Football is stronger than love. It's a strong statement I would not make lightly unless I knew of what I spake. Southerners understand this intrinsically, being baptized in SEC football from the get go, but there are some who say nothing is stronger than love, to which I offer this cautionary tale.
I love the band Guns 'n Roses. For several years (that serendipitously conincided with my years at Georgia) I thought them the next coming of AC/DC, the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith all rolled into one. GnR rocked, and I would gladly listen to the refrains of \"Sweet Child O Mine\" for hours, unsullied by the repetition.
Then it happened. A grainy video of a GnR concert where Axel Rose, the mercurial front man, punched a fan for the sin of taking a picture of the band when Axel was having a bad day. I haven't listened to GnR since.
Two weeks ago, after losing to what I still feel was an inferior team, Joe Cox, our ersatz frontman, blew off the criticisms of the Dawg Nation as irrelevant. \"Those comments are from people who...never played a down of football.\"
I was crushed. Apparently Joe forgot who he plays for. It's one thing to diss an opponent, or (yikes) an offical, but you don't EVER talk smack about the guys in Section 109, Joe! We might appear to float on the winds of opinion blown from every flatulating orifice around the water cooler, but if you test us you will know we bleed red and black. We're fans. Fickle is our forte, but so is forgiveness.
In years to come, I won't remember Joe Cox's interception against SCar. I'll remember another W against a Spurrier team, and I'll be thankful. I won't remember the loss to Ok State, I'll remember that in 2009, Joe Cox threw 5 lazer beam, in-your-face-unbelievers, on a wire, hog-killin' touchdowns, again for the win. (Anyone remember RS's fumble? No, but I'll be replaying that 80 yard gash on the back of my eyelids for weeks to come.)
If Joe Cox plays as well the rest of the season as he did last week, I'll forgive you for the Spanish Inquisition, cover charges, dresses on female Tech students and disco. Hell, I'll forgive you for dissin' Section 109.
I might even buy my next Jersey with your number on it and \"Cox\" emblazoned across the back.
Like I said, Football is stronger than love.
Section 109 loves Joe Cox, and we're proud to have you as the leader on the field. Just don't expect us to lower the bar of expectations now, after all, you're a DAWG, and you're carrying the hopes of the year on your shoulders.
p.s.
If you could pass this along to the guys in the secondary, we'd REAAAALLLY appreciate it.
"The freedom of individuals to verbally to oppose or to challenge police actions without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."
