The Auburn football team and half of its fan base traveled to Athens, Ga. this past weekend to watch an insufferable match up between the two teams.
Because I grew up outside of Atlanta, I have a countless number of friends and acquaintances that go to UGA, or at least frequent their campus, so when I went there for the game Saturday, I was constantly in a sea of red and black. Never once did I feel threatened by any of the Georgia fans I encountered, but one Auburn fan did not have the same experience.
SaturdayDownSouth.com published an open letter from one Auburn student to the UGA fan base detailing the horrible experience he had during his trip to Athens. This opened the floodgates on Facebook for Auburn and Georgia fans alike to express their frustration with the Georgia fan base.
“I'm a Georgia fan and I felt victimized by my own fan base Saturday night,” says UGA junior, Caitlyn Ruskell about the article. “It’s a shame that such degenerate fans continue to misrepresent the students, alumni, and amiable UGA fans so horribly and with such overwhelming magnitude each game day in Athens.”
The University of Georgia, like many college teams, has a plethora of fans who never stepped inside a classroom at the school and have no sort of ties to the university other than the fact that they are who their friends cheer for. These are the kind of people who were spitting on Auburn fans, throwing beer bottles at people, and cussing Auburn students out. Students and alumni of UGA are intelligent, hardworking individuals, similar to those at Auburn. They would never disrespect another fan base like these Auburn fans have expressed.
While the rivalry between Auburn and Georgia is immense and tensions were high because of the 2013 game, there is no excuse for anyone to behave this way. Football is a game. It has no real standing on how successful you are as an individual and has honestly nothing to do with you unless you are on the field on Saturday.
As a fan, you are expected to go and cheer for your team, support them even when they lose, and to act as a host for fans and teams visiting your school. In the South, we pride ourselves on our hosting capabilities and love for manners, and I just don’t believe that the people who behaved this way on Saturday are an accurate representation of the University of Georgia.
This is all in good fun, and students and alumni from both teams recognize that. The individuals who have nothing better to consume themselves with are the ones who find it appropriate to behave in such absurd manners.
I hope that the reputation developed from the poor behavior of these “fans” does not deter Auburn fans from visiting a such beautiful and incredible school. Likewise, I hope that Auburn fans will treat future visiting UGA fans with graciousness and will not fight fire with fire.
This is a sport that is meant to be played in good, clean fun; let’s keep it that way.Our writer at The Odyssey at UGA also responded here.
