How to Handle Bulldog Bash, SEC Nation and an 11 AM Kick
Jun 24, 2013; Omaha, NE, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs fans cheer before game 1 of the College World Series finals against the UCLA Bruins at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Mississippi State fans were excited to hear Bulldog Bash would be the weekend of the Texas A&M game, and in the month of October. Then last week (Monday) we receive news of the 11:00 AM kickoff. Well, that’s not so good at anytime, especially the night after Bulldog Bash. Then on Tuesday of last week we hear SEC Nation is coming to Starkville – which is exciting but also a potentially taxing series of entertainment events.
To be sure, these are first world “problems”.
Now, I have vast experience in the many stages of life. I have been a wild college student, a tame college student, a young alumni, a married without children alumni and a married with children alumni. And I’m still within the age range of remembering very well what it’s like to be in any one of these categories. Now that my qualifications are out of the way, I present to you my time management strategy for how to handle this string of events and still be at your best for the most important one: MSU vs. A&M football game.
College Student, Option 1:
Have 0-2 beers at Bulldog Bash and go to bed at midnight….get a full eight hours of sleep and be at SEC Nation by 9:00 AM (when it starts). There is always excitement over Bulldog Bash – ever since it started 12-15 years ago. OH MY GOD SO MANY PEOPLE ARE COMING TO TOWN. Let’s get real though, there’s no need to get excited about people coming into town to bog down your weekend….this is the type of manufactured excitement that happens in Oxford. In the end, Bulldog Bash is a couple of hours where you are sifting through a sea of bodies, rubbing against other sweaty 20 year olds and you have to pee really bad. Just accept that it’s as overrated as New Year’s Eve and go home after it’s over, get some rest and have your fun on Saturday. Bonus: not drinking will eliminate having to pee so bad!
College Student, Option 2:
If you completely balked at everything I wrote in option one, which was probably a lot of you, then make sure to follow this schedule:
- Take a nap on Friday afternoon. Hopefully your high school friends who went to Ole Miss are staying in Oxford so you won’t have many guest to entertain for Bulldog Bash. Just get home from class, take a 2-3 hour nap and recharge your batteries.
- Before you leave for Bulldog Bash, make sure you already have some type of large frozen ‘brunch’ you can pop in the microwave when you wake up on Saturday morning. Just buy like three of those Friday’s appetizer meals.
- Don’t drink the entire 12 pack. And I would suggest not drinking liquor at all – the hangover rate is much higher there. If you don’t know what may give you a hangover, then please stick to option one this weekend.
- Go to bed by 3:00 AM. That’s not too early – c’mon, you don’t have to party until five or six in the morning. Save it for next weekend. Staying up all night is a bad idea. Unless you can literally sleep all day on Friday you will be completely drained by the time the game starts. Believe me, I thought it was a good idea before the 2003 Oregon game and I nearly fell asleep standing up in the student section multiple times.
- Wake up at 9:30 and eat your frozen brunch item(s). Take a quick shower to wash the nasty off and get to the stadium just before kickoff. Yes, I’m suggesting you miss SEC Nation – but your loud presence is much more important in the stadium than in front of the TV.
- Yell like H-E-L-L.
- Find a tailgate, watch the Ole Miss/Alabama game while dozing off, then head back to your house and crash for a few hours before Round 2.
Young Alumni/Married Alumni without kids:
What consideration you once gave to attending Bulldog Bash should now be stomped out and forgotten. There is no need to rub elbows with a bunch of students to feel young again. Single guy – save the nostalgic journey with the 21-year-old version of yourself for Saturday night. Married folks – you aren’t cool anymore so just give up. Go to bed at 10-11 PM; admit it, you want to. Go to SEC Nation and your tailgate early and get pumped up for the game.
Married Alumni with kids:
I don’t have to tell you anything. I know you’re not going to Bulldog Bash. If you have young children I know you’ll be up at dawn and ready to go for SEC Nation by 9:00. If you’ve got teenagers you’ll probably be throwing things at them to get there on time. Either way you are the glue that is going to hold this crowd together so it’s going to take unbelievable effort (as Coach Mullen would say) to energize the students and all those non-morning people who don’t get up at 6 AM every morning. We can do this.
Older Folks:
This game should be a walk in the park. This is your calling card.