Sure, college football is more than willing to dance with the corporate devil (if it means obtaining, say, a playoff structure), but we still prefer our animosity to be organic and locally grown. The University of Georgia's official football Twitter account has changed its handle to @WeRunThisState - OH HELL NO WHAT A BURN Y'ALL. UGA has won 10 of the last 11 meetings, so this calculated jab should crank up the tension around Atlanta to a fever pitch of mumbles and shrugs.
Our gripe isn't the bravado shown by Georgia - we'll toast to maverick dickishness any day of the week - but that the move is just a marketing campaign by Nike (judging by the @WeRunThisState page images). Consider also the two leaders of the opposing camps, Paul Johnson and Mark Richt: This pair of rivals is the antithesis to the genuine acrimony of a Meyer / Kiffin or a Hayes / Schembechler. Richt and Johnson show about as much bravado as an argument between an annoyingly earnest youth minister offering to trim the overgrown lawn of his shut-in neighbor, who'd just rather be in his basement tinkering with a ship in a bottle:
"I don’t really worry about what Georgia’s doing," said Johnson, who beat Georgia 45-42 in 2008 before losing three straight in a series that the Bulldogs have won 10 of the last 11. "I try to worry about what Georgia Tech’s doing."
Now get off his property, he's busy. The airplane glue on that replica model Ford B roadster is about dry now.
This whole situation feels like it needs more Dan Mullen.
For more on the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech rivalry, check out From The Rumble Seat and Dawg Sports, as well as SB Nation's college football page.
