick to talking about UGA Bill? You generally know what you’re talking about and you don’t make your fanbase look like the big bully who just got beat up. That’s all this blog does though. Makes you and your fanbase look like bitter bullies who’ve repeatedly had their butts handed to them this year.
DG
November 27th, 2009
4:34 pm
Bill,
So if it is not important for UGA then I assume that if you loose 3 or 4 in a row Mark Richt won’t be fired – right. Give me a break. Ask Jim Donnan how important it was for his job.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:37 pm
45ACP – If I ever get used to the idea of Tech being in the ACC, maybe it will be that way to me, too.
ACC basketball was fun several years ago, but I don’t watch, and will not, until the NBA changes their eligibility rules such that college is not a 1-year tryout for the NBA.
Not Disappointed!
November 27th, 2009
4:41 pm
I’m looking forward to a good game. The pups will keep it close. Taking my brother tomorrow. He’s a dawg among dawgs, but my brother and I love em. “It should be fun!”
Let’s go Jackets! Ramblin Wreck!
It is spelled D-O-G, you don't look smarter by complicating it
November 27th, 2009
4:45 pm
Ok, D-O-G. “Dawgs” just makes you guys look like hicks. It validates the behavior of that deep fried nut job who wears overalls with that mutt painted on his fat dome. He’s one onion ring away from exploding all over the drum corps. I’ll give the guy credit though; it’s much easier for him to tailgate. He never has to leave home.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:45 pm
For those who are interested in really mean coaches, check out some stuff on Mark Mangino of Kansas. This guy is psycho-scary.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4669621
45ACP
November 27th, 2009
4:45 pm
Not Disappointed! – Make sure you have plenty of anti-freeze. Going to be cold.
Pat Fenis
November 27th, 2009
4:46 pm
Go Dawgs!
dh
November 27th, 2009
4:46 pm
To Delbert D.:
I know this blog is about football, but I will agree with you on the basketball thing. That’s one of the things that has hurt Tech in hoops and will again this year after Favors leaves for the NBA after one year. And you know, he ain’t takin’ any classes down there. The NCAA is not minor league basketball, but it is being treated that way.
duke
November 27th, 2009
4:47 pm
Realize this Tech fans….Dwyer, Thomas, D. Morgan, and M. Burnett are ALL going to enter the draft this year……also,realize that you are not attractive people…..God made you that way and there is nothing you can do about it.
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:47 pm
Was Alabama supposed to have a great defense? Weak strength-of-schedule?
Volman
November 27th, 2009
4:47 pm
My God, this redneck is a joke. The AJC lets you post this DRIVEL on here?!?! Get a life you fat redneck.
Volman
November 27th, 2009
4:49 pm
“You can’t spell Georgia Tech without Georgia.” That’s very astute of you.
You must be one of those Georgia Southern or Valdosta State grads.
What’s 1+1?
littlepups
November 27th, 2009
4:50 pm
gimme a break..uga doesn’t consider tech their rivals but i guarantee you that when tech whoops up on the little pups this week, richt better start preparing for ‘10 to avoid 3 straight losses b/c he’ll be OUT…but yeah..Florida doesn’t consider the pups their rivals either because they’ve been OWNED by the gators..to hell with georgia…yipppee ka eh…mfcs!!!!
Delbert D.
November 27th, 2009
4:52 pm
duke – Not to worry, there are reinforcements in place and doing well. Morgan is the only DL loss probability. Last year, Tech lost 3 DLs to the NFL.
Beauty is in the mind of the beholder, and frankly, nobody cares.