PRINTGame Day Guide
Don’t know much about going to football games other than wearing black and gold? Vox can help
Vox Staff
Terms that might confuse those new to Tiger football include "Natty" (Natural Light beer), "the Cannon" (a sound cannon shot when Mizzou scores a touchdown) and "Big Mo" (a drum used when Mizzou scores).
October 22, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
A previous version of this story incorrectly noted the seating capacity of Memorial Stadium and the occupation of radio announcer Mike Kelly. Vox regrets the errors.
For diehard Mizzou football fans, game day feelings are similar to Christmas hopes, mixed with birthday sentiments and sprinkled with snow day school-cancellation excitement. If you’re a new Tiger or football admirer who is oblivious to Mizzou traditions, Vox’s game day guide will teach you all you need to know.
- Score! Who won it, 2002 to 2008
- The visor
- The tailgating zoo
- Hey buddy, you're in my seat
- The Price of Playing
- Know your enemy
- Letting 'em out of their cages and corrals
- Stat Showdown
- Game Day Whereabouts
- Remember the Tigers
- Studying the stereotype
- Censorship Uncensored
- And the winner is...
- Endzone ensembles
- I'm with the band
- Supporting Cast
- Prep and pride off the field
- An Obituary for the beloved Reactor
- The Lost, the Found and the Confiscated
- Columbia's Hangover
- Play by play
- Mo' Money
- Makin' Bank
- Tiger Watch Party
- Uniformology
Cornhole
Also called bags, fans often play this game while tailgating. Players toss small bean bags (originally filled with corn, hence the name) toward holes in a wooden box, and they earn various point values for different holes. Warning: alcohol consumption might alter your perception of distance and/or your hand-eye coordination, thus resulting in a major loss for your team.
Big Mo
At the south end of the field, next to Marching Mizzou, sits Big Mo, a massive drum (measuring six feet in diameter) that pounds out excitement whenever the Tigers score a field goal or touchdown. After screaming and cheering for a first down or touchdown, shove your fingers in your ears if you want to drown out the tribal sounds.
The Cannon
When the Tigers score a touchdown and you hear an explosion in the stadium, don’t run for cover. It’s just the cannon battling it out with Big Mo for loudest game day boom. The cannon sits near the north end zone, and its blasts boost the Tigers. The cannon does not project anything except noise, so it’s perhaps best to have other heavy artillery equipment available — just in case the game takes a turn for the worst and the opposing team needs to be eliminated.
Golden Girls
Former band director Charles Emmons added the Golden Girls to the field in 1957. In 1970, director Alex Pickard encouraged the twirlers to lose their batons and transformed them into a dance team, complete with gold sequins, pompoms, white boots and teased hair. The Golden Girls aren’t hard to find. To catch a glimpse of high kicks, look for a blinding sparkle in front of the alumni side during the first, second and fourth quarters and to the student side during the third quarter. The team has tripled from its original size. (There are now 32 girls.) Imagine how much hairspray they go through each game.
The Hill
The Hill is a general-admission seating area, marked with the beloved rock M, which freshmen traditionally whitewash at the beginning of each school year. (Against all expectation, incoming freshmen apparently love spending time toiling away in the humid August heat like a sweaty prison chain gang.) The freshman class of 1927 placed the white stones into the M shape that stretches 90 feet wide and 95 feet high, making the north end of the stadium stand out like an X on a treasure map. Don’t try to dig because you won’t find any gold, even after paying $34 for a Mizzou versus Texas ticket.
“M-I-Z! Z-O-U!”
After singing the fight song, students start yelling “M-I-Z,” and the alumni side answers with “Z-O-U!” In addition, after a first down, the stadium announcer starts the chant, and then the student side finishes the cheer. Although this tradition doesn’t date back to the early years of Mizzou football, this might be the easiest custom for novices to learn. If you can shout a six-letter word in unison with 60,000 plus fans, you should be golden. Mizzou gold, that is.
Natty
Despite its sub-par taste, Natural Light Beer, made by Anheuser-Busch, is popular among college students for its decent price, and it frequently shows up at tailgates. Natty was first made in 1977 and was the first reduced-calorie beer under Anheuser-Busch’s name. Which means that when non-Natty drinkers insult its watery, lifeless taste, you can at least point them to the slightly smaller spare tire wrapped around your waist.
Tiger’s Lair
More than 1,500 members sit in Tiger’s Lair, the student section where die-hard fans wear customized shirts and wave homemade signs as they chant and cheer for the team. Located on the east side of the stadium, the lower portion holds the most dedicated fans, including those gutsy enough to sport full body paint and glitter. Tiger’s Lair has the best seats in the house: These loyal fans sit in the front rows along midfield and up against the 50-yard line. Don’t waste any time — you can only sign up to be a part of the spirited bunch during the first few weeks of school.
The Zou
Although still known as Memorial Stadium, the football arena has been officially dubbed The Zou. All home football games take place there, and the stadium bears the nickname on both outside walls, as well as on the back of the new $3.5 million video board (rest in peace, old scoreboard) which reads, “Welcome to the Zou.” Although the maximum seating capacity is recorded as 71,004, the stadium has been bursting at the seams with 75,000 people in the past. Cause that’s just how The Zou rolls.
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