Sizzling hot dogs and fresh, off-the-grill hamburgers piled with ketchup, mustard, and "the works"... vendors pitching stringy, sticky (and dare I say, pinkish) cotton candy along with all other sorts of treats to would-be customers up and down and down and up the stadium steps over and over again... the larger-than-life, nearly godlike unseen voice of the announcer on the intercom booming and echoing throughout the stands... runaway whistles from down on the field and up in the stands and everywhere in between... the indiscernible mumbling and grumbling followed by the seemingly ever-present sound of colliding bodies ricocheting up from the field... and, of course, hundreds of thousands of people decked out in team colors cheering, booing, clapping, stomping as one collective vocal force, a force to be reckoned with... all of these elements, together, bring to life that most sacred of college football institutions: the Home Field.
The nation of college football is dotted with stadiums. These large, architecturally impressive structures reach high into the sky, overshadowing the rest of the campuses they call home. Quiet and empty during the week, these cathedrals of football fill up on Game Day with life and a presence rarely unmatched in our culture. Much like how the Sun functions as the center of the solar system, so does the stadium dictate how the local community shall conduct its day.
In the following series of blog postings of which I would like to title "Home Field," your humble blogger would like to tour these different landmarks of College Football Nation. We will briefly learn the history of each stadium we visit as well as highlight its unique features that set it apart as the pride and joy of its respective empire.
We will begin our journey in the Southeastern Conference at the Divsion I-A (FBS) level. Join me in my next posting, as I travel cross-state to Athens for a look at Georgia's very own "Dawg House," Sanford Stadium.
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