After a week long buildup of hype, publicity and excitement the ESPN Gameday experience turned out to be all that it was promised and more, thanks to the Tigers’ faithful.
Daily, a blessed many students and faculty take the hike down North Stadium Dr. into campus and daily pass by monuments of greatness, Death Valley, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and the cage that is entirely too small and outdated to hold our beloved mascot Mike.
But last Friday morning, the stadium lot and the PMAC ramps were packed full with all the glitz and glamour the sports media can offer as well as the wonderful sight of the first bunch of Tiger fans anxiously awaiting the start of ESPN GameDay.
As Friday afternoon approached, Georgia fans began trickling onto campus dorning their red shirts and David Pollock jerseys with a pompous demeanor eventually giving UGA an impressive presence. But as the afternoon progressed, the LSU fans began arrriving in droves and weren’t going to be outdone by fans of a school that keeps a household pet as a mascot.
By the time coach Nick Saban did his interview with FOX Sports’ Best Damn Sports Show near Mike’s cage, there was little sign of the Georgia faithful and LSU fans enthusiastically supported their coach. No one who viewed the Friday afternoon taping of GameDay could doubt the dominance and enthusiasm of LSU’s fans. Reportedly, a member of the ESPN GameDay crew remarked that they never had so many people show up for the Friday afternoon portion of GameDay.
That night, I was hoping to get a little sleep before I had to show up on campus at 7:30 Saturday morning, so I laid down to sleep at 3:30 a.m. But I repeatedly received calls from a friend demanding I come to the PMAC and party with all the fans who chose to make the outside of the PMAC their bed for the night. Reluctantly and tiredly, I agreed and I am glad that I did.
It was an event that only happens a few times in a sports fan’s lifetime. By the time I arrived, my friend who had demanded my presence was already passed out still wearing his newly purchased beer helmet decorated with LSU decals. Unaware of his location, I decided to hang out with my roommate and search for friends in the crowd or possibly make new ones.
As I searched for friends, waited and watched, I thought about my surroundings. Is there any other university in the world where such an event would occur? Fans brought out ice chests, tents, lawn chairs, signs and any other item they thought would be useful for a night at the PMAC and a day in Tiger Stadium. They were building pyramids with beer cans, finding creative ways to have fun with passed out friends, burning Georgia flags or any other Georgia material they could get their hands on and of course loudly chanting LSU cheers throughout the night.
Police officers were cordial yet forceful at times and formed a mutual respect with the Tiger faithful. Fans were being mischievous and often a little on the drunk side, but never crossed the line of good fun.
As daylight broke, the PMAC staff annouced they would be opening the gates but only if we cleaned the area. The fans hurriedly threw away all the trash and got back in the line. When they began opening the gates, my friend finally awoke, as he was using the gate for a headrest. For a brief moment in time, panic struck the crowd. It was annouced that alcohol would not be allowed on the ramp, but it was quickly corrected and the fans sighed with relief.
There was no sign of Georgia fans until almost an hour before the show began. But we had managed to scare away a misguided young man wearing an Ole Miss hat. All the fans that were crowded onto the ramp became like a family occasionally yelling at once when they held a sign blocking the screen or showing love by offering a complete stranger one of their most prized possessions, a Bud Light.
Between the unique bonding “GameDay” experience, Lee Corso donning a Mike the Tiger mascot head and picking the Tigers, interviewing Kirk Herbstreit in the ESPN bus, talking with Jill Arrington on the sideline before the game, scoring a hot date to the game that even my parents approved of and an exciting LSU victory over a Top-10 team, the day “GameDay” came to Death Valley is one I won’t soon forget.