Complete Defeat

We had free, lower level, 50 yard line tickets thanks to my boss.  We had beautiful sunny skies and low humidity, a perfect day for football.  As we headed for the stadium I knew a win was unlikely but I said to Matt,"I just want a touchdown."  We stayed until the bitter end, until the clock ran out and the scoreboard said 54-3.  Oh Cats, you let me down and my expectations were so low I thought I had set a goal you could achieve.  I still love you though.

I sat among the enemy with my sweet co-worker Melissa and her friends, who quickly realized how little of a threat Kentucky was and therefore didn't even bother with any trash talking.

Here is what I learned at my first football game as the visiting team:

- The Gamecock is the stupidest mascot in college sports.  It's a rooster.  And somehow they seem to know that a rooster is dumb and not at all intimidating, so they try to make it cool by being slightly offensive in their cheers and paraphernalia.  Grow up.

- I love retired Kentucky fans who follow our terrible football team all over in their campers.  We saw a respectable amount of RV's set up waving the blue and white flag and groups of senior citizens snacking under their blue pop up tents in front of them.  That's devotion and it makes me proud to be a Kentucky graduate.  It also gives me something to aspire to when I retire someday.

- SC fans dress a bit snazzier for football games than I remember seeing at Commonwealth Stadium.  In fact, there seemed to be a preplanned dresscode for the girls- cowboy boots with a sundress.  Everywhere I looked, there were boots and dresses.  Some casual, but a good amount of them were wearing fancy little black dresses paired with brown cowboy boots.  Mini skirts and boots were also very popular.  I do not understand how sitting on bleachers for 4 hours in a short tight skirt sounds like a comfortable experience, but it must be since I saw the same outfit over and over.

- The refs just can't win.  It seems like no one ever likes them.  Even when South Carolina was destroying us, the fans seemed enraged that the stripes were secret Kentucky fans.  If they were, kudos to them for doing such a good job disguising their allegiance... not that a few calls would have changed the outcome of that game.

- I'm ready for basketball season.