Things You Should Definitely Do: The Preakness

Kevin, despite already being easily the most well-traveled of the three contributors to this blog, is always looking for the next trip, the next experience, the next event to cross off the list. So when we were discussing potential trips for the 2011 baseball and college football seasons, it came as little surprise to me that he also threw in the word "Preakness." After reading that text, my eyes were more lit up than Lindsay Lohan on 4/20.

A back story, if I may. Back in college, one of our fraternity brothers would organize a trip down to the Preakness Stakes every year. (For the lesser-informed, the Preakness is the second leg of the famous Triple Crown of horse racing, sandwiched every May between the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.) Simply put, purchasing a general admission infield ticket to the Preakness is an entry into the biggest college party of the year. There are several schools within fairly easy distance of Pimlico Raceway (just outside Baltimore) - Towson , University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins, James Madison, and University of Delaware are some examples off the top of my head. The timing is perfect. The race is held around the third week of May or so, right near the time when most colleges are finishing up for the year, which leads many groups of college kids and early 20's hangers-on to treat the Preakness as their last big bang before everyone parts ways for the summer or for the treachery of post-graduate life. Couple that with the fact that it doesn't become consistently warm in the Northeast anymore until around May 15, and you've got nearly 100,000 people in a rough age range of 19-30 chomping at the bit for some good old fashioned outdoor daytime drinking. Oh, and another thing - under the old BYOB rules (which have since been abolished, and then brought back in modified form), you could bring as much booze, food, and whatever else that you could manage to wheel into the place. And believe me, they're not carding 100,000 people, either.

There is a rare dynamic to The Preakness. It is a combination of landmark moments in one's sports fandom as well as his partying career. I say that because, when you have infield tickets, you obviously get to walk across the racetrack as you enter and exit. Just think, for a mere general admission ticket, you are allowed to transverse the very surface on which one of the biggest sporting events of the year takes place. To me, that's the horse racing equivalent of the days when spectators were allowed to exit the old Yankee Stadium to the subways after games by walking across the field.

Once you get to the infield, what you enter upon is a collision of Bourbon Street, Hamsterdam, spring break in Cancun, an SEC tailgate, and the last 20 minutes of the Atlantic City Beer Festival all in one. And there's also a bunch of horses running around you periodically. If you want visuals, here's a link to the Google image search for "Preakness infield." The first beers were cracked circa 6:45am as we met up with the charter bus to head down to Pimlico. There were 30s for the way down, bushels of 30s for the day, and 30s for the way home. Once we found a spot on the infield near the 1/8 mile marker and next to a group of old people with no idea of what was in store, the melée began. The beers didn't stop, the food was there when we needed it, and the infield betting counters (a fantastic way to get drunks to part with their money) weren't too far away for the ill-advised amateur handicappers in the group. Eventually, someone whips out a bottle of something, and then things get hazy. People begin to pass out on the ground (mid-day naps, they'll call it), and inevitably those in their group will see how many objects (empty cans, coolers, lawn chairs, etc.) they can stack on top of their slumbering friend before he wakes up and notices anything. Girls will start making out with each other. You're certain to see a near-fight break out before 3:00 in the afternoon. Someone is bound to lose their phone. One of this blog's loyal readers puked before 11am and wound up passing out in the back of a U-Haul (if he wishes to identify himself in the comments section, then he certainly may). After the last race, it took us nearly two and a half hours just to get out of the parking lot and head home, and it didn't seem to bother anybody.

If you go, a charter bus (WITH A BATHROOM) is a must if you're making a trip of an hour or more. Bring twice as much food (of the PBJ/lunchmeat type) and water as you think you're going to need. Also, hand trucks are a huge plus. It's one of the longest walks of your life from the parking lot to the infield on the way in, and it's THE longest walk of your life from the infield to the parking lot on the way out, so you want to ease the carrying load as much as possible. And finally, sunscreen. You'll take one look at the obligatory sun-crisped friend at 4:00 and thank me, unless you end up being that sun-crisped friend.

Which year did I go, you ask? Well, I was an infield spectator at the 2006 running of The Preakness, more famously known as the day that Barbaro, the winner of the Derby just two weeks prior, broke his leg on the initial straightaway and became a worldwide story for the next 8 months during his ill-fated recovery. Why did I not mention it earlier in this post? Because, even though I was probably standing less than a 7-iron away from Barbaro when it happened, I did not become fully aware of the situation until 1AM after we got back home. That's the Preakness for you.

Roll Tide! My Trip to Bama vs. Florida

I flew into Birmingham from Tampa on Southwest on Friday.  85% of my flight was going to the game and probably 40% were Alabama fans.  It made for an interesting atmosphere on the short 1 hour 15 minute flight.  Friday we spent in Birmingham where I saw the campus of UAB and that was about as interesting as it sounds. Saturday was the event though and it didn't disappoint.

It's important to note that I attended the game with people knowledgeable about Alabama and one of them still attended school there.  We headed to the stadium at 11 AM for the 7 PM local kickoff.  Birmingham is one hour from Tuscaloosa and fortunately we didn't hit traffic but it must be noted that there are Bama gameday detour signs at several exist where apparently they have routes mapped out to alleviate traffic.  If there was a general parking area, I didn't see it.  We parked on someone's lawn for $20 which was the cheapest we saw. 

The tailgating scene seemed to take place in apartments and bars as well as the quad.  We started our tailgate at an apartment that some family friends had purchased specifically for game days.  They were Bama boosters with a huge deck and catered food.  We left with the plan to return later after we had met up with the other members of our party and I had purchased a game day t-shirt.  I was pretty against purchasing a strictly Bama t-shirt so I went for some old fashion hate.

The shirt was more of a hit then it had any right to be.  I had people taking pictures with me or coming up to me to tell me how much they loved the shirt including Florida fans, even John Brantley's father, more on that later. We headed to the bars on University Boulevard where we had some "Rammer Jammers" which I think had Lemonade, Gin, Rum, and who knows what else.  Then we headed to a place called the "Locker Room" where you could purchase higher end Alabama apparel.  Now we went there because they have a free keg in the store.  Wrap your head around that a free keg in a clothing store for gamedays. Truly impressive and as it turns out not really free because I think my polo shirt was left there. 

People definitely dress differently for gamedays in the south.  The polo guy on a Ralph Lauren shirt has been replaced an the Alabama Elephant which several people wore.  Fraternity guys wear suit jackets and khakis. No one wears hair gel in Alabama.  The look to go for is a 35 year old Dad.  Somewhat messy hair with shorts above the knee and a polo or button down shirt.  Do not forget the old man shoes either.  If you dress like this in Philly you get your ass kicked but in Bama you fit in.

Girls are not the t-shirt and jeans type either.  Most class it up a bit and wear some type of dress or classy top. Girls like to wear crimson red or black as a tribute to Paul "Bear" Bryant.  I saw quite a few Bear Bryant hats and even Bear Bryant earnings.  The girls in generally are classier than I am used too which is good for all things except gameday. 

Later we returned to our original high brow tailgate to find the father of John Brantley (QB of Florida).  In my brief conversation with him and his buddies I learned that he wasn't too fond of Urban Myer and he really liked my t-shirt.  Fans were nice to each other, which surprised me after reading about so much hate.  I was pleasantly surprised to see opposing fans getting along and I hardly witnessed an incident.  For all the passion for college football in the south it was nice to see southern hospitality win out in this instance. 

The game itself wasn't not as exciting as it could off been because Florida is not a good football team.  I had the opportunity to sit in the student section for $180 with some friends which was a bonus. A frat guy told us we couldn't sit where we were sitting because of fraternity block seating, but my friend and I blew him off and he later apologized.  The crowd was into the game and may have been even louder if the game were tight but it does not stand out as the loudest crowd I've been in.  When Sweet Home Alabama plays, fans sing Roll Tide Roll in between "where the skies are so blue" which was cool.

After an Alabama victory this awesome chant is song.  It's called Rammer Jammer.



All in all the trip was definitely worth it and I had a great time.  I would recommend going to an SEC game if you haven't been because its a different experience. Does different mean better?  No, it was a similar overall experience as to most major programs.  The after party was better, the stadium can't compare to Michigan's though and I even like Nebraska's better but the team entrance into the stadium and friendliness in the area is refreshing.  The stadium feels like a pro stadium much like Penn State's does.  However,  it was really cool to see all the bronze statues of coaches that have won National Championships and Nick Saban's plot already laid out waiting for a statue. The tradition of Rammer Jammer is not quite in line with southern hospitality but it gets sheer points for awesomeness.