re: when did you become a fan?

The 1984 Bo Jackson game. Bo was my favorite running back in college but I was still an Oilers fan who loved Earl Campbell and was devastated when they traded him 3-4 weeks later.

Of course the team went to absolute dogshit almost immediately after the Auburn game too. I rooted for them but it sucked. Wasn't until my senior year of high school that I went to the Notre Dame, Virginia, Oklahoma, & A&M games before I became a rabid fan.

Now I am old enough I want them to win but am far too jilted to really give a shite.

1980

I attended my first UGA game while still in the womb. My parents had season tickets. The only game my mother missed that year was due to giving birth to me.

I was 12

I was 7. There had been a lot of questions about the kid from our hometown. He was 220 pounds and ran a legit sub 4.4 forty. Not common now, practically unheard of in the late 70's.

The questions weren't talent related, but all those records he set for yards and tds in high school came in the lowest classification in the state. He was from a town of 2000 and outweighed nearly ever Olineman blocking for him. Some by as much as 50 pounds. So the defenses he was going up against weren't too great.

My dad, after attending every game he played his senior year on the way to a state title, was wondering if he really was gonna be that good playing big boy football. I knew very little about Georgia football. My dad had been a fan, but now it meant even more..

I remember asking mom where dad was. She said he's in your sister's room listening to the ball game. It was a September night in 1980. My sister had the best stereo system in the house as she had gotten it the Christmas before.

When I walked in UGA was down by two scores to Tennessee in Knoxville. Our guy didn't start. Reports from camp were that he was just a big stiff back. But Vince Dooley put him in and everything changed.

For his first touchdown he ran over and through defenders just like those little guys in Class A football in Georgia.



A little later Herschel Walker put Georgia on top and Munson even gave Johnson County a mention.

Youtube Link

So my first year following Georgia football ended with a national title. I didn't appreciate at the time how rare such things are. Also didn't appreciate how insane it was that arguably the greatest football player of all-time came from a county of 7000, a town of 2000 and it was the same as mine.

After the game, the UGA network sideline reporter was with Dooley. There wasn't a set aside place for the coach to talk to the media. The media just came into the locker room and interviewed who they wanted. The coach usually had the most reporters. But on this night, the sideline reporter noticed there was hardly anyone with Dooley. He asked Vince where everyone was. Vince said "They're over there with Herschel."

Dad's been gone for two years now. Watching and talking Georgia football together are some of my favorite memories of him. Glad he was here to see the Dawgs win it all again not once, but two times. Go Dawgs!

quote:

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Did that MSU team beat Bama like 6-3?

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No, the 1980 team beat Bama 6-3, ending I think a 28 game conference win streak for Bama. We went to the Sun Bowl in El Paso and lost 31-17 to #8 Nebraska.
The ‘81 team that played Kansas in Birmingham lost 13-10 at #8 Alabama in the regular season.

I went to the Kansas game with the Birmingham Boys Club.

Back then, all bowl games were fun. Players enjoyed it. Locals. Alums. Just a fun time.

1965 Orange Bowl on January 1, 1965. Texas upset number-one ranked Alabama.

I was 8 years old and my dad was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. My older siblings were born in Illinois. I was born in Austin, like may parents. My mother told me I was special because I was from Texas.

My brother's best friend ("Craig, come mow the grass. Chicken shite! I'm going fishing!") was from Alabama.

Fond memories.

At birth.