It is fall and school has started, so if that means anything for a Texan, it means college football is here once again. The never ending parades of burnt orange and white, the impossibility of parking and the high pressure of game days has reached us. For many of us, this isn’t our first game day. We’ve struggled over what to wear, where to tailgate, cheered on the team and limped the long walk home on blistered feet from standing three hours in cowboy boots. For some of us, our first college football game was Saturday where we experienced the magic- from the drunken students to the blast of the cannon after a touchdown- for the very first time, filling the new longhorn hearts with pride. It’s been a long time since my first Texas football game, but wether or not you take the game as seriously as I do, there’s a few rules to Texas football that will make the game more enjoyable for everyone. Let’s call them “Football Etiquette”.
Football Edict #1: Courteous Seating
Something you may have figured out is that seating at a college football game is fluid. People are moving up and down to sit with their friends, and there is nothing wrong with that. There will be a time in all of our football careers where we will want to bring a friend down to our row. However, let us all make a pact to try to be careful about whose seat we are in. While no one is going to mind scooting down a little bit for an extra person, bringing four people into a row is a little overboard, and no one is going to be thrilled about being squeezed so tightly, you hardly have room to clap. Let us also not sit in someone else’s seat while their standing up, cheering on the team. (You think it would go without being said, but unfortunately it does not).
Football Edict #2: Quick Picture Taking
I love pictures. In no way am I going to condemn or judge anyone for standing up and asking a friend to take a cute picture of them and the football field for Instagram. I am not even going to ask for someone to sit down if they are blocking my view of the game. A picture is just a few seconds- no one is going to mind…if it really only is just a few seconds. When taking pictures, be quick. Snap your shot, then sit back down to let people enjoy the game. Do not linger, analyzing the picture, hand the phone to a friend, take the phone back, then ask for another. Take the picture, make sure it’s not blurry, then sit down. Quick, easy, and then no one’s view is blocked for the important play.
Football Edict #3: No Fair-weather Fans
Okay, okay FINE, I’ll admit it. Our football team has been a little shaky the past couple years. We haven’t had the stellar performances our fan base has become so accustomed to. I get it. It’s not always fun. However, our fan base has not given the desired performance either. Texas football fans have become entitled. We think we deserve a better team, and when we don’t get it, we through little tantrums. We leave the games early (no), we sit down during plays (no), we stop cheering (no no no!). I’m a firm believer that a big part of a team’s success is the energy in the stadium and Texas fans are NOT performing. Before we complain about the football team, lets analyze ourselves. All the best football teams have something behind them- a brilliant fan base. And it doesn’t go away when there is a bad game, bad season, or bad couple years. Let’s dedicate ourselves to the game the way we want the football players to.
There’s probably more that could be said, but you’ll figure it out along the way. Give ‘em hell, Horns!