SEC versus Big 10 versus the Independents

I spent a day in South Bend, Indiana with a group of friends who have never been to an SEC football game.  We had put our heads together a few weeks ago and decided to attend the Notre Dame versus Purdue football game.  As God would have it, after several days of rain, wind and gloom, the clouds were forced to blow eastward and beautiful blue skies permeated the house that Knute built.  Yes, the Catholic church must have a direct line to the Good Lord because the weather could have not been any more perfect on a college game day.

My University of Alabama jersey on and national championship hat proudly perched upon my gargantuan head, my buddies and I tailgated for a couple of hours before making our way to the stadium.  One friend sported his Notre Dame jersey, another wore a Purdue t-shirt that he had apparently worn since he was eight years old, as the shirt seemed to be a "small" stretched across a "large" frame, and one fellow who elected to remain neutral out of pure fear for his own personal safety.

I was disappointed in the subdued atmosphere in the parking area where so many people were grilling food and pitching a football around.  No one dared talk smack to anyone from the opposing fanbase; no, everyone was very, very polite!  I was totally shocked and amazed at the level of civility on display, and a little embarrassed that the fans didn't know how to talk smack to one another.  Don't people here know how to carry on in the spirit of good fun or are the folks here morally superior to my kin back home?  By contrast, there is always much yelling and screaming at folks from other states and schools when my beloved Tide plays.  Sweet Home Alabama will be blasted from thousands of car stereos for miles around Bryant Denny Stadium.  The nauseating sounds of Rocky Top at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee are played until it is so ingrained in the rivals heads, they are singing along by the fourth quarter.  Public displays of disaffection and questions about someones sister's personal virtue are called into question at every turn.  Cam Newton jerseys are hung on statues of Paul "Bear" Bryant, giant oak trees on Toomer's Corner in Auburn are poisoned, grown women and men brawl before and after games and no modicum of civility is noticed in the region of the country known for politeness. 

As we began walking toward the stadium I grew excited.  I also was caught unaware when a couple of Purdue and Notre Dame fans yelled "Roll Tide!"  This made me both happy and confused at the same time; this would never have happened back home.

We found our "seats," or rather marked wooden bleachers.  A couple of elderly Purdue fans sat in front of us while a litany of Notre Dame fans looked bemused at my crimson attire.  An Irish fan from Boca Raton, Florida didn't hesitate to jump into a conversation about SEC football and its superiority to the rest of the country.  Not wanting to be persuaded without experiencing the game first, I kindly engaged him in chit-chat but consciously made efforts to remain neutral and unbiased until the game was over.   

Kick-off marked the beginning of the game and the fans were fairly loud, but not deafening.  Neither team could establish their running game and were forced to throw the ball on almost every down.  Neither team scored in the first quarter and played to a seven-seven tie heading into half-time.  The fighting Irish outpaced the Boilermakers ten to zero in the third quarter, but the fellas with the choo-choo mascot battled back in the fourth and final quarter.  God smiled on the private Catholic school one more time and the luck of the Irish allowed them the victory in an exciting final two minutes as Notre Dame battled back to win the game twenty to seventeen.

Insofar as the teams were concerned versus those of the SEC, here's my analysis: these two teams were SLOW.  I remarked to one of my buddies that watching the game was like watching some of the bigger high schools in Alabama, Arkansas and Texas I had seen.  There were some pretty big boys on the field and a few obvious NFL caliber players that stood out, like Manti Teo (sp), linebacker from Notre Dame.  The kid is a star and will be very successful at the next level, but I'm used to watching and seeing numerous kids on both sides of the ball that will wind up playing in the League. 

And I get back to the fanbases--they were very tame, nice and respectful.  This was pretty refreshing on one hand but the lack of junk being yelled at others was also just foreign to me.  "Where's the pride," I asked myself?! 

The saving grace for me?  As I stood and began walking toward a concession stand to buy a soft pretzel and something to drink, I heard a familiar chant behind me, "War Eagle!"

My head snapped back and my ears began to bleed just a little.  I turned to find two fellow Bama-ians decked in God-awful orange proudly pointing at their shirts and beaming from ear-to-ear.  Yes!  I would finally get to hear some wonderful smack talk and also get to throw some back.  All was right in the universe again and I knew the civil folks around me would get educated in the classroom of SEC.