University of Florida @ University of Texas

I have always wondered why Americans put the home team last in a fixture. I found out that it emanates from baseball where the travelling team always bat first.

Anyway, that solved one of the many questions I have always had about American sports as I travelled from Florida to Austin in Texas over the weekend to watch the Gators get smoked by the Longhorns.

That at least saved me from getting over-excited. As a newly sealed Floridian I was deep down rooting for the Gators, but we were with a few die-hard UT alumni, and the rest of our group were Texans for the day, but as nearly always fans mingled together with banter ending with a hug or a chink of beers.

It has been a long time since I went to a college football game and I was reminded quickly walking to the Darrell Kay Royal (DKR) Memorial Stadium early Saturday morning that it is unlike any other sporting occasion.

College sport runs deep in America, particularly football, and especially in the south. The Saturday programme runs from early morning to late at night kick-off’s driven by TV and money.

Sounds like the Premier League, except the stadiums are twice as big and the marketing and execution of tickets and paraphernalia makes Man Utd look like amateur hour, which of course it now is.

103,375 people were sat inside the gigantic sweltering bowl on Saturday. The cheapest tickets are around $170 for up in the nose-bleeds. Matthew McConaughey waved at us on the big screen from one of the club suites, which go around $6,000 a game. Students can get in though for 20 notes.

Unlike so many soulless modern U.S. professional out-of-town sports team stadia, college stadiums are soaked in tradition and history.

The DKR was built in 1924 and every score was greeted with a booming artillery cannon, a 75 x 125 foot Texas flag does the rounds, and Bevo the Texas Longhorn steer wanders onto the field at regular intervals. Add to that a marching band the size of the population of Lewisham and back flipping cheerleaders and there’s a lot to take in.

You do get your monies worth with the game lasting three and a half hours. We left at the start of the 4th quarter nicely burnt from sitting in the sun and with the game no more than an exhibition for the far superior Texas Longhorns, who led 35-0 at half-time.

Florida’s Gators did recover some pride in the 3rd and 4th quarter giving the I reckon 20,000 away fans something to cheer, and to toast. You can drink freely at your seat until the start of the last quarter.

The final score was 49-17, and Texas look good material to go all the way to the championship game. College teams only play 12 regular season games, which are followed by numerous bowls, with the best 12 competing this season in a newly expanded play-off series to find the eventual national winner.

I would fully encourage a trip to a game if given the opportunity. Our day started at 8am tailgating in a tent in a nearby park, which is a generational custom. Tex-Mex food and bloody Mary’s is the perfect pre-game and I’ve emailed the Royal Oak to suggest it.

We were back in the tent to catch the final knockings on TV and moved onto Shiner Bock with the day still young.

Hook ‘em 🤘.