by Douglas S. Malan (Author)
What has Athens to do with New Haven? Separated by nearly 900 miles, the casual observer finds no obvious connection, aside from their identities as venerable cities in two of America's 13 original colonies. History, however, tells a different story. In America's infancy, Yale-educated men migrated south to establish new lives in Georgia and contribute to the political scene and educational system. As a result, the University of Georgia emerged as the first land-grant university in America, and its founders looked to Yale for inspiration in the college's architecture and curriculum. After more than a century, the spiritual and philosophical connections between the schools were celebrated in a different manner-through a friendly gridiron rivalry. Yale, the Northern blueblood, and Georgia, the Southern institution on the rise, met 11 times between 1923 and 1934. This book chronicles those meaningful battles and marks the gradual shift in the college football power structure. Here is a closer look at an old rivalry whose existence surprises us when we consider how far apart the programs have grown.