Georgia football fans live for beating rivals such as Florida, Auburn, and even Tennessee. But does the game against Georgia Tech really matter to them anymore?
Hey, Georgia football fans. Where’s the venom? Where’s the hatred spewing from your keyboards. This is Georgia Tech week. It’s the big in-state rival. You remember, don’t you?
Clean, old-fashioned hate. To hell with Tech. We run this state.
Any of that ring a bell?
Has Georgia Tech just become more of a nuisance (much like their real-life mascot) than a rival? Has the bad blood been cleansed by the utter domination of the Yellow Jackets over the last 19 years? Is it not as fun needling Geoff Collins as it was Paul Johnson?
Even Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradley questions how much one of the oldest rivalries in football has cooled off.
"“Among Georgia’s rivals, Tech lags Florida and Auburn, though the Jackets might have drawn ahead of Pruitt’s Tennessee. We say again: Tech folks stew about Georgia every day of every year; Georgia folks stew about Tech only in those years when they deem the Jackets a clear and present danger.”"
Certainly, this is not one of those years. The 10-1 Georgia Bulldogs are headed for their eighth SEC Championship Game, while the 3-8 Yellow Jackets will have visions of sugar plums running the triple-option dancing in their heads over the holidays.
The truth of the matter is, it’s just no fun beating up on a bad rival year after year. Okay, so maybe it’s fun, but its certainly not anything you spend an entire week jawing about…unless you’re on the North Avenue side of this rivalry.
I asked some random Georgia fans how they felt about Georgia Tech and the “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” rivalry. The answers were…well…telling.
“Georgia who? Folks, if your fans don’t show up for games, and the other teams don’t really care about playing you…you might be a Yellow Jacket.” – Jeff F. from Atlanta.
“Lemme tell ya brother, Yellow Jackets are only good for one thing, and that’s swattin’ into a bug zapper. Football? No chance in hell.” – Terry H. from Augusta.
“It’s the end of the world as we know it when I care about Georgia Tech football.” – Michael S. from Decatur.
“Whose state is it anyway?” – Wayne B. from Columbus.
“Yo Georgia Tech, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you play, but Georgia has one of the best football teams of all time. One of the best teams of all time!” – Kanye W. from Atlanta.
It seems the masses have spoken. It’s just not a great rivalry anymore. Even if Georgia Tech manages to pull off the upset of the season, it’s still not a great rivalry anymore to fans in red and black.
It’s become the punchline of rivalry week in college football.
Michigan vs Ohio State
Florida vs Florida State
Indiana vs Purdue
Washington vs Washington State
Oregon vs Oregon State
Ole Miss vs Mississippi State
Clemson vs South Carolina
Kentucky vs Louisville
Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State
Alabama vs Auburn
All games that matter to both sets of fans. All games with big implications.
Then you have this little one-sided skirmish in the Peach State.
This isn’t just reduced down to the last 19 years either. The last time Georgia Tech won three straight games was 1998-2000. Prior to that, they hadn’t won consecutive games against the Bulldogs since 1989-90. If you look at the overall series dating back to 1963, there’s simply nothing more than a win or two peppered in among the long streaks of Georgia victories.
As I scan my way through various social media feeds, I see scores of Tech fans jacking each other up with “What’s the good word” and “To hell with Georgia”. They are hopelessly outmanned (both by the team and the number of fans) but yet they cling to this notion that their hatred will spawn meaningful rivalry banter with Dawg fans.
It’s simply not happening
Are you not entertained??
**crickets**
Georgia fans are talking about LSU, the SEC Championship Game, and a possible second trip to the College Football Playoff – not about the Yellow Jackets buzzing around and annoying them.
Georgia fans need Georgia Tech to matter in college football for the Jackets to matter to them. There needs to be more than just “The Governor’s Trophy” at stake for Georgia fans to start caring again. Until then, it’s just a one-sided spitting contest followed by an old-fashioned woodshedding.
All fan quotes in this article are fictitious and for parody purposes only. No celebrities were harmed in the writing of this column.