Maybe it’s because my parents are foreigners or because they’re both math professors, but I never watched Monday Night Football growing up. It was never a big part of my life, so coming to UF, where almost everyone and their uncle knows the difference between a touchdown and a field goal, was a little jarring.
Although I still don’t know the intricacies of football (If you’re like me check out Her Campus UFL’s Football for Dummies), at least I know tailgating on gameday doesn’t refer to closely following a car on the highway. I know I can’t be the only one who’s still a bit clueless when it comes to sports, so to all the others out there, here are 14 thoughts we’ve all had on gameday.
When you wake up on gameday from the noise of people getting excited and look out your window at all the cars, trucks and trailers that have magically appeared.
You ask your roommate what’s going on, and they just give you a look.
You finally realize it’s gameday and find out what team we’re playing, so you decide to show some school spirit by wearing orange and blue.
But then when you walk outside and see everyone’s cute gameday dresses.
While walking through the tailgates with your friends, one alumni stops to talk to you about the team back in ye’ olden days and tries to get you involved in the discussion.
And then someone from a rival school disses the Gators and in your head you’re like…
But because you have no idea about the tactics of football, you’re really just like…
The game’s about to start, and everyone’s getting super anticipatory and cheering, but you just sit there like…
And then all of the sudden everyone starts clapping. You’re not sure why or how but feel obligated to join in.
Then you look away for a second and suddenly everyone’s booing.
And then someone tries to explain to you what just happened and you try to keep up with what they’re saying.
But the minute they turn away you’re like…
And if the game goes into overtime, you’ll be like…
But in the end, when it comes to cheering your team on, you’re just as loud and passionate as the rest of the fans.
Though you might feel out of place when people discuss game strategies and the strengths of the players, you know you’re a Gator through and through. Although you might not be able to offer your own game plan, you’re still going to cheer as loud as everyone else when we score!