The Jacksonville streets are dangerous today.
Lovers are fighting. Children are weeping. Best friends are now sworn enemies. RVs are backing up without making the beeping noise.
It's Florida-Georgia time.
And whether you hail the red and black or boast the blue and orange, you can be certain that the pre-game activities will be almost as entertaining as the throwdown itself.
I'm a Bulldog fan. You read it right. Doesn't matter if a win is a long shot or not; I grew up cheering the Cubbies and Bears. I'm used to this 'hope' thing.
My handbag today is red, black, glitter and Ugga's face. I'm proud of it, but for safety's sake, it's in my drawer as I sit here at work. I question the wisdom of leaving my Georgia cap prominently displayed on the dash of my Jeep this morning. I am comforted that the guy I saw with a stuffed alligator dragging from his truck's bumper is going to have a worse day than I will.
Northerners and non-fans don't understand: This isn't a casual hobby. It's a lifestyle.
Normally, the Florida-Georgia game is a family affair for me. My family frequented Georgia, the state of my birth and father's family, as I grew up. I still have family in Savannah and friends in Athens and Atlanta. And normally I'd be counting on a full day of "friendly" rivalry with extended relatives tomorrow, each twig of the local family tree descending on a Jax Beach home, shucking oysters, playing the music loud and making a rowdy red and blue trail to the stadium and back again. Lots of Bloody Mary mix on hand to aid in the creation of some classic 'trash talk' and soothe the sting of a favorite team's loss.
Instead, the family is out of town, so no party on the beach, even if the weather would be kind. My friends, though loving, free-spirited folks, seem grossly uninterested in watching me scream at the TV dressed in a tatty old UGA jersey and amusing black-and-red Crocs. I suspect my date for the game is going to be an order of Cajun Hot wings and squash from Dick's. I better place that order now, before they're too backed up...
The Times-Union is a bit divided, too. I can't give details, but exchanges include the energetic conversation I had last night with some of our late night sports folk after I dared to back up an Ugga-sporting staffer.
It's all in good fun, right?
Yesterday, I joined three of my esteemed newsroom coworkers in voicing The Mascot Throwdown, a fun little Vlog dedicated to trash talk between the states on the Times-Union Web site, Jacksonville.com. You can also see it on Jacksonville.com/floridageorgia. I play Harriet. Go figure.
Check it out. Enjoy it. We did. And it was a little bit more colorful when the cameras were off. UF fans talk a lot of game for a team represented by a favorite deep-fried appetizer.
Just remember: Come Sunday, we'll be back to normal, though some will be more sensitive than others.
'Til then, we are Gators and we are Dawgs. And we are proud of it.