Saturday In The South

There is nothing better in the South than a beautiful fall sunrise, especially when it’s the first Saturday of football season. I tend to see far more sunsets since they don’t occur so early.

August had been exceptionally hot, a number of days with the temp near 100 and the heat index between 110 and 120. The first weekend of September finally offered a reprieve with lows in the upper 60’s.

That annual cooling off is what produces a steady flow of football hormones.

Pent up for the past eight months the sudden release causes insomnia, memory loss and the inability to perform normal daily functions like working, eating or thinking about anything not located “Between The Hedges.”

It’s an amazing feeling to put on your game day uniform for the first time since the bowl game or signing day if you are really hardcore.

Everything is either red, black or has the “G” logo on it and there are no exceptions to the strict dress code rule or else you will feel the visual wrath of 92,746 of your closest friends.

The drive to Athens with the mandatory magnetic Uga on the truck door and flags flying in the cool fall air, just prepares you for the stroll across campus with the smell of fried chicken and bar-b-que floating on the breeze.

As you get near the stadium, the sound of the Redcoat Band warming up fills the air and again this sudden rush alerts you to the fact that “It’s Saturday In Athens.”

Timing is everything and making certain that adequate time has been allowed to reach the student center restrooms is critical to enjoying the game day experience.

Porta-johns can obscure the aroma of a charcoal grill quickly. They all should be painted blue and orange, the odor would not catch you off guard then.

Boiled peanuts are next on the menu, they give you a perfect excuse to sit under a big oak tree for a while and watch the crowd come and go from the book store. Someone in the Athens area has made a fortune selling little black dresses to sorority sisters. They really go well with cowboy boots too.

Finally it’s time to enter the stadium and it doesn’t matter how many times you have stepped out of the shadows and into the brilliant sunshine, it is almost a religious experience.

The beautiful field, the band, the cheerleaders, the teams warming up, you dry your eyes and just sit there and soak it in for a few minutes.

For the next four hours, life is good.