I'm a Georgia fan. My family moved to Lavonia, GA in February 1981. I was in the 2nd grade, and to that point, the only sports team I cared anything about was the Dallas Cowboys. I didn't have any reason to care about college football. My Dad liked Dallas and that's why I was a fan. The only college game I'd ever paid attention to was the 1979 Peach Bowl. All I remember was that the local team, Clemson, was playing some team called the Baylor Bears. And apparently, lots of people where we lived at the time, Upstate South Carolina, liked Clemson. But Clemson lost that game. I had no reason to be impressed or attached. Had they won, my life as a fan might have taken a much different path.
Back to 1981: When we moved to Georgia, I saw Georgia Bulldog stuff EVERYWHERE. Stuff like this:
My elementary school sold Georgia Bulldog pencils, notebooks, etc. I still have one of the pencils - unsharpened an unused - and it's about 30 years old. See, less than two months before we moved to Lavonia, Georgia had just beaten Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl for the 1980 National Championship. And they had this freshman running back named Herschel Walker who had taken the sports world by storm. He was the man, and he was the main reason for Georgia's success. Georgia coaches said they had three basic plays: Herschel left, Herschel right, and Herschel up the middle.
I was a 7-year old kid with a natural affinity for sports, so I was quickly overtaken by the Georgia storm. All my friends at my church and my school were Georgia fans.
I thought Georgia was supposed to win all the time, so I didn't think anything about missing out on the 1980 National Championship season. I watched my first Georgia games that fall. Not many games were on TV back then, so I actually listened on radio, saw a few highlights on the local news, and read the sports page.
The very first game I actually remember listening to was the third game of the 1981 season. We were in Anderson, SC visiting my grandparents that day, and I laid in the back of our station wagon and listened as we drove to and from Anderson. Georgia lost to Clemson 13-3. My first Georgia game memory is a heartbreaking loss to the eventual 1981 National Champions. The rest of that season was the stuff I had expected, and they finished 10-1, ranked 2nd, and played Pittsburg in the Sugar Bowl. A second straight national championship was within reach, but it required a Georgia win and a loss by #1 Clemson to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Some people from our church came to our house that night and brought their TV. We set it beside our TV and watched BOTH games at the same time. Both games were close and exciting, and we were ready to celebrate. Instead, I cried. Literally. Georgia lost on a last-second TD pass by some guy named Dan Marino, and Clemson beat Nebraska 22-15. 1981 was the year I learned to HATE the Clemson Tigers, even though they were just 30 minutes east from my house.
But 8 months later brought another season, another chance at glory. Herschel was now a junior and was expected to win the Heisman Trophy after just missing out the previous two years. Georgia started the 1982 season on Labor Day night at home versus, yep, the Clemson Tigers. The week before the game, Georgia fans woke up to a shocking headline, "Walker Breaks Thumb: Out For Clemson." Without Herschel, this season looked ready to start out like the 1981 season ended. Herschel did manage to play - a little - in that game, with a big cast on his arm that made holding the ball difficult. He carried the ball 10 times for 20 yards - his worse collegiate performance ever - but Georgia managed a 13-7 win and all was again right in my world.
The rest of that season was a dream. The Dawgs destroyed the hated Florida Gators 44-0 and finished the regular season undefeated and ranked #1. Herschel won the Heisman Trophy. THIS IS HOW I THOUGHT BEING A GEORGIA FAN WAS SUPPOSED TO FEEL. Now I was going to get to EXPERIENCE a National Championship, not just hear about one. Georgia played #2 Penn State in the Sugar Bowl for all the marbles. I had no doubts who would win. No big deal. Just give us the trophy. But that's not how it went. Penn State scored first and had a 20-3 lead in the second quarter. I fought back tears. Georgia scored to make it 20-10 at the half, and then Herschel scored in the 3rd to make it 20-17, and I figured it was only a matter of time before we were ahead and . . . then Penn State scored on a long bomb and a diving catch into the end zone to go up 27-17 (Todd Blackledge and Greg Garrity, I've never forgiven you). Georgia scored again, went for 2 so that a FG would WIN instead of TIE, didn't make the 2-pt conversion. Georgia had a kicker named Kevin Butler with a big leg (as Clemson found out in 1984 when he made a 60-yard fg as time expired to beat the Tigers in Athens). So we kicked off, hoping to get the ball back with enough time to attempt a field goal. And we never got the ball back. Game and dreams over.
That was January 1, 1983, and until this weekend, that's the last time Georgia controlled its own destiny for the National Championship. It's been a long 30 years.
Back to this past weekend: Georgia was ranked #5 behind #4 Alabama, #3 Notre Dame, #2 Oregon, and #1 Kansas State. Two of those top 3 teams had to lose at some point in the next few weeks for Georgia to have a shot at something besides just a great season. Georgia and Alabama will meet in the SEC Championship game (assuming a Bama win over Auburn this week), so they can control that part. But hoping 2 of those other 3 teams lose? Good luck.
And it happened. #1 Kansas State got destroyed by a 4-5 Baylor team (thank you again, Baylor! You kept me from possibly becoming a Clemson fan back in 1979, and now you opened a door for the Dawgs in 2012!). #2 Oregon and their unstoppable offense managed just 14 points versus Stanford and lost 17-14 in OT. In a matter of minutes (both games ended within an hour of each other), FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE JANUARY 1, 1983, Georgia has a straight path to the National Championship and it's completely in their own hands. No more scoreboard watching hoping other teams lose. Win 3 games and they're the champs.
I'll be able to look back at this in a few weeks and tell you where/how it all went wrong, but as I type this, I'm a happy Georgia fan. The Dawgs may lose to Georgia Tech next week and kill the dream. Or they may beat Tech and then lose to almighty Alabama in the SEC title game. That's what everybody (even some Georgia fans) expect. Or they may win both of those and lose the BIG GAME to Notre Dame or whoever it's going to be.
But right now, in the words of Lloyd Christmas in the movie Dumb N Dumber, "So you're telling me there's a chance" that for the first time in my life as a Georgia fan, my Dawgs can be National Champions.
With all this said, aren't you glad your eternity isn't like being a fan of some team?
