A Free Man

“Hail to Georgia down in Dixie!
Our college honored fair and true,
The Red and Black is her standard,
Proudly it waves!
Streaming today and the ages through,
She’s the fairest of the Southland,
We’ll pledge our love to her for aye,
To that college dear we’ll ring a cheer,
All hail to dear old UGA!”

As it feels like Autumn here in the midst of the British summer, I’ve got to thinking about the college football season. It’s just over a month until my beloved Georgia Bulldogs open their season against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in beautiful Athens, Georgia. September 1 is when my Saturdays become off limits to family and friends - though that may change this year. Probably won’t be able to convince a crying baby that a Georgia football game is more important than a new diaper.

College football is the one American sport that I remain truly passionate about. There’s something special about this sport for me. I’ve never become a real fan of any professional sports franchise - I just can’t drum up the passion required. I grew up in a small town in north Florida when the nearest professional teams in any sport were in Atlanta or Tampa - and the Braves, Falcons, Hawks and Buccaneers all sucked. I think unless you feel allegiance to one of the big cities were pro teams live, then you don’t feel allegiance to the teams. But just down the road in Gainesville lived the University of Florida Gators. I am ashamed to admit these days that I grew up a fan of Florida football.

We all make ridiculous youthful mistakes and fortunately I had the opportunity to get my Bachelor’s degree at the finest public university in the South, the University of Georgia. And as a bonus, during my time at that fine institution, I became a die-hard fan of the Georgia Bulldog football team. I’ve been to other universities since then and have cheered on, with a modicum of enthusiasm, the Missouri Tigers basketball team and the Oxford Blues cricket team. But none of these teams induce the passion that my Bulldogs do.

Now, it can be difficult to be a Bulldog football fan. Last season in particular was rough. Big wins over Auburn, Virginia Tech, South Carolina and Georgia Tech did not compensate for heartbreaking losses to Florida (damn Gators), Tennessee and, er, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Even prior to last year I can recall more than one occasion which I had invited friends (Alex, Nathan, Jason, Casey, etc.) to share my joy in watching my beloved Dawgs play one of their big rivals and without fail they would lose. These exercises were a lot of fun, watching football is always better with friends. I remember one game, Georgia-Alabama, when my friend Alex showed up to watch the game in full Tide regalia, including an Alabama cowboy hat. As I recall, the Dawgs actually won that game, huh Alex? Perhaps the most painful thing for a Dawg fan to deal with, however, is the Florida problem. This is particularly difficult for a Floridian like myself who has friends who call University of Florida their alma mater. Georgia has lost 13 of their last 14-ish to their nemesis, the aforementioned Florida Gators.

But I’m a true fan, a glass half full fan. Last year was an anomaly. Prior to the 2006 season, the Dawgs had won at least 10 games for four consecutive seasons, had two SEC crowns. They’ve owned perennial rivals the Tennessee Volunteers, South Carolina Gamecocks and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The last time the Dawgs missed a bowl appearance was 1996. Under coach Mark Richt we’re 61-17 and after the rebuilding year of 2006, it’s only going to get better.

So, from September 1 through early December on Saturdays you can find me in my study. I’ll be listening to the radio broadcasts of the Georgia football games on the internet. We’ve got one of the best radio announcers in the business in Larry Munson. The legendary voice of the Georgia Bulldogs is an old school radio commentator, one who makes listening to the game more exciting than watching it could ever be. I used to watch the games on the TV with the sound down and listen to the play-by-play on the radio. For reasons that aren’t clear to me, they don’t show a lot of college football on British television. Last year they started to offer video of some of the games on the internet - but it was small and pixellated and stopped all the time - basically more frustrating than it was worth. So I spent my Saturdays listening to Larry and his sidekicks over the internet. It’s better that way.

Larry’s 87 years old and will only announce home games this season. Things change, but I will miss hearing him call the games. Here’s one of my favorites from the Georgia-Tennessee game in 2003. Go Dawgs!

 

 Munson - Georgia v. Tennessee 2003 [1:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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