The Smackdown: UGA-LSU

This weekend brings our first big intra-Expat matchup -- LSU at Georgia. Let's now have a reasonable, civilized discussion between the representatives of these fine institutions of learning.

Tommy Tomlinson: True story. I was down in Louisiana to write stories about Katrina. Our makeshift office was in Baton Rouge. All the hotels that were still open were jampacked, so I spent a few nights in my car. The last night I was in town, my boss found me a spare bedroom in the apartment of some LSU students. I knocked on the door, thanked the guys who were letting me stay there, petted their dog. We were standing there in the kitchen when I heard a strange clattering from around the corner.

I looked up and there was a goat in the living room.

(I should probably note here that this was not a Katrina thing. The Goat had a collar.)

We stared at each other, me and The Goat. He started to grunt.

"Don't worry," one of the guys said. "We'll keep him with us. He won't bother you."

Then I noticed the dog starting to growl, and another guy reached down and held back The Goat.

"By the way," he said, "he and The Goat don't get along too good."

So... I can't swear to you that all LSU fans sleep with goats. All I know is what I saw.

As for the game? I still can't tell if either team is any good. LSU had to man up on a goal-line stand to beat Mississippi State. Georgia had to get lucky about seven different ways to beat Arizona State. I could see either team getting crushed. In this kind of game, when the gyroscope is spinning in all different directions, Vegas usually takes the home team by three. Sounds about right to me. Georgia, 23-20.


Cliff Mehrtens:

A goat, eh? Hmmmm.

Some may use Hurricane Katrina as an excuse, but I know that's not true in this case, Tommy.
See, Louisiana folks are different in plenty of ways….good, bad and um, sometimes zoological.

They'll hunt anything. They'll cook anything. Heck, I once ate barbecued squirrel at 10 a.m…..Why? That's all we shot that morning on a swamp hunting trip (too cold to dip into the water for snakes and gators).

So the fellas at LSU with the goat - no big deal.

But THE big deal is Saturday's game….you're right, LSU and Georgia have been spotty-good heading into this game. By all rights, LSU should have lost against Mississippi State last week, but the Bulldogs went mental and couldn't run 1 yard on two goal-line plays with a minute left.
Go with the team on a roll - unbeaten LSU……Tigers 23, Georgia 13.

Winning there will be tastier than any redfish, raccoon or nutria.