UGA vs. Mizzou - Welcome to the SEC!

When SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced that Texas A&M and University of Missouri were joining the SEC there was some trepidation, the "us vs. them" mentality, the "they don't know what they're getting into" and all emotions in between. Since I am a Dawg fan and the Captain is a died in the wool Alabama Tide fan I pushed for us to make the trip to Missouri to be in attendance for the inaugural game of the new conference. It wasn't a hard sell since his daughter and son in-law lived just outside Kansas City and it would be another opportunity to visit. They also attended the game with us so I got to enjoy the exquisite hospitality of Gabby (his daughter) as well as the new experiences of Columbia, MO. Tickets were a little difficult to come by but as everyone in Columbia told us not near as difficult as the pending Alabama game.

Travel arrangements were also a little complicated since we were driving to Missouri but were flying home in different directions (me to the ATL and the Captain to Sacramento, Cal.). On our way to KC we spent the night in Collinsville, Ill, home to the world's largest catsup bottle (Brooks Catsup) made famous by the Geico lizard. Since this is a travel blog we had to make a side trip so we could check it off the "list". On Friday (2nd day) we decided to reconnoiter in Columbia and check things out. We had lunch at Hooter's and although I was dressed in red and black the locals were curious but cordial. The restaurant manager Jason, came to our table and asked were we being treated well (it is a mark of Missouri pride to be a good host) and we said yes. He gave us many good tips for game day and when our waitress, Megan (not pictured) , discovered that we were both retired teachers she quickly shared that she was a senior English education major and was very excited to be attending her first SEC game.

A point of information here - Everyone we talked to said how happy they were to be in the SEC and left the Big 12 behind. Many people couldn't wait to tell us how excited they were to join the best football conference in the country because it would give them better exposure, better recruiting, and finally give them a venue to show how good their team REALLY was. As I said, everyone was very hospitable and cordial but deep down they believed they would not only win the game but would dominate UGA. During the extended tailgate time the Captain would steal away and watch the Florida/Texas A&M game. I was pulling for A&M for the simple reason that I didn't want to be the first team to lose an SEC game to the "new guys". The Mizzou fans were quick to point how much they 'disliked' A&M. When Florida won the game the burden settled on Georgia to maintain the seniority of the SEC East. But I digress. Saturday morning arrived and it had been decided previously that we should make the 3 hour drive early enough to get a good parking/tailgating spot which would require arriving in Columbia no later than 1 pm for a 6:45 pm kickoff. We did arrive before 1 pm and did find a small (but great) lot for tailgating right next to the RV lot about a half mile from Faurot Field. Part of being in the SEC is the size and scope of everything (Vanderbilt not withstanding) from the fan base to the stadium to the hype of each and every game. Mizzou did an outstanding job with all new apparel sporting the SEC logo and the hype leading up to the start of the game. The parking area we found was perfect for tailgating; it relatively small, was bordered by trees for shade, also had a picnic shelter (complete with tables) across a small bridge and allowed us to get to know many of our 'neighbors' (of course in that particular lot it was approximately 40 per cent Georgia fans and felt quite homey).

I would like to take a few sentences to recognize and acknowledge some fans from both Mizzou and UGA that we met while tailgating on an absolutely perfect fall day in Columbia. There was Max and Stacy Clayton (and their son Jim) who had a great setup of food, tent, refreshments and satellite TV where the Florida/Texas AM game was playing. They drove from Virginia and spend most of their fall Saturdays in Athens. Our next door tailgaters from Missouri were Billy and Josh; very informative, friendly and liberal with all refreshments and couldn't believe how far away the stadium was! Our most enterprising tailgaters were a group of Missouri students who at first glance appeared to be a fraternity. They turned out to be a group of students who had pooled their money for all the necessary trappings of a good tailgate party - tent, table, cooler, grill, music and "refreshments". As the afternoon wore on they became very talkative. Caesar was from Wisconsin (Madison actually but said he could not go to school in his home town), John, David and Kaileen were also very friendly and when they learned that 3 of the 4 of us were former teachers they were even more friendly and expressed their admiration of teachers and the military (D, the Captain's son in-law is currently in the Air Force). Again, I can't say enough about the hospitality of the Mizzou fans that day. One of the facts that was shared with us about the respect and power of the SEC was the fact that they usually get only one or two televised games a year and this year they are scheduled for 3 Saturday night games consecutively. Some of their fans and ours had a more difficult time 'pacing' themselves for the duration of the afternoon in order to make it to the night kickoff. Some scenes were humorous and others were a bit sad. One that was sad was a freshman girl (no name) who had clearly consumed more than was good for her. Some of her friends were trying to help her as others were breaking down the tailgate and getting ready for the game. We all began to migrate to the bus pickup area (yes, they have shuttles for that big hill!) Fans in Red and Gold were waiting for the bus when a UM campus policeman came up and asked 3 of the students to exit the line. The girl was clearly drunk but the other 2 were decent friends trying to help her and they all got taken to the station. As a former UGA student and current father of a 24 year old UGA grad I am glad that is one phone call I did not have to make (or answer). A hard lesson to learn is these unforgiving times.

The bus ride to the stadium was a balanced mix of drunk Georgia fans and drunk Missouri fans and the good-natured taunts and songs all the way to the drop off point was loud but fun. We exited just as the marching band and the pride of Missouri "Big MO'" the world's largest bass drum, was making it's way to the stadium. Big Mo' is 9 feet in diameter and requires 4 band freshman to push the rolling carriage into position. They used it during the game to rev up the crowd; as Jimmy Buffett would say "you could feel it in your heart" when those concussive strokes were struck. We continued to meet very friendly people Including David, who sat behind us and was a true fount of information telling us about lighting requirements for the field, the stadium additions than were being planned because of the admission to the SEC, traditions about Columbia and game day, and announced the attendance of the game BEFORE it was listed on the big screen (turns out the max attendance to satisfy the fire marshall is 71,004 although my guess is there were closer to 78,000 inside the gates). I am not a game analyst so I won't spend much time on the game proper except for the fact that UGA played a very slow first half which kept Missouri fired up to win. As soon as the game started the uber-friendly fans turned aggressive; towards the Georgia players (and fans), to their own players and to their coach. At one point during the second half one of those friendly fans was sharing some VERY unfriendly comments about a player hurt of the field and I turned to him and said "Man, that's cold!". After that he calmed down and the other good fans (I consider him one as well) began trying to quell some of the nastier Gold fans to be more considerate (and the vast majority of them were). As we pushed on to the end of the game the cry of "old man football" from Mizzou fans gradually turned into "grown man football" by the more vocal Georgia fans. It was quite the day, but one we will always remember fondly!! WELCOME TO THE SEC!!!