It has (unfortunately) become kind of trendy among some Tech fans the last decade to downplay the importance of this game. Words are thrown out like "obsessive" and its many variants. I find this ridiculous and quite naive. Clean Old Fashioned Hate is and always will be the most important game on our schedule. I get the ACC importance and trying to win an ACC title. That will ALWAYS be one of our program's primary goals.
That is a collection of currently an 8-game season within the season. There is only ONE game that is circled every year by most Tech fans and the game that affects coaching security, silence from fanbases for the next year, and often has an influence on bowl game ticket sales and perhaps season ticket sales the following year. We know what and who that is, so my feeling is quit dancing around it and just be honest. I respect those who believe winning an ACC title is more important. Over time, winning more games just after Turkey Day will help our chances of winning more ACC titles more than any other one single game on our schedule.
I've noticed more and more Cesspool bloggers mentioning Tech during this offseason. Funny how a win at Fred Sanford Toilet Bowl can do that. The truth is, while we Techies feel like we need to be far more competitive and win much more than we have been post-Dodd, Tech has played the Cesspool very close most of the time Johnson has been here as HC.
The 2009 game was a heart breaker that reminds me of the 1991 loss at home. That is, we were favored at home (this time by a full touchdown in 2009) and we crapped the bed. What is disgustingly sad is we haven't won at home since the George Gutsy miracle play in OT in 1999. That's really sad. We won last year in OT. Two years ago, we lost in 2OT at home. 2011 and 2012 were awful games. The other 5 games under Johnson have gone down to the wire. Safe to say, Tech needs a win this upcoming November badly. That is, to maintain some sense of momentum and standing up within the state.
The Cesspool leads the series all time 64-40-5. I won't get into the moronic baloney the UGA SID claims about conveniently throwing out 2 games during WWII as their claim of Tech using "non students". If that is the case, then most all of their wins should be thrown out going way back to Butts and Dooley days as they've been on probation for "non students" regularly.
There's not much else that needs to be said about this rivalry. COFH book outlines the series very well. While there are intriguing border states, in-state, and city (eg, USC vs UCLA) rivalries, I don't think you can or will find 2 rivals so distinctly different than these 2. If the Vols beat the Dwags in Neyland, that will be interesting to say the least. But, it won't immediately risk Mark Richt's job. Let Tech beat them 2 years in a row and his seat gets very warm. That is just unacceptable to most Cesspoolians. Let Tech beat them 3 years in a row and he may get his pink slip. Happened for Jim Donnan. Not sure that is a standard or precedent, but if it happened, I can see him departing. Because in their eyes, if they are losing to Tech, they are not only far from a contender in the SEC and national title picture, but they aren't even the best in their own state.
It's been fun writing up these game-by-game "microscopes". I've normally added some videos to support. I'll just add one here. There are plenty to research on YouTube.
The Kick and the Pick...
That is a collection of currently an 8-game season within the season. There is only ONE game that is circled every year by most Tech fans and the game that affects coaching security, silence from fanbases for the next year, and often has an influence on bowl game ticket sales and perhaps season ticket sales the following year. We know what and who that is, so my feeling is quit dancing around it and just be honest. I respect those who believe winning an ACC title is more important. Over time, winning more games just after Turkey Day will help our chances of winning more ACC titles more than any other one single game on our schedule.
I've noticed more and more Cesspool bloggers mentioning Tech during this offseason. Funny how a win at Fred Sanford Toilet Bowl can do that. The truth is, while we Techies feel like we need to be far more competitive and win much more than we have been post-Dodd, Tech has played the Cesspool very close most of the time Johnson has been here as HC.
The 2009 game was a heart breaker that reminds me of the 1991 loss at home. That is, we were favored at home (this time by a full touchdown in 2009) and we crapped the bed. What is disgustingly sad is we haven't won at home since the George Gutsy miracle play in OT in 1999. That's really sad. We won last year in OT. Two years ago, we lost in 2OT at home. 2011 and 2012 were awful games. The other 5 games under Johnson have gone down to the wire. Safe to say, Tech needs a win this upcoming November badly. That is, to maintain some sense of momentum and standing up within the state.
The Cesspool leads the series all time 64-40-5. I won't get into the moronic baloney the UGA SID claims about conveniently throwing out 2 games during WWII as their claim of Tech using "non students". If that is the case, then most all of their wins should be thrown out going way back to Butts and Dooley days as they've been on probation for "non students" regularly.
There's not much else that needs to be said about this rivalry. COFH book outlines the series very well. While there are intriguing border states, in-state, and city (eg, USC vs UCLA) rivalries, I don't think you can or will find 2 rivals so distinctly different than these 2. If the Vols beat the Dwags in Neyland, that will be interesting to say the least. But, it won't immediately risk Mark Richt's job. Let Tech beat them 2 years in a row and his seat gets very warm. That is just unacceptable to most Cesspoolians. Let Tech beat them 3 years in a row and he may get his pink slip. Happened for Jim Donnan. Not sure that is a standard or precedent, but if it happened, I can see him departing. Because in their eyes, if they are losing to Tech, they are not only far from a contender in the SEC and national title picture, but they aren't even the best in their own state.
It's been fun writing up these game-by-game "microscopes". I've normally added some videos to support. I'll just add one here. There are plenty to research on YouTube.
The Kick and the Pick...
