re: Your honest first impressions of SEC fans from road trip game experiences

I have been to

Alabama- Great stadium and used to be a lot of fun. I first went in the 90s when neither team was the power they are now. Now it is very intense and some fans on both sides take it a little to personal. I have been to Bama for football, basketball and baseball vs. LSU. I have also been to a Bama game vs Arkansas. That was a lot of fun watching Matt Jones dominate the game.


Arkansas- we went to a Arky-Bama game while we were on vacation. This was a fun game and the Arkansas campus is beautiful. I was the only guy wearing purple and gold in the whole stadium and I got a lot of comments from both sides. I would love to go back for a LSU-Arky game

Mississippi State- I have been to a ton of State games vs a lot of teams. I love going to Starkville for games. The fans are very friendly and laid back. Starkvegas is the best place to party, but I do enjoy the fans and they do have some pretty good food.

LSU- I love taking friends of other teams to Baton Rouge for games. I always encourage them to wear their colors. We always get fed by strangers and always have a great time. I have friends I tailgate with every year and I always enjoy going to games anyway but brining in a opposing fan always makes it more fun. A lot of them are surprised at how well LSU fans treat the "enemy."


Places I really want to visit for games

Florida
Auburn
Ole Miss- I have lived in Mississippi most of my life and have never been to Oxford for some reason.
Tennessee

Non SEC-

Texas
Florida St.

I have been to almost all the SEC stadiums for SEC games. The experience really depends on the rivalry, opponent, and the time of day for the game. That last factor is a big one.

Here are a few comments with some humor but true humor:

I have had several really great experiences @LSU early on Saturday and 2 horrible experiences at night, for example. I will preface my comments and say that SEC fans are the best and the worst fans. That is why it is so much fun. I will also say that anyone who claims one team's fans are better than another's really doesn't understand culture. We are all from basically the same culture and we all have the same type of people rooting for our teams. And, we all have our individual experiences.

Auburn: really good people who are very hospitable. I wasn't going to go hungry that is for sure. You can make friends there very easily and the after game parties are really fun and they welcome you. Stadium experience is great too. Kinda rural cow pasture environment though and the walk to the stadium from the pasture has a lot of smells.

Florida: Been there several times with various SEC friends when I lived in Florida. Very friendly and typical SEC. I don't know what people are saying they are different. For me, they are the blue blood typical SEC fanbase: very passionate but will treat you with respect. I was invited to join tailgating several times every time I went. The stadium is loud and the sweat drips in your face because of the humidity. So, it is a little unpleasant environmentally. But the Swamp rocks. One time I saw a Florida fan get into it and other Florida fans put him in his place. Everyone has bad apples. Florida has a rep of having some bad ones, but I have rarely witnessed it.

Alabama: well, all I can say is air-Ro-gant. I have been there several times and I have never had a time where I didn't witness bad behavior. Like all the South, there are plenty of nice people. It is also true that when a program is winning all the time, arrogance sets in. The problem is that too many Bama fans think their Sh don't stink and that they are better than everyone else. My advice to Alabama fans is two-fold: First, you didn't do anything on the field so stfu, and second, win with class and stop being an a$$. Generally, it is a great game day experience and the roll-tide chanting crowd is a must-experience for any SEC fan.

Tennessee: the most abusive comments for the most amount of time I ever heard at a game was in Tallahassee when I went to an FSU-Florida game with one of my brothers who is a huge FSU fan. Outside the stadium, the worst fans I ever witnessed consistently are Miami fans. Very abusive. FSU and Miami fans seem to be very hostile people in general. Next, would be Tennessee. Mean, filthy, teen humor mouths seem to be the norm from everyone from old geezers to long haired bearded people to the fat dudes to the decently dressed women to teenagers and even to the little brat arse 10 year old boy behind us. Really, I learned more about bathroom events, posterior orifices, interactions with one's mother, and how God stops river water flowing than anywhere I have ever been except Tallahassee, and my dad was in the military. And, it was a game between Kentucky and Tennessee. Not exactly a big game.

This year, I am trying to get to an Arkansas home game and a Missouri home game. I also will try to get to a Kentucky home game and to Oxford, but the schedule makes those less likely for 2016. One of my brothers is in the media business, so I go with him from time to time in case you are wondering how I get to visit stadiums.

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Tennessee: the most abusive comments for the most amount of time I ever heard at a game was in Tallahassee when I went to an FSU-Florida game with one of my brothers who is a huge FSU fan. Outside the stadium, the worst fans I ever witnessed consistently are Miami fans. Very abusive. FSU and Miami fans seem to be very hostile people in general. Next, would be Tennessee. Mean, filthy, teen humor mouths seem to be the norm from everyone from old geezers to long haired bearded people to the fat dudes to the decently dressed women to teenagers and even to the little brat arse 10 year old boy behind us. Really, I learned more about bathroom events, posterior orifices, interactions with one's mother, and how God stops river water flowing than anywhere I have ever been except Tallahassee, and my dad was in the military. And, it was a game between Kentucky and Tennessee. Not exactly a big game.

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DAMN, BRUH! Spittin' FIYA!!!

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Salt Life sticker

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I admit...the Salt Life people are extreme try hards.

Since we're talking "first impressions" of away games, I'll only talk about the first visit to each place. Most of these I've made multiple trips but will only talk about the first.

UK (2004)- Nothing really stands out. Nice area around the stadium with tons of room. Impressed by teh stadium, surprisingly nice for UK and fans were into it. Fans were nice.

Mizz (2012)- Tailgating was lame until we ended up migrating to the main area next to the stadium. Probably wouldn't have infiltrated this group unlesls I had a Missouri tour guide showing us around. Impressed with the downtown area, very similar to Athens. Stadium was underwhelming. Fans were welcoming.

SC (2000)- this will always be memorable because it was the first and only away game I went to with my dad. We sat kinda high up in a handicap section so I didn't really get a good feel for the crowd. Obviously the game was a disaster so that didn't help, fans were understandably pumped after but nothing really hostile. Area around the stadium was a dump and was basically just open fields and abandoned warehouses.

UT (2003)- Tailgating on the river was great. Night game with a big atmosphere. Fans were pumped early but we whooped their arse so they were quiet most of the second half.

Vandy (2001)- Fans were lackadaisical, the ones that were there anyway. It's vandy, there's not much to say here. Strong UGA contingent here.

Bama (2002)- Great crowd, big atmosphere with gameday present. Had a great time on the quad. Stadium was pretty good (this was before all the renovations) and the fans were alright. We doubled up their score so they weren't that into it until late when they came back to take the lead. Great game not decided til the end. Fans were nice.

Arkansas (2009)- Impressed with the fans, stadium, and city. Ended up hanging most of the day with a group of arkansas fans we parked next to and had a blast. I like how the stadium kinda sits down similar to Sanford.

Auburn (2004)- Huge atmosphere that we unfortuantely didn't hold up our end for. Fans weren't really nice or mean, just there. One thing that I will always remember is after Reggie Brown was knocked unconcious, the AU student section started a "reg-gie! reg-gie!" chant that eventually spread to the entire stadium. Our section looked around at each other like "is this really happening?" That was a very cool moment.

LSU (2003)- worst away game experience of my life (worth noting, return trip in 2008 was one of the best). I was a teenager and we were physically and verbally abused from the get go. Absolutely despicable. I loved the stadium though adn just the whole atmosphere in general. There's just something abotu a game in BR, it's almost like a carnival.

MSU (2005)- Pretty blah. This was before renovations so the stadium wasn't noteworthy. The town sucked and we just tailgated in a field somewhere.

Ole Miss (2006)- Thought the grove was overrated, it was just alabama's quad but with more tents and less fun allowed. I remember many of the fans being concerned about brent schaffer. The stadium was quaint, but small. I remember this trip more so for the drive...back in those days we were bullet proof so after the game (I want to say it was a 9pm kickoff) we ended up just driving back to Atlanta. I think I got in bed at like 6am, it was awful.

Vandy - Not much to report. One guy made fun of us for caring about football. Found that odd since he was at the game too.

Tenn - Lot's of drunk people, but they were nice.

GA - Ignored us.

Miss. St. - People talk shite about Starkville, but I thought the campus was really nice. Was at the 3-2 game and both fan bases shared the misery.

Alabama - At Legion Field (which was a de facto home game for bama), they were horrible. In Tuscaloosa, I can't say anything bad about them. Was at the 2008 iron bowl (Tubs' last year), and I was more obnoxious than they were.

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Georgia was by far the worst fan base experience I've had to date, and that was very surprising. 2008 Blackout game

LSU fans were the most pleasant surprise. Very enjoyable experiences in Baton Rouge every time I've gone. Other than the tiger baiting, the people have been very hospitable and gracious.

Florida fans are obnoxious and trailer-parky. Very bandwagonish feel to it.

Arkansas is my favorite road trip. The people are great, and Fayetteville is a surprisingly cool little place.

Mississippi State and Ole Miss fan bases are exactly the same, except one of them has an unearned sense of self worth and likes to play dress up to make themselves feel better about being Ole Miss fans and living in Mississippi.

Auburn sucks.

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South Carolina fans have consistently been the worst behaved visiting group of fans at Commonwealth I've experienced. I don't know what it is with y'all, but learn how to behave when you're in someone else's house.

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