My first visit to an Alabama football game: Reflections from a young sports writer

Posted by Admin October 2, 2024 Football

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ATHENS, Ga. — I’d only ever been to two college football stadiums in my still very young journalism career.

Both are pretty obvious.

First is Spartan Stadium, which I attended both as a fan and working media while in my years as a student at Michigan State. I wrote about it in my introductory article when I started my job with the Athens (Georgia) Banner-Herald, how my parents took me to a game when I was small and influenced my blood to turn green early.

Second, of course, is Sanford Stadium, which I entered for the first time at the end of last summer following a 14-hour move from the mitten state. Truthfully, I still get lost in that labyrinth of a stadium, and they just had to go and change up the routes I memorized — how to get from the parking lot to the press box to the postgame presser and back — last year by giving us a new press box this year.

On Saturday night, I scratched a third stadium of my bucket list: Bryant-Denny.

(It’s here that you might be surprised that I’ve never been to the Big House in Ann Arbor.)

I remember the Microsoft Teams message I sent to my boss’ boss, Tommy Deas. The big kahuna, the one who has believed in me and allowed me opportunities to get where I am today. It started with a “what if,” and ended with my signature, “You can say no lol!” I sent it as I sat in my brand-new seat overlooking Dooley Field, waiting for Georgia to kick off its home opener on Sept. 7 against Tennessee Tech.

There was an underlying ask to the question at hand: a want to meet Anna Snyder.

You all may know her very well as the resident high school and Alabama recruiting reporter for The Tuscaloosa News. We’ve been friends since we started in the Gannett system at the same time last summer, introduced by none other than Deas. We’ve been trying to make it work for a while, since she wasn’t able to come to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta last December.

Surprisingly, he didn’t shoot me down. Unsurprisingly, because the universe seriously doesn’t want our schedules to line up, Snyder wasn’t going to be covering the game. Her family met her on the Quad to tailgate instead, but we texted the whole time.

She’d told me she had a friend who was covering the game, and to introduce ourselves to each other. “He’s tall, has brown hair, wearing a Final Four quarter-zip.” The man himself joined the group in front of me as we waited in line for credentials just a few minutes later. He was exasperated as ever, rightfully so as I heard him huff about how the Secret Service on hand for Donald Trump’s visit made him stuff his tripod in a bush. Apparently, he couldn’t bring it inside the stadium, “per policy” — that is not a policy for working media, mind you.

Snyder got a text from me with several laughing-crying emojis at that, and I just want to say, Jack, I really hope no one stole your tripod — those are expensive.

The plan was to come cover this game with the Athens Banner-Herald, helping our resident Georgia Bulldogs writer Marc Weiszer the same way I do during home games by picking up the live blog in the second half and writing a sidebar. I got to write about what people are calling “Good Carson, Bad Carson,” and I got to walk (also see: sprint) across the turf after the game to catch Kirby Smart’s press conference — and duh, I took a selfie after the work was done.

Story continues below.

Boy, was that the game of the season. The weak first start for Georgia had several people mumbling next to me. I had written up what I needed by halftime, fully anticipating the Bulldogs to lose by 26 points. There was no way they could come back from a deficit that big.

Right?

Wrong! I should’ve known to never doubt Smart. Rookie mistake.

The fourth quarter was, singlehandedly, the wildest 15 minutes of football I have ever witnessed live. That turnover on downs added fuel into a dying Bulldog fire.

I hate to admit I’d been in the bathroom during the Dillon Bell 67-yarder, but I hurried back to my seat in time to see 17-year-old Ryan Williams reclaim the crown with that crazy 75-yarder — side note: him being younger than my youngest sibling is making me feel really old, and I’m only 24 y’all.

Bryant-Denny Stadium and Alabama football did indeed live up to the hype I’ve been hearing about for years.

The Million Dollar Band was stellar. I love the formations they do, the ones where they spelled out “Bama” or “Roll Tide.” The in-game playlist was top-notch with Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter queued. The food in the below-freezing press box (seriously, why was the AC cranked that high?) was better than anticipated; that mac-and-cheese was a gooey delight. And yes, the sheer number of times the crowd chanted “Roll Tide” is exactly what I expected.

All this to say that, even though I was there covering the Bulldogs, I left knowing what makes Alabama such a special place. I’d told a high school friend who attended Alabama and travels from Michigan every Saturday to her alma mater, that I was in attendance, and she told me straight up: “I’m excited for you to experience it.” I see why, Avery.

Until next time, T-Town.