Tournament Fans

This coming Thursday our little family unit will leave Chattanooga and head down to Atlanta for our yearly Spring Break trip. As I have mentioned before, we go to the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament to cheer on our favorite southern college team - Auburn. (Can I get a WarEagle!?)

D’s family used to go to the tournament almost every year, as a family tradition. D’s memories about those trips being so much fun are what fueled his desire to have our family do the same thing.

The first year we went, it was in Nashville (so. much. fun.) and we went on the kindness of strangers, buying our tickets off the street. Since that trip was a success, we decided that the next year we would try to obtain ticket books and enjoy the entire tournament experience. We became tournament fans.

Here’s a short primer on becoming a tournament fan:

The thing about the tournament is that sometimes you have to do a little strategery to make it fun.

When you purchase tickets, you aren’t buying tickets to games, but to sessions. On the first and second days of the tournament, there are 2 games per session. You can only enter the GA Dome once per session, so if you go in right away, you are there for at most, both games.

But, what if neither of those teams are the team you cheer for? Its ok, you won’t be bored. Just pick a team to route for. In our case, we pick teams that are on the western side of the SEC- except Al@b@m@. And, further down the bracket, we also cheer against Kent#cky. The only time we cheer for the big blue is when they are playing Al@b@m@. And when there are no teams from the west to cheer for, we go with the underdog. (I have to admit to breaking away from this SOP when Tennessee plays. I may be an Auburn fan, but I am a Rocky Top fan. I love that song so much that I just can’t help singing it, so I might as well cheer for those Vols.)

To make it really fun, you just have to get into it. Clap along with the “real” fans of that team. Pretend like you know the words to their chants (Hotty Toddy?) and really, really hope that team wins. For fun, try to yell louder than the Kent#cky fans (they outnumber everyone else something like 5 to 1).

Being a tournament fan means accepting the fact that your team may not make it past the first round. The first day there are always four teams that loose. Once your team has that “L” next to their name, your really don’t have to stick around. There are plenty of Kent#cky fans willing to purchase your tickets from you as soon as you leave the dome.

But, being a tournament fan means sticking it out. Be a good sport and keep routing for the teams that do go on. Following our protocol, after Thursday night’s loss to Vandy (see how I can tell the future) we will continue to chant “Go Tigers!” Except, since we will be cheering for LSU, it will be said “Geaux Tigers!”

And a good time will be had by all.