It sank. In fact it did.
It was a several-hundred-pound goalpost heaved into the Cumberland River, however any of the scholars who marched down Broadway may very well be forgiven for considering it would float. That’s as a result of just a few described one thing like magic within the air that night time.
The goalpost, nonetheless, wasn’t as buoyant because the raucous Vanderbilt crowd, which stormed the sphere at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., final Saturday after a university soccer upset for the ages. The unranked Commodores closed out a 40-35 win over then-No. 1 Alabama to mark Vandy’s first-ever victory over an Related Press top-five staff. Bedlam, understandably, ensued.
“It was mainly chaos,” mentioned Dean Parentis, a senior at Vanderbilt who attended the sport.
One other senior Vanderbilt pupil within the crowd, Robbie Tylman, referred to as the postgame ambiance “madness.”
Parentis and Tylman had been among the many swarm of followers on the sphere when the competition ended — a stunt that led the SEC to fantastic the varsity $100,000. They had been additionally among the many roughly 50 individuals, by Tylman’s estimate, who helped carry the goalpost from the sphere at FirstBank on a 2.5-mile trek to the river after a handful of followers tore it down.
“You had college students going as much as gamers making an attempt to dab ‘em up and provides ‘em high-fives,” Parentis mentioned concerning the on-field celebrations. “You had a rush in the course of the sphere making an attempt to see the coach and making an attempt to get photos. Then slowly everybody began fanning out towards the goalpost on the far facet.”
Nearly instinctively, the gang moved towards that set of uprights, shook it down and carried it towards Broadway and the river past, as police tried to corral the throng and visitors within the vigorous downtown space. Tylman, who mentioned he had his hand on the submit for about half the journey and ran beside it in a “sea of a thousand individuals,” instantly knew its vacation spot. Parentis, who mentioned he helped carry the goalpost out of the stadium and onto the road, heard chants within the tunnel: “To the river!”
For about an hour, the group marched and cheered, maneuvering the 30-foot-tall, roughly 20-foot-wide submit that weighs a number of hundred kilos, over and round stopped vehicles whereas high-fiving drivers. One fan with a speaker even stood atop the goalpost waving a flag, Tylman mentioned.
“It was most likely the sweatiest and most disgusting group of individuals carrying it,” Parentis mentioned. However he referred to as the expertise “a blast.”
After they lastly arrived on the touchdown spot, the group unloaded the load. Positive sufficient, Tylman recalled, when the goalpost hit the water, “It sank!” Police had been swift to disperse the gang after that, however for the followers who made the journey, it marked a victorious finish to an unforgettable night time.
Vanderbilt beat Alabama on Oct. 5 in a historic faculty soccer upset (Picture: Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA Immediately by way of Imagn Pictures)
A lot of the thrill stemmed from the surprising nature of the win. Vanderbilt, which began this 12 months 2-2 after ending final season 2-10, was a 22.5-point underdog heading into the sport. Alabama had solely misplaced thrice as a top-ranked staff to an unranked opponent earlier than Saturday.
Tylman famous many of the followers in attendance had been there for Alabama.
“The vibe was very very like, ‘Yeah, it is going to be enjoyable to observe Vanderbilt lose,’” he mentioned.
“I feel one among my buddies made a joke like, ‘How humorous would it not be in the event that they received?’” Tylman continued.
Then within the contest, Vanderbilt by no means trailed. An early landing by Sedrick Alexander was adopted by a Randon Fontenette pick-six within the first quarter. That gave Vandy followers early hope. Quarterback Diego Pavia continued to ship, throwing for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and the Commodores closed out a historic win, beating Bama for the primary time in 40 years and handing the Crimson Tide their first lack of the season.
The loss despatched Alabama (4-1) to No. 7 within the rankings as different faculties ascended after the weekend stuffed with upsets. Vanderbilt (3-2) stays unranked however acquired 26 votes within the newest AP ballot. They journey to play Kentucky (3-2) on Saturday night time. However even when the Commodores don’t win one other sport this season, Parentis mentioned he wouldn’t care. The spotlight already occurred.
“We beat Bama. We beat the No. 1 staff within the nation,” he mentioned. “That’s nonetheless adequate for me, however I might like to see us nonetheless smack round another groups. It’s a win-win at this level.”
As for the goalpost, the Nashville Hearth Division retrieved items from the river and returned them to Vanderbilt. The college is now auctioning off the items together with different sport paraphernalia. Six and eight-inch goalpost items have bought for $4,035 whereas a four-inch piece bought for $1,005.
Though Parentis didn’t depart Saturday with the goalpost, he mentioned the reminiscences from the mayhem would stick.
“The primary factor we had been saying as we had been strolling the goalpost down was, ‘There’s by no means going to be a degree in faculty higher than this,’” he mentioned.
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(Picture: Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA Immediately by way of Imagn Pictures)
