If you're thinking of going to the game Saturday you have a choice to make. Are you going to support the Dawgs and be part of the solution, or are you going to throw gas on an open flame?
In 1999, Auburn came into Athens to face an ill prepared UGA team...at night That defense found itself down 31-0, and a segment of our fan base completely lost it's mind. There was a raining down of boos like I've never seen before or since. A few idiots even walked down to the sidelines to give the players AND recruits a piece of their minds.
It was the biggest recruiting weekend of the year, and it was a complete meltdown. We lost every single recruit that attended that game except one. We also lost juniors from the next recruiting class who were in attendance.
No kid in their right mind would've signed for UGA had he seen that display. I've seen booing everywhere. I've seen it at Auburn, Tech (many, many times) and elsewhere. But I've never seen anything as toxic as that '99 Night.
If things get out of hand and you're about to lose your shit, JUST LEAVE. Just leave the stadium. There's no reason to turn a bad play into a catastrophe. Coaches can recruit around a blowout. Even elite programs get blown out from time to time. Coaches know how to talk to that. But they can't recruit around fans killing their own team.
If we Fire Willie and whoever else this offseason, the next coach needs raw materials to work with. They don't need a recruiting class to unravel before them.
Don't make it harder to turn this thing around.
You can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. If you can't sit there without berating the players or without booing, just get up and walk the hell out. You're not going to convince Richt to fire anyone by booing, giving anyone a piece of your mind, or showing your ass.
PWD
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63 comments:
Two things
1)I left that game. Left a lot of games early in the Jim Donnan era. It is a shame you even have to put something up like this for a Mark Richt coached team. Maybe those kids did not come because we were such a piss-poor, unprepared outfit?
2) The recruits we DID NOT GET after that went on to be the base for our 2nd greatest run in history. We need kids who are tired of this mediocrity, who are ashamed to be on teams that go 8-4.Sometimes you get what you need, not what you want.
I agree 100%. Well said and Amen!
Hear hear!!! And another thing if you are in the stands, you are not coaches, you are fans so act like it! Stand up and cheer!
I hope more of the wack jobs who boo the Dawgs see this post PWD. I'm a Dawg through thick and thin and I don't boo our team. I just get frustrated. Support the team and they'll respond in a positive way.
Well said, I was there in 99, and many of our so called fans were a complete and total JOKE....
Then call this Auburn '99 II .... cause its a HUGE recruiting weekend.
Most of our fans will be drunk off their ars. God help up us if AU gets up on us big.
Many fans in '99 were already very frustrated with the direction (stagnation) of the program, and that was the tipping point.
Come to think of it, you're right. The same thing could happen Saturday night. I could see Malazan abusing CWM and Auburn going up 24-0 or something like that, and thousands of drunk, pissed off fans who have been restless with Martinez for four years now letting him have it.
So, yeah....good post.
I'd say it's more likely that the the recruits we didn't get were lost because of the fact that we were down 31-0 at halftime, rather than any booing. You think it would have made any difference if the stands were empty, rather than booing?
When Alabama went up 31-0 last year, it was because they were better. Period. That 99 Auburn team was 4-5, and we laid down for them like a rug.
And if, IF, we come out and lay another egg like that again, then why do we assume that the coaching staff that would be responsible for that would be any better at choosing recruits?
I've never in my life been more embarrassed to be associated with the university than at that game in 99.
Um, tri-guy, were you there for Ufk 2000?
Thousands of idiots on the field with the game still going for an ugly win over a mediocre, 3-5 team?
That was an abomination.
Yeah, that one was bad too, although I put A LOT of that on the administration, not necessarily the coaches or the team. Tearing down the goal posts had been talked up that entire week around campus, in the Red & Black, etc.
That one falls directly on Dooley and Adams, who should have seen it coming and been prepared.
I am emailing this to everyone i know that is going to the game. I couldn't agree more. CWM is gone after this year. If we can get another solid recruiting class and start out next year with a few wins, everyone will be back on the bandwagon. With college football in the south, things are never as bad as they seem, and never as good as they seem. When Bama was losing to LaMonroe in 2007, it sure didn't effect 2008 and 2009.
BTW, does this feel like 2006 to anyone else? Lets not rule out the possibility that we don't turn the ball over this week and the offence continues to improve....
I think the fans were expressing the stupid defensive hire from tn(kevin ramsey).Remember tubs said later ,"uga made no moves so we kept doing it".I would never boo UGA , but let fans be fans(they spend alot of money to be there).BTW history shows we did ok w/out those recruits(damn jabbari got away).
Get off your high -horse uga will survive a few drunk fans.Do you really think that is exclusive to GA.? the 99 team was undercoached , under preforming. would you rather the fans just stop giving to program rather than boo? Unless you think de and ma read the blogs, how else do they get the point ?
Great post, but some of these comments leave me less than hopeful the fans will behave themselves. I get upset when we lose, but the players don't deserve that kind of treatment.
at least nobody on our mediocre teame has committed robbery
and i leave before i boo
....or Willie could do his friggin job.
It's a sad day when bloggers have to preemptively ask fans not to boo their team if they get scorched by a team that lost by three touchdowns to Arkansas and LSU.
If Georgia gets blown out at home by this Auburn team, then the plane has crashed into the gd mountain. The nuclear option is all that is left. I won't boo the players. I never have, and I never will. But I'll boo the coaches like a sumbitch. If they get pantsed by Chizik and crew, then the gloves will be off.
We were down 31-0 to a bad team at half -- at home. You haven't seen that in any other stadium because there aren't many programs of our caliber (make bowl games every year) that are ever down 31-0 at halftime due a bad team. Please give some examples of other stadiums you've been in where a similar event transpired and then I'll take seriously this claim that UGA fans lost their mind. UGA fans acted like just about any fanbase would, and we lost recruits because we were terrible. Sure, there may have been a couple that we lost because of the boos, but I suspect almost all of them just saw a sinking ship. And they were right.
Guy in the Natural had it right. Losing is a disease. You don't cure it by trying to fix collective action problems that are always going to happen with fans, many of whom are by nature irrational. You fix it by WINNING or at least competing so that a terrible team with a mediocre QB doesn't whip your @ss.
I am afraid, after reading anonymous 8:14, 9:14, and 9:22 that some of our "best fans" are going to act as jerks no matter what.
SPEAK OUR MINDS
I'm not gonna tolerate mediocrity, be its name Willie, Bobo, Richt, or Mr. Strength and Conditioning Coach.
I'm also gonna speak my mind when the team underperforms. I want the recruits to hear that, that their fans don't settle for mediocrity.
IF MARK RICHT WON'T FIRE HIS STAFF FIRE MARK RICHT. NO FIRE = GET FIRED. PRETTY BOY DONT COME AROUND HERE NO MORE.
If we lose, our fans will act like other fans at established programs act when they lose, because the composition of the organisms that make up the fans in the stadiums in Athens isn't really that different than it is elsewhere. If it's a close game, there won't be a lot of boos. If it's a blowout in our stadium, there will be. You can b!tch and moan about it all you want, it won't change anything in Athens or anywhere else.
You know, it actually isn't helpful to our program to act like our fanbase is uniquely disapproving. Putting aside the fact that it's grossly inaccurate, it doesn't exactly sell the program.
FIRE CMR!!
This is just terrible. I actually picked AU in my office pool. While every other "elite" program in the SEC in on the rise and creating buzz the team with the largest recruiting base, the most money, best facilities seems to be in a tailspin downward. Until we get that killer instinct from a coach we won't see it from our players. See Alabama! Florida! I'm not sure that the coordiantor are the only ones that need to be looked at closely here. Mark Richt is a fantastic guy but is he that great of a coach? I'm starting to wonder....
The saying goes, "A few bad apples spoil the bunch."
By bad apples I mean those who think they have the right to boo. These are the people who say they won't tolerate mediocrity. These are the ones who say that booing is a way to express their discontent.
These bad apples want to believe that their boos make a difference.
Let me add that the proper response to a situation that we are facing at UGA is not booing. Rather take the time to put down on paper or email cogent arguments why you are dissatisfied with the team effort, coaching decisions, and the like. This is going to get people's attention more than booing.
If you really want to express your dissatisfaction or demand excellence then do it with a bit of premeditated action. Don't get caught up in the emotional moment and boo.
The purpose of these blogsite's is to allow us to put down reasons for our discontent. You don't see anyone just writing the word , Boo! and leaving it at that.
Please if you are really concerned write, email, call, and personally speak to those that should listen to concise arguments for or against the team.
The coaches, AD, and others associated with the team provide themselves to the fanbase. They go to luncheon's and other sporting events. Talk with them there.
There are so many other options other than booing.
If you are upset at CWM's defense how does booing get that message across? If you are angry at the lack of excellence found within the program how does booing affect change within the program? The answer is that it does not.
If you want to be apart of change then do something that has merit. Booing has no merit.
10:25 congrats that is the stupidest thing ever posted.You are only assuming.Too bad you don't hold your coaches to the same standard.Please cheer loudly if a repeat of 99 first half happens.Share more of your ignorance.
Exactly. You could write a letter or email. Damon reads his email and he has reponded to every note I've ever sent him.
Get real Paul. If there was ever a game where the Georgia faithful had a reason to boo and heckle it was that cold night in November 1999. That was a pathetic performance by every single solitary member of the program - from the coaches down to the waterboy. Even the self-proclaimed "best fans in college football" Nebraska Cornhuskers have booed their teams in the past 5 years. Michigan does it. ND does it. And yes, Florida and Alabama do it.
Like the person said above - if Gus' offense shreads us like Ben Leard did then Martinez should be terminated the next day. There is no excuse given the talent level and support the supporters and boosters give this program to ever suffer through another night like that.
I get mad as hell even thinking about that GD game so I'll chill and be positive - hoping like mad that Mark Richt will never let our program dip to the level of AU '99.
Thank goodness we missed on some recruits. A good haul could have potentially delayed the inevitable whereas we were able to watch George Godsey run free in 2000 thereby leading to Donnan's termination. See, bad experiences can sometimes lead to positive outcomes. Everything happens for a reason.
It seems to me PWD is secretly hoping for a massive first half collapse he just doesn't want people to boo when it happen. Could you now inform us lowly Georgia fans what we should do if they blow out Auburn in the first half. I don't want to cheer when I should be sitting on my hands. Thanks.
Under those Red helmets they are all 18-23 year old kids. You don't "boo" kids. Neither should you boo the program they are a part of. If you want to boo, go and let the pros have it. They get paid to take it. Leave the "kids" alone. We do have a heck of a lot of problems, but non-support of the program solves nothing. If you want to boo something besides the pros, boo the proposed health care plan.
Thanks for making an important point. I only hope it ripples throughout the Bulldog Nation (note to self: Find out why fans are now known as "nations").
Flipping that a bit, I recall when Georgia won at Auburn in 1982 to clinch the SEC title. The Auburn fans so impressed me after the game by yelling War Eagle and generally behaving as if they had won. I hope we can tap into some of that same spirit and give our players and potential recruits the support they need from us. We ALL have to do our parts.
Look, I am as frustrated as anyone else about this season and our coaching, but there are better ways to express your frustration than booing in a 90,000 seat football stadium.
College football is all about perception. You don't think rival coaches would jump at the chance to point out that UGA fans are making asses of themselves to kids like Stripling, Ogletree, etc?
Write a letter to Damon Evans or stay at home if the games piss you off that much, but don't waste your time booing. The coaches have headsets on anyway, they won't be able to hear your even if you do manage to out shout 90,000 other people
That '99 Auburn game was as bad as I've ever felt about the program, the fanbase, just everything. Just showed our ass in every way imaginable. I remember thinking, "Do I need this? I live out of state. I could just walk away."
We are a brutal fanbase. I still can't believe the number of idiots who had nothing better to do with their lives in 2006 than jeer at Massaquoi, who went on to be one of our greatest WRs.
There's no way to rationalize booing, and I've heard every attempt. Don't tell me your boos were directed at the coaches -- like players and coaches can parse out your boo from the others. Don't tell me that "booing is better than ..." I don't care what it's better than; it's still a shitty thing to do to an amateur athlete.
I'm with Paul. If it comes down to a worst-case scenario, empty seats say plenty.
Is there a way to boo so that the players and recruits will know that said "boo" is directed only at the coaches? If so, I'll do that so as not to damage the future level of talent at the program.
If not,I'll just be quiet during the bad parts, cheer during the good parts, or leave if it gets too ugly.
I'm keenly interested in discovering how I can "only boo the coaches" though. I'll hang up and listen.
I was at the game in 99. Besides the Tech game last year, it was the worst day I've ever had in Sanford Stadium. I was only 10, but I still remember feeling like Jim Donnan had just personally punched me in the face.
I'm not feeling to good about this Saturday. Auburn has played with much more confidence than us this season and I think they are tired of losing three years in a row. It could get ugly.
As for the recruits... if we do get blown out, the real problem won't be the boos, it will be the fact that the stadium will be half empty and we'll be on our way to a 5-5 record. Recruits have seen our track record in the last two years, and they will not want to come play for a team that constantly wets the bed.
Anon 11:31,
I find it highly unlikely that you could hold my jock as a UGA fan in terms of volume of cheering, consecutive football games attended, financial gifts, or overall games attended for all sports.
If you read this site and think I'm pulling for us to get blown out, you're an idiot with no reading comprehension skills whatsoever.
PWD
Paul and other posters,
you all are confusing the 1999 game with the 1996 game. The '96 game was the one where Patrick Nix passed really well the first half and we were down 45-0 at halftime. Then, we came back and made it a game. The 1999 was played in Auburn and we won as Torin Kirtsey from Sandersville scored the winning TD in the 5th overtime. I remember Torin's TD b/c he scored right in front of our seats.
The 1996 game was the one where I knew that Donnan was not going to be able to coach our guys up to the level of Auburn and West Virginia. It was at that game where all the boo birds came out.
I've never seen so many upset fans in Stanford Stadium.
Who knew that PWD was an Obama socialist? Telling fans they can not boo? This is the nuttiest post you have had yet. As a supporter of this program, I (or we collectively) most certainly have the right to boo this or any other staff UGA marches out onto the field. Sorry that you believe booing is not for the collective good of the program. You, or anyone else, have the right to no boo if (more likely when) things get out of hand Saturday night. However, we also have the same right to boo this coaching staff when the War Eagle Tiger Plainsmen put up a number on our Dawgs this weekend.
"Recruits have seen our track record in the last two years, and they will not want to come play for a team that constantly wets the bed."
You haven't seen our recruiting haul lately, have you? Especially next year's.
I committed to Florida the week after they were blown out at Alabama.
Hey Jitterbug ... Auburn played AT UGA in 1999. I think you need to check your facts.
I also believe that getting up and leaving sends a stronger message than booing.
Nothing like looking up into a Sanford Stadium with only a few Auburn fans sitting in it.
Leaving is a classier way of showing displeasure.
Jitterbug, you are on crack.
1. Patrick Nix was Auburn's QB in '94. Ben Leard was Auburn's QB in '99, which is the game you think was '96.
2. The 1996 game was the 4 OT game, and it was at Auburn, as are all UGA-AU games in even years.
3. In 1999, Auburn only scored 38 points, ergo a 45-0 halftime lead is impossible.
No Tommy. I checked the fax. The paper still says that we were down to AU in Athens in '96 at halftime and I clearly recall the boos before the half. AU kept hitting their big tight end for big gains while Agee ran all over us.
The 1978 game was a good game too which ended in a tie.
Pat Sullivan won the Doak Campbell award in 1982 for Auburn.
Jitterbug,
Ok, the Pat Sullivan line tells me you're either crazy or fucking with me. If it's the latter, well-played.
Jitterbug and Tommy are both wrong.
The '82 game was the first one we played in Auburn after moving the series from Columbus. That's the one where James Brooks got all those tough yards, but Brent Fullwood got the TDs.
The '90 game was the 4 OT game in Athens. I remember because President Clinton was there as a guest of Mike Adams.
Jitterbug should post more.
Paul's right, although I think it was Tron Jackson who scored the winning TD. That was the game where UGA VI attacked Terry Beasley. You wouldn't know it from the score, but Richard Tardits and Hiawatha Berry blew up in that game.
Leaving isn't a classier way of showing displeasure b/c there are those idiots that think they are super fans b/c they just sit in the stands through a blow out loss until 0:00.
Paul and Tommy,
you guys are a riot. Fred Davidson was the President at UGA in 1990, not Mike Adams. And Bill Clinton wasn't the President until 1996.
It's amazing how far off base some of you guys are. And this Terry Beasley stuff.........gosh.
I saw James Brook and Joe Cribbs blow up in '78 while our Ben Zambiasi saved the day for us with his tackle on Lionel James from Albany, Ga.
Did you guys know that AU wanted Vince Dooley to be their head coach after the 1980 season?
Ah, yes, 1978, back when Auburn was still Alabama Polytechnic. That was the firehose game. Still have the t-shirt: "If you can't beat 'em, hose 'em." I was only 3 then, but I remember we all did the Macarena out there. Boy, Pat Dye and Johnny Griffith really had some epic duels, didn't they?
Let's see, we booed in '99 after several years of losing to the 'Orange Teams'. Dooley saw and heard the said booing and got rid of Donnan and his ineptitude as a head coach after said booing in 2000. Donnan, who was a great recruiter but was never able to 'coach-up' future NFL stars, had great recruiting classes in 1999 and 2000. This allowed a fresh face (enter Mark Richt) to come in and ride the said recruiting classes into the SEC championship a short 2 years later.
Fast forward to 2009. It's been 4 years since we were in contention for the SEC championship and in that same time frame, we have a losing record against the 'Orange Teams'. Richt obviously has problems getting through to his current team (see Box Score: # of Penalties-Yards category) and is clinging to coordinators that were pulled from within the program as if they were established masterminds. He continues to play a fifth year qb instead of allowing next years qb (whoever that may be) to get valuable playing time against SEC opponents and two rivals. I for one could give two shits less between the difference in the Music City Bowl and Chick-Fil-A Bowl, and I think recruits would care less as well when they see that if you have the talent, you don't ride the pine as a freshman. The only reason I can find that he would keep playing Cox is to keep from having to fire CMB AND CWM.
If it takes a said booing in '09 to get us back to the SEC championship in '12, then let the boos flow. If you honestly believe that CMR and CMB (I'm under the assumption of certainty that CWM WILL be gone) will not continue to be outcoached by CUM, CMK (Lane is a puppet), CNS, and CLM with their respective staffs, then convince me and maybe I won't boo if we're down 31-0. Give me some hope.
Good post, PWD. I remember that '99 game well and I'd never seen anything like it. The only UGA I can remember seeing as many angry Dawg fans was the Vandy homecoming '94 loss, but the boos in the 1999 Auburn game were something to behold. Great advice to the Dawg nation.
I'm repeating what others have said here, but how in the world do any of you believe you have a "right" to boo? How did you get that right? Buying a t-shirt? Watching games on tv? Going to road games? Going to school at UGA? Giving money to the Hartman Fund? By the way, I'm willing to bet most of you in favor of booing came about it via the first two or three and not the last two.
As someone mentioned above, there is no "coach boo;" there is just booing. And the players can hear you.
All they do is bust their a$$es year round to play football at UGA. The fact that they do that keeps all of us entertained for the year. Even when we're not winning, we all spend hours each week reading or talking about UGA football. I'd say the least we can do is refrain from adding to the players' misery when they aren't winning by booing. I'd say unless you did two-a-day's with the team late this summer, you probably ought to shut the hell up or, as the post suggests, leave.
But, hey, you're right. It's a free country, boo away. And when you do, I hope a big drunk dude drops you like a rock. Instant karma.
By the way, how many in the boo crew are going to the basketball game Friday? Didn't think so.
For the record, Clinton was elected in 1992, and the overtime game was in '96.
The point that everyone here makes is pretty simple: we should never, ever, ever settle for mediocrity and to see a team with this much talent perform at this level is extremely frustrating. What makes it downright infuriating at times is the patronizing coach-speak and idiocy often/occasioanlly displayed by our coaching staff.
To see Tech, Tenn, FL wipe their asses with this team makes it clear that our coaches, players, and staff are not getting the job done this year. And in this business of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, 4 years and 2 NC's for Florida later is a long damn time. Then, in a ridiculous attempt to establish momentum against our most hated rival, said coaching staff unveils gimmick uniforms which only serve to worsen the shame and disgrace of our play.
So while frustrations about our D and often-inept O reach atomic levels, fans will begin to rattle their sabers and make unpleasant noises. If you want to boo then by all means boo like a MF'er. If you want to take a more cerebral approach and write letters then go ahead.
But remember, the strongest message a fanbase can send is one of unified displeasure which, in this case, would be equivalent to entire section of a city not voting. You don't like the incumbents? F 'em. Don't go to the game. If you do and want to boo - go ahead but in the end you're not really accomplishing that much. It might feel good for a little while but it has no lasting positive effect.
You want change? Write the letter and withhold you $$$. THAT sends a strong message.
And yet, the booing that night probably played a HUGE roll in the firing of Donnan and upgrade to Richt.
Losing a few recruits (if that really even made a difference) is nothing compared to getting a huge coach upgrade.
Whether you think someone should boo or not, it is asinine to say they don't have a "right" to do so.
If they buy a ticket for the game, they have a "right" to boo if they wanted. Cheering and booing are accepted and time honored ways that viewers of the game can express their approval or disapproval of what is going on.
There is no "referee boo" either, and people boo refs all the time. And somehow people figure out what the booing is about.
If we lay an egg against Auburn, and the boo birds come out, its going to be clearly for the terrible coaching we have.
PWD stop whining. Grow some balls man.
I know you think you and your kind are the "perfect Georgia fans" but get over it.
If I'm paying tuition and for my ticket, then I can boo whoever the hell I want. The actions on the field speak louder than anything us fans can do. If we play horribly once again thanks to the coaching, then I'm throwing in an extra boo just for you PWD.
Yes, the $4K a year I pay does entitle me to boo if the product I Paid for sucks...period!
And these "kids" you keep talking about can pull the lever in the voting booth for president and therefore should be considered young men - surely capable of handling a couple boos, especially when everyone in the stadium knows they are directed at the coaches and not the players (well, except for Cox).
With that said, I won't be "booing" if it gets bad, I'll be the guy standing in section 324 screaming "J U N I O R C O L L E G E!" over and over again.
if we get beat i'm showing my ass.
i don't give a damn. if we win i'm showing my ass also. i'll cuss very damn auburn fan i see. i'm looking forward to this weekend and some good cold beer. i rise hell very game i like it win or lose . just a good ole white boy on saturday night. go dawgs .. auburn sux
Thanks for the post I hope everyone attending tomorrow night will read it. Go DAWGS!!!!
Are you telling me I shouldn't boo this garbage?
Its only 14-0 now. I hate to see the score when the game is over.
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