:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47540997/usa-today-7568585.0.jpg)
Good Friday morning, Dawg fans. Have you hated your Gator today?
Here we are... we've made it to WLOCP-eve. It's the last day of HATE WEEK. And as many of you are disembarking to our lone outpost in enemy territory, I want to close this week with an exhortation to never give up.
Yes, our team has looked pretty poor in its past 3 games. No, we still don't really know what the quarterback situation will be, after Mark Richt's cryptic comments on Wednesday. Yes, that's probably a bad thing. And yes, Florida has managed to turn into a veritable buzzsaw practically overnight... and it's not like they've needed to already be considered the best team coming into the game over the last couple of decades to still win.
And you know what? None of that matters.
That's right. All of that data is completely irrelevant, because even if we were a vintage Ray Goff team going into the game against a vintage Steve Spurrier team, it's still our job to hate the Gators with every fiber of our being. We might lose tomorrow evening on the banks of the St. John's River, but we must never give up on our hate for the Sunshine State Saurians. And even if we lose, I'll be damned if I'm going to lose while sitting on my hands and not letting my Gator hate be heard. I'm gonna stand up, woof like crazy, and cheer my fool head off for the Georgia Bulldogs. And every time the Redcoat Band plays that little extra tag line that they typically save only for this game, I'm gonna sing it: "How'd ya like to bite my a**."
Why? Because this rivalry is built on pure, unadulterated spite. It's built on hate. It's built on showing up, cheering for your boys, and just not giving a damn that you're going to lose, because you know that everything associated with the team across the field is diametrically opposed in every way to being a Georgia Bulldog.
I hate Florida. Maybe we'll get lucky and win, or maybe we'll get beat by 40. I don't care. I. Hate. Florida. I hate Florida with the fire of a thousand suns being fueled by the fire of an additional thousand suns, and this is the one time a year I get to yell at them in person and let them know it. So that's what I'm gonna do, and I suggest that's what you do, too. When that orange-clad team runs out of the locker room, I'm going to be booing with all I've got. And when that orange-and-blue mostly-clad-in-white-because-orange-is-ugly Florida band takes the field to do their pregame show, I'm gonna boo them, too. Booing the band is classless, you say? Hell, son... welcome to the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
Normally, I'd close this post with a prediction for the outcome of the game. But I just hate Florida so damn much that it overrides my ability to rationally reason when it comes to things like this. So my prediction, just as it is every year, is that Georgia will recall the sublime magnificence of the 1942 season and wallop the Gators by an identical score of 75-0.
What's your prediction for tomorrow's game? Whatever it is, no matter how badly you think we're going to lose, remember that above all else, this game is about hating Florida. So get to it, Dawg fans. I'll see y'all tomorrow by the banks of the St. John's River!