The Collegian
Thursday, December 05, 2024

What do I wear?

"If you build it, they will come."

This famous line from "Field of Dreams" could not be more appropriate for the inaugural home football game in Robins Stadium this Saturday against Elon University.

An on-campus football stadium has been years in the making. The hype buzzes around campus constantly. Everyone who has a ticket should go ... it's that easy. But now one of the most important questions must be answered: "WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?!"

OK, so maybe I'm most concerned about my wardrobe selection because I'm a girl, but at the same time, it's a valid question. After talking with Coach Scott and some of the football players, they know what they want to see when they look up at the student section. They want to see red.

For the first time in 82 years, the University of Richmond student body, alumni, players, coaches and fans have a stadium to call home on campus. I can't help but imagine the sight of football players clicking their cleats together and chanting, "there's no place like home" a la Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" when they found out that Spider football was coming home, but I digress.

Now that we have this gem of a stadium on campus, it's time to start acting like a real college campus on game day. That, of course, starts with the gameday attire.

Quick quiz: what are Richmond's colors? Hint: They are two out of the three primary colors. If you answered red and blue, congratulations! You've already narrowed down your wardrobe to consist of those two colors (with other fall neutrals, of course. Gotta be up-to-speed on Glamour and Vogue, y'all!).

I love a nice sundress at a football tailgate and game. I like the Southern tradition of dressing up for a wonderful fall afternoon of beer, burgers and ball. That being said, I always try to wear a sundress in our school colors. I'm not going to roll up to the game wearing a yellow-gold sundress when Elon's colors are maroon and gold.

Karen Smith, fictional character in "Mean Girls," sets the record straight with the Plastics' attire for Wednesdays: "On Wednesdays, we wear pink!" Well, how about on Saturdays, we wear red and blue.

For the fellas out there, y'all have it made. Just slap on a red T-shirt or a red tie and call it a day. Or go above and beyond the call of duty and paint your whole body red, just like those fans on ESPN's College GameDay. I know the Spider players will appreciate the passion and all-around raucous attitude to pump them up.

If you decide to peruse the alumni tailgates (which I highly encourage, since many of their donations help pay for many of us to come here. Plus, they just love seeing current students ... they may even feed and beer you), you'll notice that they wear red. Whether it be red shirts, red sweater vests on the cute old men, red hats on the nice ladies, all you will see is red.

Yes, there are only 8,700 seats in the stadium. It may be a bit small, but I think of it as cozy. Yep, Robins Stadium is a cozy setting for at least 7,700 of your closest Spider fans, all sporting red in some fashion sense.

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An interesting fact about the stadium: There is no "visitors" section ... the visitors get placed in the corners of the stadium, and there should only be about 1,000 visitors since only 1,000 tickets are in the allotment for the other school. Robins Stadium will be a giant red dot if someone flies over in a helicopter.

I hope to look down from the press box, or up from the sideline or across from the student section (any one of my three vantage points) and see the Red Sea. I also hope to see Moses part the Red Sea (just gave someone a costume idea -- you're welcome.).

We as fans will not be the only ones wearing red and blue. The Spider home jerseys are a fiery red and it will pop on the field. Why not look as uniform as the team with our own red jerseys?

I'm not trying to dictate the standards for a Richmond home game, I'm just trying to help you pick something out of your drawers or closets. By all means, take the red and blue motif and run with it!

The more decked-out and crazy fans we have in that student section will only add to the awe-inspiring gameday effect at Robins Stadium. For those of you who went to the pep rally and got a free (yep, FREE) red T-shirt, wear it!

I am sure everyone has a zillion red Richmond shirts, now is your chance to wear a different one to each of our six home games, starting against Elon.

I better see you at the game. I'll be the one wearing a red and blue sundress, even if it does clash with my gingery hair.

Contact staff writer Amelia Vogler at amelia.vogler@richmond.edu

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