Forty years ago, I became a University of Alabama football season ticket holder.
In honor of this momentous occasion, here are 40 things I love about going to Alabama football games:
● I love Alabama fans. They can be arrogant, a little spoiled and they firmly believe the referees need glasses, but they are an entertaining bunch to be around.
● I love walking around the Quad before the game and seeing all the tailgaters. It’s a spectacle to savor: decorated tents, fans all dressed up in their gameday best, the incredible amount of food, the music blaring, the people huddled around giant TVs hooked up to satellite dishes … sometimes the tailgating is more interesting than the game.
● I love Big Al. He’s the coolest elephant on the planet. Really, who’s his competition? Dumbo? Horton? Babar? My money is on Big Al.
● I love the Million Dollar Band. If you’ve never seen the Elephant Stomp, a big pep rally in front of the Gorgas Library before the game, you’re missing a treat. And, of course, I love the in-game music, and the halftime shows. I also love it when they play “Na Na Na Na, Kiss Him Goodbye” at the end of the game when victory is near.
● I love Bryant-Denny Stadium. I can remember when it had just 60,000 seats and no upper decks. Now it’s got 100,077 seats, video screens, luxury boxes and it’s a worthy showroom for one of college football’s elite teams.
● I love the taste of a Denny Dog, hot from the concession stand. To paraphrase the great philosopher Charlie Brown, a hot dog just tastes better with an Alabama football game in front of it.
● I love what I call “Reeling in the Years” while I’m at the game. That’s when I reminisce about all the exciting games, the legendary coaches and the great players I’ve seen. Doing this fills me with Tide pride.
● I love seeing the opposing team’s fans and hearing what they say about visiting Bryant-Denny Stadium. A couple of years ago I overheard a visiting fan say, “This is like being in Football Heaven.”
● I love the Paul W. Bryant Museum. I lived through part of the “Bear” era, and it’s hard to overstate Coach Bryant’s larger-than-life presence back in the day. I’m glad the museum preserves some of the Bear necessities.
Paul W. Bryant Museum: Exploring Alabama football legacy
Discover the legacy of Alabama football through artifacts, memorabilia and state-of-the-art displays at the Paul W. Bryant Museum
Gary Cosby Jr. and Chase Goodbread
● I love the beauty of the UA campus and its landmarks: Denny Chimes, the Tuska statue, the President’s Mansion and the Gorgas Library, to name a few.
● I love the statues of the five UA football coaches who have won national championships. I love seeing the fans posing for photos in front of those sculptures, although the Nick Saban and Bear Bryant statues seem to get most of the attention.
● I love the simplicity of Alabama’s crimson and white uniforms. I love the numbers on the helmets and the absence of “Alabama” on the jerseys. It’s like a message: Everybody knows who we are; we don’t have to advertise. And when the players take the field, it really does look like a crimson tide.
● I love winning. When Alabama wins, the air smells fresher, the food tastes better and everything seems to be right with the world.
● I love blowout wins. Nothing makes me happier than Alabama being ahead 66-0 and watching the fourth-team quarterback from Hooterville finally take some snaps.
● I love nail-biting wins. The sense of relief after snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat is wonderful.
● I love losing … as long as it’s a rare occurrence. Losing makes me appreciate winning. A loss seems to focus the minds of players, coaches and fans. When Alabama loses, you can guarantee everyone will be fired up for the next game.
● I love that moment after a loss when I reassure myself by thinking: “You know, we can still have a good season if we just beat Auburn.”
● I love my seat on the upper deck of the stadium’s west side. I love the bird’s-eye view of the action and unless the game kicks off at 11 a.m., I’m in the shade for all four quarters. You won’t see me with a lobster-red face like those poor fans on the sun-drenched east side.
● I love my chairback seat. How do fans in the bleachers sit through nearly four-hour games without resting their backs?
● I love walking up the ramp to my upper deck seat. Hearing other fans complain about how tiring it is to climb makes me feel thankful that I can still get around pretty well at my advanced age. I love walking down the ramp after the game, particularly after a big win. It’s like a victory lap.
● I love it before the game when the Million Dollar Band forms the shape of an elephant and plays “Tusk.” I love that Fleetwood Mac has become part of Alabama’s football tradition.
● I love pregame military flyovers. I’ve seen jets, helicopters and parachute teams. Those demonstrations are always awe-inspiring and give me patriotic chill bumps.
● I love how Alabama football brings together people from all walks of life.
● I love the moments just before kickoff. Hearing AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” pumping through the speakers, watching the players and coaches run onto the field while the Million Dollar Band and cheerleaders perform … well, if that doesn’t get your heart pumping, you must be like the Tin Man from the “Wizard of Oz.”
● I love the actual kickoff, when the fans are yelling “Roll Tide” and the game finally begins. I liken the excitement of that moment to what it would be like if you were hit simultaneously with a light saber from “Star Wars” and a phaser from “Star Trek” while wearing an aluminum foil suit.
● I love the smells inside the stadium. It’s a potent mixture of hot dogs, popcorn, nacho cheese, bourbon, beer, sweat, aftershave, perfume and the crisp Tuscaloosa air.
● I love those brutally hot early-season games when sitting in the stadium seems like being in the middle of an inferno. Enduring those conditions qualifies you as a real fan.
● I love the water monsters, those big vats of H2O on the concourses. They have saved me from dehydration at those 90-degree, 90% humidity early-season games. And the water is free, so I don’t have to pay those exorbitant drink prices at the concession stand.
● I love that first cool weather game, when you realize that fall is coming, the leaves will be turning colors, and the games will become more important.
● I love afternoon games, especially the big games that earn the coveted 2:30 p.m. kickoff slot on national television. Sitting in my seat, I just know that the eyes of the College Football Universe are all on Tuscaloosa.
● I love night games, especially now that the multicolored lights have been installed in the stadium. Alabama touchdowns have never looked better.
● I don’t love cellphones, but I do love it when all the fans turn on their phone lights, then raise them up and down at the cheerleaders’ prompt during night games. That’s really cool.
● I love the fight song, “Yea Alabama.” I love the phrases “pluck and grit” and “crimson flame.” When the student section sings the lyrics right before the game, if that doesn’t get you fired up … well, you must be like Mr. Spock from “Star Trek.”
● I love it when the crowd yells “Roll Tide!” in unison after an Alabama first down. I hear this started at Terry Saban’s suggestion. Thank you, Miss Terry.
● Do I love “Dixieland Delight?” It’s complicated. I love seeing Alabama fans sing and dance while the song is playing at the stadium. But I could do without the R-rated chants that accompany the song. And y’all realize the song is set in Tennessee, right?
● I love the “Rammer Jammer” cheer before the game when Alabama fans boast, “We’re gonna beat the hell out of you.” After the game, I don’t love the cheer, which changes to “We just beat the hell out of you.” At that point, it’s just taunting. And doing the cheer after a close win? That just sounds silly.
● I love when the crowd sings along with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” No R-rated chants needed.
● I love when the Million Dollar Band plays Green Day’s “Basket Case” before the beginning of the fourth quarter. The cheerleaders’ endzone acrobatics with this song are always fun to watch.
● I love beating Tennessee. I hate “Rocky Top.” I hate their orange uniforms. I could live without the celebratory cigar smoking, though. Cough-cough.
● I love beating Auburn. Bragging rights: ’nuff said.
Reach Ken Roberts at ken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com. To support his work, please subscribe to The Tuscaloosa News.
