Shotcallin' - Week 12

Admit it, you were expecting the "Uga bites Robert Baker pic"

While most Georgia fans save their foremost disdain for Florida, Tennessee or Georgia Tech, very few seem to loathe Auburn in a similar fashion. This may have as much to do with what era you became a Georgia fan (seriously, that makes for a week's worth of bathroom reading...worth every word too), but I can't help but think that the proximity between the two schools also plays a major role. Everyone knows folks from their high school that went to Auburn (the ones that didn't get into Georgia....zing!); so in college, the Auburn game was usually an opportunity to visit with old friends and enjoy some good football. By comparison, how many people from your high school went to Florida or Tennessee? Or how many went to Tech that you still wanted to hang out with?

As for me, I enjoyed watching the Auburn games with old friends and my fraternity's chapter over there...but still...I fucking hate Auburn. More than Florida. More than Tennessee. I hated Tuberville jumping from Ole Miss to Auburn...hey Tommy...instead of jumping ship on a potentially good SEC program to a divisional rival, why don't you fucking build up said program to contender status? I get annoyed that their university is essentially Atlanta Western University, hate their colors (no shit), hate that they have a couple too many nicknames and the pointless "WAR EAGLE" chat, and I really can't stand the town of Auburn. Take away the University and you're looking at Zebulon, Georgia...or pretty much any rural city in Alabama.

Anyways, it feels good to get that off my chest. Sure, many of those reasons are irrational or just plain ignorant, but I don't care. I hate Auburn, and wish more Georgia fans did too.

That being said, this rivalry has produced some of the more memorable games of the Richt era, and no matter the records, no matter the injuries, you can always expect the unexpected. Take a trip back down memory lane and try to revisit your experiences during this bevy of remarkable outcomes:

2001: I remember standing on the lower level bridge by the west endzone, waiting for Richt to call a timeout that inexplicably never came as Jasper Sanks got stuffed on the goal line at the end of a frustrating 24-17 loss. I then remember shouting out a multitude of curse words as me and my pledge brothers hauled ass to O-House in order to get through the doors before the dining hall closed. As broke freshmen, every penny earned from our crappy telemarketing jobs went to pay our pledge dues, so taking full advantage of the meal plan was a must. Belated apologies to the O-House workers that night. I'm sure we were a fun crowd to deal with.

2002: Probably the defining game of the Richt era, as it clinched the SEC East for the Dawgs and featured the memorable Greene-to-Michael Johnson pass in the corner of the endzone on 4th and long with just over a minute to play. I was at Auburn for this game, and just remember nearly getting my ass kicked on Magnolia Avenue multiple times over the course of a couple hours and my friend pissing himself at a band party later in the evening. Good times.

2003: At this point in my succession of crappy college jobs, I was working as a burrito roller at the brand spanking new Moe's Southwest Grill in Athens. For some reason, the owner decided it would be an excellent idea to hold the grand opening of a new burrito place with $4 beer bottles on a gameday. Needless to say, the entire staff sat around a 24-inch TD watching Georgia throttle Auburn 31-0 and drinking pre-frozen margaritas that were so weak they could have doubled as Slush Puppies.

2004: Ugh. My senior year started with such high expectations for the Dawgs (sound familiar?), only to have them come coming back to reality following a big win. Beat LSU 41-14? Lose at home to Tennesse and a freshman QB. Finally beat Florida for only the second time in 15 years? Get your ass absolutely handed to you on the Plains. The 24-6 score does not do this game an ounce of justice. It was an absolute asskicking from the coinflip, best personified by Junior Rosegreen's viscious hit on Reggie Brown that made me seriously think Reggie's career was over. I hated this game so much, I remember thinking "I wanna get the hell out of Athens" ...and then woke up 10 hours later in a seedy motel off the I-85 access road in Doraville with no cell phone, an empty bottle of Southern Comfort and a hotel phone that had been ripped out of the wall. Bad times.

2005: Auburn beats Georgia in a back-and-forth game with a late TD in a game many of my friends like to say "was a great game!" I disagree. Any game Georgia loses is not a great game. Between that close loss, the stinker that was the JoeT Florida game and the WTF West Virginia Sugar Bowl, that Dawgs team was just a few plays away from an undefeated season. Of course, they would have been destroyed by either USC or Texas that year, so basically the last sentence I just wrote was worthless. Apologies to all three of you reading this.

2006: Now THIS was a great game. After losing to Vandy and UK in the same year, many Dawg fans had given up hope heading to Auburn to face a Top 10 team. Three Tra Battle picks later, and Georgia was back on track for a strong end of the season finish. This game also kickstarted Georgia's love affair with the Brandon Cox era at Auburn.

2007: The Blackout. Enough said.

See how much fun a trip down memory lane can be? I swear, unlike "where was I during X catastrophic event," there's few things that can bring back a grin or chuckle like attempting to remember every last detail of a certain gameday. Here's to hoping this Saturday's edition offers quite a few full blown har-har-hars. And oh yes, fuck Auburn.

Couldn't resist.

The picks for this weekend's shoddy games:

Purdue (+17.5) over Iowa - $20

Boston College (+6.5) over Florida State - $35

Duke/Clemson (UNDER 44.5) - $15

California (+3) over Oregon St. - $10

Cal/OSU (OVER 50.5) - $15

Georgia (-9) over Auburn - $10

OBJ's Inferior Pick: Texas A&M (ML +260) over Baylor - $10

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Last Week: 2-1-1

2008 Inferior Picks: 5-4-1

2008 Overall Record: 44-41-3

2008 Pot: $115