As I waited two hours to get out off the Tech campus after the game last Saturday, I was able to listen to the post game call in show on 790 the Zone.  One of on-air personalities could not stop using every cliche to describe the defeat, evidently no one was calling in, and we were stuck hearing this genius exhaust all three of the superlatives he knew for describing a defeat at the hands of a rival.  As annoying as it was to listen to, it only got worse as the calls eventually started.  I’m convinced that only the most brilliant of football fans call sports talk shows to enlighten the world and one so-called “Tech fan” was particularly awesome. His tone was angry and perhaps his emotions got the best of him, but I couldn’t help but laugh at some of his comments.  He said it was the first Tech game he had been to in eight years and then preceded to criticize Paul Johnson for not taking UGA seriously enough.  Insert joke here.  First, if it takes Tech being 10-1 and playing UGA at home for you to come support the Jackets, I dare say you’re not a fan but just a putz.  Second, perhaps Paul Johnson has a better perspective of UGA than a so-called fan that only comes to the UGA game when Tech is 10-1.

The fact is that UGA doesn’t really matter this year.  Sure they are our rival, and they are fun to hate, but that’s where it ends.  They don’t play in our conference and they won’t be playing this championship weekend.  Sure they can soothe themselves with a win over Tech, but the memory of losing to Kentucky at home and securing a lock in a meaningless bowl will never vanish. Furthermore I’m confident Coach Johnson wanted to win and I wanted to win  for bragging rights or just for some peace and quiet. But, in the larger picture of success, beating UGA isn’t the end all be all, in fact it means nothing this year. An ACC championship and a BCS Bowl (something Tech has never accomplished) are within grasp.  Don’t get lost in the hype and the media’s obsession with telling us that all Tech cares about is beating Georgia. That simply isn’t true and until we Tech fans get more public about larger goals we are going to keep hearing the nonsense.  Are there some who feel that UGA is all that matters? Absolutely, but perhaps they are more of the variety of Tech fans like the caller, who surface every eighth year, get all their Tech news from the AJC and sports talk shows and then come to see Tech play UGA because Tech is favored.

The caller went on to whine and moan about how painful this loss was.  Are you kidding me? You’ve invested one night in eight years to come to a rivalry game and you call the loss painful? This sounds a lot like those Dawg fans we love to hate. You know, the ones whose investment in their beloved team is a $7 mesh hat from Wal-Mart.

Tech has beaten Georgia before, Tech will beat them again, they don’t really matter to Tech’s biggest goals of winning championships.  The last time I checked that is what really matters.

We Tech fans need to review “wants” and “likes”.   I LIKE to beat UGA, and I would LIKE to do it more often, but the reality is I WANT to beat Virginia Tech, Miami, UNC, Virginia, and Duke first.  When that happens we are guaranteed to add trophies larger than a Governor’s Cup.

Some fellow Tech fans need to grow up, stop acting like the little brother, ignore the hollow trash talking of the elder brother, and get your eyes and goals on bigger and better things than beating him up.  When that happens perhaps big brother won’t be so big and we will whip him just like all the others.

Losers only find comfort in beating their rival because that’s all they have to play for.  Let’s go beat Klimpson (truly a rival that matters) win the ACC and then the Orange Bowl. Let the Dawg have his day and find comfort in beating Tech, the taste of Oranges is so much better.