Some Good from Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales
The Grove
Oxford, MS – Fast forward to LSU at Ole Miss in The Grove, 2013: I move on to lighter times in the future regarding the Ole Miss Rebels. At the 2012 ArmyNavy game, a group of us tailgating together discussed opportunities the following season to meet up somewhere that none of us had ever attended a game before. We stayed in touch the next few months and all agreed that a game at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi was a must-see. The Grove outside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on the Ole Miss campus ranked high on the priority list for all. “Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty!” We came up with a plan.
No doubt, back on the Bucket List!
About ten of us from all over the country came away looking for a great time. One drawback in Oxford though, it lacks hotel rooms. We rented a town home for the weekend that basically cost each of us a monthly mortgage payment, and that’s pretty steep in New Jersey. One of the guys, however, came up with a contact through another friend who had season tickets for the Rebels. Better yet, he had a reserved spot in The Grove.
The night before the game, we wandered the square in Oxford and came up with some great BBQ, of course. At a local bar with a band, we ended up partying most of the night with some nice-looking Ole Miss women. Despite some of us with kids in college, the pretty ladies and us just had a great time dancing to the music. Next morning, after partaking of Bloody Mary’s for breakfast, we carried cases of beer and shopping bags of snacks to find our pre-game tailgate arrangement. Joe Rogers, a Pennsylvania guy but an LSU fan who proudly wore his Bayou Bengal ball cap amongst us, was the only one who got stopped and searched when we entered The Grove.
Upon meeting our host and all his friends and family at their tailgate site, we couldn’t have had a nicer bunch of people to party with. They, like many others with season tickets had reserved tailgate spaces. The night before, students they hire come in and set up their canopies, tables, chairs, grills, televisions, music systems, kitchen sinks, and whatever else they stored locally. All the revelers brought in food and snacks including decorated baked goods specially made for the day’s contest. As we learned later wandering around the Grove, Mississippi fans were very hospitable to display their set ups, their Ole Miss decorations, and share some good talk along with food and even drink, possibly. Of course, all are invited to chant along with them in their traditional Ole Miss cheer:
Are You Ready?
Hell Yeah! Damn Right!
Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty,
Who The Hell Are We? Hey!
Flim Flam, Bim Bam
Ole Miss by Damn!
We hoisted a lot of toasts. We met other people like us from all over, even a few Penn State fans, who wandered around The Grove taking in the full atmosphere. I have photos toasting with the other guys, pictures with Ole Miss Cheerleaders (“Hide the beer, please”), and even the LSU Tiger mascot. I wondered how difficult it was for him compared to Joe with just the LSU hat on? And I have to say, like Juniata roommate Pat Daly and I noted on our Southern swing years ago returning from Mardi Gras through Mississippi, there were a lot of very pretty women at The Grove – of all ages.
Couldn’t ask for more, but we got it!
Oh, and by the way, a football game started. Not all of us who came together today sat together. Once inside, I was on my own. No problem. Today, Ole Miss (3-3,1-3) hosted No. 6 LSU (6-1, 3-1). Surprisingly, the Rebels charged out to a 17-0 lead they held into the third period. The defense picked off three Zach Mettenberger passes in the first half. The Tigers finally put together a scoring drive of 61 yards taking it in from the one. A Rebel fumble on their next drive gave LSU possession on their 49. The Tigers drove again for a three-yard touchdown to close the score, 17-14. Ole Miss responded late in the quarter with a 26-yard run to extend their lead.
Great game! Every football fan should make this college football experience a priority! Read about the final result and a pitfall to be aware of to plan for after the game, especially if it’s your first time.
Some Fun from Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales
Wake me up. Somebody, pinch me, please!
After several non-scoring series for both teams, Monroe scored again to go up 42-28 on Kevin Payne’s two-yard touchdown run. It wasn’t over! Rekieta retaliated leading a pair of scoring drives culminating with passes to tight end Josh Joerg and to Bill Sampy. Game tied 42-42 with 5:23 left. “I can’t believe I’m really here!” At that point, a young, UL-Lafayette coed ran down behind me from the exhilarated, student section so she could hear. She conversed on her cell phone with someone evidently on the way to pick her up. She intensely shouted into her phone. “It’s the fourth quarter. We just scored. It’s 42-42. There’s 4:17 left. This is serious! I have a dollar on this game!” That’s the kind of fan loyalty that makes college football a great game.
On a third and 14 on their ensuing series, the Indians ran a double reverse option pass to Mack Vincent. He hauled it in at the Lafayette 34. With 1:46 left, Tyler Kuecker (supposedly pronounced “kicker”) booted a 31-yarder which gave the Indians the game-winner, 45-42. Wow! What an exciting finish to this game between the two worst teams in D-IA after such a very shaky start. The 1-6 Indians congratulated their vanquished, winless foe. They knelt to pray with them, and then sprinted to their contingency of fans who celebrated like it was the national championship. LSU be damned! “I can’t believe I’m really here!”
I originally planned to attend The annual Red River Shoot-out between Texas and Oklahoma that year. However, that couldn’t compare to this!
Some Ugly from Fifty Years of Tailgate Tails
A winning formulation
Will the power conference members, the “haves,” stop scheduling contests against the “have nots?” Surely from this perspective, they’ll have to. Playing games amongst the 40-48 programs serves the monetary purpose better. The following scenario presents the case for the short-term, or if the 40-48 cannot divest themselves from the NCAA.
Under the current structure of FBS football, the SEC decided already how they will leave enough open dates to pad their 2023 non-conference schedules so they can market their .500 or better records into guaranteed bowl revenue. In the past four of five years in 58 games against non-conference Power Five schools during the regular season (none played in 2020), the SEC won 60% (35-23) of those games, the majority played at home. Against Group of Fives and the FCS over that same period, the SEC has won 92% (152-14), basically all home games. Now more Power Five non-conference games should be scheduled among each other in the future to better challenge and assess the true strengths of these schools.
Consider the 40-48 teams with a new playoff format that will now probably dominate the media in the post-season. From the best of the best, they’ll select at least the Top 32 teams and have a five-weekend national tournament through December every year. Who’s going to need bowl games? They can do this in sponsor name only while playing at campus sites in early rounds to assure maximum stadium capacities. The television networks will eat this up.
I offer some solutions to this issue and others when looking at this from a higher perspective.