This is great news to the many (myself included) who complained about the plague of noon kickoffs that infected Sanford Stadium last season. While many blamed Michael Adams for the early tee-times, reality is the product on the field just wasn't romantic enough for the big boys of ESPN and CBS to come calling. 4:30 pm kickoff........
This sits JUST RIGHT with many a Dawg die hard who love to make the pilgrimage out State Road 316E on a Saturday in the fall. This creates a much less rush-scenario to get there and set up your tailgate before the sun comes up. This allows us to relax at our tailgate and not have to worry about breaking it down at by 11am, only a couple hours after setting it up. This allows us to stroll around the most beautiful campus God has ever graced, while enjoying the sights and sounds of SEC football at it's absolute finest. This allows the game to be played while the temps are beginning to drop, instead of rise (and the alumni side to be in the shade at kickoff). This allows us to voyage into downtown Athens after sufficient tailgate time to buy an ice cold Terrapin Rye Pale Ale from our favorite establishment(s) to help support the local economy, which relies in part on 6-7 gamedays a year. 4:30pm...... YES PLEASE!!!
Now let's play the what-if game.....
What if our Dawgs look really good against Boise State, and win convincingly in front of a national audience the week before? Will that be enough to vault UGA into a....oh..... let's say top 15 ranking? I would certainly say so. ESPN, Phil Steele and many others are already giving this "new breed of Bulldawg which stands ready to take the field of battle" some hype. A win against the highly ranked Blue Broncos would certainly cement said hype.
With the Gamecocks already locked in to be a top 10 team after their first week, I would go out on a whim and say ESPN College Gameday may pay Athens a visit this day. Then I remembered about this game taking place on the same day. I doubt ESPN will pass on that chance, being that both of those teams are just darlings of ESPN, and also despite featuring them last year. But one could hold out a little hope.
After seeing the confirmed kickoff time, and thinking about the possibilities and what if's that come along with the matchup, I got very, very giddy. Fall Saturdays in Athens are what we live for, folks. And in 99 short, short days, we get to experience one... the right way!!!
What is your favorite kickoff time, and why???
GO DAWGS!!!!
You know, I was going to say night games because of the atmosphere and the way the stadium looks all lit up at night. But then I remembered that the anticipation leading up to a night game is almost unbearable for me. And there's no way a football game should start at noon or earlier unless it's a pickup game amongst friends to kill some time before a night game. So, yeah, I guess the mid-afternoon games are my favorite. Plenty of time to handle your business and get settled in, both before and after the game.
ReplyDelete