Losing with dignity

This man was a TRUE Dawg fan

As a Georgia Bulldog fan, I don’t feel like I have to wear clothes with UGA logos on them every day to establish my credibility–anyone who has any doubts whatsoever about my allegiance to my school only has to read this blog, or peruse my curriculum vitae. Or, they could simply glance at my diploma and note that I graduated from UGA in 1983.

I went to school (and rode the campus bus) with Herschel Walker. In 1980, I was in the stands in Jacksonville when Lindsey Scott snatched a pass from Buck Belue and somehow outran Florida’s defensive backs for a 93-yard miracle that did not involve divine intervention. I was also in the stands at the Sugar Bowl when Penn State upset the Dawgs in 1982. No matter whether we won or lost, I have never been embarrassed by the team to call myself a Georgia fan.

Other so-called “fans” are another story, entirely. Some of our fans have made me cringe on occasion.

Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes.

I’d be lying if I said that during the national championship game, it never occurred to me that the officiating was so bad that it might have been deliberate, and that UGA was being cheated out of victory by the referee. However, once “the heat of the moment” had passed and the opportunity came to evaluate the 2nd half (and overtime), three things became clear: the officials had missed a number of calls that hurt Georgia and helped Alabama, but Alabama started playing much better football after halftime, and it seemed that the Dawgs became much more conservative with play-calling in the second half.

Placing all the blame for the heartbreaking loss on the officiating doesn’t solve anything–if anything, it gives Alabama motivation to prove they deserved to win that game the next time the two teams meet, and it fails to acknowledge the responsibility that the players and coaches from Georgia must accept for their own mistakes.

After fans continued to whine and complain about the officiating in online forums for days and even weeks after the game, it began to reflect poorly on the Bulldog Nation, making it appear to outsiders that Georgia fans are whiners and sore losers.

It got so bad that I ultimately felt compelled to make a public service announcement to politely ask the malcontents to cease and desist with their endless complaints, and to remind us all that as Dawg fans, we win with integrity and lose with dignity.

Occasionally, some of our fan base needs to be reminded that anybody can act like an asshole, but not everybody can accurately describe themselves as a Bulldog fan, if they lack class and any sense of common decency. The Bulldog Nation is both passionate about our football team and compassionate toward other human beings.

When Nick Chubb suffered his gruesome knee injury in Knoxville, classless Volunteer fans actually cheered. Some even had the audacity to taunt him. Other Tennessee fans gleefully speculated that his football career was over.  It was shameful and disgusting. Conversely, when Devon Gales was paralyzed during a game in Sanford Stadium, our fans were mortified.

No one celebrated his injury. Instead, Bulldog fans adopted the young man as one of our own and raised tens of thousands of dollars to help pay for his ongoing rehabilitation and recovery efforts. Nothing makes me prouder to be a Bulldog than knowing how enthusiastically our legion of fans support the team.

However, there are some people who claim or pretend to be Bulldog fans who actually serve to embarrass the rest of us. For example, when Mark Richt was fired, quite a few people decided that it wasn’t enough to see the man lose his job; they felt the need to publicly voice their displeasure at his inability to win enough games, or for losing the “wrong” games, and failing to bring them glory by association, as fans of the team. Mark Richt is an excellent football coach and an even better human being.  For a time, I had to wrestle with my own delusion, thinking that winning isn’t the only thing that’s important when playing a game.

It angered me to think that our “fans” would be so shallow that they would act just like Tennessee fans and revel in another person’s misery. And it still makes me angry today, when someone who claims to be a Bulldog fan acts like a complete jackass.

Which brings me to Bill Major, hypothetical Bulldog fan.

A friend of mine (and genuine Bulldog fan) posted a comment about Mark Fox, the UGA basketball coach fired this past weekend after nine years of service to our university. Coach Fox  gave a very subtle dig at Greg McGarity, expressing some sentiments about our athletic director that I happen to share. Mr. Major decided to chime in with his unsolicited opinion, referring to Coach Fox as a “whiner.” I took exception of his description of our former coach, and asked him to shut up, in no uncertain terms.

Admittedly, I was not trying to be especially diplomatic in my approach, nor was I being particularly polite. I’m tired of people continuing to criticize a person after that person has been fired, ostensibly adding insult to injury.

However, rather than asking himself, “Is it appropriate to publicly trash a basketball coach who just got fired to people I’ve never even met in person?” Mr. Major then decided to double down, calling me a “little turd” before making this remarkable statement: “I don’t care what anybody thinks & no one should care what I think…”

Here’s a news flash, Mr. Major–nobody does care what you think, because we’ve seen no evidence that you are capable of deep thought. On the other hand, quite a few people do care about what I think, so it doesn’t bother me that you don’t. For example, my article “The entrapment of Todd Gurley” was shared on Facebook more than 5,000 times, by my fellow Bulldog fans.

So I will repeat myself, Mr. Major, but this time I will try to be more polite. Please shut up, and stop acting like a jackass.

You were right; I really don’t care what you think. Nobody does.