Reauxll Tide Rewind: Here's to You Section U1-A, Rows 3-15.

I'm a week late posting this, but better late than never, right?  Like 92,000 other people, we headed to Tuscaloosa Saturday a week ago to watch the Tide compete for the SEC West championship against LSU.   LSU is such an exciting game for many reasons, not the least of which is some AWESOME tailgaters hitting the road from Baton Rouge.  And while I definitely want the Tide to win, Tide fans don't generally "hate" LSU like, say Tennessee or Auburn, which makes for a much more enjoyable tailgating experience--at least for me.  And let's face it. This is my blog.

Jason and I arrived about an hour before kickoff so we had some time to pound the pavement and see the sights.  Like Club La Bengal.

(What this picture can't convey is the alarming loud hip/hop music coming from inside the tent.  I was sure at any minute a light ball was going to descend and a dance contest would begin).

And the CBS stage.

And some "Tiger Tail"

Did someone forget to tell her Halloween was two weeks ago?

Disclaimer: I am not in the habit of photographing other women's behinds (or men's, or my own for that matter).  However, I was so astonished this young lady decided to adorn this piece of Tiger flare that I felt the need to capture it.  Seriously.  Just think, after getting dressed, she stuffed a faux tail in her pants, looked in the mirror and called it good.  Different strokes people. Different strokes.

Nevertheless, as game time approached, Jason and I walked the ramp and assumed our usual seats.  Jason's family has secured the same seats for at least the last 20 years and I've been going to games with them for the last 8ish.  Generally, the same group of people return season after season, and let's just say you get to know your neighbors pretty well over the years.  We sit on the second row of our section, so we know best the people on our row and the first row.  There are a few other faces I recognize outside the designated parameter (like a man who bears a shocking resemblance to Conway Twitty), but that's about it.  That is, until this game when I was introduced to a whole new Tide Pride gang.

Somewhere around the second quarter,  right before the 45th LSU player injury and after an incomplete touchdown pass to Julio, I was too nervous to look at the field anymore.  So I turned around.  Whoa.  At that moment, I realized there are entire rows of regulars who sit behind us that I had never before encountered or noticed.  For nearly 8 years I have shared countless hours with the same people less than 10 ft away from me and I've never even bothered to look them in the face.

As I surveyed my new crowd, It was a whole new world. My eyes were immediately transfixed by the mundane, and they zoomed in on what seemed to be the most comical of ordinary stadium paraphernalia.  It was as if my brain was producing its own TV sitcom--in slow motion.  I saw different Tide jerseys, half chewed cigars, sorority stickers, stickers with expletives, and different ways to hide stadium contraband. They ordered different things from the concession stand.  They yelled different cuss words.  They went to the bathroom at different, yet still inopportune, times.   Just as I started to mentally dig deeper into my Brave New World, LSU earned a safety and my attention was quickly diverted.  But my curiosity is peaked with you Section U1-A, Rows 3-15.  I may not know you now, but I'll pay more attention next season. Rest assured.

I recount this vignette because my pregnant blood pressure cannot take reliving the memory of the first 3.5 quarters of the game.  In the end, as the story has now been broadcast, the Tide clenched the win and secured a spot in Atlanta at the SEC Championship.

It looks like I have a less than a month to manufacture (or purchase) tasteful amounts of GATOR HATER props. Watch out Tebow.