I'm a first time season ticketholder this year and I'm extremely thankful that I was finally able to get them. I suppose this post could be misconstrued as "wanting to have my cake and eat it too," but that's not it...well, maybe it is...at least partially.
Now that I have these eight beauties in my possession, I'm realizing how you're kind of straightjacketed regarding making other plans until the university announces kickoff times. I know it's because of TV coverage and all, but that doesn't solve the problem.
I have to arrange a babysitter for pretty much every game. Grandparents will be doing the babysitting 99 times out of a 100, so my child will probably end up spending the night with them that day anyway. Having a full day at my disposal for personal entertainment is a rarity though, so I want to take full advantage of it.
I'm a music junkie and I love going to concerts. After I finished my undergraduate degree, I worked in the concert promotion business for five years and got to see tons of shows. I probably went to an average of two or three a week for some of those years between what I was working and what I attended purely for pleasure.
We already have the kickoff times for the first three games. Two of them are at night and that pretty much eliminates any concert going, so I haven't even bothered to look. Later in the season though, I have already identified three shows I want to go to, but I'm afraid to buy tickets for them because I'm not planning on giving up my football tickets and I don't want to get stuck with tickets to two events at the same time. Hopefully I'll be able to see at least two of these.
Here are the potential conflicts:
OCTOBER 7
Football game: Duke
Concert: Ravi & Anoushka Shankar at the Alys Stephens Center in Birmingham. - 8:00 p.m.
OCTOBER 14
Football game: Ole Miss
Concert: Widespread Panic at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham. - 7:00 p.m.
OCTOBER 28
Football game: Florida International
Show: Zach Galifianakis (1 - 2) (comedy) at the Bottletree Cafe in Birmingham.