Who you for, UGA fans? The Evil Genius or Nick UnFairley?
"Good luck, Stevie boy. We're all counting on you." (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Three years ago yours truly paid a midweek visit to Columbia, S.C., for Steve Spurrier’s weekly briefing. Toward the end, I mentioned that a brand new AJC.com poll had just reconfirmed that the Ol’ Ball Coach was — ahead of even Urban Meyer, who was coming off a BCS title — the man Georgia fans most loved to hate.
“Glad they haven’t forgotten me,” said Spurrier, who seemed pleased.
Postscript: Four days later, Spurrier and South Carolina came to Sanford Stadium and beat Georgia 16-12.
The Bulldogs have nothing to do with this year’s SEC championship game, which will be staged Saturday at the Georgia Dome. (Fun fact: Seven different SEC schools have qualified for the title game since last Georgia did in 2005.) But Spurrier will be here, and he might actually be the sentimental favorite. Because here are your choices:
• In one corner, the Evil Genius and his Gamecock minions, who are new to this championship thing.
• In the other, RoboCoach Gene Chizik and Nick UnFairley and, lest we forget, Cam Newton.
Loading ...Auburn fans love their team. Almost nobody else does. Let’s state for the record that Newton is the nation’s best player and Fairley its best defender, but we also must concede that the Tigers lead the world in irrational exuberance.
This isn’t to say South Carolina has been without sin. Tight end Weslye Sanders was kicked off the team without playing a down this season, and several Gamecocks apparently got the William Shatner rate at Columbia’s Whitney Hotel over the summer. And that “2001″ introduction at Williams-Brice Stadium was pretty tired back in … well, 2001.
But Auburn, as we know, has become the new standard in raised eyebrows, what with Fairley’s repeated slams of Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray (see YouTube video below) to the series of revelations/allegations that led to Newton being declared ineligible by Auburn. (He was re-instated, after a timeout of one day, by the NCAA.)
Viewed alongside strutting Auburn, the Gamecocks seem rather gentlemanly. So now I’m asking a question I never thought I’d ask: Georgia fans, are you rooting for Spurrier?
Or, put another way, is there really a cold front bearing down on Hades?
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935 comments Add your comment
Sing Along
December 3rd, 2010
2:42 pm
I saw her sittin’ in a barroom in that smokey atmosphere
She smiled back at me as I drank down one last beer
She pulled me on the dancefloor and we danced a song or two
It was then I realized that I had bit off more than I could chew
Chorus
I think I’m dancing with a man
She’s got calasses on her hands
She’s got a voice deeper than mine
She gets a stiffy when we grind
I think I’m dancing with a man
We sat down and talked a while and we listened to the band
Then a friend of mine walked by and he asked her if she’d dance
Then he gently took her hand (oooooh-oooooh)
And he twirled her round and round
It looked like he was having fun until her skirt fell to the ground
Chorus
I think he’s dancing with a man
The boys at the lodge won’t understand
With her hand on his behind
They two-stepped till half past 9
I think he’s dancing with a man
Ohhh heck I think we’re dancing with a man
It’ll be known throughout the land
Two boys from Texas danced the jig with a dude who wore a wig
We’ve been dancing with a man
She crushed a beer can on her head
Good Lord her foreheads red
We’ve been dancing with a big man
Camenstein
December 3rd, 2010
2:43 pm
@Blutto
Dang, guess Ill switch to bourbon.
JdawgT
December 3rd, 2010
2:45 pm
Seems to me UGA got thrashed 6- Times during the course of the year but None of those teams were on the payroll.
Reggie Bush
December 3rd, 2010
2:46 pm
If Scam is eligible, I want my dam Heisman back!
SuperB
December 3rd, 2010
2:46 pm
Hell, I wouldn’t vote for either one!
Blutto
December 3rd, 2010
2:47 pm
Sing Along….sad to say, but this may come to pass for some young, dumb chicken humper this weekend in Midtown. Enough said.
KB
December 3rd, 2010
2:47 pm
This is coming from a Clemson alum, so I hope you appreciate how hard it is for me to type this. I hope the cocks destroy Auburn. Mark, you should also post the late hit that Fairley put on Kyle Parker during the Clemson/Auburn game. He is one of the most dirty players I have ever seen. Their whole team is a disgrace and they reflect their jerk of a head coach. I would normally be pulling for an SEC representative in the title game, but not this Auburn team. Go cocks.
To a concerned fan
December 3rd, 2010
2:47 pm
Wow, would you put EVERY player in prison if they only have two personal fouls all year.
Kinda harsh, I think.
So sorry he hurt a poor little Bulldawg, but it’s football, not badmitton.
Maybe it’s the entire O’Line of UGA that should be put in prison for not protecting their man.
Oooops — could be some of them have already been there…
Camenstein
December 3rd, 2010
2:48 pm
@ARdawg
I think most rational AU fans will agree (maybe not in public), that we dont particularly like the association with some of these unscrupulous characters.
I appreciate the good wishes.
Cheers to you sir.
Reggie Bush
December 3rd, 2010
2:48 pm
USC to win the game and the other
USC to sue the NCAA
gomdawg
December 3rd, 2010
2:48 pm
SIMPLE , FAIRLY AND AUBURN GO TO HELL GO COCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To JDawgT
December 3rd, 2010
2:49 pm
and you know that…….. how?
you’ve investigated every team this year that opped UGA and they’re all 100% clean?
Wow — you’ve been one busy little Dawgie!
SuperB
December 3rd, 2010
2:49 pm
JdawgT: The “T” either stands for Tech or Tacky– oops they are synonymous (for “T” that means the same thing.) Georgia lost 3 games on close-in fumbles they easily could have won. they weren’t run out of the stdium in any game.
Maybe the “T” sztand for: Lack of aTTenTion span?”
gomdawg
December 3rd, 2010
2:49 pm
SIMPLE , THE HELL WITH FAIRLY AND CAM , GO COCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sing along?
December 3rd, 2010
2:50 pm
What exactly are *calasses* ?
HereYaGo
December 3rd, 2010
2:52 pm
(:::[~]:::)
Seems poor widdle doggies need another BandAid
Owie still hurting much?
JDogT
December 3rd, 2010
2:55 pm
I found it all on Wikileaks
JDogT
December 3rd, 2010
2:56 pm
I found it on wikileaks
Blutto
December 3rd, 2010
2:56 pm
HereYaGo…please don’t pick on the dawgs, otherwise they’ll all quit licking their rumps and balls and start woofing or something.
MikeP
December 3rd, 2010
2:57 pm
49-31 sure has put you Dawgs in a bad mood. What’s going to happen next year when AU returns to Athens and increases its record there from 18-11 to 19-11?
“If Nick fairley was a Dawg, he’d be a rock star in georgia.”~~Buck Belue
Sing Along
December 3rd, 2010
2:57 pm
To Sing Along?
What you get on your hand when you wax your shelale.
WDE
December 3rd, 2010
2:58 pm
Bring on the Cocks!!
……wait
gcs
December 3rd, 2010
2:59 pm
I really don’t like Spurrier but I REALLY HATE AwBarn.
USC is the lesser of two evils.
.
WDE
December 3rd, 2010
2:59 pm
BRING ON THE C0CKS!!
….wait
Vet
December 3rd, 2010
3:00 pm
Auburn is in a lose-lose situation. The better this team does, the more they’re hated. They are likely to win the BCS and mythical National Championship at the expense of the only things they can carry from one year to another: integrity and reputation. Those have been tarnished for a generation, possibly forever. Congratulations … weegle weegle, war scam eagle. We all look at you differntly now.
Blutto
December 3rd, 2010
3:00 pm
WDE…..please this is a family blog!
Paranoid much?
December 3rd, 2010
3:06 pm
Never seen so much paranoia as what is coming from AU. Guess they–down deep–know what’s coming.
P.S. I didn’t go to UGA although it’s clear that the AU fans think that is where all the negativity is coming from. Stop and check the national blogs. It’s the same as here.
DDPO
December 3rd, 2010
3:13 pm
All good uga fans should root for Ed Tolley. he’s a magician!!!
aualum87
December 3rd, 2010
3:16 pm
SuperB, not run out of the stadium in any game?? how about an 18 point loss?? Remember 49-31?? It doesn’t surprise me that Dawg fans are pulling for the Cocks, they like the cocks…..
1eyedJack
December 3rd, 2010
3:17 pm
“49-31 sure has put you Dawgs in a bad mood.”
Yeah…but 42-34 made it a whole lot more palatable.
Northern Sympathizer
December 3rd, 2010
3:18 pm
Ball coach! Ball coach!
aualum87
December 3rd, 2010
3:19 pm
SuperB, the Dawgs weren’t run out of the stadium in any game?? Huh? How about that 18 point loss?? Remember 49-31…..Doesn’t surprise me one bit that Dawg fans are pulling for the C0cks, they seem to like them
Spot on
December 3rd, 2010
3:20 pm
From the ESPN Blogs:
The NCAA is probably doing two things right now:
1. They are saving the college football season — esp the SEC season and championship game — by declaring the player eligible.
2. It’s in the off-season when they will even the score and launch a very deep and — from my point of view — devastating inquiry into Auburn football.
Thus, those who see this ruling as a clearing of Auburn are dead wrong. And those who see it as a grave injustice may only partially be right, since in the longer term Auburn is likely to spend the next five years under investigation.
blazerdawg
December 3rd, 2010
3:22 pm
Can’t stand Chizik(sp).
Hope CN remains in the clear and that the UF behavior is in his past; he is an awesome player and seems to be a natural leader.
Auburn fans gave gone nuts trying to defend Fairley and drag UGA into their mess, but will still root for an SEC MNC, and believe that the UGA/Auburn rivalry will return to the tough but sportsmanlike/fun rivalry that it always has been once Chizik is gone.
Nick
December 3rd, 2010
3:23 pm
Which one of you muthas stole my ATM debit card?
Crazy
December 3rd, 2010
3:25 pm
I have to hand it to you Bradley…you and the AJC absolutely knows to give UGA fans want they want…more fuel for the fire.
Keep living in the past folks…the rest of the college football world is passing you by in the process.
wxwax
December 3rd, 2010
3:29 pm
South Carolina, for me.
I like Auburn but I don’t like what’s going on with Cam Newton.
On the face of it, the SEC is willfully ignoring one of its own rules in order to let Newton play. Obviously Commissioner Slive feels that it’s more important to compete for the national championship than it is to regulate recruiting.
Funny, that’s exactly how the schools feel, too.
So, let South Carolina win and scupper the SEC’s spot in the national championship game. That seems like a fair wage for this sin.
Supes
December 3rd, 2010
3:32 pm
2. It’s in the off-season when they will even the score and launch a very deep and — from my point of view — devastating inquiry into Auburn football.
******************
Can’t wait for that and the other shoe to drop…and then the death penalty (you think USC had it bad in the pac 10 this year…wait till you have to endure that in the SEC when everyone will be gunning for you!)
Tom
December 3rd, 2010
3:33 pm
Spot On…..too bad you are not so spot on. There is a reason the president of the NCAA is already apologizing for the backlash that has come from Southern Cal fans. The case is over. There is nothing else to investigate. What they did…was they worded the ruling with “at this time” to leave themselves a hole in case something huge ever comes out…That way, they can go back and say…well..we said “at this time” so they dont look like incompetant investigators….but they surely wont be digging to hard anymore. They already have…and rational people all long were telling you this. It’s so funny, people are acting like this is news to them, as if half the world hasnt been telling them all along there wasn’t any proof. There isnt any proof…and this case was unique and not like any other. This was nothing like Southern Cal because Reggie and his family left a paper trail the size of Texas and DID IN FACT recieve benefits. Auburn was involved in a gossip jealousy war between rival schools and the media and public opinion wanted Auburn to be put on probation for actions that happened at another school. Yeah, that’s real fair let me tell you. I guess I am to believe you wouldn’t defend your team if there was no evidence. Rival SEC fans….FAH-Q.
Cheesestick
December 3rd, 2010
3:33 pm
Would someone please Buy us a Newspaper of our own ????
Tom
December 3rd, 2010
3:36 pm
and nothing huge will ever come out unless it comes out of Auburn…which it won’t. All this mess you have heard has come from Miss State…and they got nothing else. Suck it.
Tom
December 3rd, 2010
3:38 pm
Oh we have a newspaper…we just love making all the UGA fans realize how crappy and irrelevant their football team is…Must suck waking up every day and all the headlines on the AJC are about AU
Tom
December 3rd, 2010
3:39 pm
but I guess that is what happens when you have 2 SEC Titles in 30 years and lose 18 out of 21 to the Gators….you basically submit that you are irrelevant
Blutto
December 3rd, 2010
3:40 pm
Tom….you are almost as funny as a Techie…what school means red…get it necker
re: Tom
December 3rd, 2010
3:41 pm
jealous of UGA much?? Geez.
happy jack
December 3rd, 2010
3:41 pm
RE. BUZZHARD: IN THE NFL, FAIRLEY WOULD HAVE BEEN PENALIZED, KICKED OUT OF THE GAME, AND FINED. THE NFL OWNERS ARE SMART ENOUGH TO NOT LET A THUG LIKE fairley DESTROY A MILLION $ Q.B. LIKE MURRAY. MURRAY WILL HAVE A GOOD CAREER AND MAKE LOTS OF MONEY AND ENJOY IT. fairley IN NFL 3 .2 YEARS AND MAKE ABOUT 15 MILLION DOLLARS. IN 6 YEARS HE WILL BE BROKE, BANKRUPT, AND ALL OF HIS ENTOURAGE WILL HAVE ABANDONED HIM. HE WILL BE LUCKY TO FIND WORK DOING SECURITY FOR A 16 YEAR OLD KID MAKING 50 MILLION PER YEAR. THAT IS, IF HIS STEROID INFESTED BODY IS STILL HOLDING UP. DOUBT IT.
Tom
December 3rd, 2010
3:42 pm
Hello, I’m UGA. I don’t leave the South for 40 years and pad my wins with victories over South Carolina, KY, and Vandy, then 3 cupcakes, and GT every year to make me bowl eligible…then all I have to do is beat AUB, TENN, or FL, or a few others and I am a 9 win team….problem is…I can’t win the East even when it is terrible. I am afraid to leave the South. I have 2 sec titles in 30 years. I have a huge complex with Florida. My students and faculty are all alcoholics.
Blutto
December 3rd, 2010
3:42 pm
Tom….are you sure that aren’t one of those Techies that hangs out at Swinging Richards
Tom
December 3rd, 2010
3:43 pm
Jealous of UGA? Are you joking? do me a favor.. Thumb threw these pages and try and tell me where the jealousy lies. UGA is a bunch of whiny pansies.
happy jack
December 3rd, 2010
3:43 pm
I MEANT A 16 YEAR OLD RAPPER.