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Should've been a Tennessee fan (Afghan Dawg's Dawgography)

Lack of Dawg Legacy

I have never attended school at the University of Georgia. In fact, the first time I ever set foot on the school's campus was in the winter of 2004, as a junior at North Georgia College & State University. I grew up in Fannin County, Georgia, about 12 miles from the Tennessee line. From my childhood home, it was a shorter drive to Knoxville than Athens. My dad, although technically a Dawg fan, was also a Tennessee sympathizer. And my younger brother was an unabashed Tennessee fanatic.

Lack of Dawg Greatness

I was born in late 1982. The great run that the Dawg's had with one Herschel Walker was over. Thus it goes without saying that for the first 18 years of my life (the decline of Dooley era through the Ray Goff era) the Bulldogs were rather atrocious. I never saw a truly great UGA football team until I was a 19 year-old college freshman. But my dad, being the consumate sports fan that he is, always had college football on TV in the fall. And we would always watch the Dawg's play rather terrible football. It was during this tumultuous period in Dawg history that Peyton Manning was making a name for himself at Tennessee. My brother, being the rabid Tennessee supporter; and my father, being a Tennessee sympathizer watched almost every game that Manning played in. If I wanted to spend any significant amount of time with the family, I had to do it watching Tennessee play football.

Lack of Dawg Indoctrination

Honestly, it was not exactly a bad experience. I mean, I got to watch a lot of winning football. And I got to watch one of the greatest college football players ever. Meanwhile, the Dawgs were turning in six and seven win seasons and doing very little to win over a young and impressionable fan. I will admit, I was dangerously close to becoming a fan of the Tennessee Volunteers. And to this day, I still consider myself to be somewhat of a Tennessee sympathizer. For all intents and purposes, the stars were lined up for me to be a bonifide Volunteer. Fortunately for me (and the rest of Dawgnation, if it's not too bold to say) I was able to get out of the house and expand my horizons.

The Rebirth

Midway through my senior year at Fannin County High School, I had been accepted to the University of Georgia, North Georgia College and Georgia Southern. But there was never really a question of where I would end up. My parents did not make a lot of money, so I knew I needed to go somewhere affordable and find a way to pay the bulk of it myself. I ended up enlisting in the Army Reserves during my senior year of high school. The plan was to use my Montgomery G.I. Bill to pay for college, while earning a commission and a college degree. I ended up choosing North Georgia College before I had even applied, simply because it is a Senior Military College and had the best R.O.T.C. program in the country. So I left the one opportunity to become a full-fledged Bulldog on the table, and instead chose to fully pursue the military route.

In college, I learned that there are two types of people from the state of Georgia: Dawg fans and Tech fans. It really does not matter where you attend college in this state. On Saturdays, you are either watching UGA or Tech. But if there was a single Tech fan at NGCSU from 2001-2005, then I honestly never met him. I cannot recall one person who self-admitted to being a Tech fan or sympathizer...although I had my suspicions about one or two. I also learned that there are three things important to a college student: Beer, Women, and College Football. Since NGCSU was a fully-functioning Athens-West, I was in a great place to begin my Dawg re-education.

The Immaculate Reception

I remember the exact point, place and time of my conversion to Bulldogism. Allow me to paint the picture: November 16, 2002. The Georgia Bulldogs were playing the Auburn Tigers. The Dawgs trailed the Tigers 21-17 with less than two minutes remaining. Georgia's drive had stalled deep in Auburn territory. 4th and 14 from the 19-yard line. I remember saying to my then girlfriend, "This one's over." Preparing myself for the worst and hoping for the best, I watched David Greene lead his men out of the huddle and line up on the ball--and I witnessed a miracle. Greene threw a bullet of a touchdown pass to Michael Johnson in the back-left corner of the endzone. The Dawgs walked away with the win, and my heart.

Missionary for Dawgnation

Exactly 20 years and 11 days after I entered this world, I became the world's most fanatic Bulldog fan. Since then, I educated myself on the classics, listened to stock footage of Larry Munson, watched every Herschel Walker highlight in the YouTube vault. And I have spread my fanaticism and enthusiasm to the far corners of the Dawgnation. My dad, while still a Tennessee sympathizer, is just as rabid a Dawg fan as I--thanks to my constant badgering. But my crowning achievement was converting my brother to the true religion. The once rabid Tennessee fan is now a confirmed UGA apologist. It's all because of me. Well, maybe it's because his girlfriend went to UGA and took him to virtually every game for his re-education. No, screw that. It was me. I converted him. He saw the type of person I became once I let Georgia Football into my life, and he wanted a piece of that. Everyone wants a piece of that.

Not bad for someone who should be writing a Volography.

Go Dawgs!

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