The second week of October has finally come to a merciful end, after the Braves choked away the NLDS, Georgia lost at home to South Carolina, and the Falcons missed a game-tying extra point against the Cardinals.

If you sat me down in a room before NLDS Game 4 Monday and told me all of these things would happen, I would have laughed. Sure, this is Georgia sports, but it can’t be that bad.

On Monday, I drove over to the Cobb Galleria parking lot, listening to the Braves-Cardinals game in the 8th inning. With two outs in the 8th, I got ready to park and head over to the Battery, to celebrate our first postseason series win since 2001.

You all know what happened next… Let’s just say it was on to Game 5. So here we are in the SunTrust Park upper deck Wednesday, hoping the team that won 97 games and the hearts of many could re-write the script. Did I mention I’d already attended 50+ games this season and seen plenty of wins with the pressure on the Braves? We’ll be fine.

It was over before it even started. 10-0 Cardinals, with half the stadium seats still empty, as fans found their way to the stands. At least we have Georgia, the No. 3 team in the nation, right?

Saturday comes along and its off to Athens for an anticipated beatdown of South Carolina. Sure, the Braves ripped our hearts out Wednesday, but at least we can enjoy a thrashing of USC. Jr.

By halftime it was oh shoot, we won’t cover the spread today, but that’s alright. Then came overtime and literally walking out of the stadium as South Carolina attempted what felt like an extra point to win the game.

It’s wide right! It’s wide right! After just leaving the gates of Dooley Field on its 90th birthday, it was time to go back in. Surely we can escape with the victory now, right?

Think again. After a goal-line stand from the Georgia defense, the offense failed to deliver a Rose Bowl walk-off moment and out came Hot Rod for a game-tying 42-yard field goal. You guessed it, wide left. 13 of 20 Gamecock points came from the defense and special teams. Only 3 were scored in the second half and overtime combined. Yet, Georgia still couldn’t find a way to escape South Carolina.

Though the Falcons were already 1-4, they still missed a game-tying extra point Sunday to go to overtime with Arizona. And thus, the worst week in Georgia sports history came to a merciful end at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix.

Somehow, in some way, it could still get worse over the next couple of days, but at least we’re on to a new week. The Washington Nationals, who Atlanta beat up all season, are likely going to the World Series. That Cardinals team that scored 13 on the Braves in Game 5? They have scored a total of 1 run in two games vs. Washington.

I am completely convinced that you could not have drawn up a worse week for Georgia sports if you tried. One week ago, we had a team on the verge of playing for the pennant and the No. 3 team in the country.

Now, it’s all just about over, in the blink of an eye.

Yet here we are… and all of those things happened. Did the Sun come up this morning? You betcha.

Are Georgia sports saved? Nope. So…. that means we have to find something to keep us going, even if we think it may end in heartbreak yet again.

To make you feel a little better, Georgia’s season is far from over. Win out and the Dawgs are in. However, there’s no margin for error as the one mulligan we once had is now gone.

Can Georgia rebound and make it back to Atlanta for a third time? Absolutely, but it’s not going to be easy.

In order to make the College Football Playoff, the Dawgs will have to beat Kentucky, Florida, Missouri, Auburn, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech and the winner of Alabama/LSU in Atlanta.

On paper, Georgia has a very good chance in just about all of those games. However, this team is going to have to step it up and prove it on Saturdays, too. The Dawgs have just as much star power as anyone, thanks to a plethora of recruiting success with Coach Smart, but it’s not completely translating to success on the field.

Georgia will get a lighter game against Kentucky at home before a bye week to fix things up for Florida. In years past, the Dawgs have proved they can learn from defeat and improve, but nothing is guaranteed now. Will this team respond to the first punch or will it falter into an Outback Bowl appearance?

We probably won’t know the answer until November 2nd in Jacksonville, but we can hope it’s the former and not the latter.

Sports can be cruel, as we’ve witnessed time and time again. They can also be glorious, if your team comes out on the winning side. For Georgia fans, we are just going to have to wait. Atlanta United begins its quest for a fourth trophy in the span of a year Saturday and the Hawks are about to take the court at State Farm Arena.

Will either of these teams bring home a trophy? Maybe not, but they can still be appreciated for what they give us when times are thick. Even if Atlanta United loses in the first round Saturday, they still gave us three trophies in the span of a year, while rallying to clinch a No. 2 seed after a disastrous start. Just like Rodrigo Blankenship, Matt Ryan and Ronald Acuña Jr. the trophy-winning soccer team does not deserve the blame if they do come up short.

As for the Hawks? Missing out on the Zion Williamson sweepstakes by 1 number in the lottery turned into Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter. The Hawks’ future is brighter than anyone’s and with the parity of today’s NBA, they could be title contenders within a season or two.

This past week was rough, trust me. It’s going to take a lot of time to get over it, but hang in there, we are all in this together. You saw what the Dawgs did after losses to South Carolina in 2011 and 2012; how the season changed in 2017 and 2018 after a loss.

If anyone is frustrated and disappointed at the moment, it’s me. I feel like I should get a cookie for waking up, going about my day and doing what I have to do at the moment. But I’m still here, writing this article, on a glorious October morning. It may not end how we want it to, but I encourage everyone to keep supporting the Dawgs, Braves and every other team in the state, except for Tech.

Don’t root for Tech.

You can put all your fan gear up in the attic, turn off the TV and call it a year or you can brush it off, keep supporting our teams and enjoy this beautiful season. The choice is completely yours, but I’m going to enjoy the rest of college football, as we only get it for around four months a year.

Georgia plays host to Kentucky on Homecoming this Saturday, with hopes of reigniting a fan base and an entire season. You can keep playing Marvin’s Room, Sad by Maroon 5 and Closing Time by Semisonic, but it’ll only do so much. Trust me, I know. However, there’s still six games of Bulldog football left on the schedule that are worth getting excited for.

Hang in there, it’s going to be alright. We’ve seen better days, but there have also been far worse ones. So I’m going to ask you to take an extra long sip of that cup of joe in your hand and get back to it. We have too much to be thankful for right now and too much going on for us to let sporting events dictate our moods for an entire season.

Of course, I need to work on this too, but I don’t think I’m the only one this week. We’ll get through it, I promise.