My live college football game experiences have been largely
at the Liberty Bowl stadium in Memphis watching my beloved University of
Memphis Tigers give their best effort.
Tiger football has seldom been the University’s claim to fame in
athletics. Yet, occasionally Tiger fans
get an enjoyable treat watching standouts, such as DeAngelo Williams (Carolina
Panthers RB), whom we got to watch run at every home game and pile up enough
yards to get national recognition.
Columbia, the capital of South Carolina is the largest city
in the state with a population of 130,000.
The state is void of any major professional sports team, so college
athletics reign. One does not have to be
here very long to understand there are two primary loyalties among the populace
in the state…the University of South Carolina and Clemson University.
On game day, in Columbia, traffic is at a stand-still within
3 miles from the stadium at least three hours prior to the kick-off. Traffic is re-routed where roads that are
regularly bi-directional are now one way.
And from personal experience, you need to learn which roads to avoid,
which roads will lead you to the Fairgrounds fields where thousands of people
are tailgating and the road to avoid which takes you to a parking area where
the affluent park, play and party.
Police cars and staff from different counties and municipalities are
scattered throughout to control the traffic and crowd.
Because of the traffic flow and the lane I was in I was
forced into a parking lot that was across the street from the stadium which
cost me $40. The huge expanse of grass
lots with painted lines to guide cars into slots was full of luxury and late
model SUVs. As I went down to the end of
the grassy area to find a parking spot, my small late model pickup received
ridicule from several rich kids (college students) who jumped out of their
folding chairs and yelled “Ranger Alert.”
Ford quit making the Ranger pickup last year, and as pickups go, they
tend to be the least expensive. I parked
my vehicle and walked down one long lane of portable sun shade structures
bearing the University of South Carolina name and Gamecocks logo. Underneath each of these tents were people
dressed in Maroon, Black or White tops that left no one to wonder which team
they were rooting for. Scents of meat
cooking on portable grills and voices filled with laughter came from this
crowd. Beer and other alcoholic beverages were in abundance. There was one tent with two TV’s set up
airing other televised games. I
understand that some people come to the games without tickets just to socialize
with others before, during and after the game. This was tailgating unlike anything I had seen
before, but this was just an appetizer.
With the benefit of a cell phone my co-worker and I were
able to meet up at a landmark. He guided
me past the stadium to the Fairgrounds where his family had parked. There were literally thousands of people
milling about in the grassy area that was reserved for people who had pre-paid
for a spot to park. I learned many of these people had the same reserved spot
for years and it was a given that they would be there every home game. Of all the people there, my friend seemed to
know several and oddly, someone there knew me…another co-worker. More tents, more food, more booze, and many
more people than the parking lot I just left.
If I were 30 years younger and single, this would be a great play ground
J. I met
my co-worker’s family and they took me in as if I had always been a part of
their pre-game ritual. A couple of
beers, and a shot of mint liqueur and off to the stadium we went. I was with my co-worker, his brother and his
brother’s fraternity brothers and their girlfriends, all of whom were half my
age.
The stadium does not sell alcoholic beverages, so many
students and alums sneak in the mini-bottles of spirits to spike their sodas
that they buy at the concession stands. After
a stop at the concession stands and paying $5.50 for a souvenir cup full of
Coke we moved through the crowd to find our gate. As we walked up the ramp to our gate, my
co-worker’s brother and his frat brothers were yelling out cheers where many others
on the ramp and breezeway joined in. Certainly,
USC has passionate and loyal fans. We found
our seats at the 40 yard line located about half way between the field and top
of the stadium. The seats were in a great
location, and it wasn’t long before you were talking to people on your row,
behind you and in front of you, unassuming to any stranger that these people
had not known each other before this day. The old man fit in just fine with the “kids.”
As the team came on the field, the place became electric…over
80,000 people in the house with a safe estimate of 75,000 being Gamecock
loyalists. Every USC student in their
designated section below the new scoreboard was aggressively waving small
towels overhead in a circular motion in unison to music blasting from the sound
system right before kickoff. I can only
image how amped I would be as player if I walked into that environment.
South Carolina does have a good team this year. They also have an accomplished college coach
in Steve Spurrier. He is not hard to
miss on the sidelines...look for the infamous visor and you’ll likely see him viewing
every play at the line scrimmage. The
starting quarterback was injured in the previous game and did not play. Their second string quarterback led them to a
35-0 halftime lead…after halftime the student section was ½ empty and people
started exiting in droves. My co-worker
told me when the Gamecocks have a large lead like this, the masses head back
out to continue tailgating or try to beat the traffic.
I left with 5 minutes left in the game. My co-worker went back to tailgate with his
family and I went the other way to my truck.
At the end of the grassy area where my truck was parked there were port
a potties and a fence nearby. I heard
some music blaring beyond the fence, so I walked over to take a peek. Down a hill from the fence there were
makeshift tents set up in another grassy area with signs displaying Greek
symbols for each fraternity represented.
There students, more students, and I expect alums all there having a
good time. This had to be where the real
party was.
All in all, this was a wonderful experience. In spite of all the differences and
disagreements among people, there are circumstances, events, and occasions when
we put all that aside and come together as one community. This day was one of them. USC won 48-10. Go Cocks!
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