School Spirit
Mar 24th 2008, 2:31 am
#16
A lion in your lap
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: Sparta NJ
Posts: 7,605
Re: School Spirit
If you want to see real passion and real feeling in sport ...then the UK has a few options ...Glasgow Celtic versus Glasgow Rangers must be THE keenly contested sporting event in the world ...the colours you wear that day certainly will mean alot ....then you can throw in Man Utd v Man City or Liverpool v Everton .....in my part of the world it was Wigan and St.Helens ...if you have never been to a derby game like these .....you have never lived ....
on the ball City!!!!
Mar 24th 2008, 2:42 am
#17
Riding on silver wings
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 10,543
Re: School Spirit
If you want to see real passion and real feeling in sport ...then the UK has a few options ...Glasgow Celtic versus Glasgow Rangers must be THE keenly contested sporting event in the world ...the colours you wear that day certainly will mean alot ....then you can throw in Man Utd v Man City or Liverpool v Everton .....in my part of the world it was Wigan and St.Helens ...if you have never been to a derby game like these .....you have never lived ....Crowds at American sporting events are tame .....the pandemonium and excitement of a UK derby would knock most septics speechless
The game between UGA and Florida is definitely a spectacle. I remember the night before seeing all the alums coming in their RV's setting up camp in the student parking lots for the tailgating to come. I remember walking on the wide bridge next to the stadium where the ESPN Gameday stage was set up for nationwide coverage the next morning. I remember having the scramble for tickets that were pretty damn hard to come by. They only alloted 10K season tickets for student via a lottery process. Being a freshman I was low on the totem pole to have access to purchase. Because of that I had the option of purchasing a $10 ticket for $200. I'm a student for heaven's sake. I don't have a job. Anyway, the next day came and I woke up early just to be a part of the fever. Everyone at the dining hall dressed in red and black were buzzing. I left to join the crowd near the stadium and the marching band was playing, mini pep-rallys were all over the place. The crowd was tight and I ended up doing the duck waddle just to get from point A to B. The noise was unbelievable. Everyone cheering before the game. People near the ESPN telecast were showing posters in support of the Bulldogs. People riding other's shoulders. It was so overwhelming and infectious if not exhausting. All this for a team that wasn't a professional entity. This my friend was the big game. What we call the "Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in the South".http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wor...Cocktail_Party
Mar 24th 2008, 2:42 am
#18
Illinois Rapscallion
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: In a one bar town
Posts: 1,728
Re: School Spirit
LOL ...true ... a fight in rural East Anglia between the Canaries and the Tractor Boys (I hope I got that right) just as good as Rangers and Celtic ...
Mar 24th 2008, 2:47 am
#20
Illinois Rapscallion
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: In a one bar town
Posts: 1,728
Re: School Spirit
Circus, that means you've never experienced the SEC. You're in the Midwest like me and the spirit here is a bit lame. However you go down south and holey schmoley. The game between UGA and Florida is definitely a spectacle. I remember the night before seeing all the alums coming in their RV's setting up camp in the student parking lots for the tailgating to come. I remember walking on the wide bridge next to the stadium where the ESPN Gameday stage was set up for nationwide coverage the next morning. I remember having the scramble for tickets that were pretty damn hard to come by. They only alloted 10K season tickets for student via a lottery process. Being a freshman I was low on the totem pole to have access to purchase. Because of that I had the option of purchasing a $10 ticket for $200. I'm a student for heaven's sake. I don't have a job. Anyway, the next day came and I woke up early just to be a part of the fever. Everyone at the dining hall dressed in red and black were buzzing. I left to join the crowd near the stadium and the marching band was playing, mini pep-rallys were all over the place. The crowd was tight and I ended up doing the duck waddle just to get from point A to B. The noise was unbelievable. Everyone cheering before the game. People near the ESPN telecast were showing posters in support of the Bulldogs. People riding other's shoulders. It was so overwhelming and infectious if not exhausting. All this for a team that wasn't a professional entity. This my friend was the big game. What we call the "Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in the South".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wor...Cocktail_Party
The game between UGA and Florida is definitely a spectacle. I remember the night before seeing all the alums coming in their RV's setting up camp in the student parking lots for the tailgating to come. I remember walking on the wide bridge next to the stadium where the ESPN Gameday stage was set up for nationwide coverage the next morning. I remember having the scramble for tickets that were pretty damn hard to come by. They only alloted 10K season tickets for student via a lottery process. Being a freshman I was low on the totem pole to have access to purchase. Because of that I had the option of purchasing a $10 ticket for $200. I'm a student for heaven's sake. I don't have a job. Anyway, the next day came and I woke up early just to be a part of the fever. Everyone at the dining hall dressed in red and black were buzzing. I left to join the crowd near the stadium and the marching band was playing, mini pep-rallys were all over the place. The crowd was tight and I ended up doing the duck waddle just to get from point A to B. The noise was unbelievable. Everyone cheering before the game. People near the ESPN telecast were showing posters in support of the Bulldogs. People riding other's shoulders. It was so overwhelming and infectious if not exhausting. All this for a team that wasn't a professional entity. This my friend was the big game. What we call the "Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in the South".http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wor...Cocktail_Party
Mar 24th 2008, 2:52 am
#21
Riding on silver wings
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 10,543
Re: School Spirit
I'm not doubting the passion ...I see the games on tv ....but the Brits ...well you have to be at a live game to appreciate it ....a long time ago Joan Jett based her whole music career on going to watch football in England ....the songs/chants and passion ...the lesbian thing ..no idea were that came from ....Maybe Arsenal and Spurs
Mar 24th 2008, 3:02 am
#22
Illinois Rapscallion
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: In a one bar town
Posts: 1,728
Re: School Spirit
The population here in town is 4000 at most ...I reckon its actually half that as they include the kids in college and half a dozen other small villages .....anyways for the Homecoming football game nearly everybody is at the High School football field ....a few years ago I was with a guy from Amsterdam who was marrying a local girl ....we started an old football (ok soccer for those who must) chant ...slowly but surely the rest of the crowd (moms and dads) joined in ..it was amazing ...the kids were lifted ..you could tell ...and it went on for a full 60 minutes ....after the game it was hard to tell who'd had the most fun ...the kids or the parents ...
Mar 24th 2008, 3:09 am
#23
Riding on silver wings
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 10,543
Re: School Spirit
The population here in town is 4000 at most ...I reckon its actually half that as they include the kids in college and half a dozen other small villages .....anyways for the Homecoming football game nearly everybody is at the High School football field ....a few years ago I was with a guy from Amsterdam who was marrying a local girl ....we started an old football (ok soccer for those who must) chant ...slowly but surely the rest of the crowd (moms and dads) joined in ..it was amazing ...the kids were lifted ..you could tell ...and it went on for a full 60 minutes ....after the game it was hard to tell who'd had the most fun ...the kids or the parents ...
Mar 24th 2008, 3:15 am
#24
Illinois Rapscallion
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: In a one bar town
Posts: 1,728
Re: School Spirit
Its funny when you see the local police chief, the mayor etc .... all doing the same thing
I really appreciate the effort that the locals put into the sports events here ...that really could teach people in the UK alot ...school sports are in disarray back home ... Here in Eureka ...hell ..sport is king ...all 3 of the step kids play sport all year round ...its expensive ..but the support is superb
I really appreciate the effort that the locals put into the sports events here ...that really could teach people in the UK alot ...school sports are in disarray back home ... Here in Eureka ...hell ..sport is king ...all 3 of the step kids play sport all year round ...its expensive ..but the support is superb
Mar 24th 2008, 10:05 am
#25
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,005
Re: School Spirit
I don't think there is anything like the spirit of a US college football game in the UK. It's not that one is better/bigger/louder than the other ... with just a few exceptions, I think college ball games in the US are "wild" but "safe". Like UGACrew, I remember downtown Athens and the UGA campus being overrun with RV's parked 2 or 3 deep, and the whole town being awash with red and black ...
Three colleagues from the US came over here to set up a student exchange program and ended up one day in a Celtic pub during a Rangers-Celtic match. I think it was one of the highpoints of their lives. For the one guy (he's a sport philosopher/sociologist) it was a true education in British sporting culture.
Another unforgettable moment for me is any time Wales are playing at home, listening to the Welsh national anthem ... made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
Three colleagues from the US came over here to set up a student exchange program and ended up one day in a Celtic pub during a Rangers-Celtic match. I think it was one of the highpoints of their lives. For the one guy (he's a sport philosopher/sociologist) it was a true education in British sporting culture.
Another unforgettable moment for me is any time Wales are playing at home, listening to the Welsh national anthem ... made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
Mar 24th 2008, 5:01 pm
#26
And YOU'RE paying for it!
Joined: May 2007
Location: kipper tie?
Posts: 2,328
Re: School Spirit
Was it the old traditional "w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers!"?
Mar 24th 2008, 5:06 pm
#27
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: School Spirit
I would say this is the most alien aspect of American life for us. Generally, British people don't like to whoop and holler about stuff
I don't know what Leeds University colours are.
I don't know what Leeds University colours are.
Mar 24th 2008, 5:09 pm
#28
Boomshacalaca!!
Joined: Dec 2005
Location: South of the North Pole.......Colorado
Posts: 5,066
Mar 24th 2008, 6:03 pm
#29
Guttural Brumerican
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: The Mile High City
Posts: 1,312
Mar 24th 2008, 10:52 pm
#30
L2, GC, Surrey, OH, TX!
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Surrey to Dallas (via Ohio)!
Posts: 6,363
Re: School Spirit
Was it the old traditional "w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers! w@nkers!"?
