Last weekend I traveled to Athens, Ga., for the Auburn vs. UGA football game.
I am from Atlanta so I was very excited to go to this game because a lot of my high school friends go to the University of Georgia.
As I was driving to Athens, I started wondering to myself why I chose to attend Auburn over UGA.
After all, when I made the decision to go to Auburn as a senior in high school, I had not even stepped foot on UGA's campus.
However, since coming to Auburn I have visited Athens three times and after each visit I cannot drive fast enough to get back to the Loveliest Village on The Plains.
Do not get me wrong, I have fun every time I go to Athens, but the University of Georgia lacks many of the qualities that had me begging my parents to let me attend Auburn and forfeit the HOPE scholarship.
During my trip last weekend I realized UGA is definitely not the family Auburn is. I experienced this first hand as I witnessed Georgia fans booing their own players and coaches during the game.
When I asked a Georgia student sitting beside me why they were booing he said it is because they are not happy with losing and they want Mark Richt to be fired.
This reminded me of one home game last year when Auburn's fans were mad at our losing streak as well and booed the players on the field.
However, the difference between UGA and Auburn is that we got a nice e-mail the next day simply reminding us Auburn is a family and it is impolite to boo.
I shared this story with the UGA fan and he just rolled his eyes and thought we were ridiculous.
Half way into the game I decided to go get something to drink. After I paid for my water the cashier unscrewed the top to the bottle and handed it back to me without the cap.
I was very confused. How was I supposed to take an open bottle of water back into the stands with me and not expect it to get knocked over and spill everywhere?
I walked back up to my seat and once again asked my friend from Georgia what was up with this whole no cap thing.
He told me fans were flicking the bottle caps onto the field so they are no longer allowed to serve beverages with the tops on.
I have been witness to a couple angry Auburn fans throwing their cups onto the visiting team's side, but it has never been so out of control that cups had to be banned from the stadium all together like the bottle caps at UGA. Some Bulldog fans obviously lack respect and self-control.
The booing and bottle caps are just a few of the minor factors that make UGA's gameday experience less inviting.
It is not my intent to put down a wonderful school that a number of my friends currently attend; however, experiencing a Saturday in Athens left me feeling extremely happy to be an Auburn student.
Losing the football game made me sad, but witnessing the class and respect exhibited by Auburn fans made me happy.
Thank you, UGA, for reminding me why I chose to be a member of the Auburn family.
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