Finally on the Team

In the winter of 1981, I was a senior preparing to graduate from Heritage High School in Conyers, Georgia.  I had a steady girlfriend, a part-time job at a local radio station and a church where I loved to be whenever the doors were open.  Life was good, and I was all about living for the moment, with little if any thoughts about the future, beyond the spring and graduation anyway.
While other kids my age were getting letters from major universities and setting up visits, I had given very little thought about where I might attend in my life after high school.  Oh sure, I would go to college.  That was sort of a given, but exactly where had not been determined.  Joyce Chandler was my senior counselor at Heritage and while I can’t prove it with scripture, I believe she will receive extra crowns in heaven for putting up with kids like me.  One day, she called me to her office.  “Reg, have you thought about where you want to go to college?”  “Not really,” I responded.  “But did you hear my radio show last Saturday?  It was hilarious.”
Mrs. Chandler encouraged me to consider Georgia State University.  It was convenient, known for having a strong school of journalism, and might not be offended by the fact that I was applying a mere six-months before my freshman college classes would begin.  I was familiar with GSU.  My brother, a graduate of the University of Georgia, had gone there for his Master’s Degree in Accounting.  At this point, we were the classic “house divided,” with Dad, a ramblin’ ‘reck from Georgia Tech, and my brother an avid Dawg fan.  Maybe Georgia State would be the right fit.
Letters were written, tests were taken, applications were completed and checks were cashed.  Yes, I matriculated in public (thanks Ludlow for that classic joke).  Miraculously, by the following September, I was a freshman at Georgia State.  We were the Panthers, although I always thought the mascot should be the “Raving Commuters.”  The logo could be a steering wheel and a fist. 
Despite the commuting and parking challenges of the “concrete campus,” I grew to love Georgia State.  It looked, felt and even smelled like a major university.  I loved Sparks Hall, Kell Hall and the General Classroom Building.  I loved the cheeseburgers and fries at the B&D (which we claimed stood for “Bite and Die”) cafeteria.  I loved my professors, even the strange ones that taught bizarre classes in things like sociology and “non-verbal communication.”  You can imagine me in a class like that, right?
There was only one problem.  While friends at other universities talked up their gridiron accomplishments, GSU did not have a football team.  We had a strong basketball program, baseball and soccer too.  But no football.  At first, I thought that might not be a bad idea.  My brother and dad could have spirited debates about the Dawgs and Jackets, and I could pick a side, depending on how the teams were faring that season.  But there is a real identity that is established when a school has a football program, even when it’s not the most successful, year in and year out.
And so it was, for the whole time I was there: No football for GSU.  Until this year.  I remember reading about it a couple years back.  How the school was considering starting a program and hiring Bill Curry, former head coach at Tech, Alabama and Kentucky, to lead the charge.  This year, it all became a reality.
It’s been over 20 years since I graduated from Georgia State, and I wasn’t exactly sure how excited I was about prospects for a football program, until that inaugural game rolled around on Thursday night, September 2.  Somehow, it really meant something to me.  For the first time in the school’s history, GSU would field a team that night in college football, under the lights at the Georgia Dome. I downloaded the iPhone app for an Atlanta radio station I had never even heard of, just to follow the game that night.
On Saturday, September 18, my wife and I attended our first GSU game in person, as the Panthers met the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.  A good friend of ours, Drew Hinesley, serves as an excellent stadium announcer for the Panthers and got us some great seats.  The game was amazingly close, going into overtime, with the Gamecocks finally edging out the Panthers by a touchdown.  But the spirit in the Dome was great.  The players looked great on the field; there were cheerleaders, a marching band and even a rambunctious student section.  It felt, looked, smelled and tasted like college football, and it was a thrill just to be there.
As I write this, the Panthers hold a respectable inaugural season record of 2-2, going into a Homecoming Game tomorrow against the Morehead State Eagles.  And I’ll be listening, clinging to that iPhone for every exciting play.
So go GSU Panthers and hunker down just one more time like a hobnail boot with sugar falling from the sky.  No wait, those are someone else’s lines.  Better call Drew for a refresher course.

Your humble Blogger on the field of the Georgia Dome following the September 18, 2010, football game between the Georgia State Panthers and the Jacksonville State Gamecocks

Graduation Day - June, 1989 - with my incredibly hot girlfriend (now beautiful wife)