When I was in middle school, my favorite sport of all time was basketball. I memorized when the games would come on TV so I wouldn’t miss any action. I think during the regular season, I watched an NBA game almost every single night except for Tuesdays and Fridays. I preferred professional ball over college ball because I knew the players. Since I lived in Georgia, I watched the Hawks the most. I knew all the players and rooted for them to actually win. 

Fast forward about ten years and I can’t tell you who plays for the Hawks outside of Trae Young. I hardly ever catch their games unless they are featured on a YouTube highlight video. The last time I went to State Farm Arena was when I attended a game against Utah as part of an assignment for my Intro Sports Reporting class during my junior year of college. 

Basketball just doesn’t do it for me anymore. The league is saturated with super teams that just aren’t interesting to watch on a nightly basis. I enjoyed the era when Golden State played the Cavaliers for like 3 or 4 consecutive years, but after that I fell off drastically. 

Concurrent to the time period when I was watching basketball consistently, I also thought tennis was one of the best sports in the world. You could say I was biased since I played tennis like a maniac. I wanted to play every day if it wasn’t cold or rainy…and since I was in Americus, it was my major source of entertainment and socialization in high school. 

I religiously kept up with the calendar of events and watched almost every Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. I might’ve missed the early rounds, but I never missed the quarter finals, especially not if Serena was playing. Fun fact, Serena is actually the reason I decided to learn tennis. I watched her dominate during one of her French Open title matches and got inspired to be just like her one day. 

But then, I started college at UGA…where NCAA football is a BIG deal. I wasn’t a super fan of football when I was younger because I didn’t understand the rules or how the downs worked but once someone explained it to me in layman's terms, I’ve loved the sport ever since. 

There’s nothing better than football season when it’s acceptable to bark at strangers in public. While game day is always hectic no matter when it starts, who we play, and where we sit, I wouldn’t trade the excitement for anything. 

I must say, watching football at home is a far superior experience than actually going to the stadium. For one, the majority of football season is during the hottest part of the summer. Sanford Stadium usually doesn’t chill out until November and even then you run the risk of freezing if it's a night game. Second, the amount of people on campus and in the stadium during a game is absolutely absurd. I wouldn’t say I’m claustrophobic, but there are definitely times where I feel like a sardine trapped in a small aluminum can with the amount of people around me. 

Third (and probably the best), is that I get to watch the other games on TV for that week. My entire day from 12 PM until almost 12 AM (if the Pac 12 matchup is actually decent) is filled with football. I get to watch not only Georgia play, but the other teams in the SEC which is great if there are better matchups scheduled. And finally, watching the games at home is better because I have unlimited snacks, drinks, and I can take a potty break whenever I want! 

However, you can’t describe the feeling of being in a packed stadium with loud, obnoxious fans during a huge moment in a game. The feeling of being on the edge of your seat when you play an equally matched opponent. The pure joy of getting a stop on defense and then scoring on offense. The chants, the cheers, the band, the music all combine to make game day its very own special experience. 

For that almost three hour duration, you’re totally locked into the players on the field and hoping for the best outcome, a win, at the end. 

There’s nothing finer in the land…than a Saturday in Athens between the hedges! 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie