The first signs of fall......COLLEGE FOOTBALL

This last Saturday was the home opener for the Kansas Jayhawks football. My Dad and I have season tickets. (Many thanks to him, because he buys the tickets every year.) This is our ninth year that we have headed over to Lawrence to soak up the college football atmosphere on a Saturday afternoon. My dad and I started going in ’97 after I graduated from the University of Kansas when they offered a special buy one season ticket get one free.

So my Dad, sister (she has been coming with us these last few seasons and is an alumni as well), and I went to the game last Saturday. These early game in September do not offer true football weather (or at least what I associate to be the perfect weather for football), but they do signal that summer is ending and fall is just around the corner.

My Dad grew up in Nebraska, so his first team is the Cornhuskers. As a kid, I remember traveling with him to different colleges to see his team. That is where I got a taste for the college atmosphere and maybe knew in my heart that I wanted to go to a big time school.

And so here I am today still savoring the college atmosphere: Wearing your school colors; the rivalries; the marching band; the mascots; the school songs and chants; the buildings on campus; the game; the cheerleaders (my sister is a coach so I have learned more about the sport); the tailgaters; and the general atmosphere of people outside of stadium.

And then there are our traditions: meeting over at my dad’s house to leave for Lawrence; parking in the neighborhood of student rental homes a few blocks away from the stadium as we try to find the closest spot; walking up the steep hill; eating at yellow sub on top of the steep hill; walking down the steep hill to the stadium; watching the pre-game warm-ups; eating homemade caramel popcorn the mom made for us; and there might be that post-game stop at Taco Johns.

There are also so many sounds associated with the college game day atmosphere. I can still here the words of an old college professor echoing through my head as he asked the question: “what is your favorite sound on campus?” On game day, my favorite sound is coming from an old dingy bar called The Crossing. It is at the top of the steep hill that we climb, right next to the Yellow Sub. You can almost hear it before you see it. The music is blaring and the conversation is that much louder as people are crowded in their front patio. The people seem to be having a good time. When the game is over and we are coming back the other way, nothing has changed – the music is still blaring and the crowd of people are still talking.

I’ll be heading back up to Lawrence this Saturday for another game, and the temperature will probably still be warm to hot, but hopefully soon I’ll be wearing sweatshirts and jackets.