Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate

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Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate, one of the works published on the rivalry, by Bill Cromartie (ISBN 0-93252-064-2)

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate is the nickname given to the college rivalry between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Georgia Bulldogs. The two schools are separated by a mere 70 miles (110 km) and have been heated rivals since 1893. The two schools, in essence, are not only competing in athletics but are also competing for government and private funding, potential students, and amongst other things academic recognition in the State of Georgia and the United States.^[1]

The University of Georgia (commonly referred to as Georgia or UGA) is located in Athens, Georgia and is a liberal arts research university. The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, Tech, or GT), is an engineering research university located in Atlanta, Georgia. The academic and geographic divergence of the two institutions polarizes the state of Georgia into two fairly large fan bases.

[edit] History

See also: History of Georgia Tech and History of UGA

Georgia Tech and Georgia were founded over 100 years apart. Georgia was founded on January 27, 1785, and Georgia Tech was founded on October 13, 1885. Patrick Hues Mell, the president of the University of Georgia at that time, was a firm believer that the new school should be located in Athens with UGA's main campus, like the Agricultural and Mechanical School.^[2] Despite Mell's arguments, the new school was located near what were then the northern city limits of Atlanta.^[2]

The first known hostilities between the two schools trace back to 1891. The University of Georgia's literary magazine declared the school's colors to be "old gold, black, and crimson." Dr. Charles H. Herty, the first UGA football coach, felt that old gold was too similar to yellow and that yellow "symbolized cowardice."^[3] Also in 1891, a student vote chose old gold and white as Georgia Tech's school colors.^[4] After the 1893 football game against Tech, Herty removed old gold as an official school color.^[3] Tech would first use old gold for their uniforms, as a proverbial slap in the face to UGA, in their first unofficial football game against Auburn in 1891.^[5] Georgia Tech's school colors would henceforth be old gold and white.

Fuel was added to the fire in 1919, when UGA mocked Tech's continuation of football during the United States' involvement in World War I. At the time, Tech was a military training ground and had a complete assembly of male students. Many schools, such as UGA, had lost all of their able-bodied male students to the war effort forcing them to temporarily suspend football during the war. In fact, UGA did not play a game from 1917–1918.^[6] When UGA renewed its program in 1919, the student body staged a parade, which mocked Tech's continuation of football during times of war. The parade featured a tank shaped float emblazoned with the words "UGA IN ARGONNE" followed by a yellow-clad donkey and a sign that read "TECH IN ATLANTA." This act would lead directly to Tech cutting athletic ties with UGA and canceling several of UGA's home football games at Grant Field (UGA commonly used Grant Field as its home field).^[7] Tech and UGA would not compete in athletics until the 1921 Southern Conference basketball tournament. Regular season competition would not renew until a 1925 agreement between the two institutions.^[7]

The fight songs, sung at every sporting event, have even been tailored to the rivalry. The "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" was first published in the Georgia Tech yearbook, The Blueprint,^[5] and was written following the first UGA football game in which UGA fans harassed the Georgia Tech players and fans.^[5] Hence the infamous chorus "To Hell with Georgia" was written.^[5] "Up With the White and Gold," published in 1929, featured the lyrics "Down with the red and black" and even "Drop the battle axe on Georgia's head."^[5] Georgia's fight song, "Glory, Glory," was arranged in 1909 and remains unchanged to this day. Officially, the end of the fight song is "G-E-O-R-G-I-A," but Georgia fans change the lyrics to "And to hell/heck with Georgia Tech!" whenever the Yellow Jackets play in Athens.^[8]

[edit] Traditions

A vandalized McDonald's billboard near the Georgia Tech campus. The vandals wrote "Jackets" and covered the silhouette of a bulldawg with yellow paint.

See also: Georgia Tech traditions

It is common for Georgia fans to refer to the Georgia Institute of Technology as Georgia Tech University or GTU. This nickname is derived from the common mistitle given to Georgia Tech in media outlets. Also, since Georgia Tech is a predominant engineering school, Georgia fans often refer to Tech fans as nerds, Techies, or Nats (short for North Avenue Trade School), which refers to the school's location on North Avenue. Georgia Tech fans often refer to the University of Georgia as ugag or as U(sic)GA. Due to the perceived southern nature of UGA, Georgia Tech fans often refer to them as rednecks.

A common rallying cry for students of Georgia Tech is the question "What's the good word?" Often, a student will shout this question three times (the answer being "To hell with Georgia!")^[9] and, on the fourth time, will then ask "How 'bout them Dawgs?" (the answer being "Piss on 'em!") Tech students have also created an unofficial fight song entitled '"To Hell With Georgia", which is set to tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic and refers to UGA as "the cesspool of the South."^[10]

The school newspapers of the two institutions often mock their rival institution. The Red and Black, Georgia's newspaper, usually has several jokes and articles mocking Georgia Tech the week before the football game. The Technique, Georgia Tech's newspaper, prints a special edition mocking The Red and Black,^[11] and commonly refers to its rival as "The University (sic) of Georgia."^[11] The special edition features several articles of parody and humor based on fictitious happenings at the University of Georgia, and is known as "To Hell With Georgia," after the school's popular cheer. On years where the schools play their match at UGA's Sanford Stadium, Technique staff distribute the issue across UGA's campus.^[11]

UGA students traditionally ring the school's Chapel Bell until midnight following any home football win. However, when UGA beats Tech, the bell rings all night long. Tech has a similar tradition with its whistle. UGA's Park Hall Bell and Georgia Tech's Ramblin' Wreck have been rumored to have been stolen numerous times by their respective rival before, after, or even during major sporting events between the two schools.^[12] The bulldog statue in front of UGA's Memorial Hall was stolen by Tech students at one point. The culprits put the UGA and Tech police on a scavenger hunt to find the missing bulldog.^[13] Many fans of the respective institutions refuse to even partake in clothing, food, or other materials of their rival's school colors. Examples include Georgia fans refusing to eat mustard or Georgia Tech fans refusing to use red pens.

[edit] Sports

[edit] Football

See also: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football and Georgia Bulldogs football

The game has been played 101 times according to Georgia Tech and only 99 times according to Georgia record books. Georgia discredits two games in 1943 and 1944 (both years in which Georgia Tech won) because many of their players went to fight in World War II.^[14] The game has been played in either Athens or Atlanta alternating every year since 1928. Georgia Tech holds 4 national titles and Georgia holds 2 national title for a total of 6 national titles and 29 conference titles between them, making the rivalry a battle between two historically prestigious programs.

The record between the two teams is 59 Georgia wins, 38 Georgia Tech wins, and 5 ties. Georgia has currently won seven straight games and along with the 1991–1997 win streak are the longest win streaks for Georgia in the series. The longest Georgia Tech winning streak was 8 games from 1949–1956.

The first Georgia Tech football team

The first time the two teams met on the football field was on November 4, 1893.^[15][16] The then Georgia School of Technology (Georgia Tech's original name) Blacksmiths led by coaches Stanley E. "Stan" Borleske and Casey C. Finnegan traveled 70 miles (110 km) by train to play the Georgia team coached by Ernest Brown in Athens at Herty Field.^[17] The Blacksmiths defeated Georgia handily 28-6^[18] on four scores by Leonard Wood,^[1] a thirty-three year old United States Army physician and future Medal of Honor recipient.^[19] During and after the game, disgruntled Georgia fans threw rocks and other debris at the Georgia Tech players and chased the victorious Blacksmiths back to their awaiting train.^[19]

The next day in the Atlanta Journal, an Athens journalist accused Tech of using "a heterogeneous collection of Atlanta residents - a United States Army surgeon, a medical student, a lawyer, and an insurance agent among them, with here and there a student of Georgia's School of Technology thrown in to give the mixture a Technological flavor."^[17] Hence, the sports rivalry was born.

In 1908, UGA attacked Tech's recruitment tactics in football.^[20] UGA alumni incited a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association investigation into Tech's recruitment of a player UGA had recruited as well. The Georgia Alumni claimed that Tech had created a fraudulent scholarship fund, which they used to persuade the player to attend Tech rather than UGA.^[20] The SIAA ruled in favor of Tech but the 1908 game was cancelled that season due to bad blood between the rivals.^[20]

The only true break in the series dates back to 1917 and the United States entry into World War I. The two institutions felt that the rivalry had grown too intense, allegedly fueled by Georgia's accusations that Georgia Tech was cowardly because the institution continued their football program during wartime while Georgia suspended theirs for the football seasons of 1917 and 1918.^[15] The game renewed play again in 1925.^[15]

In 1932, Georgia Tech and Georgia were two of the original 13 charter members of the Southeastern Conference.^[21] Georgia Tech would continue its membership until 1964 after Tech Coach Bobby Dodd began a historic feud with Alabama Coach Bear Bryant. Georgia Tech left the SEC concerning the allocation of scholarships and student athlete treatment. Georgia Tech would later attempt re-entry but the re-entry was eventually voted down. The biggest opponent of Georgia Tech's re-entry was Georgia.^[22] Lacking a league to compete within, Georgia Tech helped charter the Metro Conference in 1975 for all sports besides football (where it remained independent for 15 years).^[23] Tech eventually joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1979.^[24]

[edit] Basketball

The Georgia Tech and Georgia basketball rivalry can be just as heated as its football counterpart. The two teams have played 184 times with Georgia Tech holding 100 wins over Georgia's 84 wins. The first game between the two basketball teams was on March 10, 1906. Georgia Tech won the game 27-13 in Athens. The longest winning streak by UGA was 7 games, which occurred twice from 1909–1921 and from 1980–1984. Georgia Tech accumulated a 10 game winning streak, its longest over UGA, from 1958–1961. The series is dominated by the home team. The home record since 1906 is 110-52 (68.1%) while 23 games in the series have been played on neutral courts.^[25]

The Georgia Tech vs. Georgia game was played in the Omni Coliseum for 13 years beginning in 1981 and ending in 1994. The series in the Omni favored the Yellow Jackets with an 8-6 record.^[25] The neutrality of the Omni, because of its proximity to Georgia Tech, came into question by the UGA athletic department in 1993 so the series was renewed as an alternating home court event. The home team has won every game but one since the home court advantage was reinstated. Since 1994, the Tech-UGA basketball game has had the highest average attendance for both teams at their respective stadiums.

9 other games were played on neutral courts. These games occurred in the SIC Tournament (1921 & 1923), SEC tournament (1934, 1945, 1946, & 1948), and the Gator Bowl Tournament (1952, 1953, & 1960). Tech holds a 5-4 record in these tournaments over Georgia.^[25]

[edit] Baseball

April 16, 1898, the first baseball game between Georgia and Georgia Tech, then known as the Georgia School of Technology was played with Georgia winning 18 to 4.^[26] The game was played at the newly created ballfields in Piedmont Park located in the center of the horse race track, almost exactly where they still are today.,^[27][28] Interesting enough, from 1902 – 1904, the Atlanta Crackers, the city's original professional baseball team, also played ball on the fields of Piedmont Park before moving to a stadium on Ponce de Leon Avenue.^[29]

The two baseball teams have met 343 times since 1898. Georgia Tech has 147 wins, Georgia has 194 wins, and there are 2 ties in the series.^[30] Three baseball games are played between the two institutions every year. Two of the three games are played at the respective colleges' baseball stadiums while the finale is played at Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves. The 2004 Georgia Tech vs. Georgia Game at Turner Field had the second most spectators in college baseball history with 28,836 fans in attendance.^[31]

Since the reformatting of the NCAA Baseball Tournament in 1999, Tech and UGA have hosted eight super regionals - the fourthmost super regionals hosted by a state behind California, Texas, and Florida. The two teams have met six times in the NCAA tournament with Georgia holding a 4-2 edge over Tech. Georgia has eliminated Tech three times in tournament play in 1987, 2001, and 2008. Tech avenged the 2001 elimination by eliminating UGA in 2002.^[30] Tech and UGA's latest meeting in the 2008 NCAA tournament saw UGA sweep Tech in a two game series, which eliminated Tech from the tournament.

[edit] Other Sports

Georgia Tech and Georgia enjoy healthy rivalries in all other sports in which the two universities compete most notably softball, women's basketball, and various club sports.

The two softball teams have met 22 times and Georgia holds 15 wins in the series over Georgia Tech's 7.^[32] The two women's basketball teams have met 29 times and Georgia holds 27 wins over Georgia Tech's 2.^[33] Andy Landers, UGA's head women's basketball coach, holds the longest win streak of any coach in any sport in the history of the rivalry. His Lady Bulldogs defeated Tech 24 straight times from 1975-1981 before finally being defeated by Tech in 1985.^[33]

Through September 8, 2007, the two women's volleyball teams have played 30 times with Georgia leading the overall series with 21 wins over Georgia Tech's 9. However, Tech holds a 9-1 record since 1999, including a 6-1 mark since GT head coach Bond Shymansky took over the program in 2002. The only Georgia victory in this period came in 2005 in front of a record-breaking Georgia Bulldog crowd.^[34] The last two meetings (2006 and 2007) were held in Georgia Tech's O'Keefe Gym, both in front of fire-code-limited 2000 spectators.^[35][36] Georgia Tech game staff believes approximately 300 fans were turned away from the September 7, 2007 match due to the limit.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Buzz - Georgia Tech's mascot
• Uga - Georgia's mascot
• Ramblin' Wreck - Famous Georgia Tech icon
• List of Georgia Institute of Technology alumni
• List of University of Georgia people

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Barnhart, Tony. Southern Fried Football: The History, Passion, And Glory. Triumph Books. 2000. ISBN 15-7243-367-1
• Cromartie, Bill. Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Gridiron Publishers. 2002. ISBN 15-5853-124-6
• Dodd, Bobby and Jack Wilkinson. Dodd's Luck. Golden Coast Publishing Company. 1988. ISBN 09-3295-809-5
• Dooley, Vince. Dooley's Dawgs. Longstreet Press. 2003. ISBN 15-6352-727-8
• King, Kim and Jack Wilkinson. Kim King's Tales from the Georgia Tech Sideline. Sports Publishing. 2004. ISBN 15-8261-819-4
• Stegeman, John F. [1966]. The Ghosts of Herty Field: Early Days on a Southern Gridiron. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, pp.14–20. LCCN 66-27606. 
• Van Brimmer, Adam. Stadium Stories: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Globe Pequot. 2006. ISBN 07-6274-020-5.

[edit] External links

• Official Georgia Tech Athletics Website
• Official Georgia Athletics Website
• Results of Georgia vs. Georgia Tech in football