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
Riddle
November 23rd, 2011
2:49 pm
Why do GT fans pick their noses?
To eat the boggers
DIT
November 23rd, 2011
2:49 pm
Kelly – I heard that Buck B. called him out on his radio talk show. He does have a ton of talent. Now he is only a Freshman, so let’s hope it’s a Freshmans mentality that he has now and will grow out of it.
I look forward to having Samuel back next week!
PerroGrande
November 23rd, 2011
2:55 pm
Kelly, I perceive that Johnson thought he was stepping on the Dawgs with his cutting remarks, but in fact he was stepping in pile of Dawg-doo with those remarks!
ARdawg
November 23rd, 2011
2:55 pm
Michael Duke, yet more proof that that a GT degree will get you a job at Walmart
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
2:56 pm
Yeah, Perro…kind of punched himself in the face with that one. DIT – Maybe that will get to IC in a positive way. I hope so. I’m w/ you though. Looking forward to Samuel and his heart.
PerroGrande
November 23rd, 2011
3:08 pm
A lot of very funny remarks on this story, Mark. You should pick out a top ten list and publish that in your blog. You could screen the mean ones and correct the typos! T’giving humor for UGA/GT week provided by the fans.
SLAPAjacket
November 23rd, 2011
3:08 pm
Moobs better hope that JARVIS JONES doesn’t have any mentally challenged family members. If he does…………….tevin washington BEWARE.
Bark Madley
November 23rd, 2011
3:10 pm
UGA is not a good school. They let anybody in. Most of their fans did not graduate from college or highschool. The most popular major is walmart greeter.
joeygt1
November 23rd, 2011
3:17 pm
come on people cpj was reacting to a idiot of a ga fan coming on a gt sport radio show barking, he wasnt trying to offend anybody with mental disablities … lets not make this into something its not…
Bureau of Labor Statistics
November 23rd, 2011
3:19 pm
Of course, not many UGA alumni leave the state. Why should they, there are plenty of fast food and other unskilled jobs right here. And the dropouts can always find work in custodial or sanitation services.
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:22 pm
Problem is, he ended up sounding just as bad as the guy calling in…
Really Haters!!!!
November 23rd, 2011
3:23 pm
“And To Hell With georgia tech”!!!!
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:24 pm
I have to admit, hearing the replay of how the whole “barking” call went down did make me giggle a little….at least nobody’s running around poisoning trees.
Richard
November 23rd, 2011
3:26 pm
You have to love any article that is entitled “Georgia Tech’s Johnson”
Just can’t make that stuff up…
Go DAWGS!
Dr. Doolittle of Athens
November 23rd, 2011
3:28 pm
A man went to his doctor and said, “Doc, I’ve always admired the Polish people, and I would give anything to be a Polack.”
The doctor replies, “Well, you’re in luck. They’ve just developed a surgical procedure that will turn anyone into a Polack. A surgeon removes 99% of your brain, and then you’re just like a Polack.”
“That sounds great, the man said. Let’s do it!”
A few days later, in the operating room, the surgeon asks the man if he’s absolutely certain he wants the surgery. “I sure am,” the man says. “Let’s get on with it.”
A couple of hours later, the surgeon has finished removing 99% of the man’s brain. Then, the unthinkable happened. The surgeon sneezed and accidentally removed the 1% of the brain that was left.
In the recovery room, the surgeon said, “Sir, I am so sorry. Instead of removing 99% of your brain, I accidentally removed 100%. this has never happened before, so we have no idea what someone without a brain will be like.”
The man looked up at the surgeon with glazed eyes, and with slurred speech said…
“HOW ‘BOUT THEM DAWGS!”
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:29 pm
Hey Bureau – how’s business at Blockbuster today? Renting lots of video games, or are you trolling them all for yourself? Bet you’ve got a big D&D party planned for the weekend. Giddyup!
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
3:29 pm
Problem is, he ended up sounding just as bad as the guy calling in…
AR – I wished I could have heard it, but I’m in Florida. To me, for people to demand an apology from Johnson, it’s not necessary. Now…I’m curious to see how the Hair Splitters Union Local 282 chooses to tear apart this post. Sure they’ll find a way to fail at that, too.
G-Money
November 23rd, 2011
3:30 pm
outkickthecoverage.com/mark-richt-apologizes-to-james-franklin-calls-player-a-dumbass.php
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:31 pm
Wow…Dr. that was a lot of typing and build up for not much of a climax. Although something tells me you’re used to that.
Registrar
November 23rd, 2011
3:32 pm
UGA allows the admission of athletes who do not meet the academic requirements that every non-athlete has to meet, and at UGA, those requirements are already embarrassingly low.
Enough said.
Native Atlantan Techie
November 23rd, 2011
3:32 pm
1 of every 3 will not make my heart of hearts content.
Except for the 51-7 shellacking – this game has been decided by 4 points on average over the last 14 years. And Tech’s only won 4 of those 14. That’s incredibly frustrating.
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:33 pm
Kelly – I agree. Seems to me the whole thing would have been a non event if he had just laughed it off and moved on. It’s not like the guy called up cussing him out…
Occupy Mars
November 23rd, 2011
3:34 pm
@DawginAR: I thought you were at the Occupy tent city. What happened, did it get too cold for you?
Technically Correct
November 23rd, 2011
3:34 pm
The Tech taunt is that Georgia grads will work for Tech grads. Thanks for the validation! Michael Duke, the Tech grad and CEO of Walmart, snaps up all those Georgia grads for greeter, stocker and shopping cart cowboy positions and, thus, makes those UGA degrees worthwhile. They should erect a statue in his honor on Lumpkin Street!
ARdawg
November 23rd, 2011
3:35 pm
Native Atlantan
Expect that average to rise somewhat this weekend
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:35 pm
Registrar – I’m sure you’d also like to tell us about Tech’s incredibly high standards in contrast to UGA. How’s that NCAA investigation and revoked conference title workin out for ya?
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
3:36 pm
It’s the only thing they’ll ever be able to erect.
ARdawg
November 23rd, 2011
3:36 pm
I do not know one single UGA grad working at Walmart
ARdawg
November 23rd, 2011
3:37 pm
What say you Tech grads?
Arno
November 23rd, 2011
3:37 pm
DawginAR– It doesn’t stop there. PJ tried to be clever in rebuffing his caller whom he regarded as stupid. He realized that cleverness in that situation was even more stupid of himself. He apologized. A person who uses their own cleverness to call PJ stupid raises stupidness to an even higher level. They also fail, but without apology. Now of these three people – the wuff-wuff caller, the apologetic PJ, or the clever accuser – who is the least stupid?
Dawg
November 23rd, 2011
3:40 pm
I actually do believe Bobo would be and should be the leading candidate to replace CMR. I hope he is not leaving though.
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
3:41 pm
Oh sheez…
Native Atlantan Techie
November 23rd, 2011
3:43 pm
As far as the comments by CPJ, the entire sequence is available on YouTube. Listen to it.
“There’s some great fans from both teams, most of the fans are as classy as can be, but anyone who calls into a radio show and barks is either retarded or doesn’t have a life.”
Can anyone seriously argue with that?
The AJC headline that “Johnson’s comments were meant as joke” is the most ridiculousness of the story…really? A joke? Whodathunkit?
Public figures should know the word “retarded” is a 4 letter word in our politically correct no one can be offended society – that was CPJ’s only mistake.
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:44 pm
@Occupy – no worries. I’ll be safe and sound at home in my house on the golf course tonight. Your concern is heartwarming. I’ll have a scotch for you and toast your complete lack of social skills. All with positive intent, of course.
PerroGrande
November 23rd, 2011
3:46 pm
Technically correct, come on, now–are you Coach Johnson? Of course that was Johnson’s point, Mr. Einstein.
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
3:48 pm
Arno: That’s such an intense quandary. I’m sure you’ll occupy yourself for hours trying to figure it out. Anyway…Tech sucks.
PerroGrande
November 23rd, 2011
3:49 pm
Jarvis Jones to Tevin Washington: welcome to Walmart, buddy; thx for shopping my aisle!
Native Atlantan Techie
November 23rd, 2011
3:49 pm
DawginAR – regarding high standards at each school – they are both proving difficult to get into these days…but I’ve never heard of anyone failing out of UGA. I know tons of people that have failed out of Tech.
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
3:50 pm
Perhaps that’s because more failures attend Tech.
Ramblin Man
November 23rd, 2011
3:51 pm
Nice article Mark, hope you picked wrong this week.
ARdawg
November 23rd, 2011
3:51 pm
Tech is somewhat a magnet for failures it appears
PerroGrande
November 23rd, 2011
3:52 pm
What does Coach Johnson call a runaway Dawg tailback on Saturday? Walmart shoplifter–come back here with my victory, thief!
You’ve won the SEC East. Be vewy, vewy careful. | Get The Picture
November 23rd, 2011
3:52 pm
[...] Bradley wraps up one of his patented “Click on me, son of Jor-El!” pieces about Georgia and Georgia Tech fans with this nugget: Tech is Georgia’s biggest game only when [...]
DawginAR
November 23rd, 2011
3:53 pm
Hey guys how bout this one – if I get a degree from Georgia Tech, I’ll be really really smart. Then I’ll make all the Georgia grads work for me (because that’s all I ever think about in my little twisted world) and make them be greeters at Walmart and stuff. Oh, and I’ll boss them around a lot and be really mean to them and make them take out the trash (it’ll be real stinky trash too). Cause when I’m a big important manager running a big important company, I’m going to (still) spend all my time obsessing about Georgia fans. Umm….yeah. Why don’t you guys go grab a beer and try being normal grown up adults once ever 4 or 5 months or so. What a bunch of dorks…
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
3:54 pm
AR- Just sayin’, you know, that with all Tech’s majestic intellectuals, you think they’d be able to look at that comment from at least two perspectives. Just helping out…
PerroGrande
November 23rd, 2011
3:55 pm
Murray’s audible phrase for Saturday: Attention Walmart shoppers!
Native Atlantan Techie
November 23rd, 2011
3:57 pm
CPJ’s only mistake was using the word “retarded”. Any public figure should know that’s a 4 letter word in today’s politically correct no one can ever be offended society.
Taken in full context, there’s no way anyone can argue his point though. The entire sentence was:
“There’s some great of both teams, most of the fans are classy as can be, but anyone who calls into a radio show and barks is either retarded or doesn’t have a life.”
Can you argue with that, really? If he has replaced “retarded” with “an idiot” or “probably not a UGA grad” or “living in his mom’s basement” it would have been quite clever.
Kelly
November 23rd, 2011
3:58 pm
Defintely Perro – Use it to beat them.
krazydawg
November 23rd, 2011
3:58 pm
I really do not mind tech.I mean at leat they are in the state of Georgia.Just look at how many fans in the state pull for Auburn,Florida,Alabama,etc.These are the ones i get upset about.I really cannot stand Florida,because it seems like half of south Georgia are Florida fans.I just wished if they loved there state so much to move to it.Go DAWGS!!!!!!
ARdawg
November 23rd, 2011
3:58 pm
Kelly,
I think it’s the manuals. You know, grease hot, enter potato’s, fry, dump potato’s