The Deep South’s Oldest Column: Kicking Ass and Cute - A Comparison of College Gamedays
In the South, the tailgating scene is a marvel made of pure bliss on gameday. Outside the SEC is where it gets dicey. Dr. B explores his tailgating experiences and yearns for the RVs, flags, and “Kick Ass” of the SEC.
By: Dr. B
Caution...flowery and cheesy opening line to follow...here we go:
The college football game day experience is a beautiful collection of traditions and ritual that brings massive amounts of joy to those who experience it. There...I said it...cheesy, but true. I have been fortunate to have been able to experience game days at schools in the ACC, SEC, Pac-12, and Big Ten. My ultimate goal is to experience game day at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu...it’s on my list. When push comes to shove, nothing compares to the college football game day on golden fall Saturdays in the SEC. Familiar terms like the Grove, the Quad, the Walk of Champions bring great pride to the hearts of those that experience game days in the SEC. And LSU at night...my goodness...that is a category all its own.
Oh, how terrific it would be to live in SEC country again! For me, it wasn’t in the cards as my family and I live in a college town right in the heart of ACC country...you know, where they play sports like basketball and lacrosse and baseball...where football is a nice pastime (unless you are Clemson). I do love where I live, as it is in a terrific place to raise a family. My office resides five minutes from the heart of a major state university, and I find myself driving through campus several times a week. I love our local university as it does a terrific job helping to make our town what it is. The football game day experience, however...well, it needs some work. Allow me to explain.
I attended college at the University of Alabama and memories of college football Saturdays remain with me to this day, as they are among my favorite memories of my days in Tuscaloosa. For me, it started mid-week when I would pick up my edition of the campus newspaper, The Crimson and White, to read feature stories and previews of the game to come. On Friday nights, things really picked up as pep rallies at the center of campus were amazing affairs, and they were followed by a late evening at my fraternity house with my girlfriend, my buddies, and their ladies...pure college “gold!”
A Friday night at the House, with friends, drinks, and good times…the best days!
Turn the page to game day Saturdays, and campus became an incredible world of its own. My roommate and I would wake up late and head with a group of friends to the heart of campus to take part in the pre-game festivities, a true celebration known as Bama football. At the heart of the University of Alabama campus was a large grassy area surrounded by academic buildings called The Quad. On game days, the quad was packed with tailgaters, play areas for kids, and was filled with makeshift mini football fields, well populated by kids wearing Crimson jerseys donned with the numbers of their favorite players. Some young girls would join in the action, while others, the future southern belles that would populate UA’s massive sorority population in years to come, walked among the crowds in their full Bama cheerleader outfits, dreaming of the day they could be on the sidelines cheering on their favorite college football program. Huge grills cooking ribs, burgers, dogs, and chicken filled the area as well, and Crimson Tide fans traveled from tailgate tent to tailgate tent, hobnobbing with fellow fans. The atmosphere was plain and simply electric.
Walking on the outskirts of the Quad revealed an entirely different scene. Every parking lot around campus would be packed with massive and elaborate RVs. Line after line of them, decked out in Crimson and White with license plates from all over the country. The vehicles themselves were stunning, with most looking like your average three bedroom, two bath suburban home - but with wheels. They would be parked close to one another, with their surrounding areas decked out with tables full of food and as big a TVs as you could find in those days - some weighing what would seem like half a ton. The pictures on their screens would dance with pre-game shows and broadcasts from early kickoffs, the revelry already well under way when the first ball took flight. Campus was filled with families and friends once again fellowshipping with one another.
The view from our seats in Bryant-Denny, back in the day…oh, what a scene!
The thing I loved the most about the revelry known as SEC tailgating were the banners and the flags that flew high above the RV’s and the vehicles. Hundreds of them dotted the sky along the walk to the stadium, proclaiming the home teams proud colors and listing the school’s numerous national championships. This started many years ago when a Tide fan used to carry a pole with pennants of opponents that Bama had beaten, which he called the “Bama Meat Pole.” Seeing the flags flying high created a lump in my throat, as the pride I felt watching those crimson and white flags blowing in the wind, shouting for their owners “This vehicle belongs to a Bama family” brings such joy and pride to this day. Someday, the Tide program will start to slide (maybe), as that is the cycle of college football. But, by God, those flags will still be flying high.
We would eventually make our way into massive Bryant-Denny Stadium with enough time to see the band enter, blaring the school’s fight song called “Yea Alabama,” in which everyone would rise to their feet in respect, shaking crimson and white shakers in unison with the song. It was quite a sight. We watched our boys warm-up while flirting with our girlfriends, cutting off conversations only when the loudspeakers began to blare Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic “Sweet Home Alabama'' and we added a collective “Roll Tide Roll” in Ronnie Van Zant’s idyllic chorus. Once the game began, we stood up the entire contest and actually watched and analyzed each play, from start to finish. Gameday evenings ended with a band party featuring musicians that played classic rock at the fraternity house, where I became quite legendary for my air guitar skills, and I would oftentimes be invited to join the band on stage for a song or two. Since leaving Alabama, I have been back to campus numerous times and it’s been great to see that very little has changed (my air guitar ability, sadly, has taken a turn for the worse). I’ve also been to several other SEC schools for games, and I have found the experience is very much the same. And yes, LSU at night, is a unique experience all of its own...absolutely insane madness, and simply awesome. Overall, the phrase I would use to describe the entire SEC game day experience would be totally kick ass.
Is there anything better than “Sweet Home Alabama” in Bryant-Denny?
Which brings me to my ACC game day experience. Upon my arrival in my current town years ago, I bought football season tickets, thinking the experience would be similar to what I found in Alabama. As I walked through campus for the first time, headed to the stadium, it looked...different. It was subdued, almost calm. There was an extreme lack of RVs and tailgates were primarily reserved for cars and SUVs in the small parking lots that surrounded the stadium.
I would edge up to the tailgate tables to see what was being served. No massive grills with ribs and burgers and dogs...a few coolers stocked with cold brew, and card tables...yes card tables, stocked with hors d’oeuvres, including the dreaded wine and cheese so easily and rightfully mocked, notably by Colin Cowherd. Massive “what the hell?” Part One. Scattered around the stadium, there was a small tent or two, and kids kind of were just...hanging out. An occasional football was being tossed in a parking lot, but I failed to see the games being played by the masses that I saw in SEC country. And the dress...most of the guys were sporting dock shoes without socks, khakis, and button-down shirts with bow ties. The ladies were dressed nicely, with bright colors that represented the school’s colors. Massive “what the hell?” Part Two. Don't get me started on the flags, or extreme lack-of, I witnessed around the stadium. Good God, barely any flags were visible at all!
The adventure continued when I entered the stadium. The place was not massive, and rarely in my years attending games was it filled (it was for the Rolling Stones concert my wife and I attended many years ago...rock on!). The university’s team was never awful, and seemed like they would always lose to teams they should beat, but somehow someway, would rise up and beat one team per year, usually at home, that they were not supposed to beat, and that made going to games really fun. I had two seats in the lower area, section 117, just on the left side of the uprights in the end zone about 30 rows up. They were great seats, and I loved them. People around me weren’t particularly friendly outside the super nice elderly couple a few seats down from me who always greeted me as they passed. The man would sit down, take out a newspaper, and read the entire game while the wife just sat there. For one game, I actually followed suit and since I was preparing for the GRE and graduate school, I brought my test prep book and spent the entire first half going over vocabulary. Outside of Vanderbilt, if I tried to pull that crap in an SEC stadium, I would have been thrown out on my tail.
Ditch the ties and wine and cheese, nerds! Lighten up and break out the Air Guitar with Dr. B and Ronnie Van Zant!
My seats were directly behind a group of recent grads who were doing all they could to hold on to their college years. They would show up after the game began with their mini bourbon bottles and loud voices that carried far beyond our small section. On the days where they brought “shakers”, they shook them, oftentimes hitting me with no care whatsoever. There was one particularly annoying young recent grad who showed up, game after game with his bow tie and strong opinions about how every call against his team was total BS. His actions mirrored the older gentleman three rows back from me that I nicknamed “The Expert”, as he kept a running commentary on the game loud enough for all of us to hear, yet the problem was he, as well as the bow-tie clad recent grad, was rarely correct (or even in the ballpark). The seats next to mine were a revolving door, as the same people never held onto the seats for more than a season...call it the black hole of section 117. Needless to say, the experience left me exhausted every time, and walking back to my car at the end of each game, I often thought about how I might finally confront the recent grads in front of me. I never did. The entire experience was fun (it was college football, after all), interesting, unique...but far from kicking ass.
Man, can you believe we got offered wine and cheese at a tailgate? Where was the Bud Light?
Overall, how would I describe my ACC game day experience? It was far from bad, as it was, after all, college football. Was it kick ass? No...I would describe the entire experience as...cute. Sorry, I like cute, but not on my football Saturdays...I want kick ass. Maybe all the action was going on somewhere else on campus and I missed it...but year after year after year, I looked, and hoped, for something more. But I never found it...all I found were more bow ties and no damn flags.
College football is college football, no question. My experiences in the ACC stadium in my home town continued throughout the pre-COVID days, and little changed. It’s still cute, and it’s still fun, and I’m blessed to live in this great town with a great university that has a decent football program. Yet, each Saturday, I long for the flags on the massive RV’s...for the kids playing football...for the grills the size of my front lawn...for a Walk of Champions and The Grove and The Quad. After all, in the SEC, it really is true that we do things bigger... and it just means more. A lot more.
Dr. B has lived and taught throughout the South, attending The University of Alabama and earning a Ph.D. from The University of Georgia. He has come to know and love the people and rich traditions of the SEC and its rabid fan bases.