Today, I visited the Grit Tree to learn about Corbindawgs "biggest fear" coming into this last stretch of season. What I read did not sit well with me, so I posted a comment stating as much. Some came to his defense, and Corbin himself asked me to expand on what I did not like. My response became a bit of a diatribe, so I decided to not only leave it on his board, but to repost it here. Basically, it touches on something that many of my readers know is a peeve of mine, and that is the Georgia Fanbase's steadfast desire to be cynical and negative. Below is the answer I left Corbindawg (with an edit-added question to kick it off)
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[Whatever happened to fans believing their team would always win in the end?]
"I want to believe, but I've been let down in the past...so...so...PLEASE don't let me get let down again."
I don't get that. I don't understand your own line, "Being a Georgia fan has made me somewhat jaded?" For what purpose? The team is there to entertain you, and bring home wins. For the VAST MAJORITY of its existence, the University of Georgia football team has done just that. Do they win 'em all? No, they don't. But, for the past decade and a half, UGA has fielded good, competitive teams.
AND YES - I'M INCLUDING 2009 and 2010 in that.
Those were ugly seasons. But the teams involved were pretty good teams. Georgia made too many mistakes from which it couldn't recover last season, and the defense was one in transition. The mistakes became coaching points and the defense has solidified. This is what has resulted in higher wins this season.
Either way, what bothers me about this post, and about Georgia fans in general, is the overwhelming NEED to be negative so that you don't get your hopes up. It's like the entire mass of you was brainwashed by Vince Dooley and Larry Munson, and you can't enjoy success when you have it. Even in 2005, the most common thread I heard in talking to UGA fans was that it was a "good" year, but not a "great" one because we lost to Florida and missed out on a National Championship berth.
I'm glad I didn't grow up a Georgia Fan, because I'd have to wallow in that same mysery, apparently. No, I became a Georgia fan the first time I stepped on campus as a student, and I've never looked back. In that time, I've seen us go bowling every single year. I was a part of some great games, including a win over tennessee that ended an 8-year drought against the Vols, I've seen my own friends hoist SEC Championship trophies, I've seen the team climb to the peaks, suffer through the valleys, and now begin a climb again.
Is that anything to be scared of? Hell no. It's something to look forward to.
Go Dawgs.
2 comments:
Ben, I left a longer response on my blog's post, but in summary, my post was a semi tongue in cheek fear about the worst case scenario. Nuclear war is worst case scenario. Getting hit by a semi on the way to work is worst case scenario. According to your header, you live in LA. The big quake that finally breaks California off is worst case scenario.
Do I think we finish 9-5? No. Could it happen? Yes.
And the reason that Georgia fans have this uneasiness of what could happen is, while there have been great success over the decade, there have been some games/moments/seasons that have kicked you square in the nuts. I have just recovered from the most recent kick in the balls with a steal toe boot, I am just bracing myself incase the other shoe drops.
(and sorry, I rambled, as I tend to do. Enjoyed the debate and discussion, and if you ever want a piece of me again, you know where in the blogosphere I'll be waiting :) )
Ben, I haven't commented much here, although I have been snooping the site for a while and hope to comment more in the future. Generally I'm a huge fan of your articles. Like the game commentary and the optimism/realism. Got a late start but I've read most of your posts going back to 2008. I've always been on the "keep Mark Richt" bandwagon, and I'm pretty sure I'll never fall off.
As a die-hard Dawg fan that otherwise has no football experience beyond EA Sports NCAA 2000-2005 (which were all awesome BTW), I understand Corbindawg's comments. The fact is that most of us have not been alive for more than 30 or so years, so none of us remember a UGA national championship. This was somewhat less painful a few years ago, but now that every major SEC program has won a NC in the last five years except for UGA, it hurts a bit more.
Has UGA played a lot of competitive football in our lifetime? Yes. And if you talk with Tech fans or basically fans from any conference other than the SEC (certainly BC fans where I live), people are jealous of the kind of football we get to cheer for year in, year out.
But that's small comfort for a die-hard SEC fan. Fact is that, since Herschel Walker, UGA has never been dominant. We've had some great years, like 2002, but we've never had a Florida or Alabama or LSU run...and that's why people are jaded. There's no good reason why we shouldn't have the same type of runs those teams have. We recruit the same level of players, but it always seems like UGA comes up just short enough not to win the big prize.
I'm fully confident we'll eventually get the crystal ball with Mark Richt. He's been close too many times. He clearly "knows what the Hell he's doing". I'm just saying that, as a Georgia fan, it's easy to be jaded when every SEC school has had their turn but us.
I just hope we ruin LSU's shot at a 3rd NC!
Go Dawgs
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