After experiencing an Ole Miss football game for the first time, I get it now
OXFORD, Miss. — Somewhere between the pickle martini at Bouré and the 10th Hoddy Toddy chant I witnessed in The Grove, it hit me.
I get it now.
I now understand why experiencing a weekend in a place like Oxford is considered a bucket list item for college football fans. It didn’t matter that Ole Miss was facing Alabama, or that the Rebels’ postseason ban put a cap on fan expectations. The atmosphere all weekend was still top-notch. Well, at least until Tua Tagovailoa killed the home crowd buzz with one dazzling throw after another.
Make no mistake. I made my first trip to Oxford in part to see the defending national champions and their transcendent quarterback.
But along with a couple of SDS co-workers, we wanted to experience a full college football weekend at a place that none of us had been to. We wanted to take in a Friday night on The Square, experience The Grove and immerse ourselves in the Ole Miss culture.
Unlike most of the people I was surrounded by, I didn’t grow up in the heart of the SEC. As a college student in the Midwest, I couldn’t just hop in my car and drive a couple hours to an SEC game. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been to plenty of impressive tailgates and I’ve seen some incredible college venues, but my visions of The Grove was Katy Perry waving a corndog on College GameDay.
Now it’s Ole Miss chandeliers and tents as far as my eyes could see:
Never seen anything like it. #TheGrove pic.twitter.com/fVu25D3m9Q
— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) September 15, 2018
That picture doesn’t even do it justice. The amount of tents and people is staggering. I walked through The Grove when it was virtually empty and when it was loaded with tens of thousands of people. I couldn’t believe the tailgating dedication of some of the tents we saw.
From catered fried chicken platters from Zaxby’s to homemade Ole Miss-themed sugar cookies, the food obviously wasn’t lacking.
If you weren’t trying to avoid walking into the sea of people, you were watching out for generators parked on the sides of tents. I mean, what are you going to do for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff? Not watch all of the SEC action on TV all afternoon with rows of chairs set up for people to hang out like they’re in someone’s living room? That’d be foolish.
What was foolish was me thinking that there would be enough space for typical tailgate games like Cornhole. There’s no room for that in The Grove. There’s too much eating/drinking/Hoddy Toddy chanting to be done for that.
And I’ll say this: I was expecting to see a pretty decent split of Alabama fans to Ole Miss fans. Based on the amount of baby blue I saw all weekend, I can confirm that it was indeed still a home crowd. Seriously, though. So. Much. Baby. Blue. Ole Miss fans know how to stick to a game day wardrobe theme like few I’ve seen (except for stinkin’ Landshark Tony).
https://twitter.com/OleMissFB/status/1041084947803648000
Shoot, I even saw countless baby blue Ole Miss polos when we hit The Square on Friday night. You know, when I looked up in between bites of friend okra and swigs of that pickle martini (that was, um, interesting).
With flocks of people on the second-floor, plantation-style decks, The Square almost felt like a college version of Bourbon Street, minus the beads. A drunken out-of-town guest could have been convinced that they were in the heart of New Orleans. There were countless places I would have liked to experience based on how they looked from the outside, though the one-in, one-out policy prevented that from happening (our Uber driver told us about some speakeasy-type bar that serves grilled cheese from a back alley).
Oh, speaking of that.
WHERE ARE ALL THE UBER DRIVERS IN OXFORD?!
Is there some sort of Lyft monopoly? Shoot, even finding a couple of cab companies was harder than an Ole Miss defender trying to tackle an Alabama ball-carrier. Goodness gracious. Thoughts and prayers to those of you who have to deal with that transportation situation on a regular basis.
But to be honest, that was really the only complaint I had about Oxford.
I can now totally see how a high school student could experience a fall weekend there and want to sign up for classes the next day. While I loved my 4 years of college, I found myself wanting to go back in time to my freshman year so that I could hit every bar on The Square and take in each Saturday in The Grove.
I even just wish I was a short drive from Oxford so that I could pretend to be an Ole Miss fan with a decked-out tent to host tailgates in. Even if it meant letting a bunch of muddy college shoes stomp on my coolers so that Rebel fans could belt out another Hoddy Toddy chant or spend all day/night preparing for Saturday’s festivities in the Grove, it’d be worth it.
For those of you like myself who seldom get opportunities to do anything more than arrive at a game and maybe hit up a local restaurant, I encourage you to make a weekend of it. I realize I’m preaching to the minority based on how many people were out in Oxford.
This weekend reminded me of how I need to do a better job of that. Lord knows I’ve got plenty of college football experiences left on my bucket list. I was happy to cross one off the list after leaving Oxford.
I get it now.
Well, I still don’t get the pickle martini.
Good article. Thanks for painting a good picture of my home town!
I’ll be completely honest. If my duties as a State fan didn’t prevent me from disliking y’alls team, I might go catch an Ole Miss game every now and then. The Grove really is something else. I’ve been to Oxford multiple times, but I’ve only been for football twice (2012 and 2014 Egg Bowls) and it was still an enjoyable experience for me aside from the scores of those games. A great tailgating experience, not to mention some of the most beautiful women you’ll find east of the Mississippi.
The old lady wants nothing to do with Oxford/Ole Miss but I am honestly drawn to experience The Grove at least once in my life. All the homemade vids I’ve seen recently though don’t show it to be a good time for anyone in opposing team colors though.
The Grove would probably be a lot cooler if they won games there, too.
Jabs aside, though, the dinner-on-the-grounds/park/someone’s backyard mentality-setup does give it a uniquely Southern state school feel that the other schools doubtlessly should recreate for themselves.
Kirby, we may not win the game but we never lose a party.
Touche, good sir.
I remember when I was a sophomore at State and my girlfriend, who was from oxford, wanted to take me to a game at Oxford. While walking around she ran into a friend who was with a girl from Dallas. Being that I’m from Dallas at the time, my girlfriend wants to introduce me. This young woman ask what HS I attended and when I told her she promptly told me she was from highland park then spun on her heels and ignored us. My girlfriend leans over and says “this is the reason I didn’t go to ole miss.
Now I know that doesn’t represent the student body but for me at the time, it did. I like imagine that this young lady moved to her safe spot in highland park, had two kids, drive her land rover, drinks martinis at Dallas country club, never ventures far from Snyder plaza for fear of running to people that aren’t like her, divorced from her husband because he found a younger version and oh and she still fakes it although she still isn’t very good at it….not that she cares.
Ah, good memories!
She sounds like the swine at tu! Pretentious without merit.
As an Oxford local, I can verify there are a TON of snooty ass people here. The audacity of some of these people to be condescending and pretentious is something I can’t begin to describe. However, having left Oxford to live in Chicago, Memphis, Pensacola, and San Diego, I now understand that the problem isn’t mine, it’s their’s. Like tasiedell said, the ones who walk around with their noses in the air are the ones who haven’t ventured far from this place, and they’re afraid of anything different. They’re so judgmental because they’re constantly feeling judged. I can’t help but pity some of these uppity people with their narrow minds. Just comes to show the fancy Range Rover and big house on North Lamar doesn’t mean their lives are something to envy. All the expensive stuff is just a desperate attempt in acquiring status. Most people here aren’t like this. Yes, there is generally one type of style here – short khaki shorts, polo shirts, yacht shoes, etc., but it’s only because they’re afraid to stand out as different, not because they’re snobby. There’s some really good people here.
I’m sure the person I described representative a very small portion of school population. It was just my impression as a very young man. As far highland park goes
Sorry my phone keeps screwing up. Highland Park never changes, the same as it was then. Never buy an LG phone
Just remember that a redneck wearing a Polo is STILL a redneck!
Have you ever thought that you may be the problem?
Ole Myth’s campus is one big sorority/fraternity, country club-like bubble in which they live in. Pretentiousness is the required attitude and “one-upping” everyone is the unspoken creed. An overall sad & unhealthy environment to be a part of.
This is pretty funny coming from LSU, Baton Rouge might as well have two different police departments to cover all of the tomfoolery and murder that occurs. Still have yet to see another visiting crowd that cheered when an opposing player got injured. Less people go Greek, every year their membership drops. Any snootiness you see is still not as bad as having glass bottles thrown at GIRLS by 50-year-old alumni and having your car keyed while people heckle you, the LSU experience.
Decent spelling & unfragmented sentences…this tells me you are an Ole Miss fan not a student or alumnus. LOL I hate to hear you had an experience like that at a LSU home game. Unfortunately all teams throughout the conference have their share of fans who embarrass the fan base with their actions and words and don’t truly represent the fanbase as a whole. If you think what you experienced in Baton Rouge is unique you are delusional.
Geaux Long, I understand, I was a bit harsh. Of course, ours was an unrepresentative sample of Baton Rouge. However I did attend Ole Miss, though I must admit, I am out of state. Ole Miss has a fantastic accounting school, hence my choice of it.
You’re pretty much spot on. But that attitude is really held within the sororities and fraternities. Those students whom are not a part of the Greek life are nothing like what you’re describing. The kids who seek out fraternities and sororities are the same kids that needed to be a part of the “in” group in high school. You know, the “popular” ones. It’s all about material items and how tan you are and such, and who beat up who at a party bullsh*t. It’s these things that determines status in the “in” group. Quite pathetic if you ask me. Just a bunch of kids too insecure and afraid to fly in their own direction so they just fall in line like sheep. A sociologist would find it interesting to take a drive through The Square and see a group of 20+ fraternity dudes all wearing essentially the same thing – short khaki shorts, boat shoes, a Polo, with the same hair cut. It’s absolutely pitiful. Patagonia clothing and duck boots is what’s “in” now at Ole Miss. It’s like the uniform of the day and if you’re not wearing it, no one a part of Greek life will even acknowledge you as a human being. I started going back to school at Ole Miss at 27 so I got an up-close view of it all. They’re really no different than puppies in life.
Jealous much? It’s amazing that you live there and look down on it that way.
I can assure you I am much more proud of my belongings seeing as though I paid for them myself. These kids running wild on Daddy’s money is understandable bc they’re still kids going to school full time and likely can’t afford to pay for everything themselves. Besides, it’s not my place to say what the parents do with their money. But I always have a problem with pretentious, snooty, preppy douchebags who can pretty walk all over people bc their mommies and daddies are judges, lawyers, and senators. The pretentiousness is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
Our Connor is growing up! Sooner than later you will be completely SEC immersed! Keep attending different schools tailgating experiences! Good stuff!
Makes me miss the good old days of tailgating at Auburn. Before they all but banned parking and tailgating on campus and started catering to the catering businesses. They used to have to cancel classes on big game weeks because you couldn’t park or get to class. It’s lost most of that charm now.
That’s the saddest post I’ve read in a while.
Connor, you have inspired me to get going on my bucket list. The Grove, College Station, Baton Rouge for a Saturday night game and The Plains for a big SEC rivalry game.
I loved the baby blue shirts and outfits on TV. Wish Ole Miss would have kept it a game for more than 8 minutes. Could have been fun, even if the outcome was never in doubt.
I have been to the Swamp and it is ok when the Gators are rocking. Been to South Bend and the tailgating is first rate, but fans are jaded. Most of the Big 10 kids do not care about football. Don’t care to go to the PAC 12 or even most of the Big 12.
Nice article.
Baton Rouge is the only place we have had a whiskey bottle
thrown at us. And the only place in the conference we won’t go back to.
I understand that’s probably not representative of all l s u fans.
I mean, they can’t all be inbred…….can they?