Today

I remember the Sportscenter highlight. It was an Alabama defensive touchdown. I remember daddy was pissed. And I remember thinking that I would like things to be different but I really didn’t understand. The date was September 30, 1995. And it was my first real, vivid memory of Georgia football fandom. I was 7 years old and our family had just that spring upgraded our 3 channel antenna TV to the cutting edge RCA, aka Directv, satellite service. I loved ESPN and Sportscenter. But all that I recall from this day were the highlights of a Georgia football game that I wasn’t old enough to even pay attention to. And an Alabama defender running into the end zone for a score. And a 31-0 graphic appearing that defined the stats in an Alabama victory over Georgia in Sanford Stadium. That was my first experience in this relationship with a team of “I don’t like that and please don’t make me feel that again.” In the coming years, despite the event, I embraced my Georgia fandom. Pining for a win over Tennessee that would finally come in October 2000. Celebrating the Robert Edwards game in a thumping of Florida in 1997, largely over a ride back to our deer camp clubhouse in Taliafero County from the tree stand in a Suzuki Samari while listening to Munson. In 8th grade, I chose to miss a fall break camping trip to watch the Tennessee game by myself mostly, only to shout obscenities when Travis Stephens took a screen pass to the house to put the Vols ahead with a minute left. A little something called the Hobnail boot play happened and erased all of that. That same season, I attended my first Georgia game in October against Kentucky. Jared Lorenzen had about 1200 yards of offense and we somehow won, 43-29. The Mark Richt years brought glory that I had never known. An SEC title in 2002. Another one in 2005 and I knew the glory days of Georgia fandom. The tables turn quick though. In 2006, I watched the Dawgs lose to both lowly Vandy and Kentucky. I did not know how to handle such pain as an 18 year old. As I started adulthood, my dad and I went to our first Cocktail Party in 2007. What a game to attend. Our entire team rushed the field, Stafford and Moreno played out of their minds and we won a shootout. I was in that same stadium a year later when we trailed Florida 49-3 at one point and Urban Meyer called all 3 timeouts with time running down in the 4th quarter just to rub it in. That same season, my brother and I sat dumbfounded as our team jogged to the locker room trailing Alabama 31-0 in Athens at halftime. That game was supposed to be the biggest in Athens history. We wore black to our own funeral, as we watched a new program take the torch in the SEC. Dog days lay ahead: a cold, rain-drenched defeat to Georgia Tech later in 2008; 2010 brought an actual losing season, which I personally saw come to an end in a half full Liberty Bowl on New Years Eve in Memphis as the Dawgs failed to score a touchdown against UCF. I was there for the Power Ranger opener in the Dome vs Boise. 2012 brought the potential for something I had never been close to witnessing. Jarvis Jones played out of his mind and almost single-handedly beat the undefeated Gators in Jacksonville. And in the Georgia dome on the first Saturday in December, Alec Ogletree scooped and blocked field goal off the Georgia Dome turf and returned it for a touchdown to put the Dawgs ahead  of Alabama 21-10, prompting everyone at the watch party I was at to run through the house and yard, losing our minds because we had just punched our ticket to a National title game. However, the Tide came back, and Chris Conley fell 5 yards short. 2013, 14, and 15 brought more ups and downs, and more close but no cigar moments. I’ll never forget sitting in my parents’ living room and reading Twitter that Mark Richt had been fired. It didn’t make sense. Yet it made all the sense in the world. The Kirby era started rocky for me. I went to the Nicholls State game. IYKYK. However, 2017 was that dream season that I had been waiting to see. I made the run with Deandre and Kirby against Auburn. And a few hours later, my good friend and I split our duties and did what we had to do: he bought game tickets and I booked airfare. We were going to the Rose Bowl. Much finer writers than I have documented January 1st, 2018 for Dawg fans. The pictures and videos that people will have saved on their devices for life are testament to that. I’ll just say, outside of my wedding day and the birthdays of my two kids, that is the most cherished day I think I’ve ever lived. What happened 6 days later can’t erase that. 2nd and 26 broke our hearts. It revealed our resolve too. I’m 34 years old. I’ve attended 65 Georgia football games. I can tell you the score to seemingly meaningless 2000s era games that gave me the greatest joys and some, the most terrible agonies. Say Mikey Henderson to a Georgia fan and watch him smile, or Rudi Johnson or Ben Cobb and watch him frown. It’s midnight. I’m over 400 miles from home in a strange, midwestern city where the wind chill is in the single digits. On this day, my team will play for a National Championship. I will be in attendance. Many Dawg fans share my experiences. Good or bad, they’re part of us. Some will shy away from giving in, noting the heartbreak of previous attempts. Some will put on a strong appearance in hopes of a good outcome. I choose to believe. These Dawgs have played with the state on their chest as good as any before them. They have our backs. If you are feeling that hesitation, let it go. If the outcome doesn’t go our way today, we have a team that will always be proudly remembered. If triple zeroes hit, and we are on the good side of things, they will never buy another meal in the state of Georgia. Believe. Coming from experience, it’s okay.