'Woke Campbell Stadium?' Cal football fans flood social media with memes ahead of FSU game
FSU Twitter is known for being eccentric and a bit wild. But it might have met its match in Cal Twitter as AI-generated art and Photoshopped memes have flooded social media ahead of Saturday's game at, uh, "Woke Campbell Stadium?"
Florida State plays California in an ACC football game Saturday, Sept. 21, a combination of words that requires its own explanation. Long story short: Cal is one of the former Pac-12 teams that moved amid last year's conference realignment mayhem, and Saturday marks the Golden Bears' first conference game.
The teams enter Saturday's game on opposite ends of just about every spectrum. Cal is 3-0, while FSU has started its season 0-3 after expecting to make the College Football Playoff. But the two states are also pitted against each other in the political sphere, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have been going at one another for years.
Watch FSU vs Cal live on Fubo (free trial)
And Cal fans have taken full advantage of being painted as the "woke mob" and "antifa" by DeSantis, former president Donald Trump and other prominent Florida politicians. (Plus, remember Trump's presidential opponent, Kamala Harris, hails from California.) The Berkeley crowd has been creating memes en masse throughout the week in the leadup to Saturday's game.
FSU has announced a Stripe Out this Saturday vs Cal!
Check your row number:
60s: Marxist Red
50s: Orange
40s: They/Them Yellow
30s: Capitalism is a Crime Green
20s: Atlantic Coast Blue
0-19: Open Border Purple pic.twitter.com/y2gjDEySMa— OTT TO GO (@HaasOfOtt) September 17, 2024
Nothing is sacred, and no stone has gone unturned. Here's just a sampling of what's been populating social media.
(Note: For those unfamiliar with the newly burgeoning genre, AI-generated art is notorious for blurry or incorrect letters and numbers, as well as unnatural characteristics on some human images. You've been warned.)
Doak Campbell Stadium? Make that Woke Campbell Stadium
GREAT NEWS, FLORIDA STATE!
Saturday night is OPEN BORDERS NIGHT at WOKE CAMPBELL STADIUM!
Cal will bring THOUSANDS of UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS to the game!
ALL IMMIGRANTS will be WELCOMED with FREE TICKETS and FREE BEER funded by a modest surcharge on YOUR tickets! DIVERSITY! pic.twitter.com/BaFypAmyqy— Admiral Bear (@AdmiralBear01) September 20, 2024
One of the most popular trends is rechristening Florida State's Doak Campbell Stadium as "Woke Campbell Stadium," in honor of DeSantis dubbing just about everything he's pilloried as "woke."
Live look at #FloridaState fans after they face #Cal @FSUFootball pic.twitter.com/kn3KcdtK9J
— Cal Sports (@CAL_SPORTS_) September 17, 2024
This one captures the spirit but mistakes Doak Campbell, former president of Florida State and namesake of the football stadium, for Doak Walker, the 1948 Heisman Trophy winner from SMU for whom the award for the nation's best running back.
Renaming Tallahassee schools after Fernando Mendoza, Kamala Harris and Karl Marx
— rich lyons stan account (@larioDonghetto) September 16, 2024
Some of these memes are extremely detailed, such as this one that perhaps is a statement about schools in Florida changing their names from Confederate generals and officials.
Critical race theory and LGBTQ rights
Sources, at Woke Campbell stadium, they will be hosting a Critical Race Theory Halftime show vs Cal pic.twitter.com/lr3xNJAFWZ
— Not Fernando (@hayden_smith88) September 18, 2024
What perceived threat has gotten more attention than the alleged spreading of critical race theory in Florida schools? The much-derided college-level discussion that was banned from use in grade schools (though how often that was actually happening is a debate for another day), but it's clear through this meme that Cal intends to bring it back.
AI art has only one purpose on this planet and it is absurd Cal football memes. https://t.co/VKjH6jxS4B
— Avinash Kunnath (@avinashkunnath) September 16, 2024
You'll also notice a lot of these memes feature various LGBTQ+ representation flags. It's about the closest thing there is to a signal that you are, as they say, "woke."
Communism, Marxism, Cal football
#GoBears #Cal #FSU #CalvsFSU #ACC #CalTwitter #Calgorithm pic.twitter.com/At9Yug3eGQ
— Lawrence Ross: An Ice Cold Alpha Man (@alpha1906) September 16, 2024
3 days until FSU #Cal pic.twitter.com/AAFGA8Elim
— Gordon Gekko (@GordonGekko420) September 18, 2024
DeSantis and other prominent Republicans have decried Democratic policies and politicians as both communist and Marxist. The two are contradictory, but that doesn't matter to the rabid Cal fans.
Book bans under fire by California football fans
Unbelievable, they’re banning the playbooks! pic.twitter.com/FgIwr700Cn
— Ghost (@GhostofGarbers) September 17, 2024
The spate of Florida school libraries restricting or removing books from their shelves spawned this meme of DeSantis giving FSU a leg up ahead of Saturday's game.
Second Amendment? Berkeley fans want your guns
PEOPLE OF TALLAHASSEE: Cal's WOKE ENFORCEMENT unit is TAKING YOUR GUNS this weekend!
You MUST place all firearms in our rainbow bins conveniently located throughout FSU's campus.
YOUR GUNS will be confiscated and DESTROYED for your safety!
Thanks for your prompt compliance. pic.twitter.com/qlo7RVU7JM— Admiral Bear (@AdmiralBear01) September 18, 2024
Florida is a notoriously "stand your ground" state that has been loosening its restrictions on gun control in recent years. It's also the site of two of the most deadly mass shootings in American history.
Waffle House isn't safe from Cal mascot Oski
https://t.co/U8yDIMRywZ pic.twitter.com/VK6frhBgfn
— Marshawn's Golf Cart (@cal_gang) September 19, 2024
FSU fans' efforts to combat the meme warfare have been deflected at every turn. This one saw Southern institution Waffle House under siege.
All right, that one's clearly a bridge too far.
How to watch FSU vs Cal: Time, TV channel, streaming
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, September 21
Where: Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida
TV: ESPN2
Streaming: ESPN+ ($10.99 per month) | Fubo (7-day free trial)
Streaming options include Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Cal football Twitter pokes fun at Florida State, Ron DeSantis