UGA Fans Can Feel the Momentum
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SAVANNAH - Having covered Georgia for the last 18 years, gone to grad school there the two years before that and countless games and events in the decades preceding that I came to a realization on Tuesday.
I am not sure I can remember a moment in time where UGA folks are more optimistic about the future than they are at this very second. For a long time there’s been little reason to be optimistic the way there is now.
This beaten-down fan base can smell a future that involves more roses than that of disappointment. Kirby Smart and his program earned the SEC Championship and a Rose Bowl Game win over the winter. Tom Crean and his enthusiasm, which was on full display once more here today, has replaced the wheel-spinning Mark Fox, and now fans are suddenly excited about basketball at Georgia.
Basketball.
He’s not perfect, but perhaps Kirby should get a lot of credit at UGA for finally showing folks that its OK to dream of a bigger day. My take is that UGA has been too cautious for too long. Those of us who have been writing about that subject only have so much power. But Kirby did more than imagine what "could" be - he paved the way and showed that success in Athens isn’t just something that “could” happen, but something that "should" and "will" happen with the right amount of work.
Enter Crean and his marketing blitz to prop up UGA basketball to the conciseness of the Bulldog faithful.
Crean today: "There is no downside to the University of Georgia."
Its well overdue. Crean should dream as big as possible - because it can happen at Georgia for sure.
Anything can happen at Georgia. I know it because I have seen it over time - both good and bad. But you have to make good happen. We’ve seen Kirby do that, and folks suspect that Crean, who has guided a team to the Final Four and won multiple Big Ten titles, can do the same thing.
While the future will tell just how good Crean may or not be, we know that Kirby can make things happen. What he’s done is impressive, and he’s earned the praise he’s getting locally and nationally.
But this “should” be happening at Georgia - the flagship institution in the South’s most powerful state (Florida isn’t a part of the South… Florida is its own thing). Georgia should be the institution that’s leading the way - at least it should be the one playing for national titles and winning conference championships.
Today all three speakers spiked the football that is UGA being ranked as the No. 16 public school in the country. There has been a lot to celebrate lately.
These prep rally-type events play the Battle Hymn of the Republic over and over - seemingly on a loop.
“Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory…”
I wonder how many times my ears have heard that song through the years. I guess I could go back and count, but my guess is that I will hear it more in the near future than I have heard it in the recent past.
If you are a UGA fan that’s a good thing. That means the Dawgs have scored or won. It means banners and trophies. It means good times are here.
Georgia folks can tell the future is bright. They suspect their eyes will see the glory that is a national title soon.
I suspect their suspicion is correct.
