College Game Day…..

I was gone all day yesterday. We left at lunch and I didn’t get home till after 10 AM. It was a LONG day but a good day.

It was a classic, epic southeastern conference defensive struggle on the field. LSU was the defending national champions and southeastern conference champions as well. LSU drove down the field on the opening drive and scored a touchdown. I thought to myself that this was going to be one long, disheartening game. We quickly toned down our blitz and took control defensively. We started to make in-roads in their offensive line.

The stadium was filled to capacity with over 86,000 maniacal Auburn fans. There was a sea of orange as everyone had worn their orange shirts to show support. I had not been to a college football game in years and forgot how deafening the roar of the crowd can be. My ears were ringing hours after the game.

I am not nuts about college football like my father and brother but really got into yesterdays game. There is the sense of euphoria that the crowd takes on as a whole and it is contagious. I looked around at 86,000 people crammed into this relatively small arena and thought of the Roman coliseum and the days of the gladiator. It was much the same as two foes fought it out on the field and the crowd hung on every occurrence that happened between them. When Auburn’s field goal kicker kicked the winning extra point the crowd went absolutely crazy. Everyone lost their sense of boundaries that we all keep and everyone was hugging strangers, slapping high fives, and screaming their lungs out. It is hard not to get caught up in the moment. I am still hoarse from yesterday’s game.

Afterwards, we ended up going out to eat at a little religiously inspired chicken finger restaurant. The sign on the restaurant has the Jesus fish and under it says, “Jim Bob’s Chicken Fingers” with a bible verse quoted. I got the full experience of two of the south’s major religions yesterday, college football and Christianity. All in all it was a good day and one that I will remember for a long time.