Opening Weekend!

Reporting this week from Dallas, TX

I would like to say that I have traveled here to celebrate the opening of college football and attend the epic blockbuster of #2 Alabama vs #8 Michigan at Jerry Jones’ palace of football.  But sadly, I am stuck in a board review course while the game is about to start just beyond view of my hotel room.  But I have a suite, and two TV’s, so I got to watch Alabama/Michigan on one screen while my Trojans beat up Hawaii on the other.  And, thanks to the miracle of text messaging and FaceTime, I got to enjoy the company of my brothers live from Ann Arbor!  Aren’t they so cute in their matching Maize and Blue?

I am impressed with the quality slate of games on this opening weekend.  Usually, the first weekend is just for warm up games against Sun Belt or Division I-AA schools (or Hawaii).  But we got to see Notre Dame- Navy, Michigan State – Boise State, Clemson – Auburn,  South Carolina – Vanderbilt, and, of course, Alabama- Michigan.  And we got some special locations- Cowboy Stadium, Dublin Ireland, Kinnick East (AKA Soldier Field).  And a whole series of games held in Atlanta during the same weekend as DragonCon!  (if you understood that last reference, you are a nerd like me). Naturally, not all of these games were nailbiters.  But just having football back is enough for me.

I must admit; I do feel bad for Penn State.  Unlike 14 others in the contest, I didn’t have the heart to pick against Penn State in their very emotional opener at home against Ohio.  It was time for the State College community to come together and start putting this terrible off season behind them.  Instead, it ended with students dancing in the streets of Athens, Ohio, calling the Bobcats victory the “biggest win in school history”.  Somehow, it just didn’t seem like a classy reaction.  But much more on that next week when I will report from State College.

I enjoyed tonight’s games with a plate of yucca chips with tomatillo salsa and traditional buffalo wings, all washed down with a bottle of Texas’ own Shiner Bock beer.  I first tasted Shiner Bock the summer after I graduated college, when I drove a friend from her home in Phoenix to her new job in Key West, Florida.  That was an amazing road trip.  We hooked up with some fellow Trojans in El Paso and watched Wayne Gretzky lead the Kings into their first Stanley Cup finals (ok, sports fans, now you know what year I graduated college).  We explored Carlsbad Caverns and discovered the most amazing tamale stand in Pecos, Texas.  And we stopped in College Station where we played dominoes at the Dixie Chicken bar and drank Shiner Bock beer.  Back then, it was only available within 100 miles of Shiner, Texas.  Now, you can get it on draught all over the country.  But out of respect for its history I only drink it here in Texas.  There are lots more crazy stories from that road trip, including a wonderful night in New Orleans, but I leave those for another time.

You may notice that I have made it this far into my blog this year without mentioning game day pancakes.  And what the Hell are yucca chips, anyway?  Well, they’re quite good.  But the point is that I am on a diet.  So my Trojans will have to make their march toward Miami without my lucky breakfast.  Judging by tonight’s result, they will be fine (and the scary thing is that they could have played even better!).  I am going to keep this diet up until Kristi and I go to Hawaii in November.  Its working so far.  Its best not to think about how long that will be.

71 Days, 21 Hours, 48 Minutes to Hawaii.

Fight On,

Hans