Live from the Joke by Coke, and the Evil Genius = hope

The ideal Christmas gift for a Dawg fan? Not this. (Photo by M. Bradley)

Understand: In my entire life, I have never thought of Bobby Dodd Stadium as the Joke by Coke, but seeing as how I’m tasked with chatting live tonight from a Georgia perspective I thought I’d get in the spirit. But that, I should report, is where it ends. No cracks about John DUI-berry. Or Reggie Ball. (Well, maybe only one or two.) Everything else will be straight down the middle. Fair and balanced, as we say here at Fox News.

And we at Fox News have learned that the Ol’ Ball Coach doubled the score on young Dabo of Swinney, which has the effect of doing two things near and dear to Georgia fans’ hearts. First, it devalues the ACC title game, in which the North Avenue Trade School — sorry, couldn’t t resist just one more — will take part, and it also offers further proof that the ACC isn’t exactly a fortress of a league.

South Carolina entered having lost five of 11 games, same as Georgia. South Carolina had lost to Georgia by four points on Sept. 12, two days after Georgia Tech beat Clemson by three. So comparative scores were pretty close. (Not that comparative scores tell us much, but hear me out.) And today the Evil Genius whipped his in-state rival 34-17.

Can it happen in another state championship game? Honesty compels me to say I don’t think so, but I’ve been wrong about this game twice in the past three years. I figured Tech would handle Georgia in 2006 given that the Jackets were ranked and headed for the ACC title tilt — sound familiar — and the Bulldogs had needed an upset of Auburn just to get to 7-4. And I figured Georgia would still be too much for the Jackets were — for a half. Then things changed.

I see Georgia scoring some points on Tech. I see Tech scoring a lot more on Georgia. I’ve been saying 42-27 for two weeks, and yesterday I asked you kind folks for your thoughts on the matter. At last check, the semi-consensus among respondents was that the Jackets would win big or Georgia would win close. I’d bet on the latter if I bet. Which I do not. So feel free to disregard my gambling advice.

Please also feel free to join us as we discuss the game from a Georgia angle tonight. I’ll be here until it ends, which I figure will be at 11:29 p.m. EST. And it had better be. My print deadline is 11:30. But that’s problem, not yours. And I look forward to your company on what promises to be an intriguing night.