For our last road trip of the 2011-12 college football season, we found ourselves caught up in the spooky splendor of New Orleans, beset on all sides by hordes of LSU and Alabama faithful. The last time we were here was for Alabama’s prior trip to the Superdome, if you remember what we mean. It went better for the Tide this time around, you might say. Lessons learned:
The last time I spent a day in Eugene, which was a few years back, the Ducks lost a heartbreaker to Cal. And while my planned trip to see the Civil War for the first time made a lot more sense before the Ducks went and got themselves upended by USC, in terms of environment Saturday’s game was still one of the better stadium experiences I’ve had all year.
Though it’s rarely played on the proper date anymore, the Third Saturday in October remains a quintessential college football rivalry. Pretty girls, floppy-haired boys, cute children, tipsy trophy wives and grown-ass men who will never act their age mingle in crimson and orange between the trees around the University of Alabama Quad. Dive into this handy slideshow for a primer on proper gameday attire, admiration of crisply-attired marching band members and several loving odes to what Tuscaloosa smells like on a fall Saturday. (Spoiler alert: Meat. From city limit to city limit, the entire place smells like meat. It’s incredible.) Entirely apart from the football itself, the Third (or fourth) Saturday is an impeccably executed exercise in down-home pageantry.
By C.W. Sesno, SI.com
The game offered little promise of a thriller, but heading down to The Grove for Alabama-Ole Miss was always going to be about the experience. With a 5:00 p.m. CT kickoff, there was plenty of time to soak in all that Oxford had to offer. Hotty Toddy, gosh almighty, The Grove didn’t disappoint. After travel delays put us on a 6:40 a.m. ET flight into Memphis, a long day awaited. By noon, The Grove was packed with fans from Tuscaloosa and Oxford alike. The drinking regulations were odd — no ‘alcohol’ allowed, only spirits like whiskey and tequila — but The Grove still produced a boisterous crowd.
The game was a treat, but on-field action between LSU and West Virginia served for some revelers as a mere nightcap to a solid 12 hours of tailgating. Staunch Mountaineer partisans and gaudily got-up Tiger tourists flooded every cranny of WVU’s hillsides for a full day of petty crimes and empty calories. Did you know there’s a specific hand tool made solely for shotgunning beers, or that there’s a crew of West Virginia tailgaters who brand the outline of their home state into the side of a whole pig before roasting it on a grassy cliff above the stadium? Now you do, and if the concept doesn’t make you want to drop everything and book a football weekend in coal country, we cannot be friends.
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