One of my favorite things about Spring in Tuscaloosa is the A-Day game, Alabama's Spring Scrimmage. When I was growing up as a child, no one really went to A-day. There may been a few reporters and a couple of die-hard fans that went, but it wasn't a well attended event.
That all changed when the University hired Coach Saban. He was hired right after the first of the year in 2007. We had been under terrible coaching for years, and everyone was ecstatic to finally have a great coach with a National championship under his belt. That Spring game in April was CRAZY! A-day went from maybe a couple of thousand fans to a full-blown EVENT! It was just like going to a real game. EVERYONE was going. When we got there that day they actually closed the stadium right after we came in because it was at capacity! We are talking 90,000 fans- for a SPRING SCRIMMAGE! ESPN picked up the story and it was quite the buzz. Alabama was going to finally make something of itself for the first time since the early 90's.
Now it is even crazier with even more fans thanks to two stadium expansions since then and aNational Championship. People even tailgate like it is a real game. Needless to say- I.LOVE.IT! We are pretty serious about our football here in the Smith house, so we don't take the kids to games. I actually want to watch the game and that is nearly impossible to do with 2 very small children. When Anderson gets a couple of years older we may try to take him to some, but for the most part, game day is my little get away with Jeff to go and watch my favorite team play my favorite sport. However, A-day is the perfect way to take the kids and let them see the stadium all packed out and get a feel of the atmosphere. We have taken Anderson pretty much every year since he was born. This year was Lydia's first time to go.
Lydia's first time in Bryant Denny!
We were able to secure Zone tickets from a friend. The Zone is kind of like club level seating. You are able to go into a huge atrium and food is provided in buffets as well as drinks. You are even allowed to have liquor in The Zone. They have little pouring rooms with lockers where ticket holders can come and stock there cocktails the week of the game and then have access to them during the game. Anyway, it's almost like sitting in a sky box, but the seats are outside. The Zone is perfect for taking kids, because you can walk inside and mill around if they get bored, but you can still keep up with the game. We had a great time and the kids both really enjoyed it. I can't wait until they are old enough to go with us to games on Saturdays. God knows there is nothing better than a Tuscaloosa Saturday in the Fall!
Packing the house for the 5th straight year!
Cheering on the Tide!
I'm sleepy now!
For the last several years some friends of ours that live near campus have had a crawfish boil right after the A-day game. Everyone comes and brings their kids straight from the game. The have tons of yummy seafood and drinks and even a little band. The kids love going and playing with their little friends and we love going to see our friends and hang out!
Lydia and Libba on the swing set!
Cicatello Crawfish Boil
I'm not sure about this slide thing Mommy!
