You've heard me mention "Gameday" like 392 bazillion times here lately on this little blog. Ever wonder what a typical gameday is like? Here's my depiction...
My alarm goes off at 6 if it's an early gameday, 6:30 for the late ones. That 30 minutes matters, y'all. I sit up, stretch, realize I only got about an hour of sleep because I was too excited to actually have a good night's rest, and climb out of bed. Still groggy, I haven't quite remembered the reason for the early wake-up call...haven't quite realized exactly why I was so anxious last night.
And then it hits me. Like a ton of bricks...a really awesome one, of course. But a ton of bricks, nonetheless.
It's Gameday. Christmas Day in the SEC world. Kickoff. It's finally here.
I can't help but do a little happy dance by myself in my pajamas in my bedroom. The house is still silent. No one else is awake yet, of course. And being the hospitable hostess that I am, I should let everyone keep sleeping until the alarms start ringing around the house, but no, not today. It's Gameday. "Everybody up and at 'em," I think, as I begin flipping on lights while singing the Ole Miss fight song. I step over air mattresses and pallets made of blankets, sleepy friends with the same goofy grin that is on my face, and of course mounds of clothing and belongings. It's Gameday.
First on the agenda is getting the Grove food ready. If you've never tailgated before, you're missing out. And if you've never tailgated in the Grove on Gameday, then you've really never tailgated. Almost as a ticket into our tent, placed strategically in the middle of the Grove, I make finger foods, dips galore, and red and blue sprinkled cupcakes to munch on before kickoff. My meager snacks are nothing compared with the spreads you'll see all over the Grove... Tailgating is an art, not a past time.
The showers start to happen, the iPod is cranked up loud for everyone to hear, and we start getting our Gameday attire laid out. Midway through the primping, an old familiar song comes on the iPod...with the first notes, we all know what it is. Dixie. Sweet, sweet slow Dixie. And with that song, we all get ready a little faster, knowing that the Grove is just a few, short minutes away. We put on our pretty, fresh dresses and throw on our heels (after tossing our flats into our purses, of course.) But any Grove outfit is never complete without our "KD Loves Our Rebs" button and the traditional Colonel Rebel tattoo on our cheeks. "Where's my lucky pom pom?" I yell, as I lose it every week in the fall, and somehow always seem to find it again. Deep down, I really know it's not the same one, but I choose to believe it's the same red and blue pom I've used since freshman year.
Finally we're ready. To campus we go. Traffic is miserable, like we should have expected, but we still gripe about it as if this is the first game we've ever been to. My feet are already hurting, but I know that this dress looks better with these heels, so I suck it up and deal with it. It is Gameday, after all. And then, in a sudden moment, we finally get a glimpse of the Center of the Universe.
As far as the eye can see are tents, a sea of red and blue, if you will. And of course, no one has cell phone service. Ever. Thanks, AT&T. Lesson learned...if you want to be with certain people on Gameday, either go with them to begin with, or start sending up smoke signals because otherwise, you won't find them. The spread on the table looks like Thanksgiving dinner...sprinkled with every item ever created in red and blue. I prepare by not eating the day before...gotta save up room for the football feast awaiting us in the Grove. Our coolers are full of beverages; anything from the typical Diet Cokes to bottles of wine, and of course, many pitchers of mimosas. Mimosas are a staple in our group for a typical Gameday...there always seems to be an endless supply and that's just how we like it. We snap photo after photo of the group in our best Grove attire, trying to capture a memory. I always claim the middle spot, but it's pretty much understood by this point in our friendships. After the paparazzi is done, we switch to our flats and toss the heels under the table somewhere. Comfort is key (once our fabulous heels have been camera documented.)
Friends mingle in and out. The Grove is like a non-stop cocktail party, mixed with a family reunion, sorority get-together, afternoon picnic, and dinner party all rolled into one. We don't go as far as to have chandeliers and HD television in our tent, but you better believe we're decked out in red and blue and have the best food around. Approximately 3 hours before kickoff, we're all sure to scramble to the Walk of Champions for the infamous team walk-through, a tradition in our little college town. You'll hear lots of "Go Rebs!" and a few "Hotty Toddy" chants, lots of high fives, screams, and excitement as the players make their way to the stadium. This is the moment when you can really feel the spirit in the air. The Grove comes alive, even more so than before. We truly believe that if we don't Grove hard enough, our Rebels won't win the game. Everyone is getting pumped up for the football to come...me included. We head back to the tent for a few more bites of Abner's chicken and a few more sips of our mimosas, checking the time every 10 minutes or so. After all, we can't be in the stadium any later than an hour before kickoff.
Finally, it's time to head to the glorious Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. You can feel the excitement in the air. Hotty Toddy is being chanted a little more frequently, and more friends are showing up for the routine walk to the student section. Pom poms are grabbed and the food is put back into coolers for the post-game victory party (who am I kidding--we're usually eating our sorrows away.) And then we're off, after stopping by a few familiar tents on the way. The lines into the stadium stretch far and wide, everyone waiting their turn to have their ticket scanned for entrance into our happy place. Kickoff is in about one hour, and the minutes tick down on the field clock. I enjoy football more than most men, and I'm proud to admit that. I'm not one of those girls who sits down and small talks during the game. I'm on my feet, screaming at the defense to step up a little, cheering for a touchdown, and waving my pom pom furiously. My daddy raised me to have a fierce love for sports, especially Ole Miss sports, so needless to say, I'm usually hoarse on any given Sunday after a home game, especially with the pathetic season we're having.
Per usual, a celebrity of some type yells out the tradititonal "Are You Ready?" chant immediately before kickoff...we've had anyone from Sandra Bullock to Jack Black to Dennis Quaid. It's a new level of excitement every week to guess who may chant our favorite question this game... Wonder who it will be next? And if you're wondering, Hotty Toddy is an age-old tradition at Ole Miss and it goes a little something like this: Are you ready?! Hell yeah, damn right! Hotty toddy, gosh a'mighty, who the hell are we? Hey! Flim flam bim bam, Ole Miss by damn!"
I may as well just skip through the game part...it consists of a lot of penalties, false starts, and interceptions against us, but I still love my Rebels. This week we play LSU...and I shudder at the thought. We are going to get slaughtered, but I am still going to enjoy every moment of the game. And yes, I said the student section...I'm still reliving my glory days. There's just a little more spirit down there (Sweeeeet Caroline, bumbumbum), and I love it. So from here, we'll just skip the game, since we've come to the acceptance that a big LOSS is headed our way. Everyone has rebuilding years, right? (Just appease me and say, "Yes, of course they do!")
We head back to the Grove with our black bear tail tucked between our legs, but that's okay, because the 2011 Ole Miss Football season wasn't really about football, was it? We'll all admit we only came to campus for the Grove. And this is when we start unloading coolers, restocking empty plates on the tables, and popping celebratory champagne bottles. (Or in our case, we're stealing our cooler back from the tent next to us that stole ours...yeah, that happened.) You hear lots of talk about how much Les Miles is hated, who our next coach will be, how we're really "not that terrible, the SEC is just so competitive (yeah right...)," and so forth, and this carries on into the evening until we've decided we've graced the Grove for long enough.
Time to continue on to the Square. But I won't get into that part of the story, because what happens on the Square, stays there.
Hotty Toddy, y'all! Let's go ahead and start cheering for the upset of the century...
Geaux to hell, LSU!!!
