Georgia fans, I promise I’m not picking on y’all.

I’ve actually spent more time around you this season than any other. I went to a pair of games and sat with Georgia fans this past season. I have lunch with a UGA grad every Tuesday and we talk all things Dawgs. This past Saturday, I actually had breakfast with several Georgia fans who were in my neck of the woods before heading off on a cruise.

What I learned from observing more Georgia fans is that despite the ever-close-but-not-cigar years that they’ve experienced, loyalty and expectations are off the charts.

A pair of #ItMightMeanTooMuch stories today show exactly why.

The first involves something I was made aware of at that aforementioned breakfast I had with a handful of diehard Dawg fans.

Georgia is one of those schools that offers incredibly cheap tickets for students. It’s one of those things that you know is factored into the tuition in some way, but in 2015, student tickets were something like $8 per game, according to diehard UGA fan John Picker. Sweet deal, right?

John, however, wasn’t a UGA student. His now-wife Kelsey was a student in 2015 when Alabama came to town for a showdown of top 15 teams.

The issue that Kelsey had was one that thousands students have dealt with over the years — how do I get my significant other or friend into the student section? After all, the general public cannot just buy student tickets. They’re scanned on student IDs.

Well, how does someone under the age of 21 buy alcohol? Buy a fake ID. How does someone without a student ID sit at the student section at Sanford Stadium? Rent a student ID.

As I found out, there’s a big-time market for it at Georgia. Students not going to the game (or perhaps students with other seats) can rent out their IDs for north of $100 for a game.

Does that not sound like much money to you? Picture this. Go back to when you were in college. You’re lucky if you have $10 for pizza over the weekend. Even if you have a part-time job, you’re making $8 an hour somewhere. Your disposable income is, um, limited.

Now here’s a $100 cash so that somebody can rent your ID for the day. Seems pretty lucrative, doesn’t it?

Obviously there are tons of stories of this backfiring. It’s certainly risky if it’s being done via Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist or some other forum that students go to rent student IDs. Getting dealt an old ID or no ID has probably cost plenty of fans time and money that they were scammed out of.

Kelsey actually shelled out somewhere in the neighborhood $120 so John could get into the Alabama game. The student ID that she bought apparently didn’t look like John very much, but it worked anyway. They got an up-close seat for the matchup … which turned into an Alabama rout. Even worse, a sad Kelsey made the TV broadcast. Let’s just say it wasn’t one of her happiest moments as a UGA fan:

I can confirm that Kelsey recovered after that painful day in Athens.

In Kelsey’s defense, few things are quite as deflating as watching your team get its teeth kicked in at home and in the rain. Even worse was the fact that it was a day in which UGA fans probably realized that 2015 wasn’t going to be the year the national championship drought ended.

But hey, Georgia fans have been treated to plenty of memorable days in the past 3 years. A 20-1 record at Sanford Stadium is nothing to scoff at.

I can’t help but think that the student ID rental business has benefitted from that.

A Georgia wedding in every way

About a month ago, I reached out to our SDS Podcast Facebook group in search of some fresh #ItMightMeanTooMuch stories. As expected, the group delivered. I included 14 different stories, but I got plenty more.

This story, as told by Georgia fan Katlin Perkins, was one that I didn’t use that day, but I wanted to circle back to for a few reasons.

This is how her wedding went:

We scheduled our wedding on the Georgia bye weekend in October to ensure no Georgia football would be missed by all. We went to Amelia Island and then the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville for our honeymoon. We had to send the officiant things we loved about each other and one of his things he loved about me was my Georgia season tickets. I’m pretty sure it was a joke … We have had multiple legitimate fights about who loves Georgia more because we have a healthy relationship. As a surprise to me, he added in his vows that I am the bigger Georgia fan. This was definitely one of the wedding highlights and thankfully it was witnessed by around 100 people since he has already tried to take it back.

Let’s start with the timing of this wedding. I’d say that’s just common courtesy to schedule the wedding during the bye week. I’ve had tons of people tell me about people either showing up to weddings and watching a game on their phones/a random TV or just not showing up altogether. It’s a smart move to not even put the wedding during Cupcake Week.

A honeymoon in Amelia Island sounds like a lovely idea. As a Florida resident for the past 4.5 years, I’ve never been, though I’ve heard great things.

But based on the other factors at play here, I can’t help but wonder if Katlin and her husband were both like “let’s search for the best beach within an hour of Jacksonville.” Amelia Island is a 50-minute drive to TIAA Bank Field, AKA the home of the World’s Largest Outdoor … you know. I’d be surprised if they were planning on going to Amelia Island and then they were like “well, Jacksonville is only a 50-minute drive from there. Might as well go to the game while we’re in the area!”

Respect. That’s dedication.

As for the “one of the things he loved about me was my Georgia season tickets” line, no, that wasn’t a joke. If you’re a diehard fan of a team and you find out this person you just started dating is perhaps an even bigger fan than you, that’s a sign that it’s meant to be. I’m not saying that was the moment he knew he was in love, but I’m not dismissing that, either.

Katlin is right. Once something like “you’re a bigger UGA fan than I am” is in the vows, you can’t take it back. That trumps any argument.

But can you imagine what those arguments are like?

“I dropped $3,000 to go to the Rose Bowl to see Georgia play in the Playoff.” “Well, I once camped out for 2 days to get Herschel’s autograph.” “Big deal. I’ve been Kirby Smart for Halloween the last 4 years.” “Oh yeah? I’ve already decided our first-born will be named Uga … GIRL OR BOY.”

Because how else should dinnertime conversation go?