Bama Gameday and Rich People Tailgating

September 28, 2024

Last Saturday was an awesome gameday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. For those you of you that don’t understand the significance of this day, let me break it down for you.

On the last Saturday in September, the Georgia Bulldogs rolled into town along with about 200 thousands fans, TSA & Secret Service Agents, former President Donald Trump, and a host of dignitaries, senators, members of congress, the Grand Ole Opry, the Goodyear blimp, 4 fighter jets, secret service helicopters, Nick Saban, ESPN Gameday, some guys selling Bama swag, BBQ, beer, and all of those people tailgating.

First off, Roll Tide!

Not only was it an awesome game, I ran into one of my fellow HR colleagues, so that made my day.

Georgia Fans

Now that we have that established, let’s talk about game day in T-Town. I did notice that there wasn’t nearly as many Georgia fans as there were Texas fans at last year’s embarrassing game with Texas. The cool thing about playing Georgia, is “we” Bama fans don’t have an axe to grind with Georgia like we do with LSU. I guess it’s because Georgia is kind of like Bama’s little brother.

Unlike the Texas show, I didn’t see any cowboy hats, horses, or that ugly burnt orange.  I like Georgia’s colors; they have a cute mascot, and the fans are usually pretty classy, at least the ones stuck in the Bama section were.

My Favorite Parking Spot

Do you remember back in the late 80’s when you’d go to the mall for a day long shopping trip and forget that you parked in section ZZ (3 miles from the mall)? That’s kind of like how parking is on gameday.  

For the past several years, I always park in the same parking lot near the DCH hospital. Yes, it’s a little walk from the stadium, but it’s easy in and super easy out. For the past several years, it’s always been $20 to park, but this time it was $25. I was joking with the ladies taking up parking fees and they shared that for “premium games”, they charge $5 more. One of the ladies shared that if I came back next week for the Vandy game, it would only be $15.

Game Day Fashion

I can’t begin to describe the thousands of variations of crimson, white, houndstooth and more that was on full display. The sororities must have send out a memo that says to all the young ladies, look as trampy as you possibly can on game day. Wear as little as possible with your big flashy boots, really big hair (it must be back) some skimpy tops and, oh, btw, you are going to have to walk about 15 miles in those heels, but honey, you will look fabulous.

Then there are the fraternities. In front of every frat house, is a giant wall of black plastic fencing. This is so you can’t see what’s going on behind the wall. I thought, that must take a long time to setup and tear down each week.

They all have a stage, with some having a very nice, professional stage with concert lights and some have bands (mostly country) playing for their fraternal brothers and guests. Funny note: all the frat guys looked like Morgan Wallen with their mustache, wranglers, boots, Bama polo and skoal marks on their back pocket.

Every time I walk down frat and sorority row, all I can think is that… this is what money buys you.

Rich People Tailgating

Do you know about “rich people” tailgating? It’s a thing.

While on campus, I took a walk through the Quad to check out all of the tailgating festivities. For those other fans not familiar with the Quad and Bama tradition, let me explain the atmosphere. The Quad area is around Denny Chimes (the sacred lighthouse beacon in the center of campus), and on game day it consists of hundreds of white tents sponsored by companies and corporations for their invited guests to gather and enjoy game day festivities, fine foods and lots of alcohol.

Talk about fancy accommodations. Some of these tents looked like a wedding reception or something you would see at a nice golf tournament. I saw tents with fully catered meals, sofas, chandeliers, enough alcohol to stock a small store, fully staffed bars, satellite TV, leather chairs, and more. In essence, it’s where the rich people gather to act like they are “tailgating”, without the actual tailgate or hassle of tailgating.

I’ve always wonder, how the heck did they get all of that stuff out there? Someone had to haul that out, set it up, and then tear it down, just to do it it all over again the next home game. That’s rich people tailgating. I’ll never know what that is like unless some rich person invites me.

TSA, Secret Service and Nick Saban

First, let me commend the University and the agencies that coordinated the security at the game. I’ve never seen so many TSA agents, ever. They must have shut down all airports within 200 miles to get all of those agents there. Then there were the secret service agents

To enter the stadium, you had to go through specific security checkpoints related to your entry gates. The process was well organized, and actually it was pretty quick. Now, why can’t airports operate that way? I’m not kidding when I say, it seemed like there were about 1000 TSA and Secret Service agents there. And oh yes, about those secret service agents, nice eye candy, btw.

Did I mention that Donald Trump was there? Former President Trump and all of his entourage were in attendance in a skybox, surrounded by bullet proof glass. They introduced him right before halftime. While President Trump received a nice applause, it was the applause and standing “O” that Nick Saban received, when he walked onto the field during pre-game and again during halftime that made me chuckle. I guess it’s only fitting since we were in his house.

Finding Your Seat

Due to the heightened security for Trump’s visit, you had to be in the stadium by a certain time. I live by the rule, get there early, gather all necessary refreshments (and a refill or two) before the games starts. That way you don’t have to rush to your seat after the game starts, stepping over people, just because you didn’t plan ahead.

One of the funniest things to me is to watch people trying to find their seat, whether at a game or at a concert. I’m not sure why this is so amusing, but it is. Each person has a ticket, with a row and seat assignment yet, people wander around like they are on a safari at Wal-Mart looking for the lightbulbs or something.

Section U3-D, Row 20, Seat 3 means just that. It does not mean, Section U7-C, Row 3, Seat 8.

Have you ever been to a Bama game at night? It’s probably one of the coolest experiences ever. Yes, I know other schools have cool game day traditions as well. But Bama is just special and it’s just so much fun. It’s like a rock and country concert combined with a marching band and a costumed elephant, coolest light show and about 103,000 of your closest friends for the night. Not bad for a Saturday night in the fall.

Concession Stands

I love a good concession stand, don’t you? For some reason the concession stand area always reminds me of the early 90’s mall food court areas. You walk around, stopping and checking out what each stand has, just to find out they all have the same thing. There is just something about a large Coke Zero in a plastic souvenir cup that costs $12, along with a BBQ sandwich, a hotdog some chips and more. That is the best $45 spent. Remember, it’s all about the experience not the price.

I love gameday, the atmosphere, the pageantry, the fellow fans and the best people watching you can find.  It was an awesome game. I also like getting ahead of all that traffic on the way home (smile). If you know, then you know.

I’m Jason Thrasher and this is BestLife50.

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