By MAHEEN RAE
Staff Writer
The University of Georgia had their first home football game of the 2013 season this past Saturday, September 7. They played the South Carolina Gamecocks at 4:30 p.m. The Athens Piedmont community was hyped for the big game! Being so close to UGA, Piedmont students are liable to spend time with UGA students. Also, being so close to downtown Athens, running into UGA students is inevitable. After surveying students and faculty at Piedmont, ten out of ten people planned to make arrangements for the game. Most planned to tailgate and some planned to watch the game downtown- either way- the Athens campus was game ready. When surveyed to see if the Piedmont community feels
UGA football is their honorary school team, everyone asked said yes. The city of Athens is a football city.
Every part of town has the word, “bulldogs” plastered on the windows of shops, gas stations, and even small business buildings. After surveying the same ten people from the Piedmont community and asking on a scale of one to ten how much UGA football is a part of Athens, eight out of ten answered ten- while the other two answered nine. Student Activities Director Zach Churchill admits, “Even though I am a graduate and devoted fan of a different university, I am a UGA fan because I grew up in Athens.” Piedmont student Heaven Kytle proudly states, “If you live in Athens, you have to be a Bulldog fan. It’s a town religion. You have to be either a Bulldog fan or not a football fan at all. There is no other way. People who don’t even live in Athens are die hard Bulldog fans. It’s a Georgia thing; Athens is just the heart of the organization.”
After seeing the excitement for the UGA game the ten people were asked if Piedmont should have their own football team. Student Activities member Grady Rikard explained,” I think having a football team would be great, but Piedmont does not have the resources required to logically startup a football program. I believe the expenses would weigh out the benefits at starting a football program at this point in Piedmont’s existence. There are far better options that would yield a greater return on investment than starting a football program.”
Although the idea sounds great, Piedmont is not in the state to start a football program. Zach Churchill claims, “The fan base is not in Athens or Demorest to support a Division three football team.”
The Piedmont community in Athens will have to be content with supporting the Georgia Bulldogs – which they have no problem with.