Piddlin’ Decor | Gameday Cowbells

How was your Week 2?  Whelp, things around our house got a little rocky…

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It was tough enough for our “house divided” heading into last Saturday knowing we’d have two games to watch simultaneously.  However, as we have done many times before, we raised our split flag out front, set up our two TVs + settled in for the long night.

Things started out pretty pitiful for The Gamecocks, but they went from bad to worse following a long weather delay in Starkville, Mississippi followed by a flailing, second-half, Hokie team in Bristol + all in all, it made for a rather unpleasant night of football watching.

Despite over 500 miles between our two game venues there was an obvious theme–the annoying reiterance of two well-known + beloved (by many) gameday traditions: the Tennessee Volunteers’ catchy-at-first fight song, “Rocky Top” + the clanging cowbells of the Mississippi State Bulldog faithful. (read more about the cowbell tradition here)

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Here’s a screenshot of a handful of the many who were either fussin’ over or celebrating the resounding State cowbells on twitter during our game Saturday …do y’all want some cheese with that whine?!
I have always loved the sound of a simple dinging cowbell–that is, a single bell by it’s lonesome, or even the strands of bells seen around the holidays, mostly for the bucholic visions it brings to mind– however it certainly became it’s own entitity among the crowd at Davis Wade on Saturday.  Gamecock fans present, went from outnumbering Vanderbilt at home in Week 1 to fading into the similarly colored sea of maroon–and cowbells!  Yikes…rough start to our season.

I believe wholeheartedily that gameday traditions are what they are + if they adequately deter from a game, well then your team should come up with something to overcome it– it’s part of how you play the game– I digress.

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This is my antique cowbell that I found in my early piddlin’ days… it is a rusty, perfectly patinated thing of beauty and each time I pick it up, I imagine the farm animal that once wore it.  It’s sound is one not often heard much anymore in its original fashion, but it brings an instant smile to my face–as long as it’s not naptime…

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Whether the cowbells of Mississippi State have worn on your last nerve or not, you have to admit it’s a pretty unique tradition + a no brainer to share with you here today!

Here’s to another fun weekend of football–

 

| keep piddlin’

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Piddlin’ Decor | It’s Gameday

Cheers to you, College Football fan!!

Today is the day we kickoff another season on the gridiron, between the hedges, in the grove or in some other hallowed arena.  Tonight + all through the weekend (unless of course your team has already kicked off in some far corner of the world),  we’ll be cheering, crowing, gloating + perhaps groaning at our teams that represent those assembled + gone before “in the glory days”.

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In honor of all those years we spent studying at our alma mater with our fellow co-eds + walking campus alongside the seemingly super-human student athletes, we will watch in hope + we will cheer to see if that “University of”, “State” or “Tech” College will mystify us with an elusive undefeated season + if not, we’ll keep watching in order to hedge our bets on how our odds fare against that big bad rival sitting at the bottom of our schedules.

The magic + nostalgia of each of those worlds we lived in once upon a time, however brief or long the chapters ran in our lives, give us a special feeling about this day. It feels like Christmas with the shiny new helmets + a sparkling clean record to preserve.

No matter how you choose to celebrate today, this weekend + the months ahead, we cannot ignore the time-honored traditions that make the cheering-good, bad + otherwise- a little more bearable.  I hope to share a few of these with you through the college football season.

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I found this impossibly cute Carolina bobble head in the most unlikely of all places-my brother’s small college town of Newberry, South Carolina.  It remains one of my favorite piddlin’ finds of all time + I will relish the day that I finally have a proper place for him to look over us on Gamedays spent in our sports room!  As for the signed football- it’s not an antique quite yet, but as of this season, it is well on its way!

May the best team win…stay tuned for more fun piddlin’ finds to use at your next tailgate!
| keep piddlin’