Gameday Starkville

The event was planned for months.  First game in expanded stadium.  Bigger crowds, more noise, and two jumbotrons!  Made an early scouting trip last week to find a new tailgating spot, since the reseating put us on the other side.  Decided to shoot for a spot near the Student Union.  Smaller crowds, shaded, and shouting distance to real restrooms, and worse case, weather shelter.  My early years of Boy Scouting done kicked in!

I gave man cub instructions to find a spot "under a tree, near the road, on high ground, in case of rain."  He did an outstanding job!  Car was loaded to the top with enough chairs and food for a small army.  Some stuff will be staying in Starkville for future gameday Saturdays.

Food pics were posted to FB as they were finished.  Oatmeal butterscotch cookies, chocolate chip pecan cookies, dawgbone sugar cookies, and cheese straws were prepared the night before.  Morning of the game the sausage balls were put in the oven.  Figured out to make rotel with sausage on game day, put in ziploc bags and store in insulated bag.  Doesn't take very long to reheat in chafing dish since cheese is still warm.

Called the man cub as we were leaving to remind him to pick up bottled water and three bags of ice.  We had the rest covered.  Man cub wanted brats with onions and peppers for the first game.  His responsibilities were tent setup, and bringing the Weber Q and the propane.

The spousal unit had been worried about the weekend weather.  She was watching the updated rain reports every 30 minutes.  It got comical seeing 56.2% chance then 81.9% chances for rain.  We arrived bone dry.  We were able to unload the car within 30 yards of our spot.  Outstanding!  Friend Theo, one of those Southern Golden Buzzard fans arrived and assisted with the setup while I went to park.

Man cub arrived a few minutes later, with the three bags of ice, a case of bottled water and the girly friend in tow.  I gave him a quick look, then he got the "rut row" look from me.  I casually commented, "and.... where is the grill and gas???"  The look he gave me was priceless!

Back to the condo he went!  Only a 15 minute round trip, plus parking, plus the walk back to the tent.  He arrived, carrying the propane bottle on his shoulder, pulled the Weber Q, soaking wet from head to toe.  The round trip was during the biggest downpour of the day.  I hen asked, "I guess you forgot the griddle too?  He just melted, I'm cracking up!  fortunately I brought some metal pie pans and heavy duty foil just in case.  Boy Scout kicking in again!

The fellow campers were tailgating in style.  Big and small tents, charcoal and gas grills a blazing, generators humming, and sound was blaring from TV's and stereos.  Wide screen TV's went blank once the weather hit.  It is comical watching these people scramble to protect their investments, especially on a day with 80+% chance of rain!  Later, everything went quiet when the generators began running out of gas.

We had a good many visitors during the day with a few no shows.  Surprised by the number of folks wearing that black and gold polyester!  Had way too much food, but hey, gotta feed the man cub during the week.

Suddenly , we heard a band playing and marching down the street.  It was the Southern Miss Band on their way to the stadium.  Their sound was soon drowned out by the clanging of hundreds of cowbells ringing!

Stadium now has lots of entrances to choose from.  Having two jumbotrons is amazing.  They got some work to do on the sound, as all we heard was muffled conversations.  The sound on the new screen wasn't turned on, yet...

Game for Bulldogs was outstanding.  The excitement level will build as the season grows.  I loved the short walk from our spot.  Seat is great with minimal steps.  Nephew Chase and Tara are only 9
seats away.  Gonna have to practice ringing my cowbell dinner bell for concession service from him!

Every game has its drunks, and we had a few down in front of us.  Lots of words throw about, and a visit by the Popo.  Nuthing but feeling got hurt on this day, thankfully.

Packing up was not much fun.  With over 66,000 in attendance, traffic was outbound only.  Gotta work on departure logistics for future games.