Football: The Passion of the South

When I look at the culture of the south, I think about the food, the hospitality, the people, but more importantly high school and college football. The hotbed for football talent is in Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and California (four of the five mentioned are southern states). Almost every year the best football players in the country are from the south, proven by an image in the 2009 Sports Illustrated article "The State of Recruiting" by Andy Staples. For college football in general, the Southeastern Conference (Teams include: Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss. St, South Carolina, Florida, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Arkansas) is usually the best conference in Division 1 football. It is also the conference with the most passionate fans and biggest tailgaters. I read the book "Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer" by Warren St. John a few years ago, which composes actual stories from St. John's travels with Alabama tailgaters. There are some unbelievable people in the book who give up everything for six months to follow the Alabama football team to every game in their RV's. St. John describes how he went to talk to fellow Alabama fans at their different tailgate parties and before he knew it, he was offered some beer and food. It is unique that St. John was able to walk over to a stranger's tailgate and strike up a conversation just because he was an Alabama fan. I can't tell you how many times I have given high fives or fist pounds to strangers around me at football games. Just like Lior said in her topic intro, Southern hospitality is included at football games because they allow strangers to become immediate friends.

I recently came across an article online, Football: North vs. South, which compares the two regions and the difference football has on each culture. My favorite part of the article is:

Getting to the stadium

North: You ask, “Where’s the stadium?” When you find it, you walk right in.

South: When you’re near it, you’ll hear it. On game day, it becomes the state’s third largest city.

(from http://www.collegecharlie.com/fbnvs.html)

I find this humorous because on game days in Morgantown, WV, at the University of West Virginia, a sold-out game will make the stadium the biggest city in the state. Check the article out to read some funny, but true comparisons between both regions.

I think the main reason football is so huge in the south is we have one of the best climates in the country. Our mild climate allows a November day at a football game to be enjoyable because the temperature is usually in 60's or higher. A fan can make a football game an all day event if it is warm or cool outside in the south, but not many people want to tailgate and freeze all day if 40 degrees is the high temperature for the day. The south also has the greatest tradition with football. There are programs like Ohio State, USC, Michigan, and Nebraska with great traditions, but football in the south is where the roots of this great game exist. Get that passion back... Spring ball is just around the corner!!