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re: Oxford or Tuscaloosa for my first SEC road trip?

Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:40 am to
Posted by Hog Leg
NWA
Member since Dec 2010
970 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:40 am to
It has nothing to do with the 11:20 kickoff. The Grove just isn't that big of a deal. Yes, it's a huge tailgate - AWESOME - good for you guys. Everyone in the f*cking SEC has some version of that. It's a tradition for Olm Miss folk, so you have emotional ties to it. Take a step back and it's nothing new, different or special. It is big, i'll give you that.

As for all the "Oxford is a great college town" garbage. Well, frankly, no - it is not. Firstly, it's infrastruture is pathetically illequipped to handle in the influx of fans on a game weekned. There aren't NEAR enough hotels, restaurants, bars or parking to accommodate the masses. The square is nice, but who doesn't have that or, again, some version.

As for the chicks - yes OM has their fair share per capita, but AGAIN so do most if not all southern schools. I've been to 2 in the last 2 season that kick the ever-living shite out of Oxford. Tuscaloosa and Athens both crush Oxford on every single metric possible.

The fact of the matter is that Ole Miss has nothing else to hang it's hat on. Another fact is that if you're not an Ole Miss fan the Grove pretty much blows. Unless, of course, you get your shite together and organize a sophisticated tailgate, tent, etc. This usually requires a ton of effort and logistics (hint: 3:00am), and if you're from aTm making your first trip to Oxford you won't have the first fricking clue on what to do, who to call or where to set up.

I would put Oxford in the middle to back of the SEC pack for visiting fans' road trip experience. And when deciding on whether to go to Oxford vs. T-Town i would pick TT every day and twice on Sunday and there isn't really a debate.

The only redeeming quality is you're likely to walk out of one place with a victory and one place you won't (but you'll still have a much, much better time.)
Posted by RebelWithACause
Jackson
Member since Nov 2010
1327 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:40 am to
Oxford
Posted by LNCHBOX
70448
Member since Jun 2009
88719 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:44 am to
FYI, I've enjoyed my two trips to Oxford. I prefer LSU tailgating, but Oxford was fun for a change of pace.

And the girl thing is not a myth entirely. OM's girls try harder, and it works. No complaints here.
Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:47 am to
quote:

So your excuse for this year's LSU game would be...


What about this year's LSU game? It was one of the best times I've had in the Grove in a long while. Methinks you were just with shitty, boring people in the old people part of the Grove.

quote:

I'm sorry, some of the rules you have are just absurd


I agree.

quote:

Mainly the no open flame


That's only in specific areas. You can have open flames if your tailgate is along University Avenue or on much of the rest of the campus. The smoke and ashes are bad for the trees and grass, hence the ban of it when you're actually in the Grove itself. It's not that absurd when you understand the reasoning behind it.

quote:

pouring beer into plastic cups


It's dumb but, really, is it such a big fricking hassle to drink your beer out of a cup? Seriously?

Posted by BhamTigah
Lurker since Jan 2003
Member since Jan 2007
17382 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:52 am to
Just do both. If you can't afford it, stay off the OT.
Posted by LNCHBOX
70448
Member since Jun 2009
88719 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:55 am to
quote:

What about this year's LSU game? It was one of the best times I've had in the Grove in a long while. Methinks you were just with shitty, boring people in the old people part of the Grove.


You used kick off time as an excuse.

I'm sure it was great as far as Grove experiences. Way more fun than the UGA-OM game i was at earlier in the year.

quote:

You can have open flames if your tailgate is along University Avenue or on much of the rest of the campus.


Well that's not the Grove, so why would I tailgate there?

quote:

It's not that absurd when you understand the reasoning behind it.



Seriously, smoke and ash is the reasoning? Are your trees and grass somehow more pussified than ours? Actually that makes sense now.

quote:

is it such a big fricking hassle to drink your beer out of a cup? Seriously?


Yes, because it's so fricking ridiculous. What's the point if you're allowed to drink but must not drink out of the can/bottle? Only thing I can think is that your admin doesn't want anyone to think y'all drink, but that's also fricking stupid. See where I'm going?
Posted by LNCHBOX
70448
Member since Jun 2009
88719 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:57 am to
And dude, you don't have to go tearing everyone's opinion apart because we don't all agree that the Grove is the greatest experience ever.

It's kinda sad.
Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 9:57 am to
quote:

It's a tradition for Olm Miss folk, so you have emotional ties to it. Take a step back and it's nothing new, different or special. It is big, i'll give you that.


You all act as if it's ONLY Ole Miss fans who talk about the Grove.



It has a NATIONWIDE reputation as one of the best tailgates in America. You're all just butthurt because you like your school's tailgate (with good reason, I don't hold that against you) and don't like how Ole Miss gets most of the national attention.

quote:

As for all the "Oxford is a great college town" garbage.


"I’ve visited Oxford...many times and have slowly arrived at the opinion that it may be America’s best small city." - Dwight Garner, New York Times

LINK

Again, it'd be one thing if it were ONLY Ole Miss fans talking up the Grove and Oxford, but it's not. It's nowhere close, in fact. The Grove and Oxford are ALWAYS mentioned by everyone from Sports Illustrated to ESPN to The Washington Post and the New York Times as a premier college football destination when these things are being discussed.

It's not like the mainstream media has some sort of pro-Mississippi bias or anything. They just like us that much.

quote:

Firstly, it's infrastruture is pathetically illequipped to handle in the influx of fans on a game weekned. There aren't NEAR enough hotels, restaurants, bars or parking to accommodate the masses.


Because it's a true college TOWN and not a CITY. C'mon, New Orleans is crowded as frick during Mardi Gras. Washington, DC is truly unbearable during the Cherry Blossom Festival or Presidential Inaugurations. New York City is a logistical nightmare during New Year's Eve. That's just how these things are. Any city that serves as a destination is like this.

quote:

As for the chicks - yes OM has their fair share per capita, but AGAIN so do most if not all southern schools. I've been to 2 in the last 2 season that kick the ever-living shite out of Oxford. Tuscaloosa and Athens both crush Oxford on every single metric possible.


You all act like Ole Miss is saying "our girls are hot and yours are ugly." Nobody's saying that. And, again, it's not like we're the only ones talking up our womenfolk.

quote:

Another fact is that if you're not an Ole Miss fan the Grove pretty much blows. Unless, of course, you get your shite together and organize a sophisticated tailgate, tent, etc. This usually requires a ton of effort and logistics (hint: 3:00am), and if you're from aTm making your first trip to Oxford you won't have the first fricking clue on what to do, who to call or where to set up.


So our tailgate sucks now because we put effort into it? But I thought it was just "big" and "nothing different or special"? You're literally contradicting yourself.

If you're an A&M fan and just walk around and take it in, people will feed you and pour drinks for you. You don't have to set up your own tailgate to enjoy the Grove.

Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:01 am to
quote:

And dude, you don't have to go tearing everyone's opinion apart because we don't all agree that the Grove is the greatest experience ever.

It's kinda sad.


Hyperbole much?

I don't care if you don't htink it's the best thing ever. Look at my previous post and see that we're all just confirming our own biases here. I just think a lot of the things people bitch about are fricking whiny. "unnnhh I have to drink my beer out of a cup wah wah" shut the frick up with that shite.

It'd be one thing if you said "well when I went to Oxford I caught crabs and was beaten to a pulp by a police officer before being pissed on." It's another thing entirely to bitch about drinking beer out of a cup. It comes off as whiny and, frankly, it shows that you're just looking for something to hate.
Posted by Hog Leg
NWA
Member since Dec 2010
970 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:01 am to
TAILGATER MONTHLY
Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:01 am to
quote:

Just do both. If you can't afford it, stay off the OT.


This
Posted by LNCHBOX
70448
Member since Jun 2009
88719 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:03 am to
quote:

Hyperbole much?


No, 6 posts in a row defending the sacred Grove is the opposite of hyperbole.
Posted by LNCHBOX
70448
Member since Jun 2009
88719 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:05 am to
And I meant literally 6 posts in a row, with no other posts in between.

You also had 8 out of 20 posts on the previous page, and you're beginning to take the lion's share of this page as well.

Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:09 am to
quote:

You used kick off time as an excuse


As to why the Arkansas game didn't have a great environment. The late kickoff is exactly why the LSU game was a lot more fun to be at. It makes perfect sense, does it not?

quote:

Well that's not the Grove, so why would I tailgate there?


Yes it is. University Avenue is the southern boundary of the Grove.

quote:

Seriously, smoke and ash is the reasoning? Are your trees and grass somehow more pussified than ours?


Actually yes. The trees there are pretty fragile. Somethin' about the soil. I'm totally serious.

And the Grove is more-or-less the center of campus. They don't want it to be brown and muddy come Monday morning when classes start.

quote:

Yes, because it's so fricking ridiculous.


Something being ridiculous doesn't make it a hassle. I agree that it's ridiculous. I don't agree that it's a hassle.

quote:

What's the point if you're allowed to drink but must not drink out of the can/bottle?


Does drinking lose its point when the vessel changes? That's what you're suggesting here.

quote:

Only thing I can think is that your admin doesn't want anyone to think y'all drink, but that's also fricking stupid.


I agree that the rules are stupid. Why are you trying to convince me otherwise. Still, the stupid rules don't keep me from drinking or partying or enjoying myself.
Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:09 am to
quote:


And I meant literally 6 posts in a row, with no other posts in between.


I was catching up. I missed the first few pages of the thread. Deal with it.
Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:10 am to
quote:

TAILGATER MONTHLY


And ESPN, Sports Illustrated, etc. I just like the cover art of that magazine.

And anyway, if you're going to get an opinion on tailgating, where else would you look? AMIRITE?!?!
Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:11 am to
Look, the long and short of it is this: I love the fricking place. A lot. A shitload of other people do too. If you don't like it, then don't fricking go there. But the OP was asking for reasons to go to Oxford and Tuscaloosa, so I was giving them. I think your reasons to discourage him are all stupid, so I'm calling you all out for it.

Whatever. I'll keep having my fun.

ETA: I also don't hate other SEC towns and campuses (except for Starkville and State, but that's just by nature). I think Athens is great. I think BDS is probably the best college football stadium in America. I think LSU's a damn good time. I like what we've got going on at Ole Miss, but I don't have to shite on what everybody else has got going for them in order to justify that feeling /highhorse
This post was edited on 12/29/11 at 10:16 am
Posted by LNCHBOX
70448
Member since Jun 2009
88719 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:16 am to
quote:

As to why the Arkansas game didn't have a great environment. The late kickoff is exactly why the LSU game was a lot more fun to be at. It makes perfect sense, does it not?


I guess I just didn't find it to be exponentially better than the 11:20 UGA-OM game I went to earlier this year.

quote:

Yes it is. University Avenue is the southern boundary of the Grove


I guess I missed all of the cooking going on in all the tents. Are you implying that actually happens?

quote:

Actually yes. The trees there are pretty fragile. Somethin' about the soil. I'm totally serious.


The soil literally cannot be worse than in southern LA. Try again.

quote:

They don't want it to be brown and muddy come Monday morning when classes start.


Nothing seems to happen to our campus between Saturday and Monday. Interesting.

quote:


Does drinking lose its point when the vessel changes? That's what you're suggesting here.


That sentence by itself would imply that, but with the following sentence I explained why I asked.

Of course drinking doesn't lose its value from one vessel to another, but obviously your admin feels differently.

quote:

Still, the stupid rules don't keep me from drinking or partying or enjoying myself.



I never once said they didn't. But it does take away from the overall experience having to follow a bunch of stupid rules.
Posted by texastigerr
Texas
Member since Jan 2005
9224 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:18 am to
quote:

Both fan bases are extremely welcoming.


Not so much. Ole Miss fans much more welcoming and fun to be around. Not true for Bama.
Posted by DCRebel
An office somewhere
Member since Aug 2009
17644 posts
Posted on 12/29/11 at 10:22 am to
quote:


I guess I just didn't find it to be exponentially better than the 11:20 UGA-OM game I went to earlier this year.


I wasn't able to make it to that game, so I've got no comment.

quote:

I guess I missed all of the cooking going on in all the tents. Are you implying that actually happens?


Yeah. Along Univeristy Avenue there are people with smokers and shite.

quote:



The soil literally cannot be worse than in southern LA. Try again.


In a vacuum, no, but the fact that the soil there has been built upon, trampled on, etc for a 150 years has made a big difference.

It's not like the soil of north Mississippi has a great reputation either. Lots of clay and gravel. It's not loamy and thick like the soil of the black belt or Delta.

quote:

Nothing seems to happen to our campus between Saturday and Monday. Interesting.


I know, right?

quote:

But it does take away from the overall experience having to follow a bunch of stupid rules.


I disagree. I guess I'm so used to it that I really don't even think about or notice it. I even feel strange not drinking out of cups at tailgates. I drink out of cups when I tailgate for games at FedEx Field, for example.
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