A UGA Mom’s: Gameday POV

by Peggy Brown

Dawgs OTL Writer/ Co-Editor

Looking for a different perspective on watching the Dawgs?  Not that it will be less than positive.  I love them, but here’s the deal:  I like the big plays when someone catches the football on the five-yard line and runs it 95 yards to a screaming crowd and wins the game.  I can get excited and high-five like the rest of the crowd at my house.  It’s great! 

But usually, you know, there are things to do during the game, so I’ll sit in the room with my husband, watch the game, read between the big plays, and take care of the off-stage jobs that come up.  He is the opposite of me when it comes to Georgia football.  He’s up, he’s down.  He’s talking to the players. He’s screaming at the refs.  He’s cussing the coaches.  He won’t go to the bathroom until half-time.  If I happen to ask what is on the calendar for September 3rd (or any other unrelated question), I get the blank stare.  So you see why I keep my calm during the game. 

I consider my part during the game as a back-stage manager who keeps the “play” running for the audience.  I pull the wings out of the oven, answer the doorbell if we have pizza coming, or answer the phone if it happens to ring.  The world doesn’t stop, so I take care of business.  I watch the game and listen to the interviews of Kirby Smart, listen to the stats to see how we’re doing as the game proceeds, but I’m also busy. 

Another part of what I do during a game concerns Nesta.  She is a ninety-pound part-pit bull and part-lab scaredy-cat who cannot stand it when anyone raises his or her voice.  She was an Athens rescue from the days when our son was at UGA.  When it’s storming and thundering, she snuggles up as close as she can get, and--as you can imagine--suffers during football games because of all the screaming that goes on.  She likes a calm house, and UGA football days are anything but calm.  When my husband starts rooting for the Dawgs, this dog who is almost as big as I am, ends up in my lap.   She can handle most anything from that position, and I can still watch while I comfort her.  

This season, I will be ready with my book and maybe some popcorn. I’ll run interference for interruptions to the game watching.  I’ll jump up and cheer when the big plays come, and I’ll high-five anyone in the room who is watching the game with us.  I’ll also have my lap cleared and ready for an Athens native who is a loyal Dawg fan like me. 

Go Dawgs!