I'd always thought what made you a Southerner was who your college football team was. Mine was and is the Tennessee Vols, and on October 8, 2005, Tennessee was hosting Georgia (whose fans are the worst, they bark at you).
We were in our seats in section HH, rows 3 and 5, seats 15-16 respectively. I'd had many memorable moments in those seats. But never a life-changing moment.
Until October 8th, 2005.
It was halftime, and there was the usual buzz of conversations mixed with people sashaying, dodging, and biting their way up the tiny aisles to get a Smokey Dog.
Until they heard the announcement: "Performing with the Priiiiiide of the Southland Marching Band, Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome 'The Gambler' himself, Kennyyyyyyy Rogers!"
No one cared about the Smokey Dogs anymore. At least no one over the age of 30.
Because there he was, "The Gambler" himself, Kenny Rogers.
I didn't get it. He sang a few songs I didn't know, classic country type songs, no doubt about beer glasses and mama.
But then as he prepared to play his last song, everyone in my section leaned in like Kenny was about to tell them a secret, one they already knew.
"On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere
I met up with a gambler, we were both too tired to sleep"
I'd never heard this song before.
Joe from Madisonville next to me was singing along. Tammy with the two kids in front was too.
Kenny rolled to the chorus:
"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."
The entire stadium was singing together – even the Georgia fans.
“Know when to walk away, know when to run.”
And that was the day I learned the mark of a Southerner isn't your team, it's knowing the words of the eponymous song by "The Gambler" himself, Kenny Rogers. That and “You never count your money, when you're sitting at the table. There'll be time enough for counting, when the dealing's done.”
Man, I had a similar moment on a cruise ship to the Bahamas over NYE 2019. A bar band was playing "Family Tradition," by Hank Jr., and I'd never heard it before. Haley was stupefied. The entire bar, with people stumbling in from either side (the casino and the hallway) was shouting at the top of their lungs "...to get drunk!...to get high!.." I felt like I was in the hillbilly equivalent of a packed soccer stadium in South America.