COMMENTARY
The power of believing: Dawg Nation breaks the curse In sports, certain defining moments become frozen in time. One of Carol Niemi is a marketing consultant who lives on the Dunwoody-Sandy Springs line and those was on writes whose lives inspire others. Contact her at worthknowingnow@gmail.com. Nov.about 2, people when Dansby Swanson threw the ball to Freddie Freeman for the final out of the 2021 World Series. After a BY CAROL NIEMI quarter-century drought, we were finally the world champions. But that moment meant something else to us in the Bulldog Nation. it isaasign CarolWas Niemi marketing consultant who lives on the Dunwoodythat we would finally breakSandy “the Springs curse” line of and writes about people whose lives inspire Nick Saban and accomplish what had her at worthknowingnow@gmail.com. others.we Contact been yearning for since 1981, the last time we won a national championship? We The University of Georgia won the national championship on Jan. 10. (Special/Mackenzie Miles, UGA) were already ranked #1. The only thing between us and our goal was another matchBy now, everyone knows the story of He returned to Georgia when Kirup with our nemesis. Stetson Bennett IV, the kid from Blacksby Smart believed in him enough to offer It would be five long weeks before we hear who had dreamed of quarterbacking him a scholarship. Even then, he didn’t get reached our moment. for Georgia since childhood. At only 5’11”, his break until the vaunted starter from After two years of a national pandemic he joined the team as a walk-on, but after Southern Cal was injured and he, Stetson and widespread civil unrest, the only place a year of playing on the scout team, transBennett IV, had to step in. things still seemed normal was the playing ferred to a junior college for more playing The social media mob went into high field. But between the hedges in Athens, time. gear and stayed there – even as Bennett things were anything but normal. proceeded to lead the team to an undefeat-
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ed season. Relentlessly, they slammed him for not being up to the job and Smart for not replacing him. Some of the sports pundits did too. For those of us in the Bulldog Nation who believed in Bennett and Smart, the attacks felt personal. Why, after all we and the country had been through, could they not just be happy for us? But on the night of Dec. 4 in the 2021 SEC championship, Alabama humiliated our beloved Bulldogs 4124. How could we, the country’s #1 team, play so poorly? Maybe the naysayers were right. Maybe we were never that good after all. You could hear hearts breaking throughout the Bulldog Nation, which had grown to include many who had never set foot in Athens. But hope springs eternal in the heart of a “Damn Good Dog.” We got the chance to redeem ourselves in the CFP playoff series, in which we demolished the University of Michigan and earned another crack at Alabama in the CFP championship game scheduled for Jan. 10, 2022. The only thing between us and the prize we had been chasing was
Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide, with its Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Bryce Young. Our soon-to-be-frozen moment occurred in the last minute of that game. We were ahead, but Bama had the ball near our endzone. Would this be a repeat of our shocking overtime loss to Alabama in the 2018 CFP? Miraculously, with only 54 seconds to play, freshman Kelee Ringo intercepted a Bryce Young pass and ran 79 yards to put us ahead 33-18. As the clock ticked down, it started to dawn on us that after 41 years, we were going to end our seven-game losing streak to Alabama and bring the national trophy back to Athens, where we always thought it belonged. Now that the joyful parade and celebration in Athens are behind us, we can look back at that moment when everything first became real. It was just about perfect. Herschel Walker and Vince Dooley were there. Kirby Smart was bringing glory back to his alma mater. In the background from Athens was the sound of the chapel bell ringing. And on the sidelines was Bennett crying. A post-game commentator said four out of every six Bulldog fans in the stands were crying. I was crying. So was the friend watching with me. The national pundits said they were tears of joy, but as a certified Georgia Bulldog, I think they were tears of redemption. After 41 years of trying and believing, despite being told we weren’t good enough, it took all of us – the players, the coaches and the fans – never giving up to prove the crit-
(Special/Mackenzie Miles, UGA)
ics wrong. That night, based on the text messages flooding my phone, everyone I knew was a Bulldog, no matter where they went to school. The new season starts in six months. Bennett has announced he’s coming back. Stay tuned.
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