Game Day In "The Loveliest Village On The Plains"

This morning as I was prepping my kit and washing my brushes, my blackberry chimed. It was an email from my personal account (each account has a different chime). I took a moment to reach over my mess of products and grab it, and what a moment it was -- a very charming, heart warming email from my dear friend Brittany.

Brittany and I have been best friends since we were kids. Some of my fondest memories with her include high school homeroom, choir ... and Auburn football.

This weekend marks the beginning of "that time of year." My dad has been counting down the days since January 8. I admit, as much as I love L.A. and know that I'm in the right place, my heart yearns for the South during the fall. There's nothing like college football (SEC of course). I was truly blessed to be a part of the Auburn family. What an experience it all was, and the memories will stay close to my heart throughout my life.

For this post, I have a guest blogger. I'd like to share Brittany's email -- the subject line entitled "Memories." As I go about my day, prepping for a weekend on-set, I will take moments to remember "War Eagle!"

"I was driving into work this morning with the sunroof open and windows cracked half way listening to my new fav CD thinking what a nice morning it was out. The weather was cool and the sun was warm. As I drove down the highway I kept seeing cars with college flags attached to the windows. It was only a few years or so ago that we'd be waking up in Auburn, slightly hung over from the Friday night before. Oh how excited we would be to get dressed in our perfect orange and blue game day outfit with matching Auburn accessories. This was the day we lived for, FOOTBALL!! And of course, tailgating. I remember worrying about saving parking spots and moving cars around, where the boys were at, and bringing everything we might need for the day.

The best part of the morning was finding your parents; they had food. Magic cookie bars, pasta salad, and layered dips were among my favorites and always made for a great breakfast. The day would continue with friends, more food and beer. Toomers Lemonade, burgers, Jimmy Johns and Amsterdam Cafe were always a game day treat! Okay I wish I was there now for some food. I remember not having any inhibitions hardly. We were carefree and felt safe amongst thousands of strangers. Getting tispy was our mission throughout the day as well as finding the boys -- being in public underage was never a concern.

Tiger Walk was the start of the game festivities, the excitement in the air would increase. Soon we would file into the stadium for the BEST part of every game, watching the Eagle fly. It still gives me chills thinking about it seeing the bird. It was so surreal at the time. Singing the fight song, pumping our shakers to the beat so hard the tassels would be falling out, and cheering like crazy are some of my best memories.

I think about it now as I'm at work with no ESPN to even have the sounds of crowds cheering and bands playing familiar fight songs. I miss those days. However, I don't necessarily want to be there today. Young drunk kids being obnoxious, stupid college boys, and the feeling of being "old." It's not where I'm at anymore. I do wish I could be 19 again, just for game day and to relive those good times.

As you go about your day, remember WAR EAGLE! and the fun years we had :) Happy SEC Game Day!!"

You're Going To Let A Girl Beat You In Football Knowledge?!

I was on set not too long ago for a filmed called "Between The Wish And The Thing" -- absolutely wonderful cast and crew. Two of the lead actors were southern boys -- Shawn Parsons from Dothan, Alabama, and Josh Waters, from my hometown of Marietta, Georgia. So naturally we bonded. The Big Chicken. Sweet Tea. Chick-fil-A (which was a surprise treat while filming in Barstow, California). The SEC. Shawn went to Bama. Now if you're reading this and you're located in the south and an Auburn fan, you're probably thinking "Oh no." But actually, here on the West Coast, when you run into another SEC fan, regardless of the team, you're instantly football family.

Notice the cup -- it was sweet tea :)

The West Coast simply does not do football like the SEC does. Part of the reason we as SEC fans love our teams is because of the southern traditions that go along with game day. Tailgating at any SEC game is bound to be a great time. I've tailgated at of course Auburn (can I get a WAR EAGLE?!), University of Georgia and Louisiana State University and each one of these schools knows how to do it right. Then there are other game day traditions. At LSU, Mike the Tiger has a beautiful habitat that fans will flock to on game day. At Ole Miss, fans tailgate at The Grove. At UT, there's the famous painted rock. At Auburn, there's Tiger Walk, Toomer's Corner and the flight of the eagle (which I still get chills watching!).

Auburn vs. Georgia 2004

Not that I'm saying other teams not in The SEC don't have similar traditions, but there just seem to be less of an enthusiasm for game day here on the West Coast. In the south, each campus has it's own Bodhi Tree, or Western Wall, or Church of Holy Sepulchre -- the football stadium. I have been on USC's campus at least a fifteen times ... I've never seen the stadium. I've driven around campus looking for it. I've asked a handful of USC students where it is located, non of them could even point me in the direction. See? Lack of enthusiasm!

On set for "Between The Wish And The Thing," the three of us "southerners" met a lovely young man named Cameron. Cameron is a student at UCLA, which is a great public school here in Los Angeles. I had on an Auburn sweatshirt ... Cameron asked if I was an Auburn fan. I said yes and that's where I went to school. He said he was sorry ... which lead me to say that The SEC is the best football conference in the nation. Cameron said he could vouch for two of The SEC's teams being good -- Alabama and Florida State. Yes you read that right, Florida State. I then went on to a five minute argument (I would say debate, but a debate is two-sided and clearly this "debate" is actually fact) that Florida State was not in The SEC, it's in The ACC. Clearly our friend Cameron had confused Florida State with University of Florida ... but needless to say, I got to use the phrase "you're going to let a girl beat you in football knowledge" (it's really the simple statements like this that make my father proud).

Cameron took on the challenge to debate three southerners, well-educated southerners I might add (we can count the top 25 most winningest college football division 1A teams and see that there are seven SEC teams and two Pac-10 teams -- seven is clearly larger than two, thank you Auburn for teaching me math) by saying that the Pac-10 is better than The SEC. This is ludacris, and you don't even need to know a thing about football to see this, you just have to be able to count to 25. Here's the list ... enjoy the seven SEC teams that clearly dominate the list.

Division 1A Top 25 Most Winningest Teams (*=SEC **=Pac-10)
1. Michigan
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Alabama *
7. Southern California **
8. Nebraska
9. Tennessee *
10. Penn State
11. Georgia *
12. Louisiana State *
13. Auburn *
14. West Virginia
15. Georgia Tech
16. Syracuse
17. Virginia Tech
18. Texas A&M
19. Pittsburg
20. Arkansas *
21. Colorado
22. Washington **
23. Florida *
24. Stanford
25. Miami Ohio

Poor Cameron was in such a tizzy. He then tried to spread his word about the Pac-10 with the director, who went to Tufts, Division III ... not hating on Tufts, just saying it's Division III, there's no comparison in football. In the mean time, the three of us southerners were really being quite defensive about our conference. It's moments like this when an Auburn fan teams up with an Alabama fan to unite the glorious beauty of The SEC. Josh came up with a fair compromise -- The SEC is the best conference for football in the nation and the Pac-10 is the best at recruiting Asian students for academics.

And thanks to Cameron, you really are a sport for dealing with the three of us :)