On Tuesday we discussed some of the strange college football rituals. Tailgating and painting your body with the team logo or an alphabet letter are ritual activities which are done prior to the game. Now it’s time to actually go to the college football stadium. This is a place that can hold as many as 100,000+ fans. Most are in a similar “Happy” condition and are ready to watch their favorite team try to legally beat the crap out of the opposing team and not have to go to jail.
Players are cheered when they knock someone on their butt. They are also cheered if they are knocked unconscious and get back up. Seems strange, but they call it “Good Sportsmanship.”
Drinking is not permitted in the stadium. Amazingly, as you go to your assigned seat, all you can smell is the sweet aroma of bourbon and beer. One of the oldest and common rituals is nearly everyone at the game will have a flask under their coat filled to the brim with Jack Daniels.
Usually the team’s fans are grouped together in their team’s colors. The visiting team’s fans have a certain number of seats set aside for them in the home team’s stadium. These will always be a few select, less desirable seats, with the worst view of the field of play. They call this the home team advantage.
The visitors are usually out numbered 500 to 1 and if you are a visiting team and given tickets in that are in the home team section, it is wise not to wear your team's colors. You will be subjected to verbal harassment during the entire game and especially after the game. In essence, you take your life in your own hands if you are wearing the visiting team’s colors.
Almost every college football game is sold out, that’s a given. Come rain or snow, it’s always difficult to get tickets to a game. Some people are left season tickets in family wills to insure they keep their seats and remain a family tradition.
They are like gold and will be passed down from generation to generation. Someone could probably make a case with that fact that these rituals have become a genetic problem. No actual research has been done on this problem to prove this to be a fact, but it’s under consideration at this time.
The ritual of “flipping of the coin” with both team’s captains gathered at the center of the field will be the last time the players will be civil to each other until the end of the game. For the next 48 minutes of playing time, each team will try to legally physically destroy each other.
The half-time show program allows time to give the warriors a chance to relax, catch their breath, and be screamed at by their coaches, . It also appears that all 100,000+ fans have the need to go to the bathroom at this time. They have just enough bathrooms that each line will take longer than the half-time show to get through.
During half-time each team’s band, usually with a lame theme, will march around on the field forming patriotic and team visuals. While they can only be truly appreciated if you are in the cheap seats, which are the final few rows at the top of the stadium, better known as the “Nose Bleed Section.”
To those with seats close to the field, it looks more like people running around with instruments trying not to smack into each other while playing music so loud it can be deafening. It can be particularly confusing to watch if the fans have kept that “tailgate buzz” or if they have already emptied the flask we spoke about earlier.
Let’s not forget those wealthy or politically connected, that have the honor of watching the game in one of the expensive private suites. They are climate controlled, there is a TV so you can watch the replays, and it’s always catered with the finest food you can afford.
There you can get buzzed with a few of your friends without having to stand out in the cold while drinking a cold one. These boxes are purchased, many times by companies to entertain the owner’s family and company’s clients and are also passed down from generation to generation. These people usually don’t tailgate as they tailgate in class in these special suites and don’t end up smelling like a fire.
Many times these people have names like Biff and Buffy, or Tre and Junior, and their Daddy gave them their seats or are members of their team’s Booster Club. They give their hard earned money to the athletic department in support of their team and are greatly appreciated by the university as college football is one of the greatest financial supporters of the school. Some supporters have even been known to give current or potential players summer jobs to “assist” both current and potential players to coerce them into going to their school.
Boosters who get caught doing this can go to jail, but they look at it as "supporting their team and giving a kid a chance to earn some money for his family." While illegal, many supporters find ways to beat the system that discourages this behavior. The NCAA does its best to monitor this kind of behavior, but it still takes place because of systematic loop holes in the process.
As the game ends and hopefully the home team wins, another ritual is to “tear down the goal post.” This is usually left to championship games and is when drunken students feel the need to shimmy up the goal post and stand on it while other loyal fans shake it to bend it and bring it down to the ground. While this is as interesting to watch as it was to watch as the statues of Saddam were when they came down in Iraq. It has no known real purpose.
But the goal post being broken and taken down is the casualty and costs the University thousands each time a group of students brings it to its knees. It has no social or economic value other than it must be replaced at the expense of the school.
So there you have it from a Midwesterner whose college was so private it could barely fill a classroom, let alone a football stadium. These strange college football rituals that occur on a weekly basis, ultimately, have no real effect on the outcome of the game. But are what keep the game unique.
It’s all about tradition and bragging rights. Not always the smartest things to do on a Saturday, but are done by each team’s loyal fans most Saturdays. Why are these rituals done, many ask? In a word, Tradition. Unfortunately, many times it’s because they just don’t know any better. While still another brilliant reason is “because it’s fun to do. And my Daddy did it when he went here.” Go figure.
See you next Tuesday with the next edition of Notes by Blue, have a great weekend and hope your team wins on Saturday.
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