An Open Letter to the Allegedly Mistreated Auburn Fans in Athens

A group of Auburn fans posted in Reddit about a supposedly horrific experience they had in Athens, Ga. on the weekend of the Georgia-Auburn game.

To the Group of Allegedly Mistreated and Abused Auburn Fans:

Isolated incidents of abuse occur, at every school, in every college town. Fringe fans are everywhere, and unfortunately seem to draw the most attention due to their irresponsible antics. But this story?

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First, let me say that I have no idea if your story is true and accurate. I was not there to witness any harassment including bottle-throwing, spitting and verbal confrontation. I’m not here to doubt the veracity of your claims, or to spout rhetoric about the treatment of visiting fans. But what I do know is that if indeed your accusations are true, then you handled it in a most peculiar way.

My question is this…why post a letter in a public forum to voice your complaints? Did you really expect to find sympathy from the “UGA fans” that you addressed in your letter? Did you expect a thread of comments damning Athens, Ga. and the entire Bulldog Nation for the alleged mistreatment you received?

Having spent many a game weekend in Athens, and partaking in libations at local watering holes for pregame festivities, I can say without hesitation that not once did I ever witness anything even remotely close to the abhorrent behavior you described in your letter…and that includes towards Auburn fans.

Let’s be honest. We don’t like you guys. As a team, school and fan base, the Bulldogs really rank Auburn among the people they dislike the most in this world. If I wandered into a bar in Auburn, Opelika, or any other town surrounding the plains while wearing Georgia colors on a game weekend, I’d expect to be mocked and ridiculed. That comes with the territory (and for the record, I’d never be that dumb).

But even if you did brave the Athens bar scene wearing no more than an Auburn ball cap, and a friend wearing an Auburn-colored scarf, there would be no excuse nor tolerance for the type of behavior that you described. In fact, I can’t think of a single Athens shop owner or barkeep who would allow that type of idiocy to occur without at least warning the offending patrons or simply asking them to leave the premises.

You had options, both in the public houses and at the stadium. Police, security and other officials are stationed in massive numbers on a game weekend in Athens, particularly when one of the big rivals is in town. Why not go to one of them and file a report, or at least make them aware of what was happening.

And I’d be willing to bet at least one of the people in your party had a phone with a camera.

Why not record the incident(s) to show how traumatic and horrible it was? Every Tom, Dick and Harry with a $49 cell phone does it to be able to see their amateur paparazzi video on TruTV, so why wouldn’t you have done it for your own protection?

The point is this – if there were “UGA fans” behaving this way en masse, then calling them out via social media and the internet was probably the worst way to handle it, and from what I see on your post, you may now be realizing that fact.

Its silly for you to think of Athens as a place where you could not bring a family, or walk in safety without an entourage of bodyguards present. Athens is one of the most family-friendly college towns in which I’ve ever spent time, and I’ve spent time in quite a few. If you come back on any given weekend — including Georgia-Auburn — dressed to the hilt in your finest WarTigerPlainsman gear, I think you’d have a much different experience than you apparently had this past weekend.

I would offer apologies for any part of your story which is true. Certainly no fan, regardless of school affiliation, deserves that kind of treatment. Here’s to a better experience the next time you visit the Classic City.

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