Tiger Stadium and SEC Football

Last weekend was a weekend of unexpected happenings. Last minute Friday afternoon, I decided to drive up to Baton Rouge to meet my friend and some of her friends, who I guess I can start calling my own friends soon as well. We got dressed up and went out to dinner and for a few drinks. What started out as a couple of drinks turned into Sake Bombs, Vegas Bombs, and a whole lot of vodka, though you won’t catch me complaining. It was an excellent night filled with good people, good drinks, and good conversations. I sort of had one of those “wow you’re absolutely right” moments with my friend, and it definitely helped me figure some things out for myself.

Saturday morning I woke up at my new friend’s house, used her shower, and we cracked open a couple of Coors Lights as we donned our make-up, primped our hair, and got ready for a day of tailgating at Louisiana State University. If there’s one thing I thought I knew how to do well, being from Philadelphia, it was tailgating. However, college football is a whole different ball game (no pun intended). When I would tailgate at USC, I swore it was an awesome party. I would pay $30 for free food and a solid 2 beers. That was the Pac-10 (Pac-12 now I guess you’d say). Down here in Louisiana, things are run a little differently. The sponsored tailgates are more fruitful, more available, and more interesting, to say the least. For $10 I drank all the beer I could drink and ate all the deep fried turkey I could eat. LSU played the Gamecocks from the other USC that day, so there was a game at this tailgate that involved a cock, a game board, poop, and a lot of money. Some would call it animal cruelty, but Tigers call it exciting.

I made my way into Tiger Stadium that night, and I don’t I’ve ever been to a louder football game. It wasn’t even the biggest game of the season, but in the SEC, every game is the biggest game of the season. When most of these players are looking to get drafted, when the odds of playing in the National Championship Bowl Game are high, and when the fans are that dedicated, the football game experience is elevated 100-fold. I can now officially say I’ve been to an SEC, and more specifically and LSU, football game and I survived.