With the exception of the two years Ryan was on his mission, this is the first time since 1993 (18 years ago!) that Ryan has not had season tickets to the BYU home games. Since BYU vs. Ole Miss was as far east as BYU was playing this year, we knew we had to get tickets so we could see at least one game. It was also quite a coincidence when I was talking with one of my best friends, Tiffany, on the phone a few months ago and she mentioned that she was going to this game with her whole family and we realized we would all be there! It had been about a year since I last saw her, and even longer since I had seen the rest of her family, so it was so fun to catch up. Her parents, who moved to the Memphis, TN area a few years ago, were so kind to let us stay at their home with them... and 18 other people...on the night of her brother's wedding. :) It was a great time, as usual, and we loved doing our normal things like staying up late and laughing hysterically, being goofy, painting nails, and playing with the many babies that were around. Ryan was also very pleased to discover that all of Tiffany's brothers and Dad are just as into BYU football as he is. It was funny to get home late from the BYU game in Mississippi and then immediately turn on the t.v. to "watch the highlights" (a.k.a. watch the whole game again but fast forward the commercials) and analyze the plays... felt just like we were back in Utah with Ryan's family! haha. Anyway, we had a great weekend in Tennessee and Mississippi and the Ole Miss fans were the nicest fans I have ever met, and their tailgating was nothing like I could have expected. The pictures will do it more justice than my words.
We got into Memphis around dinner time, and since the city is known for it's BBQ, we had to give it a shot. It was really good! Rendezvous was on the Food Network, so we knew it had to be decent. I kind of liked the baked beans even better than the actual meat!
After dinner, we hit up the infamous Beal Street. We heard some blues bands starting up for the evening, but we were still too early for the big crowds, which was fine with us! We just walked the street for a few minutes and then headed to the Engstrom's house. I didn't get any pictures from the rest of the evening, but I headed over to Brian's wedding reception while Ryan stayed at the Engstrom's and watched football and made sure the kids stayed sound asleep while the parent's went back to the reception.
Ryan was also happy to learn that everyone wanted to head over to Ole Miss as early as he did so that we wouldn't miss a thing (the campus, the tailgating, the "walk of champions," the warm-ups, etc.). While the forecast predicted it to be super hot and sunny all day, it actually turned out to be okay because there was a nice breeze and it was somewhat cloudy and overcast the whole day. Still hot though- I was definitely sweating most of the day!
The BYU tailgate. They announced there that they had to make the cut-off for tickets to the tailgate at 1,000 people and that there were 6,000+ tickets sold just through the BYU ticket office (not to mention the people who didn't buy their tickets through BYU). Also, according to the addresses of people who signed up for the tailgate, there were 32 states represented! I even heard lot's of Ole Miss fans discussing how amazed they were to hear where all of the BYU fans traveled from...coast to coast!
Little Marin was too young to be left at home, so Tiff & Dave brought her along to experience her first BYU game. Gotta start 'em young! As we left the game, some of the Ole Miss fans were surprised to hear that the baby was at the whole game and then declared that she must have been our lucky charm. We agreed.
As previously mentioned, the tailgating was out of this world! There was not even half of a foot between each tent! Some people even make a little business out of the tailgating and hire out high school students to sit in tents all night to reserve spots for the next day. It was literally a sea of tents for a long way!
The other amazing thing to me was the fact that many Ole Miss people get all gussied up for the game and stay that way all day. We're talking fancy dresses, heels, curled hair, tons of makeup, pearl necklaces, and many men in suits, bowties, preppy outfits, etc. Not gonna lie... I'm glad BYU doesn't have that tradition. It didn't look too comfy for a hot football game. But that doesn't mean I wasn't super impressed with their dedication to fanciness at the event!
Lot's of BYU fans mixed in with Ole Miss. It was awesome. Everyone was SO nice and would ask us where we were from, how we were enjoying things, and offer us food from their tailgate!
Here is the beginning of the "walk of champions," where the whole team walks through the Grove before the game and everyone lines up and does their Hotty Toddy chant over and over. Even though it was for the other team, it was still so fun to just be immersed in the game-day spirit and see the other traditions. And it was impossible to dislike any of their fans, which made us enjoy it even more. (p.s. pardon the swearing in the video. Also, never ever youtube the words 'hotty toddy.' Just don't.)
Another crazy thing that TONS of the Ole Miss fans did was bring their Direct TV satellites and flat screen tv's and get everything set-up so they could watch football all day long! We stopped at a couple of different tents throughout the tailgating to get caught up on some of the other games, such as the Auburn vs. Utah State excitement.
Several things to note in this picture: fancy tablecloths and displays, flower centerpieces, astroturf under some tents, decorations, dresses and pearls... it was quite the show.
The only normal picture of me and Tiff together and it was blurry! I didn't realize it until we got back to Ohio. So I included the random one after this, too.
After we were all tailgated out (and with stuffed bellies), we headed over to the game to walk around the stadium and catch some of the team warming up.
These next two pictures were the view from our seats before the stadium was completely full. It was a lot of fun being in a huge section filled with tons of other BYU fans. There were two other seats by us that no one showed up to use, so Ryan and I got to spread out a little too, which was nice on a hot day, especially when 30 weeks pregnant... and because it allowed me very easy access to a bathroom. :)
It wasn't looking too hot for BYU until the 4th quarter, but once those last 10 minutes rolled around, things got pretty rowdy and we're glad we pulled off the win (13-14)! Now that the season has started, we are officially scheduling things around the BYU football games, but we love it! This was such a fun trip in every way and we are glad we decided to go!
**P.S. Hotty Toddy was said and written all over the place, so we finally asked what it meant. First of all, it's the name of their school cheer/chant, and secondly, according to Ole Miss fans, it means something along the lines of "hey ya'll!" and you always say "hotty toddy" when you're out and about and see another Ole Miss fan somewhere. Fyi.
