I had always rooted against Alabama, simply because they were all powerful. Who, from elsewhere around the country, doesn’t generally favor the underdogs?
But HOLD ON A MINUTE.
I have been to Oxford, MS and The Grove, the still unrivaled champion of tailgate nirvana. But the stadium holds just 71,000. “Just” being a relative term. It is a beautiful experience with similarly welcoming people. And LOTS of long vowels.
But Alabama is indeed a Sweet Home. Holy buckets batman. These people are all dressed up with somewhere to go.
And the stadium – it is WAY bigger than any other pro football stadium I’ve seen.
See what I did there?
Phil developed a tailgate entry with a fee-based tailgate company run by, oh no, I lost his name! I think it was “Aaron.” Such a high energy guy, there were two TV’s tuned, of course, to SEC football, so we got to see Vanderbilt handle LSU when we weren’t staring at the crowd and waiting for the SAE party to start. Important, as Emma and I will be rooting for Texas A&M next weekend in Baton Rouge, and I will be rooting against Brian Kelly. I’ve hated him ever since he abandoned his 11-0 Cincinnati Bearcats and their New year’s Bowl date (an incredible avhievement) so he could take the Notre Dame job. NOT a good guy. Really please that after abandoning Notre Dame for LSU, that ND is better/more successful.
SAE party you day? Yes, actually, because our friends Nether Hour were playing there….
But first there was the walkabouts. Streams of people, with women dressed to the 9’s and their dates largely in t-shirts and shorts. Some small but earnest sets of young men sported blazers, but generally the women were dresses for Alabama high society and the men were not.
So off we went to the SAE party, which turned out to be right around the block, featuring Nether Hour. If you haven’t heard ‘em, fire up Spotify and check ‘em out. Terrific musicians, great voices, played For the Song gigs this year at Piper’s Opera House, Valhalla Tahoe and ArrowCreek. EVERYone wants ‘em back. Check out this Youtube of an acoustic song – “Off the Wagon.” I highlight it particularly because a flash rain washed out their outdoor performance at ArrowCreek…, they went inside acoustic and KILLED. On the one hand, it was great to see them in Tuscaloosa. On the other, they are simply too great to be playing for folks that are hardly listening. But that’s the gig!.
On to the game. Check out the walk in and the beautiful campus.
It is serious at Tennessee, too. Look at all the onfield personnel in orange! Yikes!
If you watched or saw highlights, I think Bart had it right. The biggest moment in college football this year happened right before halftime. Alabama up 16-7, Tennessee drives down to the two, fails on 1st down and calls their last time out with 9 seconds left in the half. Tennessee has to try to throw the ball to score or time may run out. THIS is what happened.
That play resulted in the LOUDEST sound I have ever heard, including motorcar racing, jet engines, or anything else. We were near the top of the stadium, so ALL the sound carried us aWAY Twas amazing, exciting, incredible.
And something even better happened immediately thereafter, The first half was incredibly uncomfortable, as the seat spacing on our aluminium (for Clive) bench were SO SMALL that the six of us were all doing the Captain Morgan shuffle. The Tennessee police officer behind me was a monster and he had the same problem, so I never knew when his feet of knees were net to impact. I just knew it would be perpetual. Like Saturdays. And uncomfortable. Like hungover Mondays. Which I have not had forever, thank you very much. Except for those knees and feet of his.
Ah, so RELIEF! Two people left from our row, never to return, and in the 2nd half, we were back to a perpetual Saturday of joy. His row must have had the same resolution, as he has some relief, as did my backside.
The boys have established Waffle House as Clive’s go-to. Clive is an experienced, cultured guy with an open heart. With tongue in cheek, he has embraced his destiny – to visit Waffle House and get a picture in every one of the 23 states that have them. He does it in very good humor indeed.
We returned to our Home2 victorious, sated and exhausted, reveling in what we saw and experienced. Thanks, Phil, for the great idea and the great day!!!
A Goods Life 