Noise

The last time I went to the Georgia-Florida game, I was about 19 years old, maybe 20. The year was 1985, maybe 1986. I had a rocking good time. But Georgia didn't win.

But yesterday, thanks to Bruce Remler's generous offer of four tickets, the Remlers went back to Jacksonville to watch the Dawgs take on the Gators. And this time they won, as everyone north of the Florida line could probably discern from the noise coming out of Jacksonville.

That was one loud game.

Unfortunately, Georgia doesn't win the contest against Florida very often, so I was glad we were there to witness one of the victories. And the 24-20 score was just the icing on the cake of a great day.

Tailgating

Our day started out early, as we headed south down I-95, with a stop in Brunswick to pick up the fried chicken. Upon arrival in Jacksonville, Stephen immediately began scouting out parking spaces. I was a little hesitant at first. After all, I didn't know where the stadium was, and I didn't want us to park across town from it. Forward thinking, though, Stephen was anticipating the post-game traffic, and he thought it wise to put some distance between us and EverBank Field so that we wouldn't get caught in a glut of automobiles. And that's when we saw these guys on the sidewalk urging us to park in their lot.

"How far away is the stadium?" I asked.

"It's just over that viaduct," one of them replied, pointing to a car-covered bridge. "Not quite a mile."

Fair enough. But we were on the far side of a three-lane street. How would we get over to his lot?

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll stop the traffic for you." And he did. Once we pulled into his lot, we discovered we had stumbled upon the Historic Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church (established 1866). The men operating the parking lot must have been from the church's men's association. They could not have been nicer. "Here's your parking tag," our new host said. "And here's a map to the stadium." He pointed to a bus stop not ten feet away. "You can ride the shuttle from here, or you can walk down Duval Street. And if you need to use the facilities, just go through that door under the awning." He pointed toward the church. "We'll be here during the game watching your car until 9:00."

Sweet! I was planning not to drink anything all day because I fiercely avoid stadium bathrooms. But with open access to the Historic Mt. Zion AME Church (est. 1866), I could drink both of the beers Stephen had packed in the cooler for me! So we set up our lawn chairs, broke out the fried chicken, and relaxed until game time. Davis and Lawson tossed the football around and even made a few friends.

After consulting the weather forecast, we brought rain gear with us, but we realized that we wouldn't need it, so after a satisfying lunch and a trip to our squeaky clean facilities, we hoofed it to the stadium.

This was my restroom.

Isn't it nice? 

I think I had to share it with four other women.

The Fans 

EverBank Field, formerly Alltel Stadium, was huge, but easy to navigate. We quickly found our seats in the Georgia end zone and watched the Dawgs warm up. Of course, we experienced the typical stadium seating phenomenon. Staudium rows are typically somewhere around 26 seats across. As spectators arrive at the event venue, the fans in seats 1, 2, and 3 and in seats 24, 25, and 26 arrive first. Then they spend the next hour standing and sitting like jacks in the box while everyone else arrives or leaves again to visit the facilities or one of the stadium's many fine concession stands. Without fail, the fans occupying seats 12 and 13 arrive two seconds before the kickoff, stepping on everyone else's toes, dripping Coke and spilling popcorn, as they stumble to their seats in the middle of the row. 

 

 During this twisted game of musical chairs, we familiarized ourselves with our neighbors. For instance, the guy at left wouldn't stop dancing. Between each play, when music came on the loudspeaker, this guy got up to bust a move. I wondered if he thought he was on Candid Camera. Or maybe Star Search. 

And then these well fed sports fans made no bones about their opinions that Isaiah Crowell is overrated. As it turned out, Crowell's injury, resulting in Richard Samuel's moments of glory, indicated that these fellows had a good point. 

  And then when this whipper snapper....

opined that Mark Richt should be fired, this fellow....

jumped out of his seat and declared that he might be 70 years old, but he could still whip the young man's behind (he used a different word, but I try to keep this blog family friendly). Fortunately, surrounding Dawgs fans calmed him down, but the Remlers were gearing up for some exciting entertainment. Still, we were puzzled by the hot temper. After all, newspapers have been speculating about Richt's job security for a year now. It's always a topic of conversation at a Georgia game. Maybe that man was Mark Richt's father. Who knows?

 The Game

And then the game began, but only after a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" sung by John Oates, half of the eighties music sensation "Hall and Oates." We never learned why Hall never made it, but Oates was able to carry the tune on his own. 

Georgia received the ball first, and there ensued about a fifteen minute possession, during which the Dawgs did not score. No surprise. We've seen all that business before. But then Georgia kicked off the Florida, and a Gator caught the ball and ran it 85 yards for a touchdown! Florida's possession lasted about six seconds. Our defense got very little field time, and by the end of the first quarter, I was rethinking my stadium seats and wondering whether I should just go back to the Historic Mt. Zion AME Church (est. 1866), where I could listen to the game on the radio and at least enjoy a clean restroom. But I stayed. And during the first half, while the Dawgs did manage to keep the Gators at bay, the first and second quarters were a round of creep-zip-creep-zip. 

And what was up with Blair Walsh yesterday? Was his foot on crooked? I would understand missing the goal if he were kicking from the fifty yard line, but when he's only fifteen or twenty yards out and he still misses--twice--one has to wonder whether he ate his Wheaties yesterday morning. 

But his underperformance might have been just what Georgia needed. After all, even I know you can't win a football game three points at a time, so with slim chances of earning those fourth down field goals, the Dawgs must have realized they had to score for real. 

Enter Richard Samuel.  

Now, loyal readers know I've kept my eye Richard Samuel since the 2009 season. Newspapers touted him as the player to watch, so I did just that. Unfortunately, he's had  his ups and downs as a Bulldog. Failing to live up to his potential in 09, he warmed the bench more than the gridiron. By 2010, he had practically disappeared, and I wondered if he was still on the team. Apparently, he's improved his game this year, and I've been delighted to see him more on the offensive line. But yesterday was his day. After three years of watching him struggle on the field, I finally got to see Samuel score! And not only that, but I saw him make the touchdown that turned the game around. 

And the tension heightened. At 24-20, the Gators couldn't rely on a fourth down field goal to pull ahead again. They needed a touchdown. Georgia's defensive line played well, and all of a sudden, it was the Gators, not the Dawgs, who were creeping down the field. 

Fourth quarter was also when I discovered this interesting tradition:

 At first I wondered why people wanted to buy four tickets when they were already in the stadium. But then Stephen explained that fans do this at the opening of the fourth quarter, I suppose to signal a last minute resurgence of energy. "It used to be like magic," he said. "But now it doesn't do anything at all." 

At least until last night.

Not only did Georgia hold Florida back, but with seconds left in the game, Richard Samuel came just inches away from another touchdown. So the Dawgs let the last few seconds lapse, and then the celebration began on the field.

Even Mark Richt joined the party, although I don't know what's up with him in the photo below. He looks like he's about to slug one of his coaches. Maybe he was asking him to dance. 

There was lots of hopping in that end zone. Good for the Dawgs. Stephen and I agreed that Coach Richt probably let his team go out and have a little fun last night. I just hope that if they did, they kept their noses clean. The last thing Georgia needs right now is a player getting arrested. Waushaun Ealey did enough of that to last the team several years. I also hope the coach advised the players not to pull an A. J. Green and sell any jerseys. The Dawgs need to keep up their momentum and avoid pesky legal distractions.

Richard Samuel certainly earned some bones for the back of his helmet. And I hope his teammates bought him a beer. As for Blair Walsh, I hope someone took him to Lenscrafters.

More Photos

 

The Florida side of the stadium emptied in a hurry. 

 

Go Dawgs!