Georgia-Florida: Should the Annual Game Bid Adieu to Jacksonville?

Let me go ahead and put this out there so no one can misunderstand my stance. I think the annual matchup between Georgia and Florida should be played as a home and home. I see no reason for us to go to Jacksonville or for them to come to Atlanta.

We both have very nice stadiums that are more than capable of holding 80,000+, so why not just treat this game like we treat all the others? As a yearly matchup between SEC teams who can't stand each other.

Now, I know all the arguments. All. However, as I go through some of them here, I am still not convinced that keeping the game in Jacksonville is a great idea.

1. The site is neutral, each side gets the same number of tickets, what's the harm?

OK, regardless to that fact, anyone who believes this is a "neutral" site is obviously not paying attention. The Gators are a mere 73 miles from Alltel Stadium. The Dawgs are 340+ miles away.

For a Dawg fan, this game is a six-hour trek and then some, not counting gas, food, lodging, etc. Granted, this may not bother a lot of students who can bunk together and consider this game a sweet little roadtrip, but if you have a family, this can get real expensive.

Some might say, if you can't afford it, don't go. The game is televised. Stay home and watch it from the comfort of your own living room. That's a valid point, and I agree with that notion 100 percent, but we all know that it's difficult to deny yourself the privilege of attending the Dawgs' biggest game of the year.

You want to be there. You save all year for it if you have to, but that doesn't mean you want to do that.

All I am saying is it would be cool if the Dawg fans could experience the game from Sanford Stadium. What would be so bad about that?

2. The Dawg fans are just mad because Florida has owned the series lately. Would this be an issue if the Dawgs were still dominating?

I hear this one all the time. It is true that the Gators have pretty well owned the Dawgs since the Spurrier Era began and still, to this day, have owned us (16-3 since 1990). So, it would be impossible to dispute that some fans in the Dawg nation might be looking for any edge they can find and if they can find it in playing the game somewhere else, then so be it.

Shoot, the Florida fans had the same issue when we were dominating in the Dooley Era. There were those who felt the game should be played in The Swamp and not in the "neutral" Jacksonville site.

However, be that as it may, we have played the game in Jacksonville since 1933 and from a revenue standpoint, I am sure there are a few fiscal advantages to moving the game to Atlanta or Athens (my  option) on an alternating basis. 

It may not provide the history or the weather that Jacksonville does, but it would give the State of Georgia a little bit of that revenue that it so craves.

Furthermore, speaking more to the initial point, I can't say that the chorus of "let's change the site" would be as loud if the Dawgs were still as dominant as during Dooley's tenure, but I can say that I know of plenty Florida fans who would gladly change the site just to hear the whining stop.

Most Florida fans feel they have the edge as a team anyhow and can beat the Dawgs wherever and whenever.

I'd welcome that challenge.

3. Why bother with changing the site? It's tradition, like the Red River Shootout. Leave it alone.

I'm still a little confused by the "tradition" of this game. I mean, it seems like someone decided play the game in Jacksonville one year and then decided to keep it there. I don't know why they did that. Please enlighten me if you do. I truly do not know.

Furthermore, the Red River Shootout has been held at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, TX for more than 80 years. That location is equidistant from both Norman, Oklahoma (192 miles) and Austin, TX (196 miles). That is hardly the case where Georgia and Florida are concerned.

Also, the biggest rivalry in the minds of many, is the one between Ohio State and Michigan. That game alternates between Ann Arbor and Columbus. The Army-Navy Game also alternates between each team's home stadium. So, again, I don't see the "tradition" being broken just by a venue change. 

Georgia may have started with the upper hand, but even then, Dooley was never a fan of always playing the game in Jacksonville.

It seems like a habit, born from nothing, and not necessarily owing to anything solid enough to make keeping it there seem all that crucial.

I know the weather and the beaches are really nice, but this is a football game. I am not there for the parties and the events. I am there for the football game. That's just me. I have always felt that too many of the people who make the trek could give a flip about the game's outcome. They just love the four-day party.

No offense to those people, but if you make up the majority of the fans who are at this game, then you are the only reason I would need to have for it to be moved.

4. Moving the game or changing it to a home and home will only ruin the luster of the rivalry.

Please tell me how? I mean, not for nothing, but I hate playing Florida. I am not a fan of them or their football team. Plain and simple. A change of venue is not going to make my disdain for them any less intense.

Consider this, many Georgia football historians will tell you that our oldest and deepest rivalry is with the Auburn Tigers, not the Florida Gators. Prior to Spurrier's arrival, how much did this game really matter? Seriously?

We play Auburn on The Plains and they come to play us Between the Hedges. Do you like Auburn more because we play them here? Give me a break. I think the Blackout game shows how much passion we can put into playing Auburn each year. Personally, this argument makes no sense to me whatsoever.

5. Losing to Florida has nothing to do with location.

I do agree with that. Many years it has been poor preparation or lack of focus. Sometimes it's just plain psychological; losing 16 out of the last 19 times we've met the Gators doesn't exactly give us that warm, fuzzy feeling.

However, in the end, at least for me, it is about that gameday atmosphere that you can only have in your own home stadium.

I don't want the game moved to Atlanta because I am not a huge fan of SEC football played in a dome, aside from the Sugar Bowl, but I am all for seeing this game played Between the Hedges. Not all Dawg fans will be on board with me for this one, but that's OK, even us Dawgs can disagree.