Fear The Reaper

Georgia Southern students wearing red has always been a problem. It was fun though in college because I could always make fun of them for always blowing it, then watch GS over perform. There were actually some of my peers rooting for UGA to pull it out in overtime in Athens, and that was eye opening to me, I'll never be able to rationalize rooting against your own school. I'll just never be able to make sense of GS alumni being Georgia fans. It's always something like well I grew up rooting for them, but the difference is UGA didn't root for you or you would have been there plain and simple. You look like an absolute clown when you can't see this fact and go hit up Walmart for your red shirt. Georgia Southern gave me a home, an education, lifelong friends, unforgettable memories, and even welcomed me back for a MBA despite being a C student. I owe every successful and good part of my life to Georgia Southern and Sigma Alpha Epsilon for laying the foundation and giving me every tool I needed to get where I wanted to go. Statesboro changed my life in so many ways, and the absolute bare minimum I feel I can do is put on a blue shirt on Saturdays. Personally I feel the minimum isn't the best I can do, therefore I buy 4 season tickets every year and drive 500 miles round trip to every home game I can. I get that not everyone has the means to do that though, that's not at all where I'm going with this. It really pisses me off when I give so much and many of my peers cannot even do the minimum: a blue shirt. It's not hard. It's about more than a football game y'all, some people just don't get it. When our teams win, more eyes are on Georgia Southern. More of the best and brightest might decide to go to Statesboro. More money goes to Georgia Southern. More career opportunities go to our alumni via shared success. I could go on and on. How would anyone dear to me know that Georgia Southern is a special place if I wore red on Saturdays? It's not a prerequisite, but a packed paulson absolutely increases the probability of success in all of this. I cringe every time I hear that we need to win in order for our alumni to come back. It's so backwards. We have to fight and claw for everything we get, success just doesn't poof out of thin air. We have to GATA. I quite honestly felt abandoned by some of my peers during the last few years. UGA has had remarkable success, good for them. I'm happy for my brothers who went there. This success exacerbated the ages long issues we have always faced. One day, we may not have to try very hard to fill our stadium, afford to keep a winning coach, consistently bring in elite talent every year. I probably won't care too much about this issue anymore. Until then, your red shirt is a slap in my face and a kick in the balls. Do better.