There’s a reason the University of Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia combined only lost a total of two home games last year. Yes, they have great football teams, but it’s also a testament to the environment created by their fans, who start the party outside their home stadium well before game time. For many tailgaters, it begins with a pair of basic desires: “I just love football, and I love drinking cold beer,” Volunteers fan Brandon Calloway says. Other tailgaters, like Quincy Hamilton, aren’t huge fans of the sport but love the social aspect. No matter the motivation, college football fans in the South know how to cultivate a home-field advantage, and there are several Chattanoogans more than happy to make weekend trips to get in on the action.
Drifting With the Tide
When your favorite college football team boasts 18 national championships and 30 Southeastern Conference titles, it’s easy to recruit people to jump on the bandwagon.
Bill Hickman wasn’t much of a college football fan when he married his wife, Libby, in 2010, but that changed quickly. Libby, a longtime supporter of the Alabama Crimson Tide, played a particularly central role.
Five years later, Bill set out on a personal project. Finding two wrecked Chevy Sparks, he cut each of them in two and welded them together to complete the so-called Game Day Limo. Fashioned with the Bama “A” on the car’s hood and “Roll Tide Roll” emblazoned on the trunk — with all sorts of emblems and doodads in between — it’s the hallmark of a superfan. Clearly, Bill’s fondness for the Crimson Tide has grown.