Now that's some dedication to football

August 31, 2013.  The date of the first UVA football game of the season.  In case you didn't know, my parents have had season tickets and a prime tailgating spot for at least 30 years.  Dad was dedicated to the football team through good years and (lots of) bad years, through rain, wind, and snow, through silly parking lot changes and enforced seating rearrangement.  He rarely left a game early, and when he did it was because the team was doing so terribly he couldn't stand it, or the weather was actually so bad he probably didn't think it was safe to have me out in it.  I think these situations happened maybe twice in my lifetime.  My wedding had to be scheduled around UVA football.  He didn't start missing games until he was so ill that he just physically couldn't go.  And that's when most people became alarmed and figured out he had serious health problems.  What, Mack missed a UVA football game?!?

Me, Anna, and Dad, September 2009, during a spectacular loss to W&M

He was so dedicated to supporting the UVA football team, in fact, that he put it in his will that he wanted Mom to keep up the donations and the tickets so that Seth and I could keep taking the kids and give them the full tailgating and game experience.

Anyway, back to the day of this season's first game.

The baby got me up before 6am.  After feeding him and doing some packing and cleaning, I woke Seth up, where he began getting up and moving around much like a zombie.  Then I went to change the baby.  A few minutes later I heard Seth yell, "Woman!  It's 6:30!"
"Yes, I know."
"Why are you getting me up at 6:30?!?"
"I told you last night, we're leaving here at 8:00 to head to Charlottesville."
"You didn't say that, I thought I was going to wake up at 8:00!"
"Nooooooo, you were playing Battlefield and I told you we were leaving at 8:00."
"Well, you should have made sure I heard you."
"I did.  I said, 'honey, did you hear me?', and you looked at me, and I repeated that you would need to get up early because we were leaving at 8:00, and I asked again if you heard me, and you said yes."
...Long pause in the conversation...
"Well, next time you need to shake me."

Amazingly, we made it out of the house 10 minutes earlier than expected and headed to my mom's house in Charlottesville, where we put together and cooked the rest of the food for the tailgate.  Lizzie and X stayed with my mom while Anna went with us to the game. We met some friends at 12:30 and drove to our tailgate spot, where we set up quite a spread with all the food everyone brought. 

The first quarter of the game was pretty exciting.  Anna was actually into the game this year, asking questions and trying to cheer at the right times.  The teams seemed pretty evenly matched in the first quarter, both with good plays and silly mistakes.  And then they evacuated the stadium.

Apparently if there is lightning within 10 miles of the stadium, they have to stop the game.  We were asked to go back to our cars, and told that we would be let back in as long as we still had our tickets.  I have been going to UVA football games since I was five years old, and I have NEVER seen them delay the game and kick everyone out of the stadium due to weather.  Never.

Thankfully, our tailgate spot is really close to the stadium.  We pulled out the food again for a little while, but then the thunder and lightning picked up, and we heard the National Weather Service warning about hail and 35 mph winds.  So we packed everything in the van and got in.  And it started to rain.  Then pour.  After one of the many lightning strikes, the radio station we were listening to stopped broadcasting.  Four adults and three kids hanging out in the minivan for an hour and a half.  Amazingly, it didn't seem like that long.  The kids entertained themselves and the adults just chatted the whole time.  And Seth was admonished for not stockpiling card games in our van.

Then the rain stopped.  So we piled back out of the van and broke out the food again.  A few extra friends showed up, and we had a grand old time.  Amazingly, we had brought the perfect amount to feed everyone during the game delay tailgate.  Weren't we well prepared?  Except for the lack of rain gear and card games, of course.

Then it was back into the stadium, with towels in hand.  The second quarter was the fastest second quarter of a televised football game I've ever seen, in part thanks to BYU's no-huddle offense.  We found out later that they weren't actually televising it anymore, so I have no idea why the guy in the red shirt who steps on the field for TV timeouts kept messing with the game.  Anna was disappointed because half time was only 10 minutes, so there was no marching band.  And then a second storm showed up.  Anna and I saw lightning, so I was sure they were going to delay the game again, but they didn't.  Our BYU fan friends that came with us insisted on sitting in the rain to watch their team, so I have to give them props for the dedication.  Anna and I waited it out on the mezzanine with hundreds of other fans.  UVA scored while we were out there, and everyone sang the Good Ol' Song and cheered together, even though most of us couldn't hear the band or see the field.  When the rain tapered down to a drizzle, Anna and I went on a quest to find her something substantial to eat.  We came back to our seats with a pretzel and a new jersey for her.  Then we watched the nail-biting conclusion of a very close game. 

You see that big puddle of water on the field?

Anna, still enjoying herself, wearing her new jersey

Amazingly, UVA won!

Look, I have proof, here's the final score.

A little more than 15 hours after dragging Seth out of bed, and nine hours after starting our tailgate, we were back at Mom's house to dry off and collapse.  That was possibly the most eventful football game I've ever been to.  And I have to think that Dad is proud we stuck it out to the bitter end... although I don't think I would have handled it as well if we'd lost after all that :)