NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Welcome back, Georgia fans. Music City hasn’t forgotten you.
The Bulldogs opened the 2019 football season here against Vanderbilt, and the locals are still talking about the red-and-black takeover that commenced. It was estimated that more than 30,000 Georgia fans attended the game in the Commodores’ 40,500-seat stadium and even more than that flooded Broadway and the other streets of Nashville.
Two years later, they’re even better prepared to absorb the Bulldog Nation’s presence, which had begun trickling in Thursday night.
“We’re definitely expecting it to be a packed weekend in town,” said Nashville resident Matt Boeshore, chapter president of the UGA Alumni Association of Nashville. “We’re ready.”
Once again, The Valentine on Broadway has been designated as Bulldog Central for the weekend. The four-story “upscale saloon” is located in the heart of the honky-tonk district.
Boeshore calls it a “Georgia-owned bar,” and indeed it is. Benjie and Jamey Shirah are brothers from the tiny town of Hopeful in southwest Georgia. They’re also managing partners of South Capital Partners, which owns The Valentine and several other reputable bars and restaurants across the South.
Benjie Shirah is what UGA calls a “Double Dawg,” meaning he has a pair of degrees from Georgia. They’re both in forest resources, which clearly prepared him for a career in the restaurant industry.
Jamey Shirah also graduated from Georgia. He has a degree in economics from the Terry College of Business.
The Shirahs have made their marks in the restaurant and bar industry. Atlantans certainly are familiar with The IVY in Buckhead, but South Capital also owns Southern Kitchen and Bar in Birmingham, Ala., and has owned and operated other restaurants around Nashville.
But only The Valentine is considered a Bulldog-centric bar, and that’s year-round. Boeshore said the establishment hosts Georgia football watch parties every Saturday during the fall. The 9,000-square foot building, which used to house a boot business, is decorated with Georgia flags, inflatables and pictures. They also serve nachos in dog bowls.
Woof!
The Valentine isn’t the only business catering to the influx of UGA faithful. Clyde’s on Church Street is holding a “Terrapin Tap Takeover.” Terrapin is, of course, brewed and distributed in Athens.
Georgia always has had a strong presence in Nashville. Boeshore said there are more than 5,000 UGA alumni in the Greater Nashville area. Meanwhile, it’s just a four-hour drive from downtown Atlanta.
“Nashville is one of the top three cities that graduating seniors come to after school,” said Boeshore, a 2008 UGA business administration grad who co-owns Credit Union Travel. “Atlanta is at the top, but we’re next in line.”
Georgia fans love to come Nashville because of the music and entertainment industry, because tickets generally are easy to come by and because there usually isn’t a lot of angst about the outcome of the game.
The Bulldogs, who won 30-6 here in 2019, are 35-point favorites this season. Georgia hasn’t lost in Nashville since 2013 and hasn’t fallen to Vanderbilt but 20 times since they played for the first time in 1893.
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