The Deep South’s Oldest Column: To my Dawg friends
Though a Bammer til’ the end, Dr. B has deep ties to Athens and has a letter for his Red and Black friends.
By: Dr. B
Started last season, “The Deep South’s Oldest Column” is a weekly feature from Biscuits & SEC. Each week during the season, B&S contributor Dr. B will examine an SEC topic from a cultural perspective. There will be examinations of the conference we love and why we love it. Stories of the role models who passed on the love of football in the South. Fun will be poked at other conferences - and often at ourselves. There will be introspection, life lessons, tales of big wins, crushing losses, history, tear-jerkers, joy...and the ties that bind us together.
Dear Georgia Fans...
I am a huge Alabama fan, I love the entire SEC, and in all honesty, I love the state of Georgia. My family and I resided in the Peach State for eight years, my amazing daughter was born in the legendary Northside Hospital in Atlanta, I served in two wonderful schools whose legacy continues in my work to this day, and we sent graduates to Athens each year that were talented, driven, and were simply good kids. I am a proud alum of your school, as I officially earned my Doctor of Philosophy degree at UGA. I really enjoyed my time on campus as I gained a tremendous amount of respect for the university, its people, and the traditions that make up Bulldog Nation. I spent so much time in Aderhold Hall that it became a second home to me. And in terms of Athens, there really are few things about that place that aren’t simply incredible.
Because of my “dual citizenship” status (Bama and the Dawgs) in the college football world, I feel well qualified to have this chat with you. I will be totally honest, as my respect for you remains strong to this day. My family and I spent many days soaking up your state’s love of football on all levels. We loved experiencing the epitome of high school football “Friday Night Lights”...the massive tailgates with elaborate tents, tables of food, and live bands right on campus. We experienced a high school version of the “Walk of Champions,” ate up the pep rallies, and we fed the pride the players felt as they donned their jerseys in school on gameday. We experienced the best of college football with the Dawgs and a solid professional program with the Falcons. We even experienced several SEC title games (all won by the Crimson Tide), as the former home of the title tilt, the Georgia Dome, was only 20 minutes from our home. It’s hard to accurately describe the football joy we experienced in Georgia during those eight years, and for the memories your state gave us, I am so thankful.
This formerly great dome holds many awesome memories for me and my family, and the memory of many crown jewel games in Tide history. (Ken Levine, Getty Images)
As an Alabama fan, I can honestly tell you that you make us very nervous...not quite as much as Auburn does, but it’s close. We will tell you that we are not, and we will throw in some wise-ass comment about the Dawgs not winning a national title in over 40 years, but don’t let our bravado fool you...we are nervous. Those nerves began in earnest on December 6th, 2015 when our longtime defensive coordinator, Kirby Smart, was announced as UGA’s new head coach. You know this well, but I will remind you that Kirby and our head coach, a guy named Nick, were tight and Kirby was the closest Saban disciple to leave Tuscaloosa and head out of town to run his own program. He recruited brilliantly for us, and we knew he would do the same for you. We knew that he could take Nick’s formula, the legendary “process,” tweak it to fit his own system, and make it successful. In short, we know you are breathing down our collective neck, and we are sweating.
That fact was really on full display during that 2017 national title game. I know you don’t want to talk about it, but you had us beat until a guy named Tua came off the bench to lead us to an overtime win. “2nd and 26”...we know. It’s your equivalent to our “Kick Six”. It was a glorious moment for us Bama folk, and I have to think that right after the play before Tua’s strike to DeVonta Smith, you all felt, for a brief moment, that all indeed would be right in the Dawg world. Instead of pure joy, you all had to live with 26-23. The next year, when Jalen came off the bench to steal the 2018 SEC title game 35-28, one that you had controlled for most of the game, it must have been just as frustrating. Getting beat by two second-string quarterbacks (both are starters in the NFL, so certainly no shame in losing to either one of them) in back-to-back years surely was a true college football nightmare. The most recent Bama victory over the Dawgs last year occurred because our team was just better than yours...pretty simple deduction there and I think very few of you would argue with that fact.
Here is the brutally honest truth, and I hope it gives you great hope...Bama fans know that you are close. We know that you are not hungry, but starving, to conquer Mt. Saban. We know that close is not good enough...that the only goal left is to stake the giant “G” flag on top of the college football world, and we know that, most likely, that will need to come at the expense of our beloved Crimson Tide. As Alabama fans, we very well know that the day that happens is most likely coming. You see, the day you hired Kirby, it became a “when” rather than an “if.” We won’t admit it, but we Bama fans know it. And guess what? It might actually happen this year. I know that the country mocks you for your constant thought that each year will be “your year” (please don’t stop saying that...you have every right to be optimistic year in and year out...we are the exact same way), but this year may actually be your year.
Your Dawgs are good...really, really good, and we in the Bama Nation know it. Your defense is fierce, and I think if we get the chance to meet you in Atlanta in December for the SEC title game, your offense will be hitting on all cylinders by then. Look, I really like our Crimson Tide team, and the Bama machine will continue to roll as long as Sir Nick is pacing the sidelines, but it just seems like you all might be a little better than us this year. Time will tell, and who knows...one or both teams may surely stumble on the way to Atlanta and both squads are a few injuries in key positions away from being very different teams than we are today. We shall certainly see.
If you do conquer that mountain, I cannot help but think that I will be happy for you...how could I not be happy for Kirby as well, as he led our Tide defense to amazing heights during his time in Tuscaloosa? Yes, most likely a few decades of frustration will be unleashed on us Bama fans, but that is OK...we can take it.
A Dawg alum and former student and player of mine named Drew is now in his 20’s, is in the real world, and is about as passionate of a UGA fan as you can get. After one of our titles, he flat out asked me what it felt like to be a fan of a team that wins a national title. I don’t remember my exact answer to him, but I’m sure it was along the lines of pure joy and adulation. Drew, prepare yourself, because you and your fellow Dawgs may be closer than you think to finding out the answer to that question yourself.
Roll Dawgs,
Dr. B
Dr. B has lived and taught throughout the South, attending The University of Alabama and earning a Ph.D. from The University of Georgia. He has come to know and love the people and rich traditions of the SEC and its rabid fan bases.