Changing leaves, cooler temperatures, and the smell of Jack and Coke in the air... it must be time for college football

It's that time of year again- Fall.  Crisp cool mornings, cool afternoons, leaves changing to various shades of yellow, red, and orange.  With all these things comes another year, another beginning- the college football season.  It's something I've been thinking of a lot recently, what with various classes I'm taking, getting ready to work the games here in Wyoming, and the regional SEC rivalry back and forth on facebook between my friends that went to competing schools.  I wasn't really into the whole football scene at Tennessee- at some point, I realized I'd rather a) play frisbee or b) just tailgate than go to the game (we were friends with people who had a pretty sweet setup, and that may have played into the fact that staying at the tailgate watching the game on TV was more fun).  I think that I now have a very nostalgic memory of football games in Knoxville because I didn't go to many during my college career and I don't get the chance to go to many anymore for obvious reasons. 

But still- there's something about SEC football that just draws one in.  Tailgating starts no later than four hours before the game (unless it's a morning game... as in before noon, but even then).  In Knoxville, it looks like someone dropped a giant can of paint over it, there is so much orange between the fall trees and the fans.  You'd be amazed at the all the different kinds of clothes that come in Tennessee orange- it's ridiculous.  You'll get everything from dresses, t-shirts, and pants to sear sucker suits for men and women, cowboy boots in orange, and everything else you can think of.  It can be a little overwhelming if you aren't used to it.

Once you start tailgating, you are going to hear complete strangers yell to each other in greeting "Go Vols!", "Rocky Top", or "Go Big Orange!"  It is the same on any college campus.  At Auburn it's "War Eagle!" with a damn thrown in there, at Alabama "Roll Tide", and Ole' Miss "Hotty Toddy".  Each SEC team has it's own fight song, and you'll hear them sung or played enough to make you want to rip your ears off  on game day.  But if that's your school's song, it's an anthem (no matter how terrible your team is... and trust me, Tennessee has been terrible recently).  At Tennessee, you get lucky enough for the campus and stadium to be next to the Tennessee River, so we have the Vol Navy- a collection of Tennessee fans that bring their boats up to the docks next to the stadium and have their own tailgate there.  The rest of us peons must make due with finding places on campus to tailgate, and there are plenty of them thankfully.  You start early, invite lots of people, eat until you bust, drink until you almost can't stand (I mean... you might still have to get into the stadium to find your seats... walking is a requirement, but just barely), and enjoy that which is college football. 

My family has a tendency of not going to the games, but that's only in the last few years.  We just started staying at the tailgate near the stadium and watching the game on Mr. David's TV and Satellite that he had set up, eating free food, and being able to continue partaking in adult beverages while everyone else crowded into a stadium with another 108,000 people.  Me, I'm not a big fan of large crowds in confined spaces anymore (but next time I'm in Knoxville for a game, I will make it into the stadium for at least part of the game!).  The last game I went to a game was UT vs. Bama in 2008, and we tailgated on a different part of campus, and had an absolute fantastic time!  We wandered, saw people, took pictures in front of The Rock and the Torch Bearer, and then made the phone call to a friend to get us some bar stools at Mellow Mushroom.  Thankfully, we knew lots of people that work there, and got the bar seats and a friend that was bar tending.  Honestly, they were probably some of the best seats in town for the game, even though UT lost and my mom was super happy (she's a Bama fan).  We ate, we made up ways to take shots since UT was awful, and people came and visited with us the whole night.  It was great. 

I make it sound like the game doesn't matter but it does.  It's just not what I remember about the falls in Knoxville.  I remember the gatherings before the games, the visiting, and the camaraderie of cheering for one's team at home.  I think that living in Wyoming, where they just don't take their game day quite as seriously makes me miss games in the South.  There's just nothing like an SEC game in the fall.