Georgia State Senate Resolution Congratulates Louisville, Thumbs Nose at Florida
By Kyle Kensing
The Georgia State Senate passed a resolution the week of Jan. 14 to formally congratulate Louisville on its Sugar Bowl victory. Sports Illustrated college football reporter Stewart Mandel tweeted the link to The Courier-Journal report.
"“I got a lot of thumbs up,” Sen. John Albers said in an interview. “Down here in Georgia, we go by the ABF mentality. Anybody but Florida.”"
So there you have it. The bad blood of the Georgia-Florida rivalry makes its way into politics, which was only a matter of time. The bitterness of this border war has made its way into pop culture — or at least, late night pop culture targeted at the stoner crowd via the Adult Swim cartoon, Squidbillies.
Before this season’s showdown in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, some Gator fans purchased a full page, color ad in a Georgia newspaper mocking the Bulldogs.
Georgia got the last laugh though, handing Florida its only loss of the regular season and effectively winning the SEC East in the process. The Bulldogs have won the last two in the series.
Next year’s installment promises to be another classic with divisional dominance at stake. UGa returns quarterback Aaron Murray and freshman phenom running back Todd Gurley. A Gator defense that ranked near the top of virtually every statistical category suffers some notable turnover, including Matt Elam and Sharrif Floyd, but should rebound nicely with Dante Fowler, Jr. and Dominique Easley back.
Both teams also stand in the top 10 of Rivals.com current 2013 recruiting rankings; UGa at No. 10, and Florida at No. 1.
As for Louisville, the reigning Sugar Bowl champion closes out its Big East tenure in pursuit of a third straight league title, with a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater and head coach Charlie Strong working under a new contract.