Check Out the GridIron Blog
RSS-
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
Comments (1) -
Bean Dip Delight(s)
Feb 2, 2012 CATEGORIES: Georgia Football, Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie, SEC Football, Southern Football, Super Bowl Dip Recipes
Finally, something fresh at a watch party!
Use your pageant wave to say goodbye to fruit and vegetable trays (at least for today). The recipes below are healthy alternatives for anyone watching their belle and gent figures. Exchange Fritos for whole wheat or baked chips and you’re all set for feeling great before, during and after the big game!
Don’t forget to tell me what you think or send in some of your own–
Xs and Os,
Christie Leigh
Cat Snack Kentucky fans Lynne and Abigail
2 cans(15 oz) black beans drained
1 can (15 oz) white sweet corn drained
2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes drained
1 teaspoon (approx 4 pods) chopped garlic
¼ medium red onion
1 teaspoon salt
½ bunch cilantro
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
Juice of half of lime.
Drain beans, tomatoes and corn. Pull cilantro off of stems. Combine all ingredients into large bowl and mix thoroughly. Continue to add salt, pepper and seasonings until taste is to your liking! Serve chilled with chips of choice.
Go DAWGS Bean Dip Sent in by UGA fan
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can white corn (drained)
2 bunches green onions chopped
6 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
Salt, pepper & garlic powder to taste
Combine all ingredients into large bowl. Mix well. Serve with Tostitos ”Scoops” for ease of eating….
-
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
-
Georgia Football-A Southern Experience
Nov 15, 2011 CATEGORIES: Auburn v Georgia, GA, Georgia Football, Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie, Southern Football, Southern Women, UGA, Uncategorized
Here is what I found as tailgating must haves during my second trip to Athens:
Russ the bulldog and Ms. Seiler in the "Uga Suite"
A bulldog. If tents are a tailgate staple at every other SEC tailgate, bulldogs are the staple at a University of Georgia tailgate. “Russ” is the interim bulldog mascot and nearly every tailgate on campus had a cousin, friend, or distant relative of “Russ” or “Uga” to help entertain fans before the game. (A Full story about “Uga’s Suite” will be out Thursday)
I'm more of a yellow lab lover, but this Russ was pretty darn irresistible!
Chick-Fil-A. Why make fried chicken from scratch when the delicious Chick-fil-a is a hometown staple? UGA fans need not worry that they can’t order a chicken biscuit on Sunday, they’ve had more than their fill from tailgating in Athens on Saturday.
The ever so hospitable UGA coeds
Black and red wardrobe. I haven’t decided which team has the best team colors for successful fashionable game day outfits, but black and red is certainly at the top of the list. The belles and gents in Athens are something to write home about. Or at least a reason for me to consider going to grad school with gentlemen DAWGS fans and for Georgia belles to contend for The Belles of the SEC.
Talented leaders of spirit: After chatting with the Mama’s club of the cheerleading teams and some of the Dawgettes, I realized that leading the school and UGA fans in spirit is a full time job! Between appearances, game performances and in general looking like the perfect UGA ambassador, these students earn my respect of loving the game and their school!
Goooo DAWGS! Sic'em!
Ambitious KD ladies: If I had half of the gumption in college that the UGA KDs do, I would be running the White House right now! I was so impressed by Christie E., a journalism major, who works for the local UGA news channel and is giving up her Christmas break to get more time in a studio in Tampa. She interviewed me Friday and then brought a camera crew to follow me around on Saturday. Additionally, Ashlee Nicole, the VP of Operations, who so generously invited to attend the game with her family, knows every bit of UGA history from being an Admissions Office Orientation Leader and is a biological science major. To top it off, there was a line of brilliant women waiting to talk to me at the house on Monday—all motivated, all dedicated to their dreams, all big fans of their DAWGS!
Christie was all business as she captured the UGA game day traditions and happenings pre and post kickoff!
Battle Hymn of the Republic. Perhaps the biggest pre-game concern for a Georgia fan is making it into Sanford stadium in time to hear the lone trumpeter play the opening notes of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Of course, the hedges add a generous dose of Southern nostalgia, but there is no feeling more bone chilling and pride filling than the sound of that trumpeter on Saturdays in Dixie.
The perfect bark. I would be remiss if I directed you toward Athens for a football game and forgot to instruct you to practice your bark! Georgia fans’ barks are much bigger than their bites—but with 90, 000 plus barking at once, it’s enough to scare a tiger!
Thank you for your hospitality, Athens!
Xs and Os,
Christie Leigh
