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re: Georgia fans: what's the in-state 'rivalry' with GT like for the fans?
Posted on 8/26/24 at 6:58 pm to 49 to nada
Posted on 8/26/24 at 6:58 pm to 49 to nada
This in state rivalry is so different than most others. GT is a specialized STEM school with a small undergraduate footprint. The grad school (mostly on-line) is larger than UGA’s, but the fandom comes from undergrad.
The real question should be why in the heck has GT ever beat UGA since the 60’s? UGA literally has had students die due to the football program and they go on as if nothing happened. Google Chandler Lecroy. They have sold their soul to replace Bama as the top football program. And it has worked. But I can tell you that the casual fan has been turning away from the win at all cost mentality especially as qualified alumni kids get denied admission.
I’m the first to admit it’s not a rivalry in the sense of either team can win. It’s a rivalry in a sense that one school will admit any person and put up with anything to win while the other actually admits players who are students. In a game GT won against them under Johnson, the UGA announcers, when they were winning, literally had a short story about Malcolm Mitchell, WR, coming to UGA while reading at a 3rd grade level. And they were proud of that. If Calvin Johnson, GT Hall of Famer had a 3rd grade level he would have never been allowed to step foot on our campus let alone have announcers broadcast it to the world.
That shows the 2 schools live in two different realities. Good for them for winning Natties behind a QB who after 7 years in college still doesn’t have a degree. So, sure, they can bark and point to wins but to what end? GT has 4 Natties, but so what? What’s the purpose or point?
And like most big state schools the alum are fine and get it, but the other morons who couldn’t find Athens on a map yet spend all their disposable income on new stairs for their mobile homes and on dog gear at Wal-Mart just don’t see the real world. Our QB already has his undergrad from A&M and is working on his masters at GT and will have his shot at the NFL. Meanwhile, title boy Stetson is about to be out of the league with no degree. That is the difference in this rivalry.
The real question should be why in the heck has GT ever beat UGA since the 60’s? UGA literally has had students die due to the football program and they go on as if nothing happened. Google Chandler Lecroy. They have sold their soul to replace Bama as the top football program. And it has worked. But I can tell you that the casual fan has been turning away from the win at all cost mentality especially as qualified alumni kids get denied admission.
I’m the first to admit it’s not a rivalry in the sense of either team can win. It’s a rivalry in a sense that one school will admit any person and put up with anything to win while the other actually admits players who are students. In a game GT won against them under Johnson, the UGA announcers, when they were winning, literally had a short story about Malcolm Mitchell, WR, coming to UGA while reading at a 3rd grade level. And they were proud of that. If Calvin Johnson, GT Hall of Famer had a 3rd grade level he would have never been allowed to step foot on our campus let alone have announcers broadcast it to the world.
That shows the 2 schools live in two different realities. Good for them for winning Natties behind a QB who after 7 years in college still doesn’t have a degree. So, sure, they can bark and point to wins but to what end? GT has 4 Natties, but so what? What’s the purpose or point?
And like most big state schools the alum are fine and get it, but the other morons who couldn’t find Athens on a map yet spend all their disposable income on new stairs for their mobile homes and on dog gear at Wal-Mart just don’t see the real world. Our QB already has his undergrad from A&M and is working on his masters at GT and will have his shot at the NFL. Meanwhile, title boy Stetson is about to be out of the league with no degree. That is the difference in this rivalry.
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Posted on 8/26/24 at 7:00 pm to Knowshon5Dolla
So you’ve crushed all you’re “rivals” into dust, who’s left?
Posted on 8/26/24 at 7:01 pm to RoyalAir
quote:
Tech doesn't get sidewalk support, and never has. For the most part, they really haven't wanted it. To be a Tech fan, you have to have gone there, or have sent kids there. It's almost unheard of to pull for Tech just because.
Apparently Atlanta was a big Georgia Tech football town until big two things happened around the same time – Tech left the SEC and Atlanta got the Falcons.
Georgia football hit rock bottom in the '50s and didn't have much of a pulse in Atlanta.
Posted on 8/26/24 at 7:23 pm to GTnerd
quote:
So you’ve crushed all you’re “rivals” into dust
The new SEC and playoff system will produce new rivals.
Maybe their fans will know the difference between "your" and "you're."
Posted on 8/26/24 at 8:38 pm to RunningJacket
Posted on 8/26/24 at 9:46 pm to Naked Bootleg
Georgia has many rivals and each one is hated to different degrees based off of where you live/grew up and based off of when you grew up.
I’m not speaking for every Georgia fan of course, just the general consensus.
NGA fans consider UTK the biggest rival
WGA fans, Auburn
SGA fans, Florida
State wide, Tech
I grew up in the 90s when Florida and Tennessee beat the brakes off of Georgia annually. I personally dislike the Vols because I live in North Georgia and within close proximity to a many orange wind-breaker, coon hat wearing Vol fans. With that being said, I place them at #2 in most hated SEC program behind…
Florida. It’s clearly understood that the Gators are Georgia’s biggest rival. It started long before Spurrier arrived in 1990 but when he did arrive he put gasoline on the fire and stood there with his visor and flamed that MFer for over a decade with a snarl on his face. That man hated Georgia with a passion and pushed our noses in it every year and he was very good at it. Then when he left for the NFL in 2002 Georgia fans were like finally we can start winning some games against these guys. WRONG. Georgia would consistently lose to inferior Florida teams in the early 2000s, then Urban Meyer arrived and just toyed with the Bulldogs psyche. It was a miserable 20+ years but it’s quite clear that the Dawgs are back on the right side of this rivalry.
Back to Tech. They haven’t beaten Georgia on their home field since 1999. They’re 3-21 against Georgia this century and have a 7 game losing streak, a 5 game losing streak, and in the midst of another 7 game losing streak. They’re campus is in the heart of arguable the most fertile recruiting ground in the country but can only land 2-3 stars. They had to resort to a Paul Johnson high school offense which does not require high end recruits. For Georgia fans over 40 it’s still a hated rivalry. For Georgia fans younger than that, GT is simply a warm up game before the SECCG.
I’m not speaking for every Georgia fan of course, just the general consensus.
NGA fans consider UTK the biggest rival
WGA fans, Auburn
SGA fans, Florida
State wide, Tech
I grew up in the 90s when Florida and Tennessee beat the brakes off of Georgia annually. I personally dislike the Vols because I live in North Georgia and within close proximity to a many orange wind-breaker, coon hat wearing Vol fans. With that being said, I place them at #2 in most hated SEC program behind…
Florida. It’s clearly understood that the Gators are Georgia’s biggest rival. It started long before Spurrier arrived in 1990 but when he did arrive he put gasoline on the fire and stood there with his visor and flamed that MFer for over a decade with a snarl on his face. That man hated Georgia with a passion and pushed our noses in it every year and he was very good at it. Then when he left for the NFL in 2002 Georgia fans were like finally we can start winning some games against these guys. WRONG. Georgia would consistently lose to inferior Florida teams in the early 2000s, then Urban Meyer arrived and just toyed with the Bulldogs psyche. It was a miserable 20+ years but it’s quite clear that the Dawgs are back on the right side of this rivalry.
Back to Tech. They haven’t beaten Georgia on their home field since 1999. They’re 3-21 against Georgia this century and have a 7 game losing streak, a 5 game losing streak, and in the midst of another 7 game losing streak. They’re campus is in the heart of arguable the most fertile recruiting ground in the country but can only land 2-3 stars. They had to resort to a Paul Johnson high school offense which does not require high end recruits. For Georgia fans over 40 it’s still a hated rivalry. For Georgia fans younger than that, GT is simply a warm up game before the SECCG.
Posted on 8/26/24 at 9:51 pm to Naked Bootleg
The middle aged and older people still hate Tech with a passion.
The kids have very little hate for them and many want them off of the schedule.
But let them win a couple of games and minds can be changed very quickly.
The kids have very little hate for them and many want them off of the schedule.
But let them win a couple of games and minds can be changed very quickly.
Posted on 8/26/24 at 9:57 pm to DawgsLife
I would say Florida, then UTK, then Auburn.
Although we’ve handled all three very well in recent years, you gotta look back to when Tennessee dominated us. Auburn never had a 9 game win streak against us like Tennessee did. Plus, since 2005, it’s been a very one-sided rivalry. Both fan bases suck, but I usually view Tennessee as more of a threat compared to Auburn
Although we’ve handled all three very well in recent years, you gotta look back to when Tennessee dominated us. Auburn never had a 9 game win streak against us like Tennessee did. Plus, since 2005, it’s been a very one-sided rivalry. Both fan bases suck, but I usually view Tennessee as more of a threat compared to Auburn
Posted on 8/26/24 at 9:59 pm to Naked Bootleg
Joe Hamilton
Posted on 8/27/24 at 5:09 am to RunningJacket
quote:
It’s a rivalry in a sense that one school will admit any person and put up with anything to win while the other actually admits players who are students.
Georgia Tech is an excellent university and has always been part of why the Empire State of the south is exactly that. Atlanta and Georgia Tech are the difference between Georgia being what it is and not another South Carolina or Alabama, That said the idea that Tech is above taking student athletes who aren't academically up to the standard for traditional students at Tech is ludicrous and a crutch for under performing at Tech. I have a good friend, Tech alumnus with a Masters Degree in Math, who played football at Tech and just retired from the GT AD where he spent the last 36 years keeping GT Student Athletes academically eligible. That was his job and he was apparently good at it or he would not have made 36 years in it. He will tell anyone who will listen that the whole academic issue at Tech is blown completely out of proportion to what actually takes place. According to him the issue is not the rigor of academics, which are indeed difficult, it is the institutional support for ensuring student athletes remain academically eligible. GT spends substantially less keeping student athletes eligible than schools in similar situations. The reason is pretty dark....the alumni are pretty much in agreement that a student athlete is incapable of making progress at Tech because of the majority of student athletes backgrounds. Again, this man worked in the system and will tell anyone who will listen that there is a path at Tech for athletes to succeed academically which is nearly identical to that at state schools elsewhere. The difference is the institutional support for that path. Imagine the conversation with a single parent where you tell them their child is going to struggle academically when other schools are telling that same child that they will provide the support needed to see to it that they succeed academically. It is the height of hubris that prevents Tech from being competitive. Atlanta is about as fertile a recruiting ground as exists in the US. Atlanta metro area public and private schools prepare students to succeed in college. Many do indeed succeed at Georgia Tech which is as good a university as one can find in the world. The problem is not academic rigor, it is institutional support and parents of kids being recruited are well aware of this early on in the process....they are told their child is going to struggle, not that their child is going to have the support needed to be successful.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 5:16 am to AwgustaDawg
quote:
Georgia Tech is an excellent university and has always been part of why the Empire State of the south is exactly that. Atlanta and Georgia Tech are the difference between Georgia being what it is and not another South Carolina or Alabama, That said the idea that Tech is above taking student athletes who aren't academically up to the standard for traditional students at Tech is ludicrous and a crutch for under performing at Tech. I have a good friend, Tech alumnus with a Masters Degree in Math, who played football at Tech and just retired from the GT AD where he spent the last 36 years keeping GT Student Athletes academically eligible. That was his job and he was apparently good at it or he would not have made 36 years in it. He will tell anyone who will listen that the whole academic issue at Tech is blown completely out of proportion to what actually takes place. According to him the issue is not the rigor of academics, which are indeed difficult, it is the institutional support for ensuring student athletes remain academically eligible. GT spends substantially less keeping student athletes eligible than schools in similar situations. The reason is pretty dark....the alumni are pretty much in agreement that a student athlete is incapable of making progress at Tech because of the majority of student athletes backgrounds. Again, this man worked in the system and will tell anyone who will listen that there is a path at Tech for athletes to succeed academically which is nearly identical to that at state schools elsewhere. The difference is the institutional support for that path. Imagine the conversation with a single parent where you tell them their child is going to struggle academically when other schools are telling that same child that they will provide the support needed to see to it that they succeed academically. It is the height of hubris that prevents Tech from being competitive. Atlanta is about as fertile a recruiting ground as exists in the US. Atlanta metro area public and private schools prepare students to succeed in college. Many do indeed succeed at Georgia Tech which is as good a university as one can find in the world. The problem is not academic rigor, it is institutional support and parents of kids being recruited are well aware of this early on in the process....they are told their child is going to struggle, not that their child is going to have the support needed to be successful.
Most of the time when dwag fans don’t like something they just lie.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 5:54 am to Gunga Din
quote:
I have always been a bit fascinated by the Ga/Ga Tech rivalry simply because the dynamics are a bit unsual.
GaTech was a national power when they were in the SEC. Their rival would have been ALABAMA much more than Georgia. When they left the SEC they completely transformed themselves into the Dawgs little brother. Bobby Dodd made a terrible decision to pick up his ball and go home.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 6:17 am to Skeeter210
quote:
Most of the time when dwag fans don’t like something they just lie.
So the person who made a good living in the AD of Georgia Tech, played football at Tech and kept Tech student athletes academically eligible is a Dawg fan? Riiiiigghhhhhtttttt...
I get it. Use the excuse. It is convenient. So is a crutch. The excuse, well known throughout the SE and the nation, is equally crippling to GTs recruiting efforts. Instead of touting the success of GT student athletes, and the record speaks for itself, is enviable and substantial, continue to spread the idea that GT is just too damned rigorous for student athletes. It has worked marvelously for GT.
There are thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of GT student athletes who managed to succeed academically at GT and become successful in life. That is what Tech and Tech boosters should be touting. Instead, in their hubris to explain their failings in athletics, they go about telling prospective student athletes that they just are not Tech material. Again, it has worked wonders. My friend, who is not, I assure you, a Dawg fan, is about as big a Tech fan as exists. He was also in a unique position to know what goes on at Tech and what goes on at other schools. Simply stating the obvious, that Tech has an obstacle which can be overcome (there are many schools with equal or harder academics than exist at Tech who are successful athletically) is not an affront to GT, it is an attempt to make Tech what it once was....competitive athletically while being academically demanding.
And again, GT is a huge part of why Georgia is known as The Empire State of the South. Tech is a massive influence on the state and regional economies and Atlanta would not exist in anything resembling its current position without Georgia Tech.
This is a list of institutions Georgia Tech considers peers academically"
Penn State
Purdue
Stanford
Texas AM
UCLA
Michigan
UT Austin
Washington
Wisconsin
This is from Georgia Tech who are notably not Dawg fans. All of those have had more success athletically than GT. I doubt seriously that its a mainstream idea in Texas that student athletes just can't cut it academically at UT or ATM....I suspect, in fact, that both universities tell student athletes that if they come to those schools, work hard and make the effort they will find the support they need to be successful.
Academically and reputationally GT is above reproach. It is a fantastic institution of higher learning, among the best in the nation. The AD is seriously remiss in allowing the idea that academics are just too damned difficult for most student athletes. It is simple hubris. If Tech desired athletic success I am certain they could attain it....it is, after all, as successful as a school can get outside of athletics. It is an excuse, not an actual barrier to success.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 6:36 am to Naked Bootleg
Georgia owns the state. They don't really have a serious in-state rival.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 7:54 am to koreandawg
quote:
The middle aged and older people still hate Tech with a passion.
The kids have very little hate for them and many want them off of the schedule.
But let them win a couple of games and minds can be changed very quickly.
I don't "hate" any of our rivals. Hugh Freeze was right for once about that one.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 8:38 am to Naked Bootleg
I actually remember being picked on at school by Tech sidewalk fans growing up in the 90s when Georgia was garbage and Tech had some national life. Of course, they’re all UGA fans now as side walkers tend to do…
I’ll always hate Tech simply because I went to most all the COFH games in the 90s and early Richt years - both home and away - and remember being spit at, cussed at, etc by a then decent-sized Tech contingent. Most were less driven by a passion for or connection to Tech than a hatred for UGA (which until the early 2000s when HOPE elevated the academic profile dramatically was just seen as the drunk school for good ol boys). At the time, it really was a simple case of arrogance and elitism versus working class that believed it deserved better.
It’s gotten a lot more complicated now as both schools occupy some pretty solid academic footing and UGA has moved into the Engineering and Medical space (and of course Tech has regressed considerably on the field while UGA is at the pinnacle of the sport). Tech is on par with State and Southern from the UGA perspective and like the other two, we likely wouldn’t play them if not for tradition simply because there’s nothing in it for us. In fact, it hs proven to be detrimental beyond the scoreboard more years than not because of Tech’s insistence on cut blocking as a part of the triple option under Johnson (Key seems to have taken them from that, thank god). Tech would often end up a big reason why we had linemen banged up for the SECCG (notably, Deangelo Tyson was knocked out of the 2012 SECCG because of lower leg injury against Tech. Would’ve been nice to have had in that 4th qtr against Bama).
The Tech fans who remain are few in number but are true die hards, like Vandy fans full of piss and vinegar. Tech as an institution has also evolved over the past 25 years so that they have more of a Stanford model of student population and hiring trends - they bring in a lot more international students and see their graduates leave for national and international postings. For a smaller school in Atlanta, they simply don’t have much of a local alumni base like they used to pre-2000s.
And to echo the sentiment about Tech’s football recruiting practices, it really just a matter of give a shite. Tech has an excellent business school and even has some humanities majors. It’s not all a matter of “football can’t be engineers.” Tech’s whole philosophy dating back to Dodd leaving the SEC is their belief in the old way of the NCAA. Rather than try to strike a balance between academics and athletics, they willingly punt on the issue and refuse to support their athletes the way other schools do because it would mean admitting they fricked up all those years ago. This is just who they are now - incredibly intelligent and incredibly bitter at the rest of the world for not doing things the way they choose to do it.
I’ll always hate Tech simply because I went to most all the COFH games in the 90s and early Richt years - both home and away - and remember being spit at, cussed at, etc by a then decent-sized Tech contingent. Most were less driven by a passion for or connection to Tech than a hatred for UGA (which until the early 2000s when HOPE elevated the academic profile dramatically was just seen as the drunk school for good ol boys). At the time, it really was a simple case of arrogance and elitism versus working class that believed it deserved better.
It’s gotten a lot more complicated now as both schools occupy some pretty solid academic footing and UGA has moved into the Engineering and Medical space (and of course Tech has regressed considerably on the field while UGA is at the pinnacle of the sport). Tech is on par with State and Southern from the UGA perspective and like the other two, we likely wouldn’t play them if not for tradition simply because there’s nothing in it for us. In fact, it hs proven to be detrimental beyond the scoreboard more years than not because of Tech’s insistence on cut blocking as a part of the triple option under Johnson (Key seems to have taken them from that, thank god). Tech would often end up a big reason why we had linemen banged up for the SECCG (notably, Deangelo Tyson was knocked out of the 2012 SECCG because of lower leg injury against Tech. Would’ve been nice to have had in that 4th qtr against Bama).
The Tech fans who remain are few in number but are true die hards, like Vandy fans full of piss and vinegar. Tech as an institution has also evolved over the past 25 years so that they have more of a Stanford model of student population and hiring trends - they bring in a lot more international students and see their graduates leave for national and international postings. For a smaller school in Atlanta, they simply don’t have much of a local alumni base like they used to pre-2000s.
And to echo the sentiment about Tech’s football recruiting practices, it really just a matter of give a shite. Tech has an excellent business school and even has some humanities majors. It’s not all a matter of “football can’t be engineers.” Tech’s whole philosophy dating back to Dodd leaving the SEC is their belief in the old way of the NCAA. Rather than try to strike a balance between academics and athletics, they willingly punt on the issue and refuse to support their athletes the way other schools do because it would mean admitting they fricked up all those years ago. This is just who they are now - incredibly intelligent and incredibly bitter at the rest of the world for not doing things the way they choose to do it.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 8:52 am to Naked Bootleg
The little bees are annoying, and if we lose to them it's fricking horrible. Thankfully that doesn't happen very often.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 9:06 am to tylerdurden24
quote:
"It's a great step forward for our program," Tech athletic director J Batt said postgame, "but it's really where we belong."
GT’s President and administration are aligned w/ supporting football.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 9:51 am to tylerdurden24
quote:
Most were less driven by a passion for or connection to Tech than a hatred for UGA (which until the early 2000s when HOPE elevated the academic profile dramatically was just seen as the drunk school for good ol boys). At the time, it really was a simple case of arrogance and elitism versus working class that believed it deserved better.
Again, this is what is fascinating about this rivalry historically. Georgia was both the "snob" school and the "cow college"... and Tech just appealed to nerds. I'm going to assume that any sidewalk fans that Tech developed came from "working class" people who didn't like the UGA "snob" contingent.
In most rivalry situations this group is mostly made up of small towners and Ag people who didn't like the "snobs" as well as some working class types.
Georgia had the Ag/small town people... and picked up the standard sidewalk fans because of their success.
All Tech had going for it was its Atlanta location... bit Athens isn't far away so it wasn't a huge advantage like it might have been if UGA had been located in say Valdosta.
Posted on 8/27/24 at 9:54 am to AwgustaDawg
quote:
And again, GT is a huge part of why Georgia is known as The Empire State of the South.
Most people in the state don't realize that GT has a bigger economic impact than UGA does. Being top 10 in research is big $$$ and dwarfs athletics. Also if you count grad students, GT has more total students than UGA.
To the academic stuff, in addition to what was said above about lack of institutional support. I think a big hurdle is that GT is an institute not a university. I hate it when places refer to us as Georgia Tech University. As an institute GT has less than 40 undergrad majors, most of which are engineering or hard sciences.
Sure there are top football players who who can handle GT but how many want to study electrical engineering, computer science etc? If I was one of these football players and got to choose between GT, Stanford, UCLA or Texas; GT would be at the bottom of my list if I didn't have any ties.
We have a business major which is considered the easy path at GT. It's still top 25 and requires calculus; not a walk in the park. Though funny enough GT just recently got a commitment from a 5* lineman (highest rated recruit since Calvin Johnson). One of his reasons is he wants to be an engineer.
As to the OP question about the rivalry. I know many UGA fans don't view it as a rivalry since we hardly win and haven't been competitive at all the last decade. Though last year we only lost by 8 points which brought some hope back to the fans that Brent Key is the right guy.
I have two brothers and many friends who are UGA alums. They may not view it as a rivalry, but I know for certain there is no one they hate losing to more than GT.
This post was edited on 8/27/24 at 9:55 am
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