Georgia’s Rep. Kingston Refuses to Honor Fla. Gators

Rep. Jack Kingston (R), a University of Georgia alumnus, couldn’t stomach honoring University of Florida Gators national championship football team, so he voted against them.

Kingston opposed a resolution commending the Gators, the arch-rivals of his alma mater, for winning the Bowl Championship Series national championship game earlier this month.

“Why endanger a longstanding, traditional rivalry in one weak moment of love and kisses?” Kingston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It would be a hard thing for me to do.”

The measure passed 399 to five. The other four House members to oppose the measure didn’t vote against the Gators but against the Bowl Championship System, which decides the national champion through polls and computer formulas instead of a playoff, like other college sports do.

The Journal-Constitution noted that Kingston grew up in Athens, Ga., where the University of Georgia is located. He has decorated his office with photos of the school’s bulldog mascot, Uga. Kingston also voted against a resolution honoring the Gators the last time they won the national championship, in 2006.