Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Anyone who has ever taken a trip to the Gulf Coast knows it’s basically a year-round SEC fan convention. Beginning this year, the party is official. SEC BeachFest 2012: A Championship Celebration is taking place in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama from August 23 – 26. In short, your wildest SEC beach party dreams are coming true.

It’s got a golf tournament. It’s got fan zones. It’s got concerts. It’s got a 5k if you think 5ks are fun. Nick Saban’s going to be there. Les Miles will be there. Gene Chizik’s going to be there. A group of “legendary” SEC coaches will be there as well. We’ll refrain from making a joke about Bobby Petrino showing up to referee a volleyball tournament. Too soon.

The golf tournament is an alumni scramble. The cost is $1600 per foursome, with $400 of that money going toward the alumni association of your choice. That’s good for two rounds of golf, breakfast buffet and lunch or afternoon cocktails, and a gift bag. And if nothing else, you get the chance to heckle other fans on the course. As it says on the website, it’s “a small price to pay to prove once again that your college dominates the SEC.” Indeed.

In addition to the three current coaches attending, some SEC coaching legends will also be appearing. Former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, Auburn coach Pat Dye, Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer, and Alabama coach Gene Stallings are all in line to relive some old times. The four of them will supervise drills around the Fanfare area and will conduct a Q&A session that is described as “must-see”. And who knows, you might run into Fulmer somewhere in town and can ask him just how close he really came to becoming Arkansas’ coach in April.

Schools are divided into three locations for the “alumni headquarters” where fans can be social and practice not starting fights. The Arkansas alumni are headquartered at the Tacky Jack’s in Orange Beach, and Hog fans share the spot with alumni from Alabama, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Missouri.

When you read about the 5k and see that ends with waffles, you’re forgiven for wondering if the 5k actually ends at a Waffle House. I did. But no. It ends at the beach near the FanFare area, where apparently, a large waffle breakfast awaits those who want to go outside in Alabama in late August and run a long ways.

If that’s not enough, the B-52s will perform Friday night and Dr. John will perform Saturday night. The music alone is worth the $25 ticket to take part in all the festivities. And it would totally make sense if Les Miles strolled right up next to you with a cold beer while Dr. John was playing.

More info on the event can be found at SECBeachFest.com.

Doc Harper is a regular contributor to ArkansasSports360.com and ArkansasExpats.com. You can email him at heydocharper@gmail.com and follow his thoughts and observations on Twitter @doc_harper.