Thursday Thought Provoker: Making of a Nemesis

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Based on some of the conversation yesterday about rivalries, I couldn’t help but think of some opposing players and coaches that were integral in the development of a deeper hate for said rivals.

Cam Newton, Malzahan, Meyer, Tebow, Fish Fry, Joe Hamilton. You name it, there’s been some storied opponents that will remain legendary in the minds of our fans as the biggest villain, asshole, or kryptonite to the Dawgs in those histories. And then there’s this guy:

Yesterday we examined what makes a rival. Today, let’s examine what makes a good nemesis. I’ll refer back to this scene from Snatch as a reference point to the definition (nsfw):

So a nemesis is an archival, but also “the inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall: “the balance beam was the team’s nemesis, as two gymnasts fell from the apparatus”.

In my 50 years as a fan, I can think of several nemeses for my beloved Dawgs, including:

  • Fulmer’s stranglehold on Georgia
  • Saban and inescapable let downs of losing to the Tide in horrible ways
  • The Athens-Clarke County Police
  • Scooters/Mopeds
  • Referees
  • Our Offensive Coordinator save for Monken
  • Jordan-Hare Miracles
  • Injuries
  • Option Offenses

Of them all, though, Spurrier still stands out as one of the worst. But why? Is it the attitude? Is it the on field crushing results? Is it who the person plays or coaches for?

For today, lets talk about what makes a nemesis, along with your choice for Georgia’s biggest nemesis that you can think of.

44 thoughts on “Thursday Thought Provoker: Making of a Nemesis”

  2. It could be his stupid face maybe..?
    It probably is Spurrier at the top bc of the dominance.

    • Not only did he beat us (and pretty much everyone else), he took a lot of undisguised glee in talking trash about it.

      The only way to shut someone like that us is to beat him. I will always respect Grayson Lambert for hanging 50 on Spurrier in the OBC’s final appearance in Athens. The only way I would have enjoyed it more would have been if SS had quit at halftime. It took him a couple more weeks, but we all know what made him quit. FTMF.

    • Steve Spurrier is number 1, but Alabama is beginning close the gap. I was hoping it was just Nick Saban, but after last years gut wrenching loss it appears to be Alabama.

    • Spurrier is the worst pick I have ever had to play golf with
      in my entire life. I spent 4&1/2 hours with him one very bad day at a tournament that I will never forget. On the first tee he said, “Steve Spurrier”, and the rest of the day he did not say another word.

  3. I would add The Georgia Way as a nemesis. The Ol’ Ball Sack tops the list.

  4. All football teams north and east of Morgantown, WV.

    (Since 1970)
    UGA

    Vs.

    WVU 0-1
    PSU 1-1
    Pitt 0-3-1
    Syracuse 0-1
    Boston College 0-2

    Thats 1-8-1. It makes no sense.

    Thank God we’ve avoided Rutgers.

    • Pitt makes sense if you consider Tony Dorsett and the ability of Johnny Majors to remake his roster in a way no one has since then, except maybe Deion Sanders. Save for Herschel, TD was the best college RB I’ve ever seen, and I hated him.

  5. Ol’ Ball Sack for sure. He’s still smirking at us.
    Phat Phil is right up there!

  6. It is Spurrier hands down. He has no Class.
    Saban would win, but always classy. Can’t say anything good about Bama fans

  7. Was is it really Spurrier? Or was more the Gators in particular? Because we didn’t fare too well against Zook, Meyers, or even McElwain. For a long time, we could have been having a heck of a season going; and those damn Gators would ruin it for us.

    • They nearly got us in 1980.

      We did ruin their 1985…

      5 days bitches!!!

      • Wheel routes
        Al Ford
        Penn Wagers
        Autograph signings
        Jan Kemp
        George O’leary/Godsey
        Ray Goff injury report
        Consecutive string of noon kickoff (okay, annoyance more than nemesis)
        McGarity?

        -Dawg Vegas

  8. Urban Meyer for me what an azz, Spurrier talked smack and backed it up. I dislike Paul Johnson more than Spurrier.

    • I have always liked and admired Spurrier because he shitcanned coach speak and said what was on his mind. I’m with you on Meyer and Fish Fry. I also put Phat Phil that low life MF who sabotaged his own school and then acted smug about it.

      • I preferred coach speak.

        When they won, credit the players. We they lost, blame themselves and either way always give credit to the other team’s coaches and players.

        Nothing wrong with having class especially when your role, your entire function in life, is to serve as an example for, and to lead, young men.

        I’ll take a Vince Dooley every single day over this new generation of obnoxious blowhards.

        • Thing is when we beat Florida that 1 time, he took the blame and also said Georgia “was better than us”. The coach speak I was referring more to was the BS before playing Delta State……..”Delta State has quality at every position and we will be severely tested”. Classic Dooley and while I loved his long term results I got so tired of that Bull before every game no matter the opponent.

          • Always credit Steve for being an honorable loser. And he’s funny. Lose the arrogance and he’s an All-American hero.

            Why shit on Delta State? Respect your opponent and your team hopefully will respond. Its that cocky shit that leads to 2 losses to MSU.

        • Why commit an outrageous lie ? Delta State, Wofford, Elon ……..it didn’t matter. And then you lose to Wake Forest 31-0 and he’d say I told you so……….But do you really think he believed that going in? Just tell the truth of what you really think?

  9. I just want to throw the name Steve Taneyhill on this nemesis shit pile that we are making.

  10. Definitely, Spurrier, zero humility, winning with class has never been a trait of his. The narrative is he is such a great competitor, but in the end he is just a common quitter, the ultimately characteristic for a loser.

  11. I’m surprised “The AJC – Alan Judd & Chip Towers” wasn’t mentioned given that the Athens-Clarke County police was listed.

  12. To me it was three things. Ok it was more than three but the devil’s triad where Spurrier was concerned was A. He was damn good at what he did. B. He ran his mouth incessantly as he beat you. C. He openly hated us.

    There was more but those three things were what really made him so awful. Fish Fry was arrogant and made noises about us but really after 2008 it was hard to take him seriously. Same deal with Kiffin. He’s a good coach and he’s cocky but he mostly can’t back any of it up from year to year and I never get the feeling he hates us or anybody else. Saban was the best at what he did. There was arrogance there for sure but with him it was more about just wanting to win and having a maniacal focus on doing everything right. It was hard not to respect him even if I was sick of him.

    Spurrier was something different. He was damn good at his job but he was petty as well as arrogant. And it so obviously personal to him and it was all tied up in his ego and narcissism. Georgia ruined his moment in the sun as a player and that was unforgivable and unforgettable to him because there is nothing more important to Steve Spurrier than Steve Spurrier.

  13. Penn Wagers doesn’t even get a mention? Y’all are more forgiving than I am.

  14. It’s easy to fixate on opponents – and pieces of shit like Meyer and Fulmer are easy to hate – but our biggest nemesis was none of them. It was the Georgia Way (TM). UGA is set up to succeed in football like few other programs. But for years, our own leadership refused to let us shift past second gear.

  16. Urban Meyer’s Gators killed more Americans than Ebola. Meyer was more selfish the Spurrier.

  17. ACC police…LOL!!!!
    When you say referee’s do you actually mean a one Penn Wagers? or Al Ford led crews? or the referee who ran out of bounds collided with our player and penalized us? Oh hell…all of them…

    • “You’re the best crew in the SEC!!!”

      There is little doubt but that the celebration was held against us.

  18. Jimmy Williamson needs to e on the list higher than ACC police.

  21. I don’t know about “nemesis,” but if you ever do an “all-time pieces of shit” list, Nick Fairley should be close to the top. – PDawg30577

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