Jump to content

ESPN/Maryland View of AU Gameday


DKW 86

Recommended Posts

Everything Beautiful About Auburn from Maryland ESPN guy

WOW...awesome post from the free board... Reply

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

apparently this was posted by Scott Van Pelt...Maryland alum

and ESPN guy whose girlfriend is an Auburn grad (I had heard

from many he was in town):

A different world - Non Terps & a lenghty rambling mess Reply

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imagine you have been married to the same woman for more than

30 years, you love her more than anything - nothing could ever

change that. You have shared many of your best memories with

her and would never leave her under any circumstances. Then

you spend a day with a woman who in some ways is more

beautiful than your wife...you may never see her again...but

you won't forget her for a while either.

Maryland is my wife...Auburn is " the other woman ".

If you all love college sports - and I assume you do - you

really need to see a game there. I have been lucky to see a

lot of places, I have not seen a lot of places like that. It's

an amazing scene in every respect. Granted, I was there for #

3 vs. # 5...Auburn was 9-0 so it was bound to be good.

Some highlights:

I arrived at night with the stadium lit up like a Christmas

tree. It sits dead in the middle of campus. A

shrine...literally their church - only services are held on

Saturday. Made me say....hmmmm...this is promising.

Gameday scene -

tailgating in every available space...and not like some field

full of RV's - though they had that too. But literally people

grilling and drinking in every available spot for as far as

the eye could see. I lost count of the number of bands and

stages and this was at 9 AM.

The Fans -

I knew I was in a " red state " from all the Suburbans with W

stickers but the truth of it is, this part of Alabama is an

orange state. Every man woman and child is in the same shade

of orange. Not unusual I know ...but THIS was...they are nice,

friendly , and polite - to GEORGIA FANS. Nobody called anyone

in Black and Red @#%$ or ***hole..nobody told them they sucked

nobody told them *uck you. These people are your friends, you

don't know it yet because you haven't met them - but when you

do - you have met a friend. you want a beer ? some bar- B - Q

? grab some. Let's talk for a while....war eagle...let's have

a good game. I saw this at tailgate after tailgate. Stragglers

who wander by are offered anything that's available - didn't

matter what color they were wearing. This is the oldest

rivalry in the South - they call it Brother vs. Brother and

they mean it. Now there are certainly cliche's about downhome

country sensibilities - but these folks embodied the best part

of the notion of southern hospitality. Though many did admit

it's a tad LESS civil for the Iron Bowl.

Tiger Walk :

Impossible to describe. Im - possible. A human welcome mat for

the team. The team walks through several blocks to Jordan -

Hare through a sea of people. I asked somebody how many folks

were there and was told they could never come up with an

accurate head count but that they were certain it was " well

in excess of 25,000 people. " That looked a little light to

me...I would have bought 40 grand. 2 hours before kick the

streets in all directions were completely - and I mean

COMPLETELY jammed. It was like a religious experience. If you

can be in the middle of this - and I was lucky enough to get

to walk through it - and not be overwhelmed , you are dead my

friend. ( I just went Larry King on your asses- sorry )I was

honestly in awe.

Gametime :

The eagle circles as 87,521 people ( less the UGA fans ) cheer

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar EAGLE HEY!!! The eagle pounces

on some meat product and the hair on the back of your neck

stands up...then if you are still unimpressed you get an F 16

flyover and were off and running.

Auburn dominates, the band plays, the fans hoot and holler

louder than anywhere I have ever been ( and go Spinal tap and

take it to volume 11 when UGa tries to audible ) 24 - 6 and

it's time for more food and drink...but before that...

Toomer's corner :

everyone converges on the intersection of college st and

whatever the other road is and they toilet paper every tree in

sight. By the time it's over, it looks like a blizzard has

rolled through Alabama. There are no riots, no police, no cars

set on fire. There are families from grandparents to infants

chcuking rolls of toilet paper all over the place. Again, i

just shake my head at a loss...and maybe a little jealous.

It's a special place, the best scene I have ever seen for

college football. I have ZERO doubt " our " TEAM could someday

be as good. As fans though, perhaps we should aspire to be as

classy as those I was hosted by. The type of hostile, vile

garbage we are subjected to on the road and are certainly

guilty of at home is just embarrassing when you see how they

do it elsewhere. Not preaching here - just some thoughts of

one VERY proud Terrapin after seeing the light Auburn style.

Link to comment
Share on other sites





Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...