Alabama vs Tennessee

On this chilly Saturday morning, Davis and I left the house around 5 to be at our parking stations by 6:30AM.   But we were excited about the day, with the big Tennessee game kicking off at 2:30PM.   I dropped Davis off at the campus deck, and went to pick up our parking barriers for the 3 lots Troop 354 maintains.  And almost as I was turning into the Ten Hoor deck, I saw Sam in the distance, so I went to see him as he was finishing up work.   Even before the amazing scholarship offer, I was pushing for UA because of location, and many opportunities I was seeing like this one, and it all worked out.   

After dropping off all the barriers, I picked up some Jacks to bring back to our campus drive deck.   Sam hung out with us at least through the breakfast I picked up, then he went back to his dorm for sleep.  Our day went fairly well, as it stayed busy, warmed up to tshirt weather, and flew by.   Davis and the other 2 scouts scanned people into the lot and deck, while I took direction duty, guiding random Tennessee fans to the stadium, Uber drivers to Sorority row (Those girls have a hard time walking in heels and mini-skirts), and pointing out the nearest bathrooms to any and all.  Davis hammered out some work on his required eagle scout badges, and it appears took a nap at one point.   He was really good with those other new scouts, and it is fun to watch them run up to him at the beginning of meetings...He has been an excellent Senior Patrol Leader this year to the troop.   

At gametime, we made the long walk over to the stadium, and used our new passes to enter gate 38 and into the lower bowl section.   I really love the sounds of football, and the roar of a stadium as you walk near it can give you chills.   But walking out at field level at "Learfield at Bryant-Denny Stadium" (Can you hear Eli Gold as you read those words) was amazing.   Sam was right there at the field waiting for us.   We arrived right in the corner of the endzone, but you could look out and see Tennessee warming up and see how huge their quarterback is.   It was pretty clear that we would not find a seat in this lower bowl section, but we thought we might find a good place to stand.   We had walked over with a mom and her young scout, and I told her she should go back and walk up the ramp to the upper deck if she wanted an actual seat.   

But me and Sam and Davis walked around the stadium to about the 50 yard line, and started looking around the stadium for a place to sit or stand.   We looked all around, and that is when I saw there was no barrier to the actual field level...just stairs.   Com'n boys, let's go down...and down to field level at the 50 yard line we went...straight up to the fence separating us from the team, and there he was, about 35 feet away, the man, the myth, the legend...Nick Saban...chewing out the offensive line for their first quarter performance.   So cool...It is so much more lifelike in real life at the game.   I then turned to my left and saw Nacho Alabama (no, I had no idea who he was at the time, but Sam knew, and said he was a fixture of these bama games), so I had to get the boys picture with him!   I am pretty sure I could have stayed here for at least the rest of the time I planned to be at the game, but Sam said "I want to see the game".   So we scouted out the lower bowl, and found a perfect spot for standing at the top of the lower bowl wall.

We found a perfect spot.   It was not a seat, but a standing spot suitable for 3 people.   And there we stood, in apparently a heavy tide pride area that kept looking up at us wondering why we were standing there tainting their environment.   But no one said anything, so we acted like we belonged and watched Alabama stink it up in the first half.   At halftime, I actually tried to sit in one of the open seats, but had a Forrest Gump moment (not the hero at the University moment, but the outcast on the bus moment) where the Alabama guy basically said "NO, cant sit here".   Somewhat embarrassing, but it did make me think that he probably spends lots of money for these seats, and Jo Blo free ticket alabama parking crew dude probably doesn't need to even try to sit here.   So I just kept standing with the boys, recognizing that this moment with the boys, whether standing or sitting, is just another amazing moment...I wish I could capture these moments forever in words.   

We typically leave after halftime, but stayed for the first series to see Alabama score a touchdown, then a second series with a fieldgoal.   And we had to get out of there to beat traffic, so Davis and I left Sam with a hug, as he went to find a place in the student section.  And about the time we reached the quad, the roar went up again, as Alabama scored another touchdown.   The drive home was uneventful, but I loved getting to visit with Davis and chat about his day.   We stopped at Full Moon for dinner, and completed our day laughing and remembering our fun times at the deck with Richard Richard.