SPORTS AND RECREATION

Time to Bond as Football Season Returns. Go Knights!

For many sports fans, the best time of the year just kicked off.

By Nicole Paskowsky

It’s hard not to know when football season arrives. Fans get excited for the game and everything that goes along with it: the food, the rivalries, the tailgating, and the weekends spent cheering in front of flat screens. With COVID-19 restrictions officially in the rearview mirror, UCF and Florida team fans look to enjoy the best time of the year in its full glory. What are we most excited about? Let us count the ways.

Together Again

Football brings us together. It’s bonding with the people sitting next to you on the couch or the bar stool, or while heading into the stadium to root on your favorite team. The presence of fans in the stands is what sporting events are all about.

UCF is home to Knight Nation, one of the country’s biggest and most energetic fan bases. Most pandemic precautions ended with the spring 2022 semester, and four of UCF’s first five games this season will be inside the Bounce House at FBC Mortgage Stadium. Events will be scheduled indoors and out. It’s a chance to see longtime friends and tailgate buddies—those fellow loyal football fans we only get to see and talk to in the fall during home games while swapping stories and trading food.

Great Expectations

It’s an exciting time to be a football fan in Orlando. After finishing 9-4 and winning a momentumbuilding bowl game over the Florida Gators—and despite dealing with setbacks caused by untimely injuries and transfers—2021 was something to build on for the forward-thinking UCF program. This year, the Knights are on a mission for a national championship.

Experts predict UCF will have one of the most exciting offenses in the country this season. Plus, the team will look the part, debuting a certifiedfresh new uniform design from Nike just in time for their final round in the ACC before officially moving to the Big 12 in 2023.

Game-Day Traditions

Whether you make the trip to the stadium or gather around the kitchen island, the return of football means participating in the sports ultimate tradition: tailgating. First, there’s the food. The smell of any sumptuous game-day staple you could ever dream of sizzling on grills across parking lots and backyards will again fill the air. We’re talking brats, pulled pork, burgers, nachos, hot pretzels and dips, and for those of age, plenty of cold beer.

Then there’s the pageantry. Face paint never goes out of style during football season, and no one blinks an eye at even the craziest homemade outfit. And don’t forget the bands, the dance teams, and the mascots. UCF fans know the game isn’t officially on until Knightro enters the field. Yes, football is back.