One of the great things about college football is its traditions.
Clemson players rubbing Howard’s Rock and charging down the hill in Death Valley, Osceola charges down the field aboard Renegade at Florida State, Auburn’s War Eagle as he flies over the stadium prior to kickoff, Georgia’s UGA barking at his opponents, LSU’s Mike the Tiger, who lives just outside Tiger Stadium, Texas A&M’s 12th Man and Ohio State’s Dotting the “I”. These are some examples of what makes a College Football Saturday so great.
What makes something a tradition?
In my opinion, it is when something is done over and over again for a long period of time. The very definition of a tradition is “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.”
I am not a big fan of songs being sung in a stadium or loud music being poured out over the sound system and people jumping around like crazy and calling those traditions. To me, that is more like a rock concert than a football game, but I get it.
And don’t get me wrong I enjoy those things too, but I don’t think of them as “Traditions.” To me, traditions are something your school does that is unique to your school. Like Penn State’s “White Out” games. No one else does it.
Auburn fans toilet paper the trees at Toomer’s Corner after a big win. That is their thing. Clemson’s Cadence Count. It is a military-marching-jody-call that dates back to its history as a former military school.
Others include the Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech, Ralphie’s Run at Colorado, Notre Dame’s “Play Like a Champion Today”, Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner, USC Trojan Sword Stab and Mississippi State’s Cowbells.
These are traditions that have been around forever. The “Tomahawk Chop” at Florida State. The “Gator Chomp” at Florida.
These are the things that make college football special. Every school has their own traditions surrounding college football and game days and each one makes their alumni and fan base proud. That is why I think it is silly for national outlets to try and rank the best college football traditions because it is something that is personal to those individual fan bases.
It would be easy for me to rank my favorite traditions in college football, but if you have been reading this column you have a pretty good idea which ones I favor.
But that does not make yours wrong or mine better or none of that because we all love the game, and we all love the traditions that make college football so special. Granted, we might think our individual school is the best, but I can guarantee you, the guy who went to the other school feels the same way about his school’s traditions.
Man, don’t you just love college football?
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