“Go Gamecocks!!,” From The Parking Lot.

This weekend we decided to try something new.  Saturday afternoon we decided to take our three year old, Finley, to see the Gamecocks play!!!

Given the 7PM kickoff and mild temps, we thought this would be a perfect game to introduce her to USC football.  We were a little wrong, and a little right.

Arriving at The Coop around 5:30 was perfect.  She had a great time hanging out with the other kids, and it gave Jen and I some time to get a little tailgating in and hang out with friends.  After a lot of hype, high fives, and fist bumps, we made our way to the stadium and up to the seats.

Then the fella hit the microphone, the band cranked up, and the fireworks popped.  BANG…that was it.  It was just too loud.  Sweet girl kept switching between our laps, hiding her little face in our chests.  To put it in perspective, not only did we not make it to “2001,” we didn’t even last long enough to watch Cocky go nuts in his cage.  Sure, it was a little bit of a buzz kill, but no big deal.  After all, like her daddy, some fans just prefer to tailgate!

On the way out of the stadium we decided to visit Mr. Black (my late wife’s dad).  Sweet girl lasted about five seconds in his lap before the crowd went nuts and scared her again.  Again, no big whoop.  I’m just glad they got to hug each other’s neck, even for a moment.

The pic above is a scene on the way OUT of Williams-Brice Stadium, as the first seconds ticked off the game clock inside.  A big “Thank You!!,” to the “Tompkins” name on the Cockaboose above for the tickets that allowed us to take Finley to the game.

While Finley wasn’t quite ready for the actual, “stadium experience,” she had a BIG time overall and we have some new family memories of her first Gamecock football game.

Unlike her mom and dad’s record, she’s 1-0 as a Gamecock football fan.  As the saying goes, these aren’t your daddy’s Gamecocks!

We’ll be back!

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