Part Two - Ole Miss and All Things Southern!

So The Captain and his crew are barreling up I-59 and I am able to leisurely get up, have breakfast with the Gold Wing members and am so filled with anticipation that I can't wait to get on the road, 6 hours before game time. I head out on West Main St. towards Oxford and find myself in need of a car wash and I see a group of young people holding a sign advertising a fund-raising car wash for a boy scout troop (as a band director for 32 years I ALWAYS support young people raising money!). I pulled in and an adult leader guided me to the starting point and immediately noticed that I was from Georgia and asked what brought me to Tupelo. I explained my SEC Travel Blog trip and it was like a dam bursting with questions, where I was from, why Ole Miss? which team did I root for? I got several suggestions from other adults on where to park, how to get in and out of Oxford and, of course, how to get to the Grove! My most surprising moment of that interlude was when an 8th grader named Quan asked me had I really attended UGA (I answered yes, me, my wife, and youngest son) and he then told me they were his favorite team and Isaiah Crowell was his favorite player. Imagine my surprise being in the heart of the deep South in northern Miss. to find another GA. Bulldog fan! He said he wanted to go to UGA and play for the Dawgs; I hope he realizes his dream! On to Oxford.

I followed the crowd of vehicles (predominantly shiny SUV's) mostly sporting 'Roll Tide' car flags with some Ole Miss vehicles mixed in, and rolled into Oxford, going past the baseball stadium and down University Ave. to look for a parking place. I found Oxford University UMC offering game day parking and pulled in to start my adventure for the day. The 3 men at Oxford UMC parking cars for their youth program were tremendously helpful and friendly and aided me in directions and landmarks for downtown Oxford and the University. As I was parking another vehicle pulled in behind me, also with a GA. license plate with 3 guys getting out, and after talking for a few minutes, we established that only one in three was an Alabama fan (my crowd was one in four) and I was talking to David from Birmingham who grew up in Brunswick, GA as a UGA fan, and one of his travel companions was a doctor from Bridge Mill only 20 miles from my home town; it is a small world.

Since I had arrived so early I trekked up town to the square in Oxford (see pix) to experience it all; everywhere in Oxford were red and blue hats, caps, co-eds dressed to the nines, and fraternity guys in 'oxford' button downs, red ties and eventually navy blue blazers. Many groups contained 2 and 3 generations; children in Ole Miss cheerleader outfits, college age young adults and grand parents also dressed to socialize at The Grove.

I toured downtown Oxford and met several people who were very friendly and helpful in explaining the traditions on game day (the Downtown Grill, Oby's, Venice Pizza Co.) the courthouse in the center of the Square was flying the Mississippi state flag with the Stars and Bars (some things change SLOWLY). I was hungry and went in search of a meal before arriving at the stadium and walked around looking at large crowds for pizza and "other traditions" before settling on an intriguing place called "Frank and Marlee's, an Oxford original" Since no one was in the place and the bar tender met me at the door I asked was it open and were they serving food. Since the answer to both questions was "yes" I settled in and carrying on a conversation with Lance, the bar keep. He looked very tired (having closed the place at 4 am) but was cordial and helpful and set me up with a shrimp Po' Boy and Landshark Lager. Four people came in after me and one couple asked could their TV be placed on the Michigan/Michigan State game. After the requisite stares and other odd looks Lance complied and I saw the ugliest football uniform ever, Michigan (and that says something since there is Oregon out there!). The food was OK but I was surprised to find that my place was cleaned off during a trip to the restroom with the subtle message given that I was done; very uncool since I was only one of 5 people in the place but I hoofed it back down University Ave, towards Vaught-Hemingway and the Grove.

Since I was soaking in the atmosphere and in no particular hurry I slowly walked down University Ave. and it led me directly into the Grove and the throbbing heart of all things Old South; tradition, elegance, southern football, manners and family). I had needed no instructions since following the car flags into Oxford and with the continuous flow of excited humanity, both Crimson and White and Red and Blue, I entered into the sanctity known in college football legend as 'The Grove'. A vast sea of Red and Blue Ole Miss tents enveloped the entire 10 acres of 150 year-old oak trees providing respite from an unusually warm day for mid-Oct. and the perfect locale for the best tailgating in the country. Parents, grand parents, co-eds, fraternity brothers, and younger children all socialized, ate, drank, and played in what must be the southern version of James Hilton's Shangri-La; the perfect environment, holding the rest of the world at arm's length. As a longtime fan of UGA tailgating is also celebrated on the Athens campus but is spread out over a vast area and not concentrated like Ole Miss. I walked the Grove Loop and also traversed the paths through the Grove in search of legendary southern heroes like Archie Manning and Shepherd Smith but the crowds were so thick you could hardly squeeze between. I did not see those particular people and by that time I had been walking 3 hours and was giving in to the heat so I went in search of a place to sit, rest, drink some water (for re-hydration) and cool off.

The only place to sit in the shade was across the street from the Grove and it was inhabited mostly by fans from Alabama waiting for the stadium to open its gates. I met a wonderful couple from the "Free State of Winston Co." We discussed Double Springs, AL. and Winston Co. and the joys of being Crimson Tide fans. As we were talking there would come an occasional wave of cheers from The Grove and, while I was puzzled, my friend from Winston Co. knew immediately the cause of the commotion; Miss. State was losing to South Carolina, and although hard fought (the UGA fan in me could not help but cheer for State) the losing effort by MSU was vigorously cheered by Ole Miss fans! By this time the Captain and his crew has hit town and were making their way towards Vaught-Hemingway so I headed in that direction as well.

Our group of four united at Gate 12 and we entered into the stadium and headed to our seats. It is always entertaining to describe to people that 3 out our 4 were not true Bama fans but were there for the entire experience and we met a wonderful, open young man with his 11 year-old son who provided commentary on the long standing rivalry, history of the stadium (including a banner for winning the SEC West without playing in the championship game) and a statistical breakdown of all the starters for UA. Jason4Bama was the perfect host and guide and it was heart-warming to watch him interact with his son teaching him the finer points of Alabama football. One moment that was special to me was when I walked over to the Crimson Tide pep band (I was a HS band director) to visit with a former student, Lee H., playing with the drumline/marching band. The expression on his face was stark unbelief, and he said "you are the last person I would expect to see in Oxford today" but I always support our my former students and was glad to see Lee involved at the college level.

Of course in the end Alabama overcame a short-lived, 7 point deficit and scored 52 unanswered points. By the beginning of the 4th quarter almost all the Ole Miss fans had returned to the Grove and the stadium was left to approx. 20,000 Bama fans.

The atmosphere of the Ole Miss fans was one of almost manic exhilaration prior to the game; they were in their element and ecstatic to be involved with the #2 team in the country but, in the end, the loss was posted and they returned to their tents, white linen table cloths and chandeliers, BBQ and bourbon (in elegant, old south style!).

On to LSU and Baton Rouge in November!

Stadium Tour #3- Vaught-Hemingway, Alabama@OleMiss

After weeks of anticipation and days of planning The day of departure arrived! I drove from Cherokee Co., Ga. through north Alabama and Mississippi and my com-padres (another brother in-law and the Captain's brother) were driving up from the Gulf Coast, Pensacola, Orange Beach and Ocean Springs, MS, all converging on Oxford, MS. I decided to drive over on Friday and enjoy a leisurely trek across the back roads while the Captain and his crew booked up the interstates on game day.

I am from West Georgia originally and much of Alabama that I crossed was vaguely familiar, having traveled those roads 40 years (plus) ago. Leaving Rome and cutting across 411 through Cave Springs towards Centre, Al was a very pretty drive full of wide opens farms with long tree-lined drives to beautiful houses with large, ornate barns. Valleys planted with cotton is a sight I do not see in North Ga. and it definitely brought back memories of my childhood. Mixed in with wide open farms and beautiful countryside was a more subtle sight, although disturbingly real; many closed businesses, stores and gas stations, local repair shops, and closed farm equipment businesses. A very real reminder of the tenuous state of the country's economy and who is taking the worst blows.

Although I had Google Map directions and a Garmin GPS I traveled 250 of the 300 mile trip to Tupelo the old fashioned way; I followed my nose and made decisions as I encountered intersections or new roads. I made it Hamilton, AL before deciding that I needed the GPS to get me to the hotel. An impromptu stop was Double Springs, AL, in Winston County (more on that connection later) where I inadvertently wore my UGA attire (my regular Friday ensemble) into a country store and the locals looked at me as either a 'Guvmn't' agent or an alien; either way I was "uncomfortable" but the store clerk was very nice and helpful and assured me I was on the right track and I was on my way.

I arrived in Tupelo (America's First TVA City according to the sign in town) and at the hotel where I was staying to avoid Oxford crowds and double room rates. Again the hotel clerks were incredibly well-mannered and helpful to me and everyone I encountered in the lobby; a Gold Wing Motorcycle Club in for the weekend, people there to see the birthplace of Elvis (I missed that) and, of course, people going to the games, because there were spectators staying to attend either the Ole Miss game or the Miss. State game (again, more on that later). I settled in for the night and could hardly go to sleep in anticipation of game day at The Grove!

Stadium Tour #3 - Part Two covers the trip to Oxford, game day experiences and, of course, the game and look for Jason4Bama, Quan, David from BIrmingham, DR from BridgeMill,etc.

Headed to the Legendary Grove @ Ole Miss!

Sorry folks for being so long away, circumstances have dictated that I spend more time at Kennestone H. and less time traveling to SEC stadiums BUT I have not stopped dreaming about getting on the road again and The Captain and I (and another brother in-law Mike H. and Bruce, the Cap'ns brother) will set out tomorrow for Oxford Mississippi and the Legendary Grove. Tickets this round are compliments of the Captain who is a Tide fan from California. He grew up on the panhandle of FLA, retired from the Air Force and a teaching career in Cal., and vacations every summer in Orange Beach. He and his wife are slowly but inexorably moving their way back to their roots and have recently purchased a year-round home in the area close to Foley, AL. The Captain has chosen to spend his fall days remodeling the house, watching SEC football and being in closer proximity to the Nirvana that is the SEC, the best football conference in the country!

We are visiting Ole Miss because of #2 University of Alabama playing in Oxford but since only one of the 4 of us is a Tide fan, (a Ga. Bulldog, Kentucky Wildcat and Fla. Gator make up the quartet) we all come to pay homage to the Holy Grail of Tailgating, The Grove at Ole Miss!

More to come after Saturday -"Hotty Toddy" Ya'll!!

Traveling to a Home Game (UGA) Without Leaving Home!

This past Saturday (10/16/10) was Homecoming at UGA vs, Vanderbilt and although the call to return to Sanford Stadium is a strong one I had been out of town the past 3 Saturdays and had agreed to do some volunteer work in Canton with my wife.

The Cherokee Chamber of Commerce hosted the 3rd Annual "Cherokee Pignic", a regional BBQ competition that incorporates professional BBQ teams, local restaurants and a highly competitive amateur division that brings out dozens of local entries. My favorite part of the weekend is the "People's Choice" tent that allows the amateurs to qualify (seems like 20 were selected) and you pay $5 for 8 tickets and sample their finest fare and vote with your ticket to select the "People's Choice". It like doing BBQ shots! (hint for next year; when you buy the tickets also buy a bottle of water to cleanse the pallet and help with swallowing!!).

My wife and I were working the admissions booth (one of either side of the entrance) and although my new approach to UGA football is to NOT obsess with the game (therefore agreeing to sell tickets and not watch it on TV) we both dressed in our Red&Black shirts and I did take a small radio to listen as we worked. What happened next is no surprise to any SEC fan (let alone Bulldog fan) but demonstrates the cameradie of SEC fans everywhere. Since we were both dressed in Georgia colors you would think that when someone asked for the score they would be referring to the GA/Vandy game (98% were of course) but one fellow wearing maroon and gold asked the score and when I happily replied "36-0" I thought he was going to faint! I never did know what game HE was asking about but when I followed up with "Ga-Vandy" he visibly relaxed.

Cars with UGA tags unloaded men, women, old, young, infants (and every age in between) and they would come through the booth wearing Ga. caps, shirts, bibs, etc. and with an easy "how's it going" and the brother and sisterhood of UGA would immediately kick in as I gave the score. I went to get something to eat at the concessions building and ran into a high school-age student with a GA. cap on and asked if he had heard the latest score and he replied no, "I'm getting text updates on my phone but I've been so busy I can't even check it!". I gave him the score (43-0 at that point) and left another smiling fan. Another fan came through the booth wearing a Clemson orange and purple shirt but a Florida cap and I asked him if he was in a hurry to get dressed that morning (he professed to be a UF fan, little did he know what awaited him in Gainesville).

At the end of our shift, and very close to the end of the game, I reflected on the connection we all shared via the SEC, not just UGA, but all SEC football. Fans everywhere will share and commiserate with fans from other schools (especially if they have suffered from the big 2, UA and UF) and as is human nature, we enjoy watching the underdog win against all odds (unless it is OUR team that is the favorite) and we see things from another perspective when situations change (i.e. I used to have great animosity towards Steve Spurrier for all those whippings in Jacksonville but as the Gamecocks coach he has earned my grudging admiration).

On a Homer note; We can celebrate the small things at UGA, no one has been arrested for at least a week, the offense is producing and the defense is beginning to gel. What I do know and believe with all my heart and soul is that Mark Richt is the best thing that has happened to Georgia Football since Vince Dooley was named the head coach 46 years ago and his calm, steady hand is in no small part the reason the Red and Black ship has corrected its course and begun to steer in a more acceptable direction!

South Carolina Becomes Relevant!

Sorry I've been away for a few weeks but between traveling to Washington, D.C. (twice) and actually working in an honest job for a few days a week I have just now managed to motivate myself to write about South Carolina and Williams Brice Stadium. I did some research before we rolled into Columbia for the home opener and we did find Maurice's BBQ with that wonderful SC mustard-based sauce. My only disappointment was that it was outside of town away from the Cock-fans!

When we arrived at the stadium we parked on the southeast side (from the interstate) about 5 blocks from WB and walked towards individual tail-gaters and got our first look at the long line of "Cock-a-booses (?)". That was quite unique and VERY impressive to see what appeared to be 35-40 cabooses, on rails, within 100 feet of that stadium. I guess because it was a Thursday start to the home opener the partying was quite subdued. I estimated to temperature around 5 pm at 94 (plus) degrees so more people were drinking water than alcohol (yours truly included). Now I have to say that the 'water rule' did not extend to the USC students who (like all SEC student fans) were using any excuse to 'go to the well' long and often (more about that in a minute). As we walked around the stadium, Cock-a-booses, and the fairgrounds parking lots we observed quite a few parties, mostly a little understated because of the heat, opponent, and a Thursday game. We did receive quite the hospitality from members of the Carolina Collegiate Credit Union as they distributed water to weary souls from all over.

The Captain and I were welcomed quite heartedly by the small (but upbeat) contingent of Southern Miss fans as we waited for the stadium to open. They were upbeat and positive viewing the game as "great exposure" for their program. I met a couple from Mobile whose son started for the Eagles and we exchanged pleasantries and local stories about Mobile and the Gulf Coast (both the Captain and my wife's family is from the Mississippi Coast), they were VERY nice! We were fortunate to be in the shade at that point (Carolina fans know what I'm talkin' about) and observed "Cocky" and the cheerleaders make their rounds and had to duck out of the way for the ESPN/DirecTV bus to come rambling by.

We were careful to dress in neutral and/or benign colors so we could blend in since we are sampling everything local about each stadium and their fans and not advertise that we were not "from around here." When we got into the stadium and found our seats (quite good, row 6, around the 40 yard line behind the Southern Miss bench) the crowd (mostly students) filed in, and in, and in, and in! By the time the pre-game activities were ready to begin everyone in front of us were standing (I guess in excitement), not only standing up, but standing on their seats to the point that I couldn't see anything. The mostly students that were sitting around us had been partying quite awhile and don't understand the value and importance of drinking water (either before, with, or after) their alcohol. Walking into the stadium proved to be quite the challenge for many of them. I defer to the Captain at this point to offer up his opinion but suffice it to say after one quarter of watching the game on the jumbotron we took off to find a seat in the upper level where we could watch the game AND breathe.

I have to say that as the season has progressed "the old ball coach" and his team have proven to be solid and a real contender for the SEC East. Of course there are 2 major obstacles, one in the East (UF) and another in the West (UA) and they will be tested this week BUT the USC student section is as loud as I have witnessed (I'm anxious to visit Baton Rouge)and when they crank up the volume and start waving those white towels in the end zone, they truly become a relevant and important "12th man" for the Gamecocks!

On the Road in the SEC:
I know it’s been awhile since I last posted a blog but being retired brings its own risks and rewards and work (even part time) is not what it’s made out to be! On our road trip the first week of September, that culminated in being in Columbia (the current residence of the “old ball coach”) for South Carolina’s home opener and the debut of running back Marcus Latimore, we had a serendipitous encounter with an Auburn fan in the hinterlands of South Carolina.
My UGA son and I were driving to Washington, D.C. (by way of Delaware, an explanation forthcoming) and I was tired of driving on I-85 and saw a sign to the “Cowpens National Battlefield” maintained by the National Park Service. As a child from a middle class family who loved to travel but could only afford to camp along the way, we planned vacations around National Parks and National Forests as a means to visit and see faraway places and in doing so I learned to love our nation’s history and geography. The Battle of Cowpens was a turning point for the young Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. On a sleepy Monday afternoon (Aug. 30) I turned off the highway, followed the signs to Cowpens National Battlefield and found a pristine National Park and very well-informed park attendants to give an enthusiastic tour to break the monotony of a hot, sultry South Carolina afternoon.
We had no more entered the visitor center (dressed rather conspicuously in UGA attire) when the first words out of the mouth of the person at the Visitors’ desk was not “welcome to Cowpens” but “You must be lost. What are 2 Dawg fans doing in the middle of South Carolina?”. John Robertson, a retired textile engineer from Auburn who had spent the majority of his career in the Carolina Textile industry, is now an employee at Cowpens NB. After razzing us (albeit good-naturedly) for being UGA fans he quickly turned his conversation to a date in Dec. 1972 and I immediately (and correctly) identified it as the tremendous upset of Shug Jordan’s Auburn Tigers over Bear Bryant’s dominant Crimson Tide, 17-16. He was amazed that a Dawg fan would know that but I did grow in Bowdon, Ga., 3 miles from the Alabama state line. It would have been almost impossible to not know that date.
John Robertson typifies the SEC fan, he is rabidly and fiercely loyal to his alma mater but when it comes to the brotherhood of the SEC (Yankee John Kincaid notwithstanding); understanding and accepting the camaderie of SEC fans everywhere is what it’s all about!
HarrydDawg!
PS – John Robertson did give us a wonderfully energetic and informative tour!

What’s unique about Williams-Brice Stadium and the Gamecocks?

The Captain and myself (HarryD) are beginning our SEC stadium tour next week with the home opener in Columbia at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. We will be traveling the East Coast from Delaware, through Washington, D.C. (dropping off my UGA senior to spend a semester in the nation’s capital), and booking it down to Columbia for SC’s home opener against Southern Miss and ending the week at the UGA home opener.

I was doing some research online and contacted some friends in Columbia and heard about “Cockaboose(s)” and Maurice’s BBQ. Since this is an SEC travel blog and the tailgating and hospitality experience is at least as important as the game I am asking Gamecock fans to weigh in on the special and/or unique aspects of tailgating in Columbia. Williamsbrice.com touts WB as “The best” game day atmosphere as voted by ‘SEC sports’; we want to know why it is “the best!”
We will include anecdotes, recipes, and pictures of anyone who wishes to contribute to the “SECtravelblog”. So Gamecock fans fire up the old computer and join our revelry and appreciation of all things SEC. We look forward to visiting you on Sept. 2!
HarryD