This is not a friendly rivalry. All you have to do is look at the name. It's not called Clean Old Fashioned Love. It's not called Clean Old Fashioned Fun. This is Clean Old Fashioned Hate.

If you're of any generation younger than myself, I get the logic behind your underestimation of Georgia Tech. Georgia is 17-3 against Georgia Tech since Mark Richt's first season in 2001.

But let me tell you something. I went off to college as a wide eyed freshman thinking we'd never lose to Georgia Tech again. The year was 1998. Georgia was riding a seven year winning streak against the Yellow Jackets. That means four straight senior classes had graduated without losing to Georgia Tech (those who didn't redshirt, at least). I'd seen some close games in recent years, but I'd begun to believe that they couldn't beat us.

Georgia jumped out to an early lead with a double pass from Quincy Carter to Larry Brown via Michael Greer. The Georgia offense struggled for much of the remainder of the game, and Georgia Tech slowly chipped away at Georgia's lead. Then, trailing 18-19 late in the fourth quarter, Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton fumbled close to the Georgia sideline. Georgia recovered the fumble, and the defense celebrated the game winning play. The officiating crew had other ideas. They ruled that Hamilton was down before he fumbled. In this pre-replay era nothing could be done. Hamilton led Georgia Tech down the field, getting placekicker Brad Chambers in range to kick the game winning field goal. Tech won. 21-19.

It was on that day, I learned to hate Georgia Tech. The Tech fans in Sanford stadium on rushed down to the hedges, tearing off a keepsake for themselves. Their players followed suit.

When I got back to our tailgate after the game, I found several of my high school friends, Tech students at the time, celebrating with their keepsake of our beloved hedges. I was crushed.

I've got more examples of what Georgia Tech has done to Georgia over the years, but I'm just going to leave it at this one for today. So when you arrive at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium on Saturday afternoon, remember that this is a rivalry. A rivalry that we own. Let's do everything we can to keep it that way.

Go Dawgs!