Why the Georgia Bulldogs Helped Me Get Through My Deployment in Iraq
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The Georgia Bulldogs’ 2021 season will start soon. Kirby Smart is looking to win it all. But this has been a long year, and the purgatory that exists between the end of the football season and the start of fall camp (or whatever you want to call it) is only lightly mitigated by spring practice and recruiting news. And, in between those short occurrences, we fill our time with basketball, baseball and whatever can temporarily occupy our headspace until the pads start popping again.
Camp starts Friday in Athens, so those days have come to a close. But those days, weeks and months often bring back memories of favorite games, plays or instances that bring joy and make being a Dawg fan what it is. The pageantry of game day in Athens; the chills you feel when a big play happens; or when we “Ring the Bell” create these moments our brains lock onto when our current existence is not enough.
As a former servicemember, these memories, and the hope of making more, would sustain me, and so many others, during the long periods away from home. Regardless of what “other” environment I was in, looking forward to a football Saturday got me through the long fall weeks. The anticipation of the upcoming season - and the smack talk with rival Soldier fans - gave us a short respite from the day-to-day grind and danger we all faced.
But sometimes, that anticipation wasn’t rewarded in the way we’d hoped. A case in point – October 9, 2004 No. 17 Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia. While I won’t recreate or relive the game, I want to describe the lead up, and context that was my unit during that time.
We were an Army tank task force stationed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Paliwoda outside of Balad, Iraq. Balad was in the north central part of the Sunni Triangle, and at that time in the war it was a little busy. I was the operations officer (S3), and along with my Command Sergeant Major and most senior company commander, we were the senior most Dawgs in the task force. Our commander, however, was a Tennessee fan. So, of course, we made a bet. The winner would get to play the team’s fight song over the FOB PA system whenever we wanted for the next 48 hours. Not a huge wager, but our PA system rocked, and just imagine the comfort of “Glory Glory” playing loud and proud.
We had room we called the “Champagne Room” (and honestly, I can’t remember why) where the senior leaders of the task force could watch a little TV, play Xbox or call home. It wasn’t a huge room, but was big enough for a couch, a few plastic chairs and a 27-inch TV. We were all blown away that Armed Forces Network (AFN) was going to actually carry the UT-UGA game that week. We always seemed to get the worst Big 10 game of the week, so knowing the Dawgs were going to be on TV for us was a huge spirit boost. Each day of our existence there, at that particular time, was fraught with mortar and rocket attacks, IEDs, ambushes and just general hell. The week after this game would find us in the fight of our lives in Samarrah, Iraq, but that’s for another time. So, knowing we had a few hours to fully enjoy seeing the Red and Black on TV was extremely motivating.
As that game progressed we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. Tennessee had played horribly the previous week against Auburn, and the Dawgs had blown out LSU. But we held out hope. And as the last drive ended deep in UT territory with a harmless incomplete pass (still don’t know what pattern Leonard Pope was running), we all knew what was coming. Our commander was a 6’4, 240 pound big personality guy with an even bigger booming voice. With his signature cigar hanging on the left side of his mouth, he immediately started the smack talking to each of us in the room (deserved) and then ran into the Tactical Operations Center to hit “play” on that damn Rocky Top song. And he played it over and over that night (it was late – close to midnight – when the game ended) and probably angered the local Iraqis. But we had tanks, so they got over it.
The next morning, we were greeting with that damn song again - over and over. Always punctuated by the boss’ huge laugh borne out of pure joy.
Football isn’t a life and death venture, but it can sure provide some semblance of a respite when you are literally dealing with life and death. And while the loss stung, the bonding that happens over a game like this is irreplaceable. And that’s what sports can bring in situations where one may need a respite from life. Having spent 27 years in the Army, with multiple deployments (always during football season), sports brought opportunities to build bonds with the boys, and to just get away from our existence….for a little bit. Sports gave us something to talk about other than the enemy, pending operations or missing family. And years after, those memories still run deep. I can still hear the boss’ laugh. I can remember the utter deflation. And this is but one instance. There are so many more.
The intention of this story isn’t to evoke platitudes or sympathy. It was purely to show the power of sports, and how fandom can help bridge divides and create bonds that are virtually unbreakable. Those bonds help create relationships and memories that can fill the valleys that life brings. They can sustain us until the next time, or the next encounter. So, during a time where our country is divided, and much ails us, sports (namely football, for me) is that neutral binding agent (provided you root for the good guys) that can bring us together and (for the briefest of times) help us forget about life.
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