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M-I-Z! S-E-C!
Feb 15, 2012 CATEGORIES: Alabama SEC Football, Georgia Football, Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie, SEC Football, Southern Belles, Texas A&M and Mizzou SEC Football, Uncategorized
A welcome basket from Harpos and the Alumni Association- Already mastering that Southern hospitality thing!
When the University of Missouri and Texas A&M were added to the SEC I was frozen with shock. I wasn’t sure why, geographically among other reasons, these two teams were added to what I liked to call, a very happy 12-team-SEC-family.
Of course, Commissioner Slive didn’t call me for my opinion, so I conceded (a very rare occasion) that they knew best and had the best interest of the SEC in mind.
Now, just months before Mizzou and Texas A&M officially become members of the SEC (in July), the Mizzou chapter has mostly been written for the next edition of Gridiron Belles. Thanks to a two day visit to Columbia, MO last week, I have a new found respect for Mizzou, their traditions and the wonderful people that bleed black and gold. I have no doubt, that you will too!
This is the iconic Jesse Hall. They are big on "6" at Mizzou for these last 6 standing pillars. We are big on 6 National Championships in a row so it's a great fit!
Upon my arrival to Columbia, I was welcomed by the sweetest coaches’ wife at a lunch provided by a local tailgating must-have, Hoss’s, along with the director of game day operations and the director of donor relations. I wont brag and tell you I also met with the Athletic Director, but I did, and he was a real gentleman!
What I learned in my first two hours on campus was enough information that I could write an entire Gridiron Belles Mizzou edition. But I still had another day and a half to meet with students, local businessmen, and the alumni team responsible for homecoming (Which, rumor has it, originated at Mizzou).
It takes heart to play in the SEC and these Mizzou Tigers certainly have that
Next stop was the football training center that is home to state-of-the-art workout facilities, coaches offices and the biggest indoor media screen I have ever seen to help with recruiting. It worked on me, but more importantly, it worked on the players whose photos were on the wall above– the players that had been in the first round draft the year before. Impressively, there were a handful. Every school, of course, has their song. This is Mizzous and it’s catchy (Black and Gold version coming shortly). If Chris Fowler says Mizzou is the best, we better make them feel welcomed!
Make no mistake about it, Mizzou is ready for the SEC!
Later on, I stopped by the Kappa Delta house to present to the KD ladies about what to expect when Georgia, Vanderbilt, Alabama, and Kentucky come to town. Not to mention, how to dress when they travel with the team to the “original Columbia,” Florida, and Tennessee. A simple power point showcased my collections of beautiful belles across Dixie from last season and boy if the questions about wardrobes weren’t flying from the audience! I translated a few Southern sayings for them and of course, asked them about the student traditions on campus.
Imagine if the guy on the far right was your mystery date to the KD swap in 1984... yes, look closer... That's Brad Pitt!
Again, no shortage of Southern hospitality, the KDs hosted a reception for me at the house and I was able to spend time with the girls and help them grasp what it means to be a Gridiron Belle and how much fun they will have being a part of football’s great traditions. I’m convinced that word about being a Gridiron Belle will spread across Mizzou’s campus like wildfire. The book was written for Yankee transplants and those who have never experienced a game day in Dixie– looks like the book was also written for Mizzou Tigers!
They’ll be ready.
M-I-Z! S-E-C!
Xs and Os,
Christie Leigh
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A Thousand Thank-Yous
Jan 17, 2012 CATEGORIES: Alabama SEC Football, Athens, Auburn, Florida, Georgia Football, Gridiron Belles Tour, Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie, LSU Football, LSU v ALABAMA football, Ole Miss Football, SEC Football, South Carolina, Tennessee Football, Uncategorized, Vanderbilt
"Real Belles Watch Football"--and have chandeliers at their South Carolina tailgate!
These Bengel Belles had quite the story to share- Thanks for all being Gridiron Belles!
All season I’ve preached about the importance of thank you notes. Thank you notes for your tailgate hosts, thank you notes for the people who get you tickets, thank you notes for the people who have you over to watch a game. (We really all should be writing thank you notes to our team’s players…) All season, I’ve received some ever so kind thank you notes myself from fans I’ve met along the way. So, it’s only fitting that I thank YOU for all that you have inadvertently done for me this season.
Aimee introduced me to Chimes and hosted me at her competition ready tailgate
For the past 5 years I have expressed my obsession with SEC football with anyone who would listen. For research purposes, I have talked unceasingly about traditions, clothing styles, tailgate menus as well as players and coaches on the field. Then, I started asking for help. I started asking the Belles and Gents that I had met along the way to reach out to their friends to help me. I needed pictures, quotes and stories and boy did I get them!
Lesson learned: never go to a game in the Swamp before November!
If you’ve ever written your own book, you know that the chronic nerves that surface once the book is at the printer requires more support than anyone anticipates. For those of you, strangers and friends alike, that offered your calming words via calls e-mails, posts, and tweets of encouragement, a thousand thank-yous.
The Grove is the perfect place to display your Pink and Proper Lilly purchases! Thanks, P&P!
Ready or not September 3, 2011 came around and it was time for the rubber to meet the road. From the first game of the season to the last, strangers–now friends– took me under their wings. Generous fans invited me to lavish tailgates, allowed me to stay in their homes and graciously promoted my book to their friends. People I didn’t even know were inviting me to special events and treating me like kin. Southern hospitality at it’s finest.
My new friend, Kelly, took me on the field in Neyland Stadium... wow!
Thanks, Vandy Belles, for all of your support and enthusiasm!
Even those fervent SEC fans, that maybe didn’t love everything I wrote about their team, taught me something. They thickened my skin. Taught me to be more open-minded. Encouraged me to look at all sides. They reminded me that Belles are courageous and tough.
The most supportive parents in the world. Also the most excited to be at the historical BAMA v LSU game.
Without tearing up the way I do while watching Steel Magnolias, I’ll keep it short and sweet. It was because of YOU that my 2011 Gridiron Belles tour was a success. It is because of YOU that I was able to fulfill my dreams of being an author. My career for the past 4 months has been tailgating. And because of YOU, Gridiron Belles worked.
These UGA Belles told me that the sky was the limit-- thank you!
Thank you, from the bottom of my Southern Belle heart, for being such hospitable, generous and devoted fans of your team. It is the spirit and excitement that y’all displayed that kept me going on the road for 93 days straight without a break from the South’s greatest pastime. It is people like YOU that make Southern football the living legend that it is.
The savvy mama, Doran, thanks for having me on your wonderful show!
Thank you all. For everything.
Xs and Os,
Christie Leigh
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Sweet Home Alabama
Jan 9, 2012 CATEGORIES: Alabama, Alabama SEC Football, BCS Championship Game, Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie, LSU v ALABAMA football, SEC Football, Southern Football, Uncategorized
The Tide Sisters
SEC fans are the most loyal and energetic in the nation. I’m convinced, however, that Alabama fans are what most people mean when they use the term “Fanatical.” It’s expected of BAMA fans to be fanatical—it’s part of the oath they take as new borns: Wear Crimson, despise Auburn, name a child (or at least a dog, boat, or RV ) “Bear” and above all, be the most fanatical football fan you can imagine day in and day out. This is one vow that is unforgivable to break. And I love it.
Mr. C and Ms. Tide, two of the greatest BAMA fans I know!
On a level understood only in the SEC—perhaps only in Alabama– eating, breathing and decorating your home in the only logical theme of Crimson Tide, team dedication has reached a new level in Tuscaloosa.
Look closely and count how many places you find houndstooth!
My trip across the South has introduced me to more than my fair share of Tide fans. I stayed with one of the sweetest Bama Belles at her Bay house outside of Mobile and was welcomed into her home with open arms… just as soon as I changed out of navy and orange… in the driveway.
All fans who enter, MUST match the decor!
The Bama fan of the season, however, required a family. The “Tide Family” (I’ve kept their name to myself as to not have them inundated with calls and e-mails asking for ideas of how to be a better BAMA fan once this is released) has set a new bar for BAMA fans . They are as kind as they are loyal. They are as generous as they are dedicated.
Yes, a larger than life replica of The Bear's hat serving as window treatments in the bathroom!
Decorated by the eldest daughter of the “Tide Family,” this second home, located a first down away from the entrance to Bryant-Denny Stadium, epitomizes the phrase “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Lucky monogram she has, isn't it?! This is the beautiful creative brain behind the "wow."
I’d likely get some of the details mixed up if I tried to tell you how long the “Tide Family” has been a part of the BAMA community. I’d tell you that there are 12 grandchildren who went to, or are currently enrolled at, the University of Alabama when really there are something like 26. And I’d tell you that it was MR. Tide that spearheads the “fanaticism” and game day excursions on their party buses and boats when really it’s MRS. Tide. So I’m going to keep the details to myself and just let pictures speak 13 words. Because, 13, is exactly how many national championships this Tide Family has been around to celebrate the Crimson spirit.
These curtains speak from themself
No detail, large or small, went un-dedicated to Alabama. I was in awe. I was impressed beyond words and knew immediately that there may be a lot of families that are Tide fans, but there is only ONE “Tide Family.”
Meet the lovely Tide Family
Thanks for the hospitality Mr. and Mrs. Tide! And good luck getting your 14th national championship tonight!
Xs and Os,
Christie Leigh
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A Saturday in Tuscaloosa
Nov 7, 2011 CATEGORIES: AL, Alabama, Alabama SEC Football, Gridiron Belles Tour, Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie, LSU Football, Nick Saban, SEC Championship, Southern Belles
GameDay set up in front of Bryant-Denny
If I was ever concerned that the Alabama football nation was going to grow out of the houndstooth trend and start wearing khaki pants like Saban, I’ve since been reassured otherwise. Houndstooth is the easiest way to identify an Alabama fan and there was no shortage on Saturday in the crowd of 200,000 plus fans that converged on T-Town.
Mama and Ms. Campbell showing off their houndstooth
In addition to the presence of houndstooth, no tailgate was complete without some sort of sign about Les Miles eating grass, a pun on what LSU players do with grass and some sort of insult of what the Crimson Tide was planning to do on the astro-grass . I personally find a lot of entertainment in reading the clever signs that fans make for their tailgate décor. In fact, if you have any good fan-signs, send’em in!
Leave it to the law school...
The new statue on the walk of legends is of Coach Saban. When the news covered Tide fans complaining about coach Saban’s clown-sized-bronze-shoes, I didn’t understand. Upon further review, the ruling on the field stands, his shoes are a little large for a rather small framed man. I do, however, think the statue captures his spirit and enthusiasm and gave me chills just thinking about his success as a coach. And just to be sure that no one messed with his big feet, there were more security guards for these statues than on the field during the game!
Bama Belles paying their respects
With months of anticipation surrounding the meeting of these two power houses, I was dreaming of fanatical fan bases battling it out pre-kickoff and a game with a little bit of offense. What I found was the largest gathering of well mannered fan bases in the history of college football! Yes, I just wrote that. I just categorized LSU as well-mannered and included the Tide. Hell has officially frozen over. Pigs now have wings. The pope is no longer Catholic.
This was a display of unprecedented respectful fraternizing with the enemy. I suppose it’s because neither team had too much room to talk. 60 minutes could change LSU’s entire season and the only reason Alabama wasn’t number one was because they had not yet played LSU. It was amazing. It was impressive. I was so proud of both teams.
She didn't tell me she was grilling tiger. Just grilling for the game
The game was phenomenal. Every snap was worth holding my breath. Every play that I stood was worth the agonizing pain in my tuckered-out feet. Simply being in the stadium was enough for this Belle. It was history in the making. What made it better was sitting with my Mama and Dad in Bryant-Denny stadium while they experienced their Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
Thanks, Mama and Dad for making the trip!
What a show, Tide fans, what a show.
Xs and Os,
Christie Leigh
