Florida - Georgia Weekend

I worte this post for a community I am blogging on here in Atlanta that is yet to be released, so here it is:

First of all, I love the South in the Fall and for no other reason than College Football. Of all the weekends in the Fall this is my favorite, Florida-Georgia weekend, and yes sorry fellow Georgians, I'm a Gator and it will always be Florida-Georgia for me.
As a Gator there is always much debate about who is our biggest rival? FSU, Georgia or even Tennessee to some. For me this is a no brainer. Do I hate the Noles with a passion? You bet! But there is something more than 'hate' when it comes to UGA. In fact, since living in Atlanta for many years now I've developed a respect for UGA and it fans, most of my friends have now either gone to UGA or root for the Dawgs so it's something I've learned to live with but this week we won't speak much (though I'd be happy to talk to them, must be something to do with 15 out of 17 and National Championship :), but I digress).
Reality is, as a Gator, there are one or two things I am envious about UGA and that is the FOLLOWING. This by no means puts down UF and Gator Nation but by living in Atlanta I have learned to recognize the difference (and no it's not that we wear jean shorts in Gainesville). Here is what I have observed:
1. UGA is so close from almost all of Georgia whereas UF is 6 hours from Miami and even a good 3 1/2 hours from most of the panhandle
2. Besides Georgia Tech there is no other real dominant big time college program in Georgia. In Florida we have UF, the clowns out West (FSU) and the basket weaving school in Miami (UM) and recently USF and UCF have upgraded facilities and now have 35,000+ students on campus. This is all good but when it comes to bloodlines they run much deeper in Georgia, this I am envious of. It's not fair that I have one friend who grew up in Atlanta the son of a Georgia Grad who is a die hard fan yet goes to school at Duke! Now he gets to root for UGA Football and Duke hoops! Is this fair? Not really but it is very common here. Bottom line is he along with others like him grew up with the Dawgs and that passion will always be there. As much as I love UF it's not exactly a 2 hour drive to Gainesville to take in a game. We have committed to one game a year to take my girls to and I hope that's enough but only time will tell.
3. History - no iffs and or buts about it, UGA has a more storied past than UF. That's ok with me I like to live in the present, should I mention the 15 out of 17 again or the 2 National Championships and 7 SEC titles in 11 years, or should I go to the back to back basketball National Champs, but UGA definitely has a longer 'national presence'.
So what makes Florida-Georgia so special? Well there are the obvious things: border rivalry, SEC East, Steve Spurrier, Run Lindsay Run, Ricky Nattiel, etc...but for me it's Jacksonville and no not so much the 'Cocktail Party' though as a student that was fun. The fact is this game is one of only THREE neutral field games left in college football. Side note, I am actually really familiar with all THREE - growing up in Philadelphia a was around the Army-Navy deal and having lived in Dallas for 6 years I got to go to a few Red River Shootouts (Texas-OU). There is NOTHING better than splitting fan bases down the middle! The passion and enthusiasm really shines through. I know over the last decade some members of UGA's fan base wishes this series was not in Jax but they are forgetting history. For years the Dawgs OWNED Jacksonville. When I was at UF (86-91) it was not such heady times for our program but going to Jax was only was big on our 'to do list'. I fear that if this series ever went 'on campus' it would lose it special status amongst college footballs elite rivalries.
Its Tuesday morning just 103 hours or so to kick off and I'm already having trouble concentrating.
If you are a college football fan there are certain things you should go to and this one is in the top ten!
Wow, what a good poll idea...the top ten events to go to as a college football fan....I'll list mine and tell you which I've been to...how about yours?

1. a National Championship game (now the BCS) - I have been to several including both Gator wins (96 & 06) and a couple in the Orange Bowl
2. Florida - Georgia in Jacksonville - 15 or so
3. a game in South Bend - not yet!
4. Michigan - Ohio State in either stadium - not me, but I did go to the Big House once
5. Neyland Stadium, University of Tennessee - yep, was there in the rain in '96 when UF beat the Vols
6. Army - Navy - never actually been to the game
7. Texas - OU - the Red River Shooutout, I've seen 2 of them from the stands
8. Tailgating in the 'Grove', Ole Miss - they no longer have the football team status but wow what a place for a party
9. Auburn - Alabama - I've been to both places but not for this game
10. LSU @ night - several times and it's always scary!