Six LA Friends Catch Wild College Football Weekend En Route to Dodger Game

TUSCALOOSA – Six friends from Los Angeles who share a deep passion for the Dodgers set out for what they thought would be a standard multi-day trip. They planned to catch some SEC football with a few NFL games along the way before heading home. What they did not expect when buying tickets months ago was finding themselves in the middle of one of the wildest weekends in college football history. This happened thanks to a last-minute decision that put them on track for the NLDS while en route to the University of Alabama.

While they might not have famous names, this group decided to make unforgettable memories during their journey south. Their original plan only entailed watching one college game before returning to Los Angeles for Monday Night Football. But once they learned their beloved Dodgers would be playing in the same city they were flying into, plans changed very quickly.

I stepped out of a vehicle near the Alabama Walk of Champions that leads right into Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. I noticed a group of guys wearing Dodgers gear getting out of the fan behind me. My instinct was to ask about what they were doing around Tuscaloosa while wearing LA gear as they looked at the home of Alabama football in amazement. Boy, was I glad a decision was made to inquire about their perceived stop.

A new tradition is born thanks to some luck and planning. Gil, Falo, Joe, Mike, Rudy and Bernie had a story about what brought them to Tuscaloosa, and I was in for a welcomed surprise. This wasn't the first time the group attended a college football game together. They made their way to Notre Dame last year for the USC matchup. Then, the group followed it up by driving to Detroit for a Lions game, putting a bow on their 2025 trip and the College Football-NFL crossover weekend.

But this year, the squad had something else in mind. We decided let's go to an awesome college game because we live where USC, UCLA and Oregon play. But we wanna go to the SEC, Big Ten or something. This year we decided to do an Alabama game. We looked at this game three months ago and said let's do Alabama/Georgia, maybe they'll be top-ten teams. So when we were getting ready to come in, we're all Dodger fans. The Dodgers are playing against Atlanta in Atlanta on the day we arrive. So we flew into Atlanta, got our rental car, went to the game last night, then drove here last night and have a VRBO here. We're gonna stay until Sunday morning.

The craziness of this sports whirlwind does not end in Tuscaloosa. We're gonna drive back to Atlanta because we're leaving out of Atlanta on Monday. We will go to the Sunday night football game between the Falcons and Baltimore. I have heard of folks attending a college football game on Saturday then making it to an NFL matchup on Sunday, but this entire bonanza just feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity to make memories with a core group of friends.

What started out as a trip to Tuscaloosa turned into a wild escapade that saw them preparing to attend four games in six days. It was a pre-planned event, this trip down to Alabama, Gill told OutKick on Thursday.

Falo pieced everything together with a stroke of luck. They were flying into Atlanta just as the Dodgers set up for the Braves. So they grabbed tickets for the NLDS before boarding their plane, confident they would make it to the stadium on time.

They even managed to drag Mookie Betts along for the ride, thanks in part to some AI help. Georgia versus Alabama was the pick for this crew of friends. It boiled down to a simple desire to see an SEC football game. "We just like big games, that's all we're looking for," Falo said about the trip. They are all retired now and want to live these moments. They have the time to do it, they love the SEC, and luck was on their side.

"We're playing golf, playing pickleball today," he continued. "Saturday we'll go to the Alabama-Georgia game, then Sunday morning the Falcons game, then Monday we're flying back to Los Angeles and we're gonna go straight over to SoFi Stadium to watch the Rams play the Bills." My brain struggled just to process what I was hearing at this point in the conversation. This is the kind of retirement many people would envy. These friends were living it right before my eyes.

Sports bring us together, and this group is soaking up every single moment. A rental house on Lake Tuscaloosa waited for them over the weekend. They planned to roam the Quad after Hurricane Isaias moved through the area, leaving only good times ahead. "I guess we're Alabama fans now, Roll Tide," one friend admitted. "I'm a USC diehard, not the one in Columbia." He wants to hit every SEC game in the South; that is his goal.

If there was one way to enjoy retirement, this group has clearly figured it out with their new tradition. It ultimately just brings them together. This time, Mother Nature joined the chaos as Hurricane Isaias churned in the Gulf. What were they looking forward to most over the next few days as we inch toward kickoff between Alabama and Georgia? "The crowd, the atmosphere, that's why we're here," the group shouted aloud.

As for one thing they need to learn before kickoff, the words to "Dixieland Delight" will be figured out by then, or at least by the time this group heads back home to Los Angeles. "We know the cuss words." God bless, college football.