From this week’s Mailbag ($$):
Do you love to win or hate to lose? A friend posed that as a dinner discussion for the table a couple of months back, and for some reason, it was rattling around my brain Sunday night*. I want to see your response, but I’m also curious to see if any fans want to post their own answers in the comments along with their team affiliation**.
*For the record, I love to win.
**The obvious caveat is that losing to some folks hurts worse than losing to others. — Catherine B., Dallas
Anything for you, Catherine.
I’ve wondered this myself sometimes when it comes to fans of teams like Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State where they’re expected to win every single week. In the regular season, against anyone that’s not your rival, are you more excited that you won or relieved that you didn’t lose?
Conversely, it may not seem nearly as fun to root for a team that loses a lot, but doesn’t it make the wins infinitely more enjoyable?
I’m always in it for the win. By one point or forty, it doesn’t matter.
But watching Georgia lose to Georgia Tech will always suck. Luckily, it’s getting to be about as common occurrence as seeing Halley’s Comet.
What about y’all?
Get The Picture 
I guess it kind of depends on the opponent. With Tech, for example, the wins are so common that I’d probably put them in the “hate to lose” column. But teams like Florida and Alabama will always be in the “love to win” column whether they’re good or bad.
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Same. This resonates: “There is nothing worse than losing to UCLA and nothing better than beating Notre Dame.” – John McKay
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I’ve divided our rivals into these categories.
1. The one I want to win the most.-Florida
2. The one I hate losing to.-Tech
3. The one I hate with every fiber of my being and can’t find a nice thing to say about.-Auburn
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This is my sentiments as well. If it’s an inferior opponent, as much as I love to win, I probably dislike the feeling of losing more. However with a major rival like Florida, Auburn, or Clemson, I like basking in victory more.
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There’s definitely a certain enthusiasm lost for a big category of games during this dominant run. But we actually win the most important ones so that makes up for it.
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Losing hurts worse than winning feels good.
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Your take is right. Always appreciate the win first even when it looks awful and doesn’t taste good (cough, cough … Nicholls State … cough, cough). Losing to Fech is the worst. I’m never as pissed after a game as I am when we lose to the nerds. Thank goodness for most of my life Coach Dooley, Coach Goff, Coach Richt, and Coach Smart have made it where I haven’t experienced it much. Without a couple of terrible calls, Coach Donnan would have been on that list.
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The level of emotional distress that a loss to ‘florida would cause me far exceeds the joy of a victory. Luckily that won’t be an issue for the next decade or two.
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I would put it this way: I’m generally in the “hate to lose” category – I have never gone to a game where I thought we didn’t have a chance to win, if we played our best (and friends, let me tell you, I’ve seen lots of losses in-person these many years). But the elation of winning in Indy certainly, at least for that game, put me in the “love to win” category. So I guess that means I’ll go with C – it depends on the magnitude of the game (which is what some of the other commentators are alluding to above I think)!
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*Halley’s Comet
Nothing compares to the feeling when Auburn loses
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Thanks for catching my typo.
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I love to beat Florida more than I love or hate anything else in organized sports.
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You guys can hash ours out as you may, but I never hate to see Alabama loose.
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I’d like to Texas GATA Saturday night.
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I believe that one day we will lose a game again. It will be interesting to see how I react. Logically, I should handle it with serenity, given the enormous reservoir of goodwill my team has built up over the last two years. Realistically though, I probably will need to stay off social media for a few weeks.
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Winning is an affirmation of your love for the team. Losing is a gut-wrenching soul searching gloom in the depths of despair.
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I love to win. But I hate losing more. Especially to an inferior team. I’m just as happy with a close win as a blowout, because winning is winning and I’m not a gambler. Sure,some wins are prettier and some mean more. The losses all sting, maybe fur different reasons, but they all sting.
I believe in the 24 hour rule. Gloat, sulk, but move on. And as I get older, I may have acquired a modest amount of perspective. Win or lose, the good stuff in the rest of my life is still good, the bad stuff is still bad. I enjoy football, I look forward to it, but it’s just recreation for me. For Kirby and the players, who have a much bigger stake in it, or even students, who live among players and know people in and around the program, it’s a bigger deal. And it should be.
Me? At some point I realized I’m rooting for laundry. This group of fine young athletes is in red? MY GUYS! But, they do represent my school, and most of them seem like good kids, so I’m cool with it. I just won’t ever get in a pick up bball game with Malaki Starks and Brock Bowers, or run into Carson Beck and the OL at the B&L Warehouse (RIP), or whatever. It’s the circle of life. You run hotter and wide open at 20, it’s great. But you graduate, and you realize Bowers and Starks, albeit great kids, won’t pay your mortgage, or take your kids to school, or finish that project at work. So, you kind of have to (gasp) reprioritize a little.
It’s still fun, and it still hurts. I just can’t marinate in it. Some of you know what I mean.
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Good post. Yeah, I’ve learned finally to not let the games bum me out as much. I love winning but hate losing more.
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I’ll just be honest, right or wrong. Most wins only get a small fist pump out of me. Big wins, ala Ohio State, TCU make my week. Beating Florida turns me into a gloating arrogant turd for a month. But other wins I’m not as excited as I should be.
A loss, however, ruins the week for me.
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Richt taught how to deal with the losses…for that I’m thankful. they don’t bother me like they used to at all.
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I’d rather run through hell in a gasoline suit than lose to tech.
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How can you not luv to squash the Bugs?! OTOH,face it. If you lose to KY or Vandy, you’ve had one helluva bad season!!!! Typically, when you lose to one you lose to the other. YMMV.
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I went to Vanderbilt for my undergrad in the early 1990s before going to UGA Law. Even being at UGA for the last time that we did not go to a bowl game (Jim Donnan’s first season in 1996) did not deter me from being a Georgia fan.
Let me tell you–not winning a lot does not make the wins any sweeter. In some ways, they make you resent the losses more because you’ve seen how it feels and that the team might have it in them to be better than they show in some losses.
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DF, your very soul has been poisoned. Repent and be saved, Commy!!! Say three “Glory, Glories” and call me in the morning!!!!!
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I have been recording every game to watch over and over. My wife thinks it’s funny. I never watch a game we lose again. I delete it.
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Same here. I’m about to have to start deleting some wins though. My DVR is running out of space.
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I am a “love to win” guy, with the exception of Tech. At this point, a win is a “meh,” but a loss to the “you will work for us” crowd is just awful. A recall a child telling me that on MARTA after a rare loss back in the day. Thankfully, those are few and far between at this point.
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Getting over a loss is harder than enjoying a win.
We’re at the point now that just winning isn’t enough anymore. People complain if we don’t win with style.
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I love to win. However, a corollary would be: I love to see UGA’s opponents lose. For example, I chortled all the next day after Clemson lost last week. Some teams you love to beat – and to see lose more than others. Auburn can NEVER lose enough.
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Schadenfreude is delicious!
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I don’t enjoy losing.
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Oh yeah, I’M A GEORGIA DAWG, DAMMIT.
Now get off my damn lawn!
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It must be all the evil that is stored in my “nether regions” but I hate to lose. During and immediately after a loss, I am not fun to be around. When we lost to LSU in 2018, my wife and I were supposed to go to a party after watching the game on tv…I had to bail out…I was so mad I wanted to fight someone…I’m exiled to watch games in my pole barn because I get so “animated” during games…and losing makes me one pissed off hombre…I’ve mellowed out some with age, but it still is a gut punch. I know all my shouts and irreverent acclimations and gyrations don’t impact the game at all, but for some reason you just can’t extract that small bit of N. GA hillbilly out of me.
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It depends on the game and soemtimes how the team played.
Mizzou last year, I was not overjoyed wth the W. Just happy to get out extending the perfect record. Suppose more happy not to have a loss.
LSU in the SECCG I was more happy for the W, even if I thought UGA could play a better game.
I’ve never experienced a Win against Florida that wasn’t a great time.
Last week was a scrimmage, I wasn’t so much happy for the W as I was happy to enjoy football in Athens much like a G day. Watched and there was much to be happy about as well as some areas to improve.
Wins against GT are very much expected. They’re like Vandy but you’ll hear more from their fans when it doesn’t go our way. Coaches don’t get contract extensions for beating Tech but, you can get fired for not beating them.
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Seems like there was a point, 2015 comes to mind, when Tech beat us, their players got a ring. When we beat Tech, our coach got fired.
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Depends on who we beat or lose to, and how (what method) you win or lose and when/where (early/mid/late season)
if Duke goes on & wins the ACC, Clemson will “feel better.
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Winning never gets old. I hate to play GT. It’s literally a no win situation.
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People have asked me at various points about how I differentiate games between GTU and Florida, and who I want beat more.
Like others said above, I love to beat Florida and hate to lose to Tech.
But in both cases, Fuck Those Motherfuckers.
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For me, wins are always better than losses, regardless of opponent, but not all wins or losses are the same. It’s more important to me that we play to our potential. I was ecstatic for us to win against tOSU, but if we had lost it would not have been a soul crushing defeat because to my eye we played really well and we would have just lost to another team that played really well. OTOH, winning at Missouri last year was better than losing, but not really satisfying. Most satisfying win – even more than the first Natty – was coming back against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.
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My answer to “who is UGA’s biggest rival” has always been:
The team I hate to lose to the most is Tech.
The team I enjoy beating the most if Florida.
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*is Florida
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This is my feeling exactly
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It’s all about Florida to me. I love beating them more than any other. I hate losing to them more than any other. I don’t really know whether I enjoy winning that game more than I hate losing it more. It’s probably the same, though the lopsided win is probably the highest of the highs!
FTMF’s!
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Definitely hate to lose. In fact “hate to lose” has metastasized into “hate to not beat the other team bad enough,” “hate to have more than seven points scored on us,” “hate to not cover the spread,” etc. etc….
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I try to keep things positive, am happy for the wins, and have learned to smooth out the hurt of losses.
What I do miss, a bit, is hope. The hope that sparks pure joy when the unexpected great thing happens. I found myself jealous of Duke fans as their win against Clemson unfolded.
Pure joy was Robert Edwards streaking down the sideline at the ’97 WLOCP to seal the victory. Ringo’s pick-six provided joy, but it was also provided relief. Relief from 20+ years of unmet expectations, bad luck, and terribly timed losses.
“What might happen” is now “what should happen.” I am not complaining and will enjoy the ride. It also helps with perspective.
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From the Georgia legend, Lewis Grizzard:
“To my Son, if I ever have one:
Kid, I am writing this on September 3, 1984. I have just returned from Athens, where I spent Saturday watching the University of Georgia, your old dad’s alma matter, play football against Clemson.
While the events of the day were still fresh on my mind, I wanted to recount them so if you are ever born, you can read this and perhaps be able to share one of the great moments in your father’s life.
Saturday was a wonderful day on the Georgia campus.
We are talking blue, cloudless sky, a gentle breeze and a temperature suggesting summer’s end and autumn’s approach.
I said the blessing before we had lunch. I thanked the Lord for three things: fried chicken, potato salad and for the fact he had allowed me the privilege of being a Bulldog.
“And , Dear Lord,” I prayed, “bless all those not as fortunate as I.”
Imagine my son, 82,000 people, most whom were garbed in red, gathered together gazing down on a lush valley of hedge and grass where soon historic sporting combat would be launched.
Clemson was ranked number 2 in the nation, and Georgia, feared too young to compete with the veterans from beyond the river, could only dream, the smart money said, of emerging three hours hence victorious.
They had us 20-6 at the half, son. A man sitting in front of me said, “I just hope we don’t get embarrassed.”
My boy, I had never seen such a thing as came to pass in the second half. Todd Williams threw one long and high, and Herman Archie caught it in the end zone, and it was now 20-13.
Georgia got the ball again and scored again, and it was now 20-20, and my mouth was dry, and my hands were shaking, and this Clemson fan who had been running his mouth the whole ballgame suddenly shut his fat face.
Son, we got ahead 23-20, and the ground trembled and shook, and many were taken by fainting spells.
Clemson’s kicker, Donald Igwebuike, tied it 23-23 and this sacred place became the center of the universe.
Only seconds were left when Georgia’s kicker, Kevin Butler, stood poised in concentration. The ball rushed toward him, and it was placed upon the tee a heartbeat before his right foot launched it heavenward.
A lifetime later, the officials threw their arms aloft. From 60 yards away, Kevin Butler had been true, and Georgia led and would win 26-23.
I hugged perfect strangers and kissed a fat lady on the mouth. Grown men wept. Lightening flashed. Thunder rolled. Stars fell, and joy swept through, fetched by a hurricane of unleashed emotions.
When Georgia beat Alabama 18-17 in 1965, it was a staggering victory. When we came back against Georgia Tech and won 29-28 in 1978, the Chapel bell rang all night. When we beat Florida 26-21 in the last seconds in 1980, we called it a miracle. And when we beat Notre Dame 17-10 in the Sugar Bowl that same year for the national championship, a woman pulled up her skirt and showed the world the Bulldog she had sewn on her underbritches.
But Saturday may have been even better than any of those.
Saturday in Athens was a religious experience.
I give this to you, son. Read it and re-read it, and keep it next to your heart. And when people want to know how you wound up with the name “Kevin” let them read it, and then they will know.”
– Lewis Grizzard
Goooooo Dawgs!!! Sick ‘em! Woof woof woof!
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That was my first game as a freshman, and though not my first game between the hedges I had only been a couple of times. That game was legendary, and makes it hard to remember that we lost to S Carolina, Florida, Auburn, and GTU that season.
I don’t know how often we lost to those 4 in the same season, but at least Kevin Butler kept us from losing to our 5 biggest rivals (at the time).
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Mr. Man del,
For BullDAWG folk, it’s easy…
If you ain’t a DAWG, you ain’t worf a shit!
Therefore, beat them ALL!!
Beat them into submission!!
Now,
Next question.
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I don’t EVEN remember what losing feels like. But I remember I don’t like it.
I expect to win and am not angry, simply disappointed when the Dawgs lose.
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YES!!!
now, what was the question?
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