How did you become a TECH fan?

Skeptic

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sidewalkGTfan said:
To be honest I have no clue...I was born, raised and still living in NC. I don't have a single relative from or living in the state of GA. I don't have a single relative that attended any college in the state of GA. I've been a fan since I was a kid. The '90 National Championship year, I would've been about 10 years old, so I was probably at a very impressionable age, caught a glimpse of the greatness and was hooked.

I am a true sidewalk fan. The only tie I have to GT is my heart and the white and gold running through my veins...
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We kind of share the accidental tourist gravitation. I became a lifelong fan one Saturday afternoon when GT was the first football broadcast I ever heard. Don't remember who they played or if they won, but for no other reason I have been a fan since, including all those years B.C. -- before cable -- when I lived, cut off, in the garden spots of the world. You know: Cheyenne. Osan. Johnston Island. Lima or Painesville, Ohio. Not a lot of quit in me, I suppose. But I like old things, and this fandom is kind of comfortable. More so when we win.
 

IM79

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442
Boomergump said:
Things started in an opposite order for me, and not neccessarily the wrong order, I might add. You see, I hated UGA long before I was a TECH man. I moved to ATL in 1978. Before that I lived in Jax, FL and my older brother attended UF, hence the UGA hatred. Soon after moving to ATL I was offered a baseball scholly to play for the white and gold. Not much matters before that. It was an empty existence.
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There was always a connection between U of F and GT going back to the Dodd days. A lot of coaching ties between the two schools. For sure we have one thing in common - we both hate UGA. Just ask the ole ball coach.
 
Squint

Squint

Georgia Tech Fan
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Grew up in tiny middle Ga town with little knowledge of GT. I got accepted to both uga and Tech. Wanted to major in music, but parents insisted I choose a paying career. I chose computer science at Tech. Good choice - but switched to EE. Played in Tech band and fell for football in the process. Graduated in 2000 and 2001. Great times.
 

IM79

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442
Squint said:
Grew up in tiny middle Ga town with little knowledge of GT. I got accepted to both uga and Tech. Wanted to major in music, but parents insisted I choose a paying career. I chose computer science at Tech. Good choice - but switched to EE. Played in Tech band and fell for football in the process. Graduated in 2000 and 2001. Great times.
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Might I ask, what tiny middle GA town? I wonder if my tiny middle GA town is smaller than yours.
 
SkyBuzz

SkyBuzz

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First of all, everyone in my family except for me and my brother are dog fans. Another thing going against me was that I was born in Athens. Having said that, I have been a Tech fan since I can remember, around 5 years old. My Dad said it started by watching football games in black and white. I always liked the white jerseys that Tech wore. Man, talk about everything going against you. In spite of all of this, I have been a Tech fan forever and it was the only school that I wanted attend! True to Tech tradition, I had to overcome much to get where I am today!
SkyBuzz - Class of 1971
 
Northeast Stinger

Northeast Stinger

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Side note to this conversation. I have known at least two people over the years who attended uga and but became Tech fans. This thread reminds me that as rare as that is there are periodic sightings of people who grew up in Athens or were in bulldwag loving households or attended uga who were still stout hearted enough to resist the pack urge and go with pulling for a rich, unique, historical tradition.

When I was much younger I remember it used to not be that difficult to find an AM station on the road that would cover Tech games, from Florida to Virginia and even points West. Not to live in the past but I still like to think that someone growing up in another part of the country can fall in love with the Old Gold and White because they sense it is a special program.

I had friends when I was quite young who were Notre Dame fans or Ohio State fans or Southern Call fans for similar reasons. These schools represented exotic, far away places suitable for childhood fantasies and day dreams. I like to think that Tech is similar in the way it can lure in fans. Even if we are more rare within the state.
 
Eastman

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Northeast Stinger said:
Side note to this conversation. I have known at least two people over the years who attended uga and but became Tech fans. This thread reminds me that as rare as that is there are periodic sightings of people who grew up in Athens or were in bulldwag loving households or attended uga who were still stout hearted enough to resist the pack urge and go with pulling for a rich, unique, historical tradition.

When I was much younger I remember it used to not be that difficult to find an AM station on the road that would cover Tech games, from Florida to Virginia and even points West. Not to live in the past but I still like to think that someone growing up in another part of the country can fall in love with the Old Gold and White because they sense it is a special program.

I had friends when I was quite young who were Notre Dame fans or Ohio State fans or Southern Call fans for similar reasons. These schools represented exotic, far away places suitable for childhood fantasies and day dreams. I like to think that Tech is similar in the way it can lure in fans. Even if we are more rare within the state.
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Times have changed. As a boy from Savannah in the 60's that was able to attend but a single game each year, Atlanta was a far away exotic place that had a blue domed restaurant that rotated in the sky amongst skyscrapers! Peering though the windows of the bus I would sometimes see it and also hope to see the capitols gold dome. The stadium was huge and everyone was excited and I hoped we would buy a program that typically has a Giant Yellow Jacket with a HUGE stinger facing off against the day's foe.

At home I would continually tweak my AM radio dial so I could best hear Al Ciraldo report from this big city and when I heard the crowd roar, I could scarcely wait to find out what had happened. Everything about Tech fueled my childhood fantasies. Though I now watch almost every game on a 70 inch high def TV, the excitement is still there, Tech is still exceptional, just without the childhood wonder.
 

bigtechfan67

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459
Well I'm from Atlanta and my father took me to all sports in the Atlanta area we went to a lot of jackets games met some of the players. I grew up in south Fulton county my brothers grew up and played with Calvin johnson and Eric berry in fairburn. I played aau basketball with key Fox. I've been a big johnson fan when he came to tech I was so excited, I walked on at ga southern in 99, he left the next year, played for coach seawalk too. It started with that shiny gold car at a parade downtown though, thought it was cool and I've never been a fan of red, so it was easy as a child.
 
Essobee

Essobee

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How could I not have become a Tech fan? Back in the day (early '50s...I remember your dad's yellow jacket model airplane, bartoma...cool), everything was about Tech football...TV, newspaper, sport discussions, whatever. Beating the lowly dwags was expected (8 years in a row), as was a top ten ranking every year. And you guys think the dwags get too much attention these days? You were born too late. They were all but ignored in the fabulous '50s.

I thoroughly enjoyed those warm autumn days...watching guys play football that were not only outstanding athletes, they were also outstanding students and outstanding graduates. Many of them have done very well over the course of their lives. Having said that, let me add that the "never-give-up" achievement character of the 2014 team leads me to believe that future graduates will be talking about many of them in the same way.
 
Buzztheirazz

Buzztheirazz

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My grandfather is a duke grad so I grew up watching basketball with him. I became an ACC bball fan and due to the fact that I lived in atl I adopted tech.

I also remember liking Colorado (my aunt went to school there) and tech due to them both having gold helmets around 1990. Weird, right?! But why not ND?

My dad also raised me to always pull for the underdog, which I still do. I can't stand the lakers, Yankees, bull----s of the world.

I also graduated from tech.
 
TampaBuzz

TampaBuzz

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My dad didn't sing lullabies...he sang:

Are you a Jacket?
A Yellow Jacket?
From a good ol' Georgia town?

Are you from Georgia?
Atlanta, Ga?
Where the Yellow Jackets swarm all around?

Well if you're from Alabama,
Tennessee, or Caroline,
Or anyplace below the Mason Dixon line

Except from Georgia!
The Hell with Georgia!
Then you're a friend of mine!

Course he was at GT just prior to WWII
 
Supersizethatorder-mutt

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TampaBuzz said:
My dad didn't sing lullabies...he sang:

Are you a Jacket?
A Yellow Jacket?
From a good ol' Georgia town?

Are you from Georgia?
Atlanta, Ga?
Where the Yellow Jackets swarm all around?

Well if you're from Alabama,
Tennessee, or Caroline,
Or anyplace below the Mason Dixon line

Except from Georgia!
The Hell with Georgia!
Then you're a friend of mine!

Course he was at GT just prior to WWII
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Don't think I have ever heard that before, but just from the meter, I bet I know the tune it was sung to. It was probably, to use an equally old term, a rolickin' good song.
 
Supersizethatorder-mutt

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redmule said:
To those of you that grew up in and around Atlanta: You have no idea how much us small town Georgia Boys will relish the upcoming multi-year mauling of the vomit eaters. So many people I love dearly will suffer terribly, and I cannot wait to enjoy it.
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Augusta is not exactly a small town, but I guarantee you the Tech fans in Augusta, myself included, will relish it every bit as much as you.
 
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