Why I Think My Wife is the Best Type of Georgia Football Fan There Is
By: Scott Duvall | @JawaviFilms
It’s time to tee it up versus Tennessee. So, in honor of the Dawgs and Vols 48th all-time matchup, I decided to jump back in time to share a few memories that come to mind when these two SEC East foes meet on the football field.
Much has been made about the 2001 Georgia vs Tennessee football game. It’s a ubiquitous highlight reel that you can probably play over and over from memory whenever anything is mentioned about the Dawgs and Vols rivalry. The P-45 Haynes play gets shown every home game if I’m not mistaken. And, don’t get me wrong, that play, that program defining victory over the Volunteers was monumental. It wasn’t like it put Georgia back on the national map, but it was a signature win for Mark Richt in his first season as head coach and set the stage for many victories and a couple of SEC titles in the early 2000s.
I’m always filming @jawavifilms and she’s always fashionably posing @jennysuemakeup
I did not attend the 2001 Georgia vs Tennessee game in Knoxville. I was at home watching it with my wife, Jennifer. We had been married for two months and like many of you I wanted to turn off the game after Travis Stephens’ 62 yard touchdown catch and run that gave the Vols a 24-20 lead with only 54 seconds left on the clock. Jennifer made me keep the game on and slowly but surely my hope grew with every play that Damien Gary and Randy McMichael made on that final drive. I don’t have any pictures of our reaction after Greene tossed that beautiful pass to Verron Haynes, but I can picture it perfectly to this day. Good things started happening for the Georgia program after that victory. Personally, for me the big takeaway from that game was when Jennifer (a proud UGA alumna herself) in her excitement insisted that we go to a game on Rocky Top next time Georgia played in Knoxville since she had never been.
Coming off of a 2002 SEC Championship and a trip to the Sugar Bowl for Georgia, Jennifer and I felt like we were part of a traveling caravan of road dawgs. There weren’t many missed games home or away back in the days before kids. It was time for us to make good on our pact for me to take her to a Georgia vs Tennessee away game.
Being a student at Georgia during the mid to late 90s, I had been to the land of orange on multiple occasions and like my attendance in Jacksonville, most of those years, I had not enjoyed the visits. But Jennifer brought a different and more positive vibe with me as we made the trek from Atlanta to the Tennessee hills. It was an all-timer tailgate scene with my Sigma Chi brothers and her Zeta sisters wedged somewhere between Calhouns and that big bridge spanning the Tennessee River.
I’m pretty sure 2003 UGA/UT was a night game; I do remember that I gave Jennifer a quick lesson in Georgia RBU history when we ran into Garrison Hearst in the concession line as we purchased a few mixers for our stash. The two of us felt confident as we joined our fellow Bulldogs inside Neyland. After the Dawgs and Vols traded touchdowns and a couple of first half Billy Bennett field goals I remember feeling pretty pleased being up 13-7, yet still frustrated having to settle for two field goals instead of touchdowns.
Then with 3:35 left before halftime, Casey Clausen and the Vols went on a methodical clock killing drive to the Georgia 8 yard line with 7 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. I remember slurring to Jennifer that this score would just wipe out any of the momentum Georgia had established. We were doomed and a TD would put Tennessee in the lead going into halftime, etc etc.
Jennifer is into makeup, fashion and has always been much more supportive of tailgating than actually attending Georgia games. She knows her football though. To me, it’s almost frustrating because she doesn’t get that angry and always thinks positivity. I kid you not, after my diatribe on how a UT touchdown before half would surely doom the Bulldogs, she tapped into that blissful gridiron happiness saying, “What if they fumble?” I’m not sure what my response was because as soon as she said that, Clausen tried to make a handoff to Jabari Davis. It was botched and like a streak of lightening, Sean Jones picked up the fumble and took it 92 yards for the score (with an assist by Jennifer).
Sean Jones with those wonderful hands picked that ball up and came running. You should’ve seen the escort he had all the way down there. -Larry Munson
A 14-point swing had just happened in a place I had only associated with bad luck. I was there in the 90s when Payton Manning and Heath Shuler were putting Georgia away early and often. It was never fun, never as much fun as 2003. The Dawgs went on to score 28 unanswered points, the Volunteer crowd thinned out pretty quickly in the 3rd quarter (guys they’ve been at this leave the game early thing for a while) and Jennifer and I along with a few thousand other Georgia fans had Neyland all to ourselves that night.
The 2001 Hobnailed Boot call by Munson is an all-timer. Every instance I hear the call, it reminds me of a special time in my life when I realized that my newlywed wife carries constant positivity when it comes to watching Georgia football and should be everyone’s Bulldog good luck charm. I also like to think that Larry’s 2003 call of Jones running down the sideline is up there with the many classic moments in Munson history. Plus, It brings back memories of that awesome road trip to Tennessee country with Jennifer. Larry was the best when a play just up and grabbed him from out of nowhere and Jennifer is at her best when I’m feeling down and out at the scenario facing Georgia because really she thinks the Dawgs have a chance to win on every play.
She’s is a good luck charm for sure. Some might argue that it’s due to a few choice cocktails consumed while tailgating, and they might be right, but I like to think of her as my encourager-in-chief. Plus, there’s magic in those specialty drinks she and her girlfriends cook up. She has the ability to make the Dawgs pull off amazing feats on the football field. I’m glad she’s a dawg, my dawg and I’m even more happy that she asked me out at after that UGA Sigma Chi Halloween party in 1997…Oh, that story? I’ll have save that one for another column. Go Dawgs!
On To The Links of the Week!
Best Videos of the Week
It would only be appropriate to share that 2003 call from Munson when Sean Jones flipped the game on its head and scored right before halftime. I’m going to link the entire call rather than the video because of two reasons. The actual call give much more context. You’ll hear Larry just agonizing before the pivotal play happens. The only video I could find of the actual play is 21 seconds long and, well, DawgSports.com had the same idea I had, so I’ll link to their page for the video.
Even though I’ve been writing this series of posts for four weeks now, I still make errors. Hard to believe since I’m so experienced…{crickets} Nevertheless, I meant to link this video clip last week, but it somehow escaped my memory, which is code for I forgot to make a note of it. But did you catch the Colorado Buffalo mascot (not Ralphie) accidentally turn the 100+ psi t-shirt cannon the wrong way? Hilarity ensues and please, just make sure to watch it with the sound up. I think the funniest part is the mascots expression, which doesn’t change because it’s a mascot, but that’s also funny.
The New York Yankees have already clinched themselves an AL Wild Card spot, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t trying anymore. Last night versus the Tampa Bay Rays, Yankees left fielder Andrew McCutchen had a moment where he looked like a little leaguer falling down as he chased a fly ball. It was pretty funny.
Now most MLB’ers would probably keep their embarrassment to themselves, right? Or, at least not let it get beyond him and his teammates’ relentless clubhouse ribbing. Not Andrew McCutchen. He embraced his bumbling, falling down moment and blamed it on Tropicana Field’s turf monster. I’m no Will Leitch, but I’m pretty sure my WSLS Podcast co-host would agree that one, Tampa’s stadium is one of the worst in MLB and second, that their turf is equally as awful. So yeah, we should all be more like McCutchen and enjoy a good laugh at ourselves every now and then.
Best Podcasts of the Week
Yeah, we listen to and really enjoy some of the other Georgia Bulldogs podcasts out there. Here are two episodes you should check out as well.
Our friends, Nathan and Justin over at Chapel Bell Curve like their stats and do a very good job of breaking down the numbers, computing them and spitting them out to where you and I actually understand what they mean. Check out their UGA/Missouri reflection podcast with the title of “Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, Whyyyy”.
Another good Georgia football podcast is produced by local Cox Media broadcasters Logan Booker and Walker (I can’t say I even know his last name because he’s a radio DJ and, well, yeah. His name is Walker). They too share thoughts on Georgia’s close win vs Missouri and throw some love towards the Atlanta Braves 2018 NL East Championship.
Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t link our short Georgia vs Missouri postgame podcast and our big Georgia vs Tennessee preview show. Please consider subscribing and leaving a rating and review via iTunes.
Best Reads of the Week
Will Leitch takes a hard look at Barstool Sports in his weekly New York Magazine piece.
Seth Emerson, Georgia beat writer for The Athletic wrote a heart-warming insight into “Mark Christensen, the ‘heart and soul’ of Georgia football”.
via The Athletic
Thanks for stopping by our website and we would appreciate you sharing this article or our podcast. Without our listeners and readers, we’d just be three guys talking into a microphone. That’s still true even though we do have listeners and readers but it’s still funny to say. Go Dawgs!