Jay Bir: The Long Wait is Over – It’s College Football Game Week

Finally, it’s here! It’s college football game week in Arkansas!

There’s nothing like that first collegiate football weekend. The humid air, the sweaty folks all around coming together under a common moniker, the sheer joy in everyone acknowledging the same thing… football is back! College football game week in Arkansas is here!

In my opinion it’s now the beginning of fall. Sorry Labor Day. It’s the one thing that you can feel all around; everyone seems to have that anticipation built up. It’s around this time that even the most pessimistic fans among us will drive the bandwagon for the team buying into “this year is OUR year.” Every team has hope. Most know they won’t win a national championship but conference titles to the likes of the Sun Belt, MWC, CUSA, AAC and MAC are just as coveted, heck even the big dogs want that conference crown too.

Maybe all those ‘talking heads’ get it wrong. Maybe the Hogs defense plays out of their minds and sneaks up on folks; maybe Arkansas State does beat Auburn and Mizzou. What if UCA wins another outright Southland crown and gets into the playoffs? What if everything breaks in your team’s favor?! This could be the time that everybody stands up and recognizes us!

That’s the feeling at the beginning of football season that gets the juices flowing. Hell I’ve got goosebumps just writing about it. It’s not just the competition we long for either but the pageantry. Running through the A, Howl on the motorcycle, the stripes, calling the Hogs with 75,000 of your friends that first time, howling before the first kickoff, the constant noise from the Bear Den – this is part of what we’ve been longing for.

The summer bodies we worked so hard to attain get tossed to the side for burgers, dogs, cheese dip, or whatever crazy concoction that Razor Gumbo comes up with (seriously, blue-cheese-burgers?!).

For Hog fans you get this first tailgate weekend twice. The first Fayetteville weekend brings everyone up I-540 or those who still brave the Pig Trail and then usually the next weekend taking over a golf course. The atmosphere obviously different at each but really that War Memorial Stadium game is all about fellowship. Everyone packed in to a fairly small space, and its also about tent hopping.

Some of my fondest tailgating memories come in The Pines. A fine ASU tailgating tradition with a hint of Christmas. I’m a Sigma Pi from up there and we would sneak into the stadium to hang our banner right on the 50-yard line, then we would always carry our letters out to our tailgate spot, and our grill master, Marshall Sigsby, would set up shop. Marshall is a little heavy on the seasoning sometimes, but damn, that guy fires up some mean wings and breasts and anything else you want to throw on there.

UCA is trying to really build up a tailgating area, and you can bet the smell of smoke takes over at UAPB on home-game Saturdays.

Ah and the bands, with the ballads of B.O.B and Metallica and Katy Perry put to the sound of brass and percussion echoing through stadiums.

There’s waiting in long lines for the concession or the bathroom, parking woes, and heaven forbid if the weather is lousy – these are the things we endure because it is football!  There’s something to look forward to every week, even if our team isn’t playing. I know when that’s the case because Tim Bir’s garage will be taken over, and we’ll channel surf all day: from ESPN to Big Ten Network to FSN to Fox Sports 1, if they’ve got the pigskin going, things will be just fine.

This first weekend ensures us that things are back to normal in the world… football is back!!!

Share some of your best first-weekend football memories and/or traditions with us below. Let’s get this season-long football party started.

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