INDIANAPOLIS — Along Highway 15, on a small patch of red clay near Sandersville, Georgia, sits an 84-year-old wooden barn with a rusted tin roof and weathered pine boards.
The barn belongs to the Hitchcock family, which has operated a 2,500-acre farm for more than a century. Over the years, the barn has served as a general store, a storage facility and, for the past 21 years, a barometer for how the University of Georgia’s football team is playing.
In 2000, when James and Jonathan Hitchcock and their cousin, Ross Smith, were convinced the Bulldogs were playing the wrong quarterback (sound familiar?), the Hitchcocks’ father, Waylon, came up with an idea.
“Why don’t you go up there and paint the barn and let people know how you feel?” Waylon Hitchcock said.
So the Hitchcock brothers and Smith purchased a few cans of spray paint and let the world know exactly how they felt about Quincy Carter starting over Cory Phillips: “To Hell With Carter; Phillips for President.”
“We were a lot more critical when we were younger,” Smith said. “We put some pretty aggressive messages up there. Before Facebook, you never knew how far it would reach. It was basically people taking photos and then texting them out.”
Every season, thousands of Georgia football fans pass by the barn while making the pilgrimage south for the rivalry game against Florida or traveling north for home games in Athens. Smith and the Hitchcock brothers used to update the sign every two or three weeks; now, with their families and careers taking priority, they change it two to three times per season. Some of their memorable messages have included: “Attack the Day,” “We’re Not Going Anywhere,” and, more recently, “You’re Either Elite, Or You’re Not.”
For the cynical Georgia fans, however, they might have just saved their paint and left the same old tired…
Source : espn
