Cocktails and Football

by Chris Paschal

There are only a handful of newspapers printed in the United States that are universally known throughout the American citizenry. The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post. Maybe a few others. In the South, most Southerners know of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I’m guessing, while a fine newspaper, that most Americans don’t know much about the Florida Times-Union. In fact, because the name of the paper doesn’t really give it away, I’m guessing most Americans, outside of Floridians, have an idea of what city the Times-Union is based out of. (It’s located in Jacksonville, by the way.)

With all that being said, the Times-Union has played a significant role in the shaping of this great country. In fact, in my opinion, the Times-Union is second to none in their efforts to enlighten and report hard-hitting news to their subscribers. Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and the entire Washington Post staff fall short in their efforts to claim “Watergate” was more influential and consequential in the development of our great country than whatever the Florida paper contributed.

“Chris, what in the world are you babbling on about,” many of you are asking yourselves. My love for the Times-Union is unparalleled for one reason and one reason only. In the 1950s, thanks in large part to the brilliant and courageous work of one Bill Kastelz, the Times-Union dubbed the Florida-Georgia Game (or Georgia-Florida Game) the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”. America would never be the same.

This might be one of my favorite rivalry games in all of college football. There is something about it that makes it different from most other rivalry games. Maybe it’s because in the midst of all of the on-campus games, and all of the conference games, and all of the packed home stadiums, time stands still for about four hours as the Gators and the Bulldogs travel to Jacksonville for what is almost always a neutral site game where the stadium is half blue and orange and the other half is red and black.

The Party

Since 1933, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has been played in Jacksonville, Florida. As you can tell from the title of the rivalry, when the Bulldogs and the Gators get together one helluva party commences. When talking to a recent Georgia alumnus who shall remain nameless, I learned that for a couple of days on the Sea Islands of Georgia and Florida, a concoction of Garden & Gun and “Jersey Shore” is blended together in such a way that one never wants to go back. That is, of course, until kickoff is about 72 hours away at which point one feels like life itself will end unless they are immediately put within driving distance of the stadium.

I have never been to the Cocktail Party. The stories of the parties and tailgates that happen before the game mostly come from what I am told. But to be honest, while I would love to go, I feel like I know exactly what goes on down there thanks to the words of Larry Munson. Back in 1980, the longtime Georgia play-by-play radio legend clearly and succinctly summarized all you need to know about this rivalry. Immediately following his famous “Run, Lindsay, Run” call, in which the Bulldogs were able to miraculously score and take the lead with just over a minute left in the game, Munson prophesied “do you know what is going to happen here tonight, and up in St. Simons and Jekyll Island and all those places, where all those Dawg people have got those condominiums for four days? Man is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight.”

Legendary Coaches

So, if I have never been, and I’m neither a Georgia or a Florida fan, why do I love this game so much? My answer – the action on the field itself. Yes, the fans, and the location, and the pageantry all adds to it, but this is one of the more action-packed rivalries this conference has to offer. The coaches in this rivalry have been noteworthy to say the least. Vince Dooley is one of the all-time winningest coaches in SEC history after leading the Dawgs from 1964-1988. His record against the Gators: 17-7-1. During that stretch, not only was Dooley dominating Florida but he was also winning SEC Titles, New Year’s Day Bowls, and a National Title. Urban Meyer did pretty well himself. During his time at Florida (2005-2010), Meyer only lost to Georgia once. The two-time National Champion Coach also avenged his one loss to the Dawgs in 2007 with a thrashing in 2008.

According to Front Porch Football subscriber and Florida fan, Nico Alvarez, “the best part of the game was when Urban Meyer burned two timeouts in the last 44 seconds while up 49-10 just to stick it to Mark Richt who had encouraged what has to be the most shameful endzone celebration in the history of college football just a year earlier.”

Of course, there was also Steve Spurrier. The “Head Ball Coach” relished the opportunity to beat up on the Dawgs. During his 12-year run from 1990-2001, the Gators only lost once to the Bulldogs. Spurrier tortured the Bulldog faithful with his high-flying offense and arrogant attitude. When asked one time whether or not he thought the Gators would beat the Bulldogs, Spurrier fired back, “Is Ray Goff still coaching there?” Before Spurrier arrived in Gainesville, the Gators had won literally half the amount of games the Dawgs had in the series (44-22-2). Since Spurrier’s arrival in 1990, the Gators have gone 21-8.

Great Players

This game also features great players. Names like Jevon Kearse, Alex Brown, David Pollack, Danny Wuerffel, AJ Green, Wes Chandler, and Fran Tarkenton have been featured throughout this rivalry. Furthermore, the Heisman Trophy has been hoisted five times between the two programs. The most recent Heisman winner in this rivalry was Tim Tebow who left Florida with a whopping 14 SEC statistical records. Georgia’s most recent would be Herschel Walker who ran his way through opposing defenses. Walker would finish with a National Title, the Heisman, three straight SEC Player of the Year Titles, and a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.
The games themselves aren’t that bad either. Since 1990, there have only been two games in which neither team was ranked. And both of those games were decided by a field goal. I love the intensity on the field. I swear you can feel it through the television screen.

Florida Legend, Emmitt Smith, once explained the reason why this game was so action-packed and fierce. He stated that it’s the best the state of Florida has to offer versus the best the state of Georgia has to offer, and both sides think they have the best athletes in the entire world. That’s what led to Steve Spurrier running up the score in 1995 in Athens (one of two years where the game was not played in Jacksonville due to stadium renovations) and loving every moment of it. When asked why he did, Spurrier responded that he knew going in that “half a hundred” had never been scored in Sanford Stadium. That intensity is what led to JR Reed being lifted onto his teammates shoulders and being carried off the field after scoring a defense touchdown in the middle of 2017’s beatdown. That passion is what led to Larry Munson breaking his chair in 1980. That hatred is what led to unimaginable upsets in 1997 and 2014. That fanaticalness is what led to Frank Sinkwich playing the 1941 game with a broken jaw.

The Ride over the River

Former players have talked about the bus ride over the St. John’s River on the Hart Bridge and seeing the stadium. Something clicks. It’s gametime. And while the game has not been officially called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party since the mid-2000s due to our country’s slow march towards political correctness and soul-crushing dystopia, I will still make the argument that this is one of the best games the SEC has to offer, and I full-heartedly expect that the 2019 reenactment of this great rivalry will meet my expectations.