Georgia football fans are ready to party like it’s 1980…or are they?

The Georgia football program has been trying to capture another national title since 1980, and fans are ready to party down like they’re in the decade of decadence.  Maybe.

Hey Georgia football fans, break out the Bartles & Jaymes, Big League Chew, Planters Cheese Balls, and Jell-O shots because your football team is on the verge of traveling back in time to 1980 and hoisting the national championship trophy again.

Can you feel it?

No?

Try slipping on a black Members Only jacket and see if that helps revive your senses.

Still nothing, huh?

That’s the problem. Georgia football fans have become so used to getting nothing at the end of a season other than “next year” condolences, they have a hard time feeling more than nothing as new seasons begin.

Yeah, there was excitement when Kirby Smart took over the head coach’s job, and certainly, the buzz reached some new heights when Georgia played Alabama in the 2018 National Championship Game. But ever since that crushing overtime loss to the Crimson Tide, the mood of the Georgia football faithful has slowly slid back to a lukewarm wait-and-see attitude.

And just three years into the Kirby Smart era in Athens, the inevitable comparisons to the start of Mark Richt‘s tenure have begun, filling many fans with worry that another long stretch of almost-Dawgs is on the horizon.

Okay, so maybe there are some similarities, but come on, Georgia fans…you’re better than this. The Athletic’s Seth Emerson, a long time Georgia sportswriter, does a great job of pointing out the differences heading into year four of Kirby Smart’s regime (Premium content in link).

Don’t buy into the myth, Bulldog Nation. Mark Richt was Mark Richt, and Kirby Smart is not Mark Richt, despite the correlation of some records and stats.

It’s time for you red-and-black wearing tailgaters to get fired up. Your team played in a national championship game for the first time in 35 years two years ago, and they just missed being part of it last year as well. This is not a program with a flashpoint of success and then a flatline for the next ten years. Kirby Smart is building a program that’s “furrealz” (as the kids say) and doing it by fortifying more than just flashy skill position players.

Don’t be afraid to have more than a glimmer of hope. Don’t shy away from talking national championship at your local watering hole. Don’t back down from other fans trying to remind you of nearly four decades of futility (well, maybe Alabama fans have a case).

The point is, this is a very good team. This is a team who can and likely will compete for conference and national titles every season. Will you see Nick Saban/Alabama-esque success? Probably not, but then again, who does…other than Nick Saban and Alabama. But that’s okay. You can still thump your chests and woof woof woof till your vocal cords are frayed.

So crank up some Blondie, Oliva Newton-John, or even The Pina Colada Song. Slide into your Herschel Walker tearaway jersey with a pair of Vans and party like it’s 1980, Georgia fans. This team isn’t going away, and Kirby Smart will (at some point) end the drought in Athens.