BleedGopher
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1 man critically injured in fight outside Georgia-Florida game
- Thread starter BleedGopher
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Sports_Realist
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The Florida-Georgia game has long been unofficially known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party", something the schools, the stadium, and the city of Jacksonville have worked to downplay in recent years. Nevertheless, the drinking scene is pretty intense. U of M officials would faint at the sight of the tailgate parties. The game typically takes place at 3:30 ET although I wonder if at some point the concerned parties will push for a 12:00 ET start to reduce consumption. Several years ago the game was played in the evening and the level of drunkeness with the attendant fights and disorder convinced all parties that this game needs to be played in the afternoon going forward in order to keep a lid on things.
spermophilus
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Oh Boy, Here We Go . . . I Was THERE
Ol' Spermy was in attendance at the alleged "World's Largest Cocktail Party", and like nearly everything that comes out of SEC country - save for quality of the play of their teams on the field (which is substantial - and inarguable, especially in recent years) and their co-eds (even this year was a 'down' year, IMHO) - it is primarily and mostly, hot air, blather, and bloviation.
We got our rented motor home parked on Thursday, hearing that they'd be "lined up at 8:00 to get in to the lots". The reality - we got to our lot at 10:30 a.m., and were the 3rd RV there. About 2:00 o'clock, another motor home sidled up and said "just wait until tonight, it'll be a loud party until the wee hours". The reality - proverbial crickets starting at around 8:00 p.m. - in a yet half-full lot.
Friday morning, another of the neighbors showed up and warned us to "just wait for tonight - this party will be rocking and loud until all hours. Why, last year [he proceeded to tell a story of debauchery that I cannot repeat here, and I'm suuuuure was true]". The reality - the RV lot still didn't fill, and most of the "big partiers" cashed in their chips around 9 or 10:00 p.m., that night. But . . . . at the impromptu group we hooked up with, we heard what was now a familiar refrain. "y'all better make sure you get here tomorrow no later than 9:00 a.m. (game time was 3:30 eastern) or you'll be backed up for a mile or better, and fuhget about driving into the lot". I intentionally told one of my buddies that we would not drive in until 10:00 a.m., to "see" who was right. At 10:15 we drove in from about 10 miles out, drove directly to the stadium with zero traffic back up, and encountered Everbank Field traffic that was about what you encounter 3-4 hours before the game @ TCF.
The southern belle watching, which was eagerly anticipated from prior visits to Baton Rouge and to Oxford, was also a let-down. Believe me, still impressive, but no where even close to what we had experienced in The Grove. Also, to my surprise, the winner of that little Border Battle competition clearly went to the Georgia contingent, and not - as I had expected - to Florida. As a "check and balance" I asked for opinions from my everyone in my traveling party, and without asking in a leading way, discovered that the Bulldog beauties were more impressive than the Gator gals - and by a unanimous decision.
As to the game itself, some observations:
- it was highly competitive game.
- the athletes, in aggregate, especially the DBs and LBs - are physically very impressive, and telling of how far we need to go to get to the top tier.
- the QB play on both sides was pretty shocking as to how average it looked. Perhaps the 2nd bullet point above influenced.
- it was a bowl-game-like atmosphere, with the crowd split right down the middle end-to-end.
- despite the unfortunate incident described in the OP, there was surprisingly little vitriol and general "hate" between the 2 factions. I have not figured out if that is to be pitied - or admired. I.E. - not the same "juice" as between tOSU and Michigan, IU and Purdue, or dare I say, any Minnesota and IA/WI tilt.
- did I mention that the DBs and LBs were physically imposing and can run?
The post-game scene was very tame, many folks bailed out right away (although no one left the game until the Gators fumbled with < 2 minutes to go - unlike many of our IDIOT fans!), and there was no big festive atmosphere - at all.
As my good friend put it "maybe they should consider re-naming this 'The World's SHORTEST Cocktail Party' !"
Jacksonville does not offer much as far as a downtown or stadium area. It is not a surprise to me that their status as an NFL city/franchise has taken a hit and is teetering. The beach area (~ 7-8 miles East) is pretty good, but I am easily impressed - having been born and raised in the middle of the continent and as far away from both coasts [and the Gulf] as is possible.
One last aside note. The Florida shirt vendor, and one other die-hard Florida fans I said this to, did not seem to have much of a sense of humor . . . "Where can I buy an 'Agnostics for Mark Sanchez' t-shirt?
In summary, nothing evident or no scene that "would make U of M officials faint"; in truth, that tailgating atmosphere was nothing more than what I've seen at Ann Arbor, Columbus, or State College. As to the "drinking scene"? Well one thing is for sure, from several samplings, the BIG would trounce the SEC in both consumption, and ability to hold that alcohol - and in a rout. Again, am I proud, or ashamed?
So yes, the next time you are on a business trip, and "that guy" you overhear at lunch, or is with your company perhaps, or you bump into at the hotel bar, that is "Mr. SEC", and goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how wonderful each and everything is about their beloved conference and area, tune them out and only pay attention to their football teams - which comparatively, and alone, ARE truly worthy of admiration and "specialness".
Ol' Spermy was in attendance at the alleged "World's Largest Cocktail Party", and like nearly everything that comes out of SEC country - save for quality of the play of their teams on the field (which is substantial - and inarguable, especially in recent years) and their co-eds (even this year was a 'down' year, IMHO) - it is primarily and mostly, hot air, blather, and bloviation.
We got our rented motor home parked on Thursday, hearing that they'd be "lined up at 8:00 to get in to the lots". The reality - we got to our lot at 10:30 a.m., and were the 3rd RV there. About 2:00 o'clock, another motor home sidled up and said "just wait until tonight, it'll be a loud party until the wee hours". The reality - proverbial crickets starting at around 8:00 p.m. - in a yet half-full lot.
Friday morning, another of the neighbors showed up and warned us to "just wait for tonight - this party will be rocking and loud until all hours. Why, last year [he proceeded to tell a story of debauchery that I cannot repeat here, and I'm suuuuure was true]". The reality - the RV lot still didn't fill, and most of the "big partiers" cashed in their chips around 9 or 10:00 p.m., that night. But . . . . at the impromptu group we hooked up with, we heard what was now a familiar refrain. "y'all better make sure you get here tomorrow no later than 9:00 a.m. (game time was 3:30 eastern) or you'll be backed up for a mile or better, and fuhget about driving into the lot". I intentionally told one of my buddies that we would not drive in until 10:00 a.m., to "see" who was right. At 10:15 we drove in from about 10 miles out, drove directly to the stadium with zero traffic back up, and encountered Everbank Field traffic that was about what you encounter 3-4 hours before the game @ TCF.
The southern belle watching, which was eagerly anticipated from prior visits to Baton Rouge and to Oxford, was also a let-down. Believe me, still impressive, but no where even close to what we had experienced in The Grove. Also, to my surprise, the winner of that little Border Battle competition clearly went to the Georgia contingent, and not - as I had expected - to Florida. As a "check and balance" I asked for opinions from my everyone in my traveling party, and without asking in a leading way, discovered that the Bulldog beauties were more impressive than the Gator gals - and by a unanimous decision.
As to the game itself, some observations:
- it was highly competitive game.
- the athletes, in aggregate, especially the DBs and LBs - are physically very impressive, and telling of how far we need to go to get to the top tier.
- the QB play on both sides was pretty shocking as to how average it looked. Perhaps the 2nd bullet point above influenced.
- it was a bowl-game-like atmosphere, with the crowd split right down the middle end-to-end.
- despite the unfortunate incident described in the OP, there was surprisingly little vitriol and general "hate" between the 2 factions. I have not figured out if that is to be pitied - or admired. I.E. - not the same "juice" as between tOSU and Michigan, IU and Purdue, or dare I say, any Minnesota and IA/WI tilt.
- did I mention that the DBs and LBs were physically imposing and can run?
The post-game scene was very tame, many folks bailed out right away (although no one left the game until the Gators fumbled with < 2 minutes to go - unlike many of our IDIOT fans!), and there was no big festive atmosphere - at all.
As my good friend put it "maybe they should consider re-naming this 'The World's SHORTEST Cocktail Party' !"
Jacksonville does not offer much as far as a downtown or stadium area. It is not a surprise to me that their status as an NFL city/franchise has taken a hit and is teetering. The beach area (~ 7-8 miles East) is pretty good, but I am easily impressed - having been born and raised in the middle of the continent and as far away from both coasts [and the Gulf] as is possible.
One last aside note. The Florida shirt vendor, and one other die-hard Florida fans I said this to, did not seem to have much of a sense of humor . . . "Where can I buy an 'Agnostics for Mark Sanchez' t-shirt?
In summary, nothing evident or no scene that "would make U of M officials faint"; in truth, that tailgating atmosphere was nothing more than what I've seen at Ann Arbor, Columbus, or State College. As to the "drinking scene"? Well one thing is for sure, from several samplings, the BIG would trounce the SEC in both consumption, and ability to hold that alcohol - and in a rout. Again, am I proud, or ashamed?
So yes, the next time you are on a business trip, and "that guy" you overhear at lunch, or is with your company perhaps, or you bump into at the hotel bar, that is "Mr. SEC", and goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how wonderful each and everything is about their beloved conference and area, tune them out and only pay attention to their football teams - which comparatively, and alone, ARE truly worthy of admiration and "specialness".