If your Georgia Bulldogs are returning to action looking to shake off the bye week rust against a bitter historic rival with nothing to lose under an interim coach you could probably use a drink. I can help you with that.
The Florida game is a very special one for me as a Bulldog fan. Not in the sense that it is something I particularly enjoy. It is special because it induces in me a crippling anxiety accompanied by unrelenting nausea that no other contest can match. Believe me when I tell you that I have been more calm watching Georgia suit up to play in three national championship games than I am when they troop down to Jacksonville to take on the Gators.
Why? Why does this game induce a sense of existential dread in me that would make noted Danish killjoy Soren Kierkegaard say “hey buddy, maybe you need to lighten up?” It is the legacy of decades of remembered trauma. It’s hard to explain to Bulldog fans under the age of about 30 exactly how excruciating this rivalry was for the better part of two and a half decades. Every year we as Georgia fans would get excited about finally exacting revenge on Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer, and their jort-clad minions. And every year a talented Georgia Bulldog team would find a way to trip butt first into a bonfire and self-immolate.
Everything that Alabama is to younger ’Dawg fans Florida was to those of us of a certain age, with the proviso that at least Nick Saban is undeniably the greatest college football coach in history. Georgia found a way to lose to schmucks like Ron Zook, Jim McIlwain, and Dan Mullen. That sort of thing …changes a man.
“But MaconDawg!” you say, “it’s a new era. Kirby Smart has come to town. He has now personally presided over the firing of three separate Florida football coaches!” And you’re right, Georgia has won four games in a row in the series. The Bulldogs have not won five in a row since 1983. The truth is we are only now beginning to exorcise the demons wrought by the period between 1990 and 2015. It’s going to be a long time before I can forget Tim Tebow and Faton Bauta. We ain’t there yet. The dread endureth.
Intellectually I know that this is not a very good Florida football team. In my football analyst brain I can tick off the statistics: the Gators are 13th in the SEC in rushing offense and 12th in the league in passing offense. I can tell you that they are not among the top 90 defenses in the nation in scoring defense. I can tell you that the Gators actually have a laundry list of important contributors who are out with injury for this game.
And I can certainly grant on an objective level that Billy Gonzalez is an interim coach who is taking over a staff and team many of whom have probably spent the past couple of weeks trying to figure out where their next move is to.
That doesn’t matter, I’m still worried. Don’t try to talk me out of it.
And what’s the drink for a game like this when you intellectually know that the Bulldogs should be a double digit favorite, but emotionally know that you were going to be an absolute wreck right up until the final whistle sounds?
A Gator Annihilator.
It’s a soothing concoction of chamomile tea and honey. And gin. There’a Lso the soothing notes of gin.
You’ll need:
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 bags of chamomile tea
- 2 ounces gin
- ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
Combine the sugar, honey and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the chamomile tea bags; steep for about 10 minutes, then discard tea bags. Let the syrup cool and then transfer to an airtight container and chill until ready to use.
To make the cocktail, combine the gin, lemon juice, and chamomile honey syrup in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake vigorously and then strain into a chilled glass.
Go ‘‘Dawgs!!!
