Walmart shoppers! Here’s the scoop on Tech and UGA fans!
Sometimes Tech folks feel overshadowed. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
In years past our annual look at Georgia fans vis-a-vis Georgia Tech has been offered in the spirit of good clean fun. This year, for the sake of novelty (and also because even I’ve wearied of Willie Martinez), the idea will be to help these two neighboring-but-different groups actually understand one another.
And then we’ll all join hands and raise our voices in a spirited rendition of “I’d Like To Teach the World to Sing” and toast one another with Coca-Cola products, and by the way: Did you know Georgia fans refer to Bobby Dodd Stadium as “The Joke By Coke”?
But enough! No more gags from me this year! Instead I offer the observations gained from dwelling among Tech and Georgia folks these past 27 years, eight months and 18 days.
• Tech fans care just as much about football as Georgia fans. This may come as a surprise to those Bulldogs backers who are forever mocking the attendance at Bobby Dodd Stadium. (For the Jackets’ mammoth Thursday night clash against No. 10 Virginia Tech, attendance was announced at 50,140 in a facility that seats 55,000.) But counting heads isn’t necessarily a measure of passion.
Tech’s enrollment is roughly 20,000 — Georgia’s is 35,000, by the way — and a goodly percentage of those students will take their degrees and move elsewhere. (This isn’t to say that no Georgia grad ever moves out of state. Even Lewis Grizzard moved to Chicago for a few months.) But studies have shown that there are more Auburn grads living in metro Atlanta than Tech alums.
Numbers-wise, Georgia is always going to win. That doesn’t mean Tech folks don’t care. They do. Just ask any alum what he/she thinks of a Tech uniform that doesn’t feature the color gold. Or get one going on Bill Lewis’ 2 1/2-year reign of error.
• Just as Tech fans hate being hit over the head with attendance figures, Georgia fans hate hearing about Jan Kemp. When John Davis was a Tech lineman back in the ’80s, he told me this joke: “How do you get a degree from Georgia? Drive by campus and roll down the window.” And there was a time, let’s stipulate, when UGA wasn’t exactly a school of renown, and the Jan Kemp trial only underscored the notion.
But that was then, and under presidents Charles Knapp and Michael Adams the University of Georgia has become a place of pride and achievement. No, calculus isn’t a requirement for every UGA undergrad, but the academic missions of the schools are rather different. Georgia is a broad-based state university; Tech is, duh, a technical institute. Not everyone wants to be an engineer. Just because your diploma is from UGA doesn’t make you a comparative moron.
Not that Tech folks are eager to concede the point. On his Tuesday night radio show, Tech coach Paul Johnson took a call from someone who began barking. Said Johnson: “He just got off from Walmart.” (FYI, the CEO of Walmart is Tech grad Michael Duke.)
• When Tech fans speak of football tradition, they think first of Bobby Dodd. He was everything a Tech fan wanted in a coach. He was smart and his teams played precise football and he won a lot of games and he, not incidentally, beat Georgia eight times running. But that was in the ’50s, and those were different times: College football wasn’t yet a billion-dollar industry driven by TV and recruiting wasn’t a cutthroat nationwide competition.
Reasonable Tech fans — and Tech fans, by and large, tend to be reasonable — cannot envision their team ever again beating Georgia eight times in a row. (Since 1977, Tech has beaten Georgia eight times total.) In their heart of hearts, Tech fans would be satisfied with winning one of every three against their bitter rival. Not coincidentally, Johnson is 1-2 against Georgia.
• When Georgia fans speak of tradition, they think first of Herschel Walker. Yes, the Bulldogs were winning SEC and even national championships and turning out famous players (Sinkwich, Trippi, Tarkenton) long before landing the kid from Wrightsville on Easter 1980, but the Era of Herschel propelled Georgia from the ranks of perennial Southern power to something bigger. By every measure, those were the three greatest years in Bulldogs history.
That said, those three seasons skewed some Georgia fans’ view of their program. Two decades would pass before Georgia won another SEC title. Mark Richt has taken two conference titles and three division championships and his teams have finished in the top 10 five times, but Georgia hasn’t played for a national crown since 1982, and five different SEC schools have finished No. 1 over the past 13 years. UGA fans are still waiting their turn, same as they await the Next Herschel.
• Georgia is Tech’s biggest game of every year. Chan Gailey got fired not because he had losing seasons — he didn’t, not a one — but because he was 0-6 against the Bulldogs. And it’s undeniable that the words “To Hell with Georgia” are sung the loudest whenever “Ramblin’ Wreck” is played.
• Tech is Georgia’s biggest game only when Georgia fans are scared they might lose. This isn’t such a year. Georgia has won its division and is going to play LSU or Alabama for the SEC title next week. Georgia has, to borrow another Johnson line, bigger fish to fry. Which is the primary reason Georgia fans should be wary of Johnson and his team.
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
521 comments Add your comment
BiggDawgK
November 24th, 2011
11:49 am
Before paul (IMA) johnson showed up. the north avenue trade school was a harmless joke kind of like the goofy cousin that you saw once a year that you to beat up because he was so annoying. You didn’t really like him but he was such an aftertought you didn’t hate him either.
Since paul (tiny) johnson took over at ghetto tech, the goofy little cousin has turned into a chest thumping thug that lies, cheats and steals. A classless punk despised by everyone and not just the wimpy acc cousins but the whole ncaa family. The once brainy annoyance is ghetto trash now that punches others when they are not looking, smokes crack and has been spanked by the principal. He is now an embarassment thet you relish beating the crap out of and the whole family enjoys watching you do it.
BiggDawgK
November 24th, 2011
11:50 am
Oh yeah and Happy Thanksgiving!
61-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
November 24th, 2011
11:55 am
Attention, Attention!
Christmas canceled at Tech.
Could not find three wise men nor a virgin.
01HAWK
November 24th, 2011
12:00 pm
Could not have said it better myself ………………………TRUTH HURTS !!!!!!!!!
That said, those three seasons skewed some Georgia fans’ view of their program. Two decades would pass before Georgia won another SEC title. Mark Richt has taken two conference titles and three division championships and his teams have finished in the top 10 five times, but Georgia hasn’t played for a national crown since 1982, and five different SEC schools have finished No. 1 over the past 13 years. UGA fans are still waiting their turn, same as they await the Next Herschel.
01HAWK
November 24th, 2011
12:01 pm
TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
That said, those three seasons skewed some Georgia fans’ view of their program. Two decades would pass before Georgia won another SEC title. Mark Richt has taken two conference titles and three division championships and his teams have finished in the top 10 five times, but Georgia hasn’t played for a national crown since 1982, and five different SEC schools have finished No. 1 over the past 13 years. UGA fans are still waiting their turn, same as they await the Next Herschel.
Time
November 24th, 2011
12:07 pm
I can believe they couldn’t find 3 wise men…but really, the Tech campus is littered with virgins. Should be easy to find one of those…hahahha…Happy Thanksgiving
01HAWK
November 24th, 2011
12:11 pm
THWG ………………………………….YOU NEED HELP BADLY.
DAWG
November 24th, 2011
12:43 pm
robodawg Your post on the first page is correct. If you are truly a Dawg, tradition began long before Walker and continues long after Walker….and he is among my fav players.
Happy Thnaksgiving to all and may the big Dawg be the one smiling Saturday night.
BiggDawgK
November 24th, 2011
12:57 pm
If techies are so smart why do they all misspell thug? I know they are proud of their new ghetto attitude but come on poindexters give it a rest.
TGT
November 24th, 2011
1:03 pm
I remember going to a Tech game against Notre Dame back in the late 70’s at Grant Field. Tech was getting hammered, and the Tech fans began throwing bottles, ice, etc. at the Notre Dame players on the sideline. Rude, obnoxious behavior exists on every campus. I have seen similar behavior at UGA, Auburn, Ole Miss, etc. I am a UGA grad, my brother went to Tech, my sister went to Ole Miss. We all get along fine win lose or draw, and we don’t sling insults at one another directed at intelligence. This is only a game. May the best team win!
Dog teeth
November 24th, 2011
2:18 pm
Funny, I saw a Yellow Nerd, about 88, with a Tech bracelet on at Walmart. He was real proud of it. When asked, he was real proud of his job too.
1969 Graduate
November 24th, 2011
2:43 pm
Good clean hate is fine, but there are limits to which ladies, and gentlemen go, limits which are violated only by uncivilized, boorish morons, drunken fools, and criminals.
Thankfully, most of the fans of our two fine institutions of higher learning avoid going too far. A few tarnish the schools, and the team they think they’re embellishing.
Let’s run up that score on Tech this year, and see how they still claim a “Moral Victory.”
Go, UGA!
War Dang Dawg
November 24th, 2011
3:03 pm
It’s true that the Herschel years skewed our view of Georgia football somewhat, but that’s normal. The Spurrier, then Tebow years certainly skewed Florida fans’ perception of UF football. The Bowden heydays skewed FSU’s perception of their program.
But in all fairness, Georgia won 7 SEC titles, a national title, and had a Heisman winner pre-Herschel. We’re playing for our 13th conference title next week, which would tie us with Tennessee behind only Alabama. UGA played for the national championship only 4 seasons before Herschel arrived. Herschel enhanced Georgia football, but he didn’t invent it.
Idiot Dawg
November 24th, 2011
3:36 pm
Why do Tech graduates hang their diplomas on their car’s rear view mirror? So they can park in the handicapped spaces!
Arno
November 24th, 2011
4:30 pm
Check out this Google news feed: In the furor following Georgia Tech Coach Paul Johnson’s most recent comment, “If they’re so sensitive, they can unlike me on Facebook,” Georgia Coach Mark Richt revealed plans for his new program, “Classy Coach, Inc.” Said Coach Richt: “My first two clients are Coach Grantham and Coach Johnson. We’ve had our first session, and I’m hopeful. That’s all I can comment on at present.” An unidentified source has disclosed, however, that during break time Coach Johnson took his juice box, crushed it, and said, “See this box, Grantham? This is what Murray is going to look like when Attaochu gets done with him!” Richt will not address disciplinary measures against Johnson until after Saturday’s game, saying only, “Johnson was caught up in the heat of the moment.”
Buckdawg
November 24th, 2011
4:37 pm
Hey Boots…..why don’t U run out on Black Friday and ….BUY A CLUE!!!
Buckdawg
November 24th, 2011
4:40 pm
I can only chuckle at the MORONS who “claim” UGA as their beloved institution. Most don’t even know where Athens is and those R the same ones working holidays at …..yup….Wal Mart!
Jon Spencer
November 24th, 2011
6:04 pm
The Tech game is a big game to Georgia only after a defeat – an extremely rare occurance that might happen once every 10 years or so (usally when UGA is banged up and nursing injuries from a brutal SEC schedule or when a sight impared, soon to be suspended, ref goes totally brain dead and decides he sees a fumble when there wasn’t one )
There is no absolutely comparison between playing an SEC team and playing Tech. Tech fans won’t see it and should not be expected to since they seldom experience BIG time football. They have never felt the intensity or the passion of the “cocktail party” or a good slugfest with LSU.Playing the Dukes of this world week in and week out somehow does not measure up to life in the SEC.
I pity then. They don’t know what they are missing.
Doug the Jacket
November 24th, 2011
6:36 pm
Bradley: “Georgia hasn’t played for a national crown since 1982, and five different SEC schools have finished No. 1 over the past 13 years”. You forgot to mention that Georgia Tech won the National Championship in 1990. THWG
Sandy
November 24th, 2011
7:20 pm
Tech will play legitimate student-athletes who will go on to successful careers in industrial management and engineering.
Georgia will play mostly bozos who would not have met the academic requirements to enter any college or university. The few who actually graduate will have worthless degrees and skills for which there is no demand. Most will be pathetic losers who are a burden on society. Fortunately the CEOs of Walmart and Waffle House are Tech alumni who will give some of them jobs, but even a graveyard shift fry cook has to have some skills and the ability to stay sober.
Yes, Tech fans would love to defeat Georgia more often, but not at the win-at-all-costs price that Georgia pays.
Next time you see a homeless drunk, be kind to him, he may be a former UGA player.
Dumber than a stick
November 24th, 2011
7:52 pm
I worked with a guy who is a UGA fan which was unusual since I do not live or work anywhere near the state of GA. The guy couldn’t spell C A T if you spotted him the first two letters. His emails that he sent out to everyone were atrocious. At first I thought he must be a UGA fan and not graduate but no he graduated from UGA in 2001. He was brought up and lived in Statesboro. What does that says for that area or Ga Southern. Geez
Dumber than a stick
November 24th, 2011
7:53 pm
n
Dumber than a stick
November 24th, 2011
7:58 pm
I worked with a GA Dog fan which was unusual since I do not live or work anywhere near the state of GA. The guy could not spell CAT if you spotted him the C and the A. His emails were atrocious. At first, I thought he must be just a UGA fan but found out he did indeed graduate in 2001. He said he was born and raised in Statesboro, GA. Geez, what does that say for that area or GA Southern.
BBQ MAN
November 24th, 2011
8:06 pm
THWG
THWG
November 24th, 2011
8:46 pm
Sandy. Well said
ReverendRicht
November 24th, 2011
8:53 pm
Prediction. GT will have over 500 yards of TO. Not predicting a win, but the Dogs defense will be shocked!
GTJJ
November 24th, 2011
8:55 pm
So who else thought it was funny that CPJ called a Uga fan a retard and then had to apologize to retards (or mentally challenged if you prefer).
dap01
November 24th, 2011
9:27 pm
True Dawg Fan: You are an idiot. I am a dawg fan but the things that you say makes you sound like an idiot.
GeorgiaBoner
November 24th, 2011
9:52 pm
Georgia will turn that place into Bobby Dudd tomorrow around 1:30. The only thing “historic” about that field is going to be that butt-whipping we put on the Slackets.
Doug the Jacket
November 24th, 2011
9:55 pm
Sandy -you got it right! THWG
TheItalianDawg
November 24th, 2011
9:57 pm
Tech fans are obsessed with Georgia but we don’t give a damn about them. tech has a decent engineering school but other than that they are a joke!
rtr
November 24th, 2011
10:00 pm
Uh, Sandy? Why does Georgia Tech have the worst football player graduation rates in the ACC?
Every time I read or hear Tech alumni who like to toot how smart they are and how challenging their school is, I’m reminded that people who really are smart and went to a prestigious school don’t have the need to blow their own horn all the time. When’s the last time you met a Duke or Stanford grad who ran around telling everyone how smart he or she is and how difficult it is to get into and graduate from the school?
Tech is a good school, but so is UGA. Get over yourselves.
Baby Ruth
November 24th, 2011
10:16 pm
rtr…you are correct. Both are really good schools. Look at the makeup of the DAWGs. Football players at UGA dont take anything close to the classes GT players take. UGA recruit kids who could care less about education. That being said…UGA is a good school for the rest of the students who go there.
OkieDawg
November 24th, 2011
10:24 pm
So CPJ made the CEO of Walmart known because he is a GT grad and all GT grads are all of a sudden so proud to be Walmarters. I’m proud of our Aflac ducker, Daniel Amos, founder and CEO of AFLAC. When you’re sick and miss work you can depend on AFLAC. When you’re sick and a GT fan you will have to depend on CPJ. CPJ is a pathetic loser…..hit UGA fans in the face and tell them to get their retarded butts to their Walmart jobs. GT fans must be sooooo proud.
ChrisDawg
November 24th, 2011
10:25 pm
The nerds are going to find out that they are really fools. WE RUN THIS STATE!!
Josh Fowler
November 24th, 2011
10:29 pm
Make the world a better place, punch a Tech fan in the face
Bad Advice Josh
November 24th, 2011
11:18 pm
You are the kind of UGA fan that gives us a bad name. I guarantee you did not got to UGA – I did…. Mgmt ‘78. You seem like just an uneducated mindless twerp and should be gone. I have UGA grad friends and GT grad friends and real grads of either school don’t dribble junk like that.
Bad Advice Josh
November 24th, 2011
11:19 pm
Ummmmm Josh or whatever your name is….You are the kind of UGA fan that gives us a bad name. I guarantee you did not got to UGA – I did…. Mgmt ‘78. You seem like just an uneducated mindless twerp and should be gone. I have UGA grad friends and GT grad friends and real grads of
Josh Fowler
November 24th, 2011
11:20 pm
I like punching greased pigs… in and out baby. Cows will work in a pinch.
Josh Fowler
November 24th, 2011
11:21 pm
And by punching – I mean poking them in their brown eye…
Tech Tony
November 25th, 2011
8:08 am
Why is UGA’s school color red?
No one on campus can spell crimson or scarlet.
Cheech
November 25th, 2011
8:15 am
Mark–as you say the CEO of Wal Mart is a GT grad—–as has been said for many years—UGA grads call GT grad BOSS—DUH???
Cheech
November 25th, 2011
8:26 am
You can tell ole Josh is extremely intelligent—–could be right up there with Jethro Bodine and his 6th grade education.
Doodaddy
November 25th, 2011
8:55 am
Tech is not even worth makng fun of anymore. They are especially bad winners – having so little experience and all.
Wheee Dawgie
November 25th, 2011
9:20 am
This is a big year for the UGA vs. Tech rivalry. This game will be almost as important as the Egg Bowl.
wreckbuzz
November 25th, 2011
9:40 am
So it IS true…UGA fans go to work for GT fans. I thought that was just a joke. Turns out all those UGA fans working at Walmart work for a Tech man. Too funny.
Peachessuga
November 25th, 2011
9:50 am
WAIT…a Bama fan calling us cheaters about HW? Noooooooo u got to be kidding me. Yall tree poisoners INVENTED cheating!
A look at Bobby Dodd
November 25th, 2011
11:45 am
GT’s real glory days of CONSISTANT football ( CONSISTANT QUALITY FOOTBALL) were in the early 1950s. After about 1955 or 1956, GT and Bobby Dodd never attended a MAJOR BOWL until Florida blew GT out in the 1967 Orange Bowl. Not until 2009 did GT see another MAJOR BOWL until Iowa blew GT out in the Orange Bowl. 42 years in between it was for GT in a MAJOR BOWL.
The in between years from the 1950s to 1967 were full of Bluebonnnett Bowl games or Gator Bowl ( Joe PA whupped em in like 64 or 65 in the Gator) or the lesser bowls of that era. Ask any GT alum if i am wrong. Ask them.
GT has this on going myth that they ARE a major power and YES, they WERE back in the early 1950s to about 1956. It died until 1967 ( bowl loss ) and again until 2009 ( bowl loss) .
UGA on the other hand ( in the 50s not true ) has been to Cotton Bowl games ( 60s, 70s and 80s) and to Orange Bowl games (1960) and to many, many Sugaar Bowl games
( 60s, 70s, 80s, 3 lately) in the same overlapping era that Dodd’s teams were sliding.
Even the Citrus Bowl where GT earned fraction of the MNC in 1990 WAS THEN NOT considered a major bowl venue.
Sam
November 25th, 2011
12:47 pm
Amazing video of a high school senior from Columbia TN who kicks the ball dead straight 75-80 yards in the air. He was successful on 54 of 54 attempts this season….100%. Now he needs a college team.
Watch for yourself…it is unreal!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_JKwgwFY3g
fred
November 25th, 2011
1:44 pm
Thanks to the Wal-Mart reporters at ajc…thanks for scoop on everything from red panties, Cam, Tebow, dawgs dui’s, GT probe, Braves blow it, Hawks sell, Falcons go for it on 4 and 1, Johnson’s slip, Richt’s kiss, you name it…Thanks Mark, Jeff & DOB for everything.
UGA on paper have the best players 4&5 stars…GT just plan hard nose underdogs players..both got good coaches. Advantage UGA but I’ll bet on Coach Johnson and GT just for the he!! of it. Have a great day.