Georgia Again, and Now the Whole Family Plays for It
Cleveland State31
Georgia14
- Game
- 2029 CFP Semifinal
- Site
- Neutral site
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 13-3
Vikings 31, Georgia 14. BACK TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
Last January we beat Georgia for the title. This January we beat them by seventeen in the semifinal to get back. Two years, two wins over the Bulldogs, and our guys are going back to play for everything.
Against Ohio.
Of course against Ohio. It was always Ohio. Sal’s tube. Bridget’s “see you in January.” Everybody in Athens has been acting like they had the script since September, and here it is: Cleveland State against Ohio, for the national championship. My program against my daughter’s.
Bridget called me Sunday. She was crying a little and laughing a little. She said, “Dad, I don’t know how to do this.” I said, “Kiddo, me neither.” She said, “I’m going to be in the press box. I have to work the game. I’m going to be so happy if we win and so sad for you.” I said, “And I’m going to be so happy if we win and so sad for you.” We stayed on the phone a long time, not saying much. Then Donna got on and said, “You two are both ridiculous and I love you,” and hung up on both of us.
Five pierogi. One for Bridget.
The Vikings beat Georgia by seventeen. Back-to-back national championship games. I’ve now written that sentence twice in my career, which is two more times than I expected to.
Ohio. For the title. The program that beat the Vikings in Cleveland in 2024, 2026 and 2028, and lost to them every time in Athens. The program that’s been patient all season. The program that employs Mickey’s daughter.
Sal came to the Lantern Room on Tuesday, which he’s never done. He sat next to me at the bar, ordered a club soda, and said, “Ken, I’m sorry about what’s going to happen.” I said, “You don’t know what’s going to happen.” He said, “I know.” Then he paid for my drink and left. Nadia watched him go and said, “That man is very confident about a cardboard tube.”
I called my father. Clear day. I said, “Dad, we’re playing Ohio for the national championship.” He said, “Ohio’s always tough, Kenny.” Of course he said it. He’s been saying it for five years, through good days and foggy ones. It’s the truest thing he knows.
Back and forth
Our family is playing our family, Kenny.
I know. I’ll be in the press box near Bridget. I’ll be polite.
Sal paid for your drink?
Sal is either very kind or very certain. Possibly both. That’s the scariest kind of man.
Georgia beaten for the second straight January, a father and daughter on opposite sides of a national title game, and a barber buying club sodas like he’s read the last page.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.