Game DayZ with DZ
Junior Delta Zeta, Nicole LaBarre, shares all about Game Days in Athens and some of DZ's favorite game-day traditions!
It’s no secret that game days are a huge hit with every student on UGA’s campus. The energy in the air when the clock strikes midnight on Saturday, up until 11:59 that night is incomparable. Especially as fall comes creeping in, game days in Athens are a tradition that is unlike any other. While half of the home games have passed, that isn’t stopping us from continuing to have the best game day plans. From the moment we wake up, up until we go to bed smiling from a dawg win, here’s the perfect game day plan for your Saturday in Athens!
1. Get that good breakfast in!
A classic favorite is to host a game day brunch with all of your friends! With spreads that include everything from pancakes and muffins, to eggs and fruit (and more recently, bacon😉), this is the perfect start to a fall game day! Before leaving for the day, it’s always fun to take sweet pictures with your friends before the day gets insane with all the energy and excitement!
2. Make your way to Milledge!
The atmosphere through campus, and all the way to Milledge Avenue is on a different level. Everywhere you look, there is red, white, and black, and everybody is shouting “Go Dawgs!” Being in Athens on a game day feels like one giant big family reunion filled with Alumni, current students, and future dawgs! The best thing about being on Milledge on game days is getting to see all the banners from different chapters! The creativity and execution of these banners only further ignite the excitement of game day, and even make for some really cute photo ops too!
3. To Sanford we go!
As it gets closer and closer to game time, more people make their way towards Sanford Stadium, the most magical place in Athens. The student section becomes alive as pom poms are collected, and the hedges frame the field perfectly as the timer counts down. Everyone is moving to get their drinks and snacks because, once the game starts, no one wants to miss a second. The chatter in the student section comes to a halt as soon as you hear “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to attack the day.” The lights come up, the team runs out, and red and black is pumping through the veins of every person in that stadium. The time has come.
4. A celebratory feast!
After cheering on the dawgs, the party doesn’t stop there. No matter where you go, you are surrounded by fans with faces lit up like a Christmas tree. The pure joy from getting to spend the day in Sanford is evident in the eyes of everyone you walk past. No matter what time the game started, a post meal celebration is always in order. Every restaurant is bustling with the excited energy that just filled the stadium, and it’s something you can’t miss.
Game days in Athens are unlike anywhere else, and it’s crazy that we get to live through it week after week. It’s always such a fun time getting to see other students from your class, from other sororities, and sometimes even from other schools. Saturdays in Athens brings people together, and we aren’t going to take on second of that for granted. Go Dawgs!
