Was lucky enough to go to this past weekend's Iron Bowl since my girlfriend is an Auburn grad. What an experience it was! Objectively speaking, that was probably the best game I've ever seen (previously, the best game I ever saw was Cal-USC 2003). I will always be a Cal/Pac-12 fan first and foremost. But I would strongly urge EVERYONE to attend an SEC game at some point in their lives. I think all of us can learn from the passion their fans have for their teams and the game experience from an operational standpoint. If our AD and her department have never attended a game, they need to prioritize this. It's worth skipping a Cal game so they can understand what the game experience should be like. Granted, this was a special game between #1 and #4. But in talking to everyone in Auburn that weekend and my own personal observations, I have no doubt the game experience is light years ahead of Cal's.
On to a few things I took note of:
1. The beginning of my weekend started when I arrived in Atlanta on Friday and drove about 1.5 hrs to Auburn. The whole way down the interstate, there were tons of cars with Auburn flags or stickers. It was very noticeable and right there I knew I was in for a treat.
2. The tailgate scene is such a welcome sight. Everyone is out there at the crack of dawn, so many large bbq pits everywhere, southern girls nicely dressed, people sharing food and drinks, cars literally parked everywhere like on patches of grass between the street and sidewalks. Had so much fun drinking and eating before the game. This guy's pork butt was amazing...
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3. Everyone heads into the stadium well before kickoff (the picture below is from 30 minutes before kickoff). Part of this has to do with the students having to go in early to secure the best seats. We actually bought student tickets (for $225 each) and it was cool because you just swipe your student ID at the ticket gate (my girlfriend's cousin got us the "tickets" and let us borrow the ID's). Their student section spanned the visitor's 50 yard line all the way through the entire endzone section. It was huge and packed. The pregame pageantry is also a big draw. Most people we knew going into the game wanted to go in early to see the Eagle fly around the stadium, watch the pregame hype video (which is done quite well, having a legit sound system adds to the energy) and greet the team onto the field. They even have a pregame hype band video! Every seat also had a pom pom on their seat. Not sure if this was the norm but my girlfriend confirmed that at least the student section always gets them on their seats.
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4a. Coordinated cheers were great, effective and often involved the whole stadium. Even had a cheer when the opposition was flagged for a penalty. Interestingly enough, they actually do have a mic man in front of the student section but he was hardly necessary and didn't try to be the center of attention much like our mic men. No embarrassing monologues about how we're smarter than the other team. He just led cheers, period. I have some videos of their cheers but don't know how to post them here. Everyone also sings their fight song which is something I really want to happen at Memorial. Such a nice display of school pride.
4b. Also of note, they often did play piped in music. But they also featured their band a lot. It was a good mix. I think it was great, mostly because they have the sound system to support it and they only played a few songs. At Memorial, piped in music just doesn't work because it sounds so bad and doesn't get anyone excited because of that. Everyone gets really jacked up when they play "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled. It's actually a really neat sight to see everyone in unison shake their pom poms to this song and they incorporate War Eagle at the end.
5. The game itself needs no additional description if you watched on tv. What a great game and finish.
6. Toomers Corner after the game and the day after was a sight to behold. Such a cool tradition even though I have no idea how they clean all of that toilet paper up. But you could tell it was a special moment and everyone was relishing the win while chucking tp into the trees/power wires. Think UCPD or COB would ever allow something like that? I think not...
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All in all, despite the rest of the country's disdain for the SEC, I have to admit it was a great experience and really helped me understand how passionate their fans are. It's no wonder that the SEC teams do well when you experience how well they support their team. I'll admit I'm pretty jealous at how much fun their games are (would have felt this way whether or not Auburn won). On a more depressing note, it also made me realize I'll never experience anything like that at Cal. I'm not trying to take a cheap shot at my alma mater but it's just reality and I don't have faith in the administration to start making appropriate cultural improvements. Even when we were winning under JT, the game experience wasn't even close. Oh well...
Glad this abysmal season is over, glad I got to see a great SEC game (maybe the best game I'll ever see) and hopefully we can turn things around soon. GO BEARS!
On to a few things I took note of:
1. The beginning of my weekend started when I arrived in Atlanta on Friday and drove about 1.5 hrs to Auburn. The whole way down the interstate, there were tons of cars with Auburn flags or stickers. It was very noticeable and right there I knew I was in for a treat.
2. The tailgate scene is such a welcome sight. Everyone is out there at the crack of dawn, so many large bbq pits everywhere, southern girls nicely dressed, people sharing food and drinks, cars literally parked everywhere like on patches of grass between the street and sidewalks. Had so much fun drinking and eating before the game. This guy's pork butt was amazing...
[URL=
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.html][/URL]3. Everyone heads into the stadium well before kickoff (the picture below is from 30 minutes before kickoff). Part of this has to do with the students having to go in early to secure the best seats. We actually bought student tickets (for $225 each) and it was cool because you just swipe your student ID at the ticket gate (my girlfriend's cousin got us the "tickets" and let us borrow the ID's). Their student section spanned the visitor's 50 yard line all the way through the entire endzone section. It was huge and packed. The pregame pageantry is also a big draw. Most people we knew going into the game wanted to go in early to see the Eagle fly around the stadium, watch the pregame hype video (which is done quite well, having a legit sound system adds to the energy) and greet the team onto the field. They even have a pregame hype band video! Every seat also had a pom pom on their seat. Not sure if this was the norm but my girlfriend confirmed that at least the student section always gets them on their seats.
[URL=
.html][/URL]4a. Coordinated cheers were great, effective and often involved the whole stadium. Even had a cheer when the opposition was flagged for a penalty. Interestingly enough, they actually do have a mic man in front of the student section but he was hardly necessary and didn't try to be the center of attention much like our mic men. No embarrassing monologues about how we're smarter than the other team. He just led cheers, period. I have some videos of their cheers but don't know how to post them here. Everyone also sings their fight song which is something I really want to happen at Memorial. Such a nice display of school pride.
4b. Also of note, they often did play piped in music. But they also featured their band a lot. It was a good mix. I think it was great, mostly because they have the sound system to support it and they only played a few songs. At Memorial, piped in music just doesn't work because it sounds so bad and doesn't get anyone excited because of that. Everyone gets really jacked up when they play "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled. It's actually a really neat sight to see everyone in unison shake their pom poms to this song and they incorporate War Eagle at the end.
5. The game itself needs no additional description if you watched on tv. What a great game and finish.
6. Toomers Corner after the game and the day after was a sight to behold. Such a cool tradition even though I have no idea how they clean all of that toilet paper up. But you could tell it was a special moment and everyone was relishing the win while chucking tp into the trees/power wires. Think UCPD or COB would ever allow something like that? I think not...
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.html][/URL]All in all, despite the rest of the country's disdain for the SEC, I have to admit it was a great experience and really helped me understand how passionate their fans are. It's no wonder that the SEC teams do well when you experience how well they support their team. I'll admit I'm pretty jealous at how much fun their games are (would have felt this way whether or not Auburn won). On a more depressing note, it also made me realize I'll never experience anything like that at Cal. I'm not trying to take a cheap shot at my alma mater but it's just reality and I don't have faith in the administration to start making appropriate cultural improvements. Even when we were winning under JT, the game experience wasn't even close. Oh well...
Glad this abysmal season is over, glad I got to see a great SEC game (maybe the best game I'll ever see) and hopefully we can turn things around soon. GO BEARS!
