Rushing's Ramblings

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

2011-05-06T22:58:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been a long time. Probably too long. I hope I haven't lost all one of you faithful reader(s) out there.

My little sister is married. Auburn has won a national championship in football. Both my parents have had bouts with skin cancer, and we're halfway to a 100 percent cancer-free situation with both of them. Hopefully we'll know soon that mom's surgery today got rid of all the cancerous cells and they won't have to go in again.

That's just a brief synopsis of my 2011.

It's been an adventurous and surreal four-plus months. From a trip to Arizona that featured a day at the Grand Canyon and that lifelong dream of watching Auburn's players and coaches celebrating in possession of that coveted crystal football to last weekend's Rushing/Miller Royal Wedding, I haven't had a year filled with this much fanfare in such a compact period of time. It's been mostly fun and a little frustrating, but I'm not sure I'd trade it for anything.

My dad quit smoking. Tomorrow is five weeks without a single puff and over seven weeks since his last full cigarette. This is HUGE for him, and we couldn't be prouder as a family. It took a scare to get this to the point we're at now, but I'd rather live through a warning sign than the negative alternative.

Jeanie and Robert's wedding was a special day filled with so many family members and friends that I couldn't begin to list half the ones. They came from Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, California, Washington state and Georgia. I may be leaving out some locations in there. I've been in 10 weddings now (I promise my math isn't off on this, Jennifer) and Jeanie was the calmest, coolest and most collected bride I've ever been around. Please don't take that as an insult to any other brides from the weddings I've been in...I was just blown away from the poise and lightheartedness my little sister displayed on her big day.

Mom lost a dog and gained another over the past few weeks. Not necessarily in that order. Today, she went in for a surgical procedure to remove a cancerous spot. A two-week time period with the stitches is the next biggest hurdle as the tenderness hardens and heals with time and God's grace. You should have seen how amazing she looked as the mother of the bride a week ago.

It's time for Mother's Day, Jeanie's birthday and some Jimmy Buffett at JazzFest. I spent tonight hanging out with old friends at their new house, the stepping stone into the next phase of their lives. Hopefully with them being half an hour closer, this will mean more hanging out from here on out. We've both vowed to make a better effort to do so.

I'm a little random, but that's just how 2011 has been for me. I'm sorry if it's hard to follow along. I haven't written a lot this year, and I need to get back in the habit of doing so. When CSM shut down in February, it felt like a rug was pulled out from under me and I've been doing my best to keep from free-falling without a floor below.

I got into a bad habit of feeling sorry for myself. I wanted to blame a lot of my negative outlook and attitude on other circumstances instead of taking a better outlook and viewpoint on things. Then, last week, as Jeanie got closer and closer to the biggest vows she'll ever take, something changed thanks to her. I can't put my finger on it. I don't know if I'll ever understand it. But, that something changed and I've been a lot better at finding the good in situations since.

I've been frustrated the past couple of weeks because I've been feeling a lot of frustration from others. I maybe didn't handle it all correctly, but I've tried my best to do so. I'm back to umpiring, and being out on those ball fields has been therapeutic. And hanging out with Ben last weekend and tonight has also been a big assist in my more positive outlook.

I'm not sure what the rest of 2011 will bring. I'm not sure how much more my life will change, but I'm gonna try my best to be on the look for more positive signs. God has really blessed me, my family and my friends. I've never doubted that. I'm just realizing it more clearly right now.

Pray that this trend continues.

The Iron Bowl Rewind - 28-27 Edition

2010-11-29T19:16:00.001-06:00

The game drew the best ratings for a college football telecast this season. On Black Friday, the country drew its eyes to Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Can anything ever top this on the Plains? A 24-0 deficit that turns into a 28-27 triumph thanks to a 28-3 scoring advantage from the latter stages of the first half until the early moments of the fourth quarter stirred positive emotions throughout the northeast corner of Bryant-Denny and the upper deck that shared an endzone.

I wasn’t around for Punt, Bama, Punt and I was just a couple of months old when Bo leapt over the top to end UA’s nine-year dominance in the series. This made me just a 7-year-old who made more memories in our backyard than Keith Jackson calling the action on the afternoon Alabama finally played a game in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Jarrett Holmes’ field goal in 1997 had given AU it’s only one-point victory that I could remember and appreciate in the tradition-filled rivalry known as the Iron Bowl. The one thing that stuck with me from that night, though, was how incredibly lucky Auburn had been to be in position to get that field goal in the first place.

So, forgive me for considering this the greatest Iron Bowl in my life. The difference in feelings and emotions I had felt last November leaving Jordan-Hare Stadium to the elation that erupted (enough for me to lift my dad about six feet off the ground, give or take 12 inches) I experienced last Friday in Bryant-Denny Stadium is beyond adjectives. There’s just not enough out there. Superb comeback, err Camback - whatever you want to call it. I call it the greatest.

Don’t get me wrong: I felt bad for my friends that I knew had truly felt the Crimson Tide would win at the tailgate we attended prior to kickoff. There was class portrayed by everyone under the tents just off the parking lot adjacent to the Sheraton Hotel. “I just hope it’s a great game, one that is cleanly played on both sides” was the common theme.

When the money fluttered around Cam Newton, the anger began building in a lot of the orange and blue-clad faithful. After a school that is in the midst of a decade-long stint of NCAA probation trumpeted its commitment to “live compliance” with the NCAA rule book, I was about ready to run through a wall. And I hadn’t even heard “Son of a Preacher Man” and “Take the Money and Run” on the PA during the Tigers’ walk-through.

But, calmer heads prevailed and I remembered that those things did not embody the friends I had on the other side of the line. They weren’t the ones that signed off on the marketing and game day operations crew being able to play those songs. They weren’t the students sitting above the Auburn tunnel that were “clever” enough to rally the masses to toss those Monopoly “Cam dollars” at the Heisman Trophy front-runner.

No, those guys (Hal, Rob, Bobby, etc.) were gracious winners last year in Auburn. They were congratulatory non-winners (refuse to call them losers) in Tuscaloosa on Friday. They were superb tailgate hosts yet again and took part in friendly banter throughout the morning and never let anything get personal (no matter what any opposing fan may have said in passing).

So, to those guys, I appreciate everything yet again. I may not want Alabama to win it’s bowl game, but I want all of you to once again have a great time cheering your boys on in the stands. I want you to have plenty of good memories in Florida to ring in the new year. And if the Tide wins, I’ll feel good for you guys. Just like last January when you were “living the dream.”

But, I don’t forget my own perspective: 28-27. War Eagle. Ever to conquer, never to yield.

The Tailgate Plan to Win: The Arkansas State Edition

2010-08-24T21:57:00.002-05:00

Oh yea, it's that time again.

A quick update: This year has been a strange one, as I noted back in July. For much of the past four or so weeks, I had been waiting on word from Fayetteville, Ark., as to whether or not I would be able to rejoin my old boss Zack Higbee at his new digs in the University of Arkansas Sports Information Department. I was a finalist for the second football contact at UofA, but I did not get the job. Don't worry, I'm not torn up at all about this. I'm very happy for the guy who did (Rookie), and it's someone I considered my Padawan learner back during my reign as an SID student worker and intern.

During that span, I had a hard time getting too excited about the season. Would I be in the stands with those I consider the closest friends and my family? Or, would I be in a suit and tie when I'd finally get to go to a game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in mid-October as a traveling member of Bobby Petrino's Razorback support personnel?

Now, I have gone no-holds-barred into planning our tailgates and am honored to return to my position as the tailgate leader as we enter year three at University Station RV Resort. Yet more aesthetically pleasing changes have been made to the camper, and I implore you tailgaters to thank All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk when you get the chance. He put in a ton of sweat and tears throughout our trips to/from the Loveliest Village over the past six months to gear up for a home schedule-heavy 2010 season.

The Arkansas State weekend offers a bevy of positives: a long weekend made longer by all of us taking Friday off; a great opportunity to hang out with Robert and Andrew (although sadly without Jennifer and the girls); a 6 p.m. CST kickoff to allow a full day of tailgating to knock off the rust and fully re-enter gameday mode; as well as plenty of tales from Andy Shores as he approaches fatherhood for the first time.

Yep, there's a feeling in the air just like a Friday afternoon. I'm going to go there cause I want. ($1 to Better than Ezra)

Who is going to return kickoffs? Who is going to return punts? Which one of the three guys battling it out right now will earn first-team duties at right tackle? None of those questions are up to me to answer. Instead, I'm fully focused on tackling inquiries such as, "How can we alleviate some of the cooking duties from Super Rita?" or "Are we going to have enough ice this weekend to keep all the drinks cold and out of the fridge?"

The menu was finalized over this past weekend for the opening tailgate, and I can assure you that it will be up to standards with our other ventures. This year, we will get started with a burger bar due in part to Andrew's appearance. We will provide the hamburger meat and trimmings, but I will assign out other items such as buns (hamburger and hot dog) as well as chips and other side dishes.

The confirmed guest list as of Aug. 24 is as follows:

Chris, Super Rita, AAAOAFAK, Robert "ThunderCat" Boully, Andrew Monroe, Andy Shores, Brad Gregg, Amber Gregg, Jarrod Gregg.

Come one, come all, but please let us know ahead of time that you plan to stop by. Of course, that seems like it's always understood this time of year.

WDE. I'm thoroughly looking forward to the first of many family reunions over the next four months.

(Assignments will be posted and e-mailed no later than Wednesday, Sept. 1. Please RSVP by then by either commenting here or e-mailing Chris at rushicw@gmail.com.)

A little home field advantage...

2010-07-04T00:32:00.002-05:00

Play ball.

So far, 2010 has been one weird, strange adventure. Nothing seems to come easy, and there's been quite a bit of heartache along the way. A dear friend wrote on her blog to review the first six months of the year and try to gauge where we'll be six months from now. Well, here goes.

I write to you reader(s) from the sweet comforts of the camper down in Auburn. Today, I spent some time with old friends taking in a Major League Baseball game - something easy enough yet significant from what 2010 has brought me so far.

At times, and a lot of those recently, the frustration level has been heightened due to several measures that I don't care to go into on a public forum. But today, it was just about enjoying being outdoors in wonderful weather and watching baseball - baseball played by professionals, though not void of simple errors.

I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends and closest family members back in February. There are several moments where that phone call I received on Feb. 24 tugs at my heartstrings, but I've done pretty well to look at the positives - she's no longer in pain, and my mom can get on with getting herself better. We had an empty seat with us in the stands at the Ted today, but I know that it was filled with another baseball fan that will forever remain in my life. The one who used to watch the Cubs on WGN and Braves on TBS in the middle of the day during our summers together.

All the coaching and practicing my baseball teams have undergone for the past four months gets the biggest test of the season starting Thursday. We'll be shorthanded in areas, but we'll get what we need from others that are making their return to the lineup after vacations. Of course, these things mattered not as I watched Tommy Hanson mow down the Marlins through 6.2 solid innings before giving way to the surprisingly good Braves bullpen.

I cannot tell you for certain what I will be doing or where I will be six months from now when the calendar turns to 2011. I don't know who will leave and enter my life in that span, but I hope there's significantly more addition than subtraction. For one of the few times in my life, I have very few answers as to what the next day, week, month or year might bring. Until those answers come, I will keep plugging away at my routine and hope it doesn't run me into the ground. But, none of those concerns or thoughts crept through my mind today when we were singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch.

The eighth and ninth innings were pretty much finished in order today. Neither team really threatened to put more runs on the board. I guess, perhaps, months July-December could do the same for me. There are plenty of football games, baseball games, trips here and there to make. Numerous phone calls, text messages, e-mails, chats and even blog posts to be exchanged with interested parties. Early mornings and late evenings posting articles onto CollegeSportsMatchups.com.

I'm going to try to make some double-switches and get a favorable righty-lefty matchup at the plate when the opportunities arise. I'll try to out-think and out-maneuver the opposing manager called life. It may take some roster changes, but I'll try to keep those at a minimum despite the looming trade deadline.

Before I get to doing those things, though, I'd like to go ahead and stretch a little longer and enjoy some peanuts and Cracker Jack. And root for the home team.

All that I'm after is a life full of laughter...

2010-07-03T23:59:00.006-05:00

So far in 2010...

Auburn A-Day - April 17, 2010

Gatlinburg Trip - March 2010 - Brad, Josh, Amber and Your's Truly

Yes, the Clemson player's name is Kieboom.

Auburn NCAA Baseball Regional - June 2010

Atlanta Braves vs. Florida Marlins - July 3, 2010

San Diego Padres - Petco Park tour - April 29, 2010

San Diego Padres vs. Milwaukee Brewers - April 29, 2010

Sunset via U.S.S. Midway - San Diego, Calif. - April 28, 2010

Take me out to the ball game...

2010-07-02T00:31:00.001-05:00

All right, for the fourth-straight summer, baseball has consumed my life and my time. I apologize for the delay in postings for all one of you that make up my faithful blog reader(s). There's not much to write at 12:30 a.m., but I will get you some pictures of the newest addition to my jersey collection.

My, where has the time flown...

2010-05-16T09:35:00.002-05:00

First off, many apologies for the delay in this posting. I know people say this all the time, but there just hasn't been enough hours in the day lately to get everything I need to accomplished. Including writing on here and CollegeSportsMatchups.com. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, enough time will open to bring you faithful reader(s) up to speed.

I wanted to say that San Diego was awesome. From a night out on the U.S.S. Midway to a 9-0 Padres victory over the Brewers, I had a great time in one of the most friendly environments I've ever visited. I'd love to go back, but I could never see myself living somewhere like that. When you're dropping $60 on a dinner for one, it's not exactly friendly on the wallet. (Thankfully, BancorpSouth paid for the week in full.)

Getting back to Birmingham proved to be a chore. I had an 11 a.m. flight out of San Diego with what was supposed to be a three-hour layover in Minneapolis. No offense to any Minnesotans that read this, but I hope it's a long time before I'm ever in that airport again. To no fault of the city, Delta had a plane issue that kept us grounded until 12:30 a.m. when we were finally allowed to get in the air.

Now, I was supposed to take off at 8 p.m. That first got moved to 8:30 p.m., but a gate change rectified the first delay and got us back on time. After a quick dinner at T.G.I.Fridays, I arrived at the gate and watched Arrested Development (thanks, AT&T Wireless card and Netflix Instant Queues) for the next couple of hours. When they announced we were delayed again to 8:30 p.m. thanks to maintenance work on the plane, I didn't think it was that big of a deal.

Then, 8:30 became 9:30 p.m. Still working on the plane. Soon, one old man that did not shut up from the time he sat down in the gate began trying to spread rumors of our flight being canceled. All I could think about at this point was getting back to the South for a certain appointment in Nashville that Saturday night.

Once 9:30 came and went, it was "We'll get you on the plane as soon as the paperwork is wrapped up. Please do not leave this gate while personnel is wrapping up their final inspections." No big deal, we'd be in the air by 10:30 p.m. at the latest. As the ticketing agent promised, we were on the plane at 10:15 p.m. and headed towards the runway.

Now, those of you who know me well know that I can sometimes have a smart mouth when it comes to being around bammers - especially ones that don't have the knowledge radiating through their appearance and actions that they've ever stepped foot inside a college classroom, much less graduated from their beloved universitah. As we were getting into our seats on the plane, one such gentleman sitting behind me said, "It's that there Auburn fan's fault we's having to wait to get out of here. I'll tell you what, at bammer, we don't have silly things like plane maintenance issues."

(No, I'm not exaggerating.)

Then, some of his buddies had obviously been wanting to say something about my Auburn attire all night at the gate and chimed in, "Yea, we should get him off this plane so we can get out of here. He can worry about them Tigers up here." Due to close quarters, I just turned politely and smiled then said, "Hey, you guys got your crystal football. Does it really have to be an Auburn grad's fault that we're still stuck in Minnesota?"

(I emphasized "grad" in that statement, by the way.)

We got to the runway when the plane stopped and the propellers turned off. I thought about how odd this behavior was and then got freaked out when they OPENED THE DOOR AND TOOK SOMETHING UNIDENTIFIED FROM MAINTENANCE. You can't even use your cell phone at this point in the flying process and they've opened the door? I began wondering just how easy it would be to change my flight the next day direct to Nashville.

We were instructed to deplane back at the gate because maintenance did not fix whatever issue they were having before, and we would be notified of any and all further instructions inside the airport. I'm continuously talking to my parents, who were in the process of dropping Jeanie off in Birmingham so she could go to Nashville with Brad, Amber and I the next day.

A funny thing happened, though, at this point: the "amusing" bammer thought aloud how this "always happens to (him) when he's trying to get home from somewhere. (He) ain't never had an easy trip back to Sylacauga since (he) started flying years back." The rest of the plane, including his bammer buddies, turned on him at this point, allowing me only to say, "See, it's not my fault. Blame this guy."

And blame that guy they did. I even had one couple come up and apologize to me in the sitting area while we waited for a new plane. I'd just really like to thank Delta at this point for the additional sky miles they credited my account with for all the hassle of this ordeal.

I was nervous about getting back on that particular plane, but I also did not want to stay at some low-rent hotel when I had a nice room waiting for me in Birmingham if we could ever get there. We took off at 12:30 a.m. and touched down around 2:45 a.m. I got to the Hyatt Place on 150 around 3:30 a.m. and got some more sleep.

Jeanie and I got going around 9:30 a.m. Saturday and headed to Sylvania to meet up with Brad and Amber. We were to head to Nashville to see Jimmy Buffett that evening. It was the highlight of my entire week out of the office. Now, the date for this concert was May 1. If you pay attention to current events, you'd know that this was the day of the 500-year flood that is still plaguing the Music City today.

We left anyway, more afraid of tornadoes and stormy activity than the fear of flooding. On the road, we got texts describing the hysteria the rain was causing in the Nashville area, and we started to get just a bit hesitant about attending the concert.

We stopped off in Manchester, Tenn., and this lovely town has one of two Coconut Cafe's in existence. So, thinking this was like a Jimmy Buffett-themed restaurant, we stopped off for some pre-concert grub and weather tracking. What we found on the Weather Channel and through other meteorologists out there amongst our friends was nothing but bad news.

After waiting things out a few more minutes, we made the smart adult decision and turned back for Sylvania. If we had gone a few more miles up I-24 from that point, we'd have been caught in the water and possibly worse - this is where the mobile home was floating along the road.

So the concert did not happen, but we all got back to our desired locations in one piece and without any damage to any vehicles or bodies. Had we still been in college, I'm pretty sure we'd have kept going but you gotta grow up sometimes...and that's a little sad in a way.

I'll have more stories later when this audit is over. If any of you out there work for the FDIC, please know that we can't be friends right now. Maybe later when the dust has settled, but you have really thrown a wrench into the lives of a lot of people I know here lately and I'm not a big fan at the moment.

Have a good one folks, and we'll talk more soon. As always, War Eagle.

Chris

Live from San Diego...a few Trooper photos

2010-04-26T10:01:00.002-05:00

Since I'm missing the little guy so much, I figured I'd put up some pictures for the time being.

By the way, San Diego is awesome. From my hotel room king sized bed, I can see Petco Park, most of the skyline, the marina and the Pacific Ocean. When the fog lifts, it's going to be a superb view. Lunch at Pier Cafe today and dinner tonight with Sarah Suitor.

The Tailgate Plan to Win: A-Day 2010

2010-04-13T21:09:00.001-05:00

Ah, spring football. Two things that I love but never seemed to mix very well when I was a student at Auburn. I hated working spring practices and even worse, the A-Day game.

One of my favorite memories, though, was the 2004 A-Day game when pretty much every full-time staffer had schedule conflicts, so the work crew ended up being pretty much Meredith and a bunch of students. Sometime in the first quarter, I got a call on the radio that I would need to stick with Tuberville since Meredith was going home early. Josh and Kim would handle things in the press box, then Josh and I would be in charge of the locker room post-game.

I remember that 31 players were requested for interviews that day. Josh, Matt Jernigan and I got 30 of those 31 in the interview room. I kept knocking guys’ names off the list, but there was one that was missing. That guy was A.T. Williams, someone who never turned down an interview. Matt had missed him in the locker room and refused to go track him down outside. Josh got him back in the room, and we got nothing but praise handed down to us from the writers in the room.

It was a good day.

This Saturday, I get to go back to A-Day with a different perspective and look forward to getting to Auburn and just hanging out with some friends and (hopefully) get a picture with Tracy Rocker, Trooper and Luper. We’ll see, though.

So, this is a fun tailgate plan to write. The guest list isn’t all that long, but it should be filled with great folks. Possible attendees are Trey Eiland and his daughter, Bryan Bowen and his crew and a few other assorted folks from my dad’s group. Brad and Amber Gregg will be there with us every step of the way. I fully expect Andy Shores and Michelle to hang out with us also.

The plan right now is for Super Rita and me to go down to Auburn on Thursday night. It will be a late arrival, so Friday may be a little slow to get started. We have a few new additions to the camper to show off, so that should be a lot of fun. All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk will get into town Friday night.

It’s going to be low-key and casual. Hopefully, the weather sticks around for awhile too. It’s been absolutely wonderful here the past six days.

If you are coming, let me know by sending an e-mail (rushicw@gmail.com). I’ll have assignments later this week. Right now, the plan is to fry up some wings and thighs in our new propane cooker for post-game. Pre-game will be light with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. Those of you not being able to join us in Auburn, you can catch the action on ESPNU with Mike Belotti handling his first ESPN assignment.

It’s time to Do What We Do at our tailgate and get 2010 started right. I’m glad its back, folks. Have a good one.

Til next time, War Eagle.

Chris

New AU football site

2010-03-16T18:48:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure who designed this site, but they did a fantastic job. Auburn has been needing something like this for quite some time, and I dare say it blows sites like UrbanMeyer.com out of the water.

http://www.auburnwareagle.com

Make sure not to skip the intro and watch the Auburn Creed. You will not be sorry.

A long December...(and January and February)

2010-03-13T13:21:00.002-06:00

"One Day at a Time"

Soon the sun will shine again

Soon things will be fine

Until it does, trust God above

And take one day at a time

- Judith Bulock Morse

This afternoon, I have been trying to clean up a little bit on my desk after a couple of months that have been an absolute whirlwind. Amongst the clutter here in the office, I found a couple of unused/unopened Christmas presents. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal - what with it just being a picture frame, notepad and framed poem. Except the poem came from my grandmother.

You know the drill - sometimes you don't always get a present that is exactly what you want, but you thank the giver for their efforts and thoughts anyway. Over the last few years, my grandmother's Christmas presents have ranged from ties that I never wear to stuffed animals to framed poems that really don't mean very much to me at the time. I thanked her for every one of these gifts, though, because I know how hard it was for her to a.) buy me something and b.) find something perfect for me that didn't have an AU markings on it at all.

Back to today...I decided to look at this frame one more time to try to come up with somewhere to put it. After all, this was the last Christmas gift she gave me, and it's something that will always hold a special place in my heart. When I read it, a funny thing happened - I broke down.

She could always tell me when and where she saw the gift throughout the year that made her think, "This is what I'm going to give Chris." No ifs, ands or buts. However, when I said thank you to her on Dec. 25 for this, she confessed she couldn't remember what she got me. "I bought it a long time ago," she explained.

Well before the stroke, I believe she knew her time with all of us was running down. After three months of fighting, defying the odds, Emma Jean McKinney (all semblances of a grandparent Jeanie or I ever knew biologically) joined her place amongst the angels on Wednesday, Feb. 24. I had prepared myself for the phone call for three months. I wasn't ready, though, not by a long shot.

When dad told me, I became numb. I was panicked because I knew I needed to get to my mom. My boss was in a meeting. Everyone and their mothers around me in the office were on phone calls. I had just unpacked my funeral clothes after Jeanie said she was doing so well the weekend before. It wasn't supposed to be Feb. 24, but I was numb because I knew she was better finally. Just numb.

Phone calls, texts, e-mails - they all came pouring in. It was touching hearing from everyone, and the distances some folks traveled were minuscule compared to the leaps and bounds they brought up my spirits. I'll never forget any of that, and I'd be there for them in a second should the roles be reversed.

It has taken some time, but I'm slowly coming back around to my old self. I'm so very proud of my grandmother for everything she accomplished, and I am just happy she can spend Billie's birthday with her in heaven. The last six years since Billie's death took their toll, and she will never have to spend a day without her or my grandfather for the rest of eternity. That's a truly awesome peace of mind.

When I was writing the obituary (which is one of the most difficult things I have ever written), I didn't break down. I suffered from writer's block like you wouldn't believe because I guess I didn't want to fully process what is going on. I don't know if it was because I felt like I needed to be strong for my mom or my aunt or for others, but I couldn't force myself to crumble even when I've been here by myself.

Little did I know it would just take the words "One day at a time."

This is just a small step in the road to normalcy, but I can feel again. Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas - they're all going to be difficult in a way. The last week of February will carry with it a black cloud for a little bit. I miss her terribly, but I didn't leave anything unsaid. The peace from that is unbelievable.

Randy, my uncle, said it best once all the hooplah from the funeral died down and it was just us going to get some food for just our family. "We're not the only ones to go through this, and we'll get through it all together." Pretty philosophical coming from a Bama fan, if you ask me. I had dinner with a friend the other night, and I couldn't seem to stop talking about all the good times I had with my grandmother and Billie. No one will ever take that from me, and there were even good memories to come from the last three months.

She brought us all together, and as we have learned the last 19 days, she kept us all together despite all distances and absences. I wish I had more time to talk to her on the phone or just sit with her in the living room watching TV, but I am OK knowing she knew I loved her and that she loved me. Dearly.

When we pieced all the thoughts together and stories from the day of the stroke in November, it was quite clear to me that she knew where she needed to be to move on. She knew when she needed to do this. And she knew that, through all suffering and agony she may have been fighting internally, we needed her smile, her charm and her love to make this time easier.

And, by giving me this silly framed poem, she knew what I needed from her to get on with the process of grieving. I'm not sure where I will put it, but I will never get rid of it.

I love you, grandma, and I think about you all the time. While I'm going to miss you, I do know we'll get to the point that I never have to spend a day without you again just like you don't have to without those you lost that were so dear to you. Try to let Bertha Jo in the door when she gets there too, but it's OK if you give her one of your sly smiles and make her sweat a little bit. I won't hold it against you. Enjoy all your crowns and the jewelry to coincide with them for the rest of time.

A little taste before a real update...

2010-01-07T13:14:00.002-06:00

Before I give a full and more appropriate update, I thought I'd give you guys something that hit the cutting room floor at CollegeSportsMatchups.com. Hope you enjoy.

A change of heart rocks college football again

Commentary by Chris Rushing

So much for bigger things than a silly football game, huh?

I had a heart scare back in May that caught me completely off guard. After spending a morning in an ambulance and emergency room bed, I knew that even simple things are nothing to mess with when it comes to your ticker. Apparently, with the decision that Urban Meyer made Friday night when talking to his family, he didn’t think that it was such a good thing to mess with either.

Which makes today’s news even more bizarre to me.

Sure, there were reports last night that he had turned down a leave of absence from Jeremy Foley. That would make sense, after all, to sit out a little while and come back when he was ready. No need for the University of Florida to get into the coaching carousel if at all possible to stay out. Foley had his man in Gainesville five years ago, and if this was a way to keep him on board, then sobeit.

But Meyer did something that Ron Zook had failed to maintain when he took over for Steve Spurrier in 2002. Meyer made it cool to be a Gator again, and he made this job into the best in college football. Foley could have his pick of anyone out there, and I’m not sure anyone was better suited than Meyer, but he could get awfully close on his choice.

Foley is a winner, through and through. He hates, nay, despises losing. NCAA tournament berths aren’t enough for the guy, but you win a couple of national titles, and you gain job security that allows you to make a second-thought on your decision to leave him in the first place.

See: Billy Donovan.

Donovan and Meyer are great friends, which makes the run that UF had from 2006-07 so special in holding both the men’s basketball and football national championships at once. There isn’t a power struggle between neither the two most prominent UF head coaches nor their respective programs.

However, if Meyer thinks he will be able to just step back in 2011 (or sooner) and regain his momentum built over the last five years, he needs to look closely at the last three for Donovan since his brief exit to the NBA.

The Gators haven’t reached the NCAA tournament since the exits of the fab four sophomore/juniors that earned back-to-back Siemens trophies, and Donovan has had difficulties maintaining the success level acquired during his first 11 years at UF. All those 20-win and NCAA tourney seasons are a distant memory, and the latest three-game losing skid for the Gators may show signs of a fourth-straight mediocre season.

I believe the reports coming from various UF assistant coaches that Meyer knew he made a mistake when walking the practice fields Sunday morning for perhaps the final time as the top man in Gator Nation. I’m sure that the regret was overwhelming, and I don’t blame Foley for allowing Meyer to take him up on the leave of absence offer.

All that being said, by promoting Steve Addazio to interim head coach, Foley and Co. are essentially writing off 2010, and that’s not like Foley at all. That’s not the Gator way. To me, that’s the most confusing aspect of this entire saga.

We’ll keep you posted on any more developments in this strange case. Hopefully, your hearts (and mine) can take it.

A quick update...

2009-12-17T21:59:00.002-06:00

What a month...That's about all I can really say at this point.

Somehow, with all the chaos that ensued the last weekend of regular season play in the SEC, we ended up with an Outback Bowl berth when all hope for a decent bowl bid seemed lost. I left Jordan-Hare Stadium on Friday, Nov. 27, feeling certain of a Chick-fil-A Bowl appearance barring upset city that Saturday.

Then, State beat Ole Miss. South Carolina waxed Clemson. Tennessee upended Kentucky in overtime. The final nail in the proverbial coffin seemed to come from Georgia's unforeseen triumph over ACC Champion Georgia Tech to put the finishing touches on a terrible day of football for AU fans.

Fast forward to today...We have our plans booked for the Outback Bowl, and I'm looking forward to a New Year's celebration in Ray-Jay and sunny Tampa. You know, I've always said Tampa is a big, big Auburn town. It's always been good to the Tigers, and it will be nice to give something back.

As for the Iron Bowl, the better team won (as I have stated happens 9.9 times out of 10 in our rivalry), but the better team on the field did not. We had plenty of chances, but the fact of the matter was there was not a single sustained drive that resulted in points all afternoon. There were plenty of reasons to feel optimistic, but as I wrote for CSM, that was perhaps the most devastated I've felt leaving JHS. Now, those guys are playing in Pasadena and...well, I fully believe our 2004 team would wax this team of their's.

Neither here nor there, I know.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. We have had some family upheaval over the course of the past three weeks, but we are doing what we have to do. Please keep my mom and my grandmother in your prayers as both are straining themselves to their max limits. It won't be an easy road to full recovery for my grandmother, but I am confident she will make it there. I just hope it doesn't take everything out of my mom in the process.

2009 has been a pretty good year, and it went by incredibly fast. There were a lot of high points (Vegas, Jimmy Buffett, Jeanie's graduating college, a couple of fun weddings, an incredible opportunity in the CollegeSportsMatchups.com job), and some low points, but I will always look back on this year fondly. I don't know why, but I feel much more grown up than a year ago. Funny how that happens, huh?

I'm hoping to put up a wish list for 2010 sometime in the next couple of days on the website, but here are some items that I won't be able to put in the column for objectivity reasons:

1.) Lache Seastrunk and/or Marcus Lattimore signing up on Feb. 3 to wear orange and blue on the Plains. (Those who have listened to me throughout the summer and the season know that I fully expect our coaches to pull off all three running backs. It's gonna happen, but if it doesn't and we "only" get two of the three, it's still an amazing haul.)

2.) Hook 'em Horns. (I know some good folks that are enjoying the heck out of this season, and some of those are going to Pasadena. Good for them, they had a hell of a team. However, Hook 'em because I still despise the University of Alabama, always will.)

3.) Keeping all our current commitments and adding the following: Byran Jones, Jeffrey Whittaker, Ryan White, Cory Lemonier, Eric Mack, and one/two of the RBs (most likely Lattimore). If Coach Hal can go ahead and book his hotel for Glendale next year, why can't I feel like all these cats are a realistic possibility for our staff? (You gotta believe, right, Coach?)

4.) Coach Hal has to cancel his Glendale reservation in early September next fall.

5.) Coach Hal has to cancel his Atlanta reservation in mid-October next fall.

6.) Coach Hal transfers both reservations over to my name by Halloween.

7.) Darvin Adams gains All-SEC first-team status after getting robbed this season.

8.) More improvements from our tailgate.

9.) More folks to cook at our tailgate.

10.) We feel very comfortable leaving Ray-Jay Jan. 1 about the performance that afternoon and the future on both offense and defense for Auburn.

11.) I will finally accept the notion that Gene Chizik may not have been as terrible of a hire as I once thought.

12.) Trooper Taylor keeps doing what he does (on and off the field in the living rooms with the recruits).

Merry Christmas again, folks. Happy New Year and War Eagle. Catch ya in 2010.

***NOTE***

Outback Bowl plans are as follows:

Dec. 30: Arrive in Auburn, stay at camper

Dec. 31: Arrive in Gainesville, stay at Hineszy's, dinner at Ballyhoo's

Jan. 1: Leave Gainesville by 6 a.m. EST; arrive at Raymond James by 9 a.m. EST; Outback Bowl; drive back to Gainesville or Auburn

Jan. 2: PapaJohns.com Bowl (tentative)

If you are going to the game and want to meet up in Tampa at some point on game day, please hit me up. (rushicw@gmail.com)

Tailgate Plan to Win: The "Iron Bowl's acoming" Edition

2009-11-22T13:47:00.003-06:00

Are we really heading into Iron Bowl week? I cannot begin to tell you how fast this has all flown by. First, let me apologize for my absence in writing on here since following the big win over Ole Miss. I've been so caught up in trying to get basketball and football articles written for CollegeSportsMatchups.com, that I have been fighting writer's block a lot more often than I'd like. I'm glad the writing deal is only on the side and not my full-time career right now - I feel like I'm running out of interesting things to say.

But back to the topic at hand: Auburn vs. Alabama. It's a piss-poor decision on CBS' part to move this game to Friday afternoon, but I digress. I do end up with a four-day weekend out of the deal (a four-day weekend in Auburn at that), so I shouldn't complain too loudly. However, the impact that having this game on the largest and most important shopping day of the year will hurt Alabama's economy more than a few tickets unused in Jordan-Hare Stadium. For the record, I expect a sell-out and standing room only crowd, which is big for the number of high caliber recruits AU has visiting.

Speaking of recruiting, it sure is a lot of fun getting kids like Trovon Reed and Michael Dyer to boost our rankings up into the top 10. I've never been a proponent of recruiting rankings, myself, but as Curtis Luper says, "If they're keeping score, I want to win." Reed and Dyer will help get some other bigger names to come forward later as future Auburn Tigers, but even if the class ended with those two at the skill positions in addition to their fellow commits, this is the best class AU has put together since 2002 (and it will likely only get better).

Now, it's time to get realistic. I will cheer my butt off Friday afternoon before the game at Tiger Walk, jawing with Coach Hal and his bunch at WDTrey's tailgate, during the game's warmups and from kickoff to the final seconds ticking off the Jordan-Hare Stadium clocks. That being said, there is very little chance that Auburn emerges victorious from this game. Mark Ingram is the best running back in the country, and Georgia's second half against our depth-deprived defense most likely offered a precursor of bad things to come for our Tigers this weekend. As a trustworthy poster stated on the Bunker last week, "They (Alabama) have us out-manned (this) weekend, but that's changing." For a deeper analysis, check out the site later this week.

We will have a good group for Thanksgiving on the Plains (always enjoy being able to host the Boullys), and our family plans to arrive Wednesday night in Auburn. Super Rita will get down there ahead of everyone on Tuesday, but I plan to roll in somewhere around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Smoked turkey on the Big Green Egg - Camper Edition will be the main course for Thursday with a Boston Butt headlining the menu for Friday.

I don't plan on being at the camper very long Friday morning with the aforementioned appearance of our friends at CoachHal.com. They will be in front of Cary Hall off Thach Ave., and I will spend most of my tailgating day there. I expect most of our group to join in on that one, and I will need to get a head count for Trey at some point before Wednesday. We may even have a celebrity friend of mine stop by if he gets into town with enough time to spare before kickoff.

Some news and notes from Furman and Georgia:

- Furman weekend was a lot of fun. The game lasted about an hour too long, but it sure beats squeaking out a mistake-infested contest against UT-Martin last season. Brad Gregg's clan had a couple of new faces (Amber's father, Brad Hannah), and it was a lot of fun hanging out with them during and after the game.

- We didn't have a cooked meal for Furman weekend, so we called in orders to Buffalo Connection and Brick Oven. It went over very well. Brad and I were able to ride around town and enjoy some old memories while picking up our food orders.

- Meredith Brazzell hung out at the camper post-game, and her visits are far too infrequent. She brings a lot to the atmosphere out at University Station, and I hope she knows that she is always welcome (the same goes to the rest of her amazing family).

- Georgia, what a start, what a finish. I usually despise it when someone uses the phrase "a tale of two halves," but that's exactly what we had in Athens. By the time my "Glory. Glory. To ole Auburn." texts got out of the stadium somewhere in the third quarter, their importance had diminished due to Georgia's adjustments and Eltoro Freeman's absence in run defense.

- I hate to put blame on one thing or one play, and I certainly would not attribute fault to a flag from an official, but when Eltoro went out, our defense's aggression left with him. This was not the fault of Freeman's replacement, Jonathan Evans, but we had absolutely no answer for Caleb King and Washon Ealey from the time Da Bull walked off the field until Chris Todd's fourth down pass fell quietly out of the back of the end zone.

- Brad joined me on this trip, and we had a blast (or at least I did) sans the game. It was Brad's first AU-UGA experience in Athens, and I know Charlie Mac and Mrs. Jane enjoyed his company.

- All Auburn, All Facebook, All Orange, All Kirk got to Charlie Mac's somewhere around 2:30 p.m. EST Saturday after leaving Macon in the 8:15 a.m. CT range. I'm glad he got there for two reasons: 1.) after Friday, he will have seen all 12 regular season contests in person, a first for him and 2.) it would not have been the same without him.

- This is just for Brad: what do Olive Garden and Rome have in common?

- Bojangles breakfast can make almost any hurt sting a little less. Why we didn't have one of those in Auburn and there isn't one anywhere close to me now, I have no idea.

- Josh Jackson, Andrew Monroe and Andy Lawton all hung out with us at Charlie Mac's tailgate pregame. It was great to spend some time together. Andrew and I even ran into an old friend of our's from the 2006 trip. "It's funny. It is."

- As good as Bojangles is for breakfast, Taco Bell is its reciprocating factor for late night post-game meals. It didn't completely cure my depression, but it helped sooth some scars from watching us lose three-straight in Sanford Stadium (the only AU-UGA game I've missed since 1999 was 2005).

- To complete the theme for Georgia weekend, you have to click here: http://tinyurl.com/yzwfsbf

So, in closing, I leave you with this one question to ponder before Friday: "What have YOU done to beat Alabama today?"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. War Eagle. Let's do what we do - 2002 style.

Chris

Tailgate Review - The "We were treated like royalty" and "We beat Ole Miss" Edition

2009-11-04T19:36:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the delay. It's been a little touch and go with the website articles. It's pretty good that I don't write everyday for a living. I am finding myself facing writer's block more and more with those articles (but the pay is too good to quit, so you're stuck reading me there haha).

I just wanted to touch on the last two weeks rather quickly. First, we had a BLAST in Baton Rouge (sans the game, of course). I've said it before and I'll say it again: LSU writes the book on tailgating. There's not a better campus environment in the country than LSU for a Saturday night conference game. None.

I'm sure some of you have heard the old proverb concerning LSU fans, you know, that if you listen to a bunch of people scream "TIGER BAIT" at you and you don't come back at them, they'll stop you and offer you jambalaya and gumbo? I'm here to tell you that it is 100 percent accurate, and it happened to dad and me. We were walking through the parking lot adjacent to the tennis center and the P-Mac when an older gentleman in a fedora stopped us. He asked us to have some jambalaya with him and his crew. We politely declined at first, but his insisting led to us turning around to two bowls held by his wife.

We were told that this was award-winning jambalaya, and I'm not going to argue with whoever bestowed the honors on this recipe. We ended up spending an hour and a half with these strangers who could not have been better hosts. The hospitality shown by almost everyone outside the stadium was incredible, and as I say in the title of this article, we were treated like royalty there. I can't wait to get back down there in a couple of years.

Besides our tailgate friends, dad and I spent some time with his vendor Vince, who also had a pretty good tailgate with some of the best ribs I've had in awhile. I met up with Josh and Katie Jackson on the lawn in front of Memorial Tower, where we reunited with Brooke Patterson and her crew. Inside the stadium, Dennis Hodges (the SEC's top photographer) got some pictures of dad and I together in our front-row seats and visited with us for awhile. I'm hoping Dennis will come up for the LSU-Ole Miss game later this month to reciprocate the hospitality shown to us.

We stayed at the new Spring Hill Suites by Marriott out by the airport, and it was one of the best hotel rooms I've ever had. I like the design and layout even better than that of the Courtyard (it's great to be an adult and stay at real hotels and not worry about Motel 6 leaving the light on for us).

Overall, it was a great trip, but I could have done with a little better showing on the field. Tiger Stadium is one of only three stadiums in the SEC that I have yet to see Auburn win. Hopefully, that trend will end in 2011.

Then, there was last weekend. My patience for most of the Ole Miss fans I know is dwindling every week. After a three-game losing skid and their two-game winning streak following the beat-down they received from Bama, I was just ready to get to the game and let the chips fall where they may. Bowl eligibility was all but guaranteed with a win remaining on the schedule against Furman, so I just hoped for the best.

We had a pretty good showing at the tailgate prior to the game, but I can't say the same for the crowd on campus. Sure, it was an early game, but 20 minutes prior to kickoff, there were still PLENTY of empty seats. I'm not sure I've heard a softer "WAR EAGLE" during the eagle flight. While the student section never got full, the ones that were there were boisterous and helped liven things up for the players during warmups.

Making the trip for the game was Chris Purser, the only Ole Miss representative in our group. Purser has been a great friend over the years and has helped secure countless tickets to Ole Miss sporting events for us, so it was nice to be able to repay those favors ever so slightly. He ran away with Tailgater of the Week for all his help during pre-game and post-game set-up/break-down as well as bringing plenty of drinks for us to get us through the last two home games.

Despite the small crowd and an ominous start from Ole Miss' offense, the Auburn defense rose to the occasion the rest of the afternoon. I couldn't be happier with this win, trust me. I hate it for the Monroes that Arkansas got the best of us, but I'll take W's over Ole Miss and Miss. State every year over all but one opponent (which goes without saying).

We got mom a Big Green Egg for the camper as her birthday present, and we assembled the Egg following the game. By "we" I mean All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk and Purser. I helped as much as I could, but I'm the furtherest thing from being a handyman you can get, and I tried my best to spend time with the rest of the gang at the camper.

The visitor list included: Katy Braden and her friend Alexandria Cole; Andy Shores; Jeanie and Robert; Brad, Amber and Jarrod in addition to the three of us and Purser. Not a bad group, and we had some stragglers here and there stop by to discuss AU football and whatnot. The steaks off the Egg were phenomenal, and the BGE just takes our tailgating to yet another new level.

Also making its debut was the five-man tent we have outside the front door to sleep additional tailgaters and overnight guests. It sleeps pretty good (when you have air mattresses in addition to the usual sleeping bags, and it beats the alternatives, in my opinion.

Sure, this isn't a long-winded update, but there's your last two weeks. As for this weekend's homecoming affair with Furman, it's becoming more and more likely that I will be trekking solo to the Plains Friday afternoon with everyone meeting up outside the stadium prior to kickoff. Therefore, there will be no pre-game tailgate and probably just some take-out for those who want to come back to the camper post-game to watch other contests (such as Bammer-LSU).

We got back to doing what we did, so that was good. War Eagle. See you on the Plains for (hopefully) a November to Remember.

Chris

The Tailgate Plan to Win: The "What the heck just happened?" and "Jacob, more Skittles!" Edition

2009-10-22T17:57:00.004-05:00

I was called a wimp Saturday morning. Pretty early on, also, I might add.

We had a small gathering at the camper this past weekend, mainly due to Auburn's opponent (Kentucky) and mostly due to the weather outside (frightfully chilly for Oct. 17, if you ask me). Robert Boully texted me pretty early on in the day and asked how the tailgate was going. I said we were all inside, to which he responded: "Wimps."

Little did I know that Auburn's football team would also play like wimps Saturday night. I'm beginning to think that there may be some correlations in our tailgates (there wasn't one in Arkansas, the team didn't show up for the longest time; there was a crazy, sloppy one for Ball State, the team played crazy, sloppy; the tailgate for MSU was unbelievable, the Tigers played pretty unbelievable for a Southeastern Conference opener with a new staff). Then again, we didn't have one at Tennessee and had probably our best game overall thus far.

I'm not going to go much into the loss to Kentucky. There's really not much to say and even less positive to draw from it. Neiko Thorpe's return on the blocked field goal in the first quarter was impressive, and Ben Tate is a manchild. That's about it (unfortunately). I called the loss back in the summer, and folks looked at me like I was crazy. The way that the two teams came out of the gates, I even doubted myself. Paul Crane called me out on it, and he was right - we really COULD lose to Kentucky.

But all that is in the past, because now, we have LSU and a trip to Baton Rouge. I love going there. I know that sounds crazy for any opposing fan, but Tiger Stadium (especially at night) is one of the nation's best atmospheres - especially as a visitor. Dad will be making his maiden voyage to the Louisiana capital, and we're going to be on the front row staring right down the hash marks on AU's sidelines. The Golden Band from Tiger Land and the Golden Girls; Mike the Tiger circling the stadium before stopping right outside the opposing team's entrance; the playing of "Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks - I enjoy every minute of it.

For this trip, I did a little digging in my personal archives for research due to the fact that three years have passed since my last journey into Cajun Country. I re-read our old post from the tourdesec.livejournal.com blog Andrew and I kept for the duration of the 2006 Tour de SEC. I've decided to repost this to add some humor and some perspective on just what dad and I are getting ourselves into. I won't do this very often, so enjoy.

http://tourdesec.livejournal.com/3208.html

Saturday, October 14, 2006

LSU 49, Kentucky 0
Tiger Stadium – Baton Rouge, La.
TV: None – Attendance: 92,148 (announced)

Official Trip Song: "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts

BATON ROUGE, La. – It was just like old times this weekend as we made our way to Baton Rouge for the LSU-Kentucky game, a 49-0 shellacking by the Bayou Bengals in Death Valley. We were accompanied by our third roommate from Auburn Robert Boully and his wife Jennifer. The four of us met up in Brandon, Miss., Friday night and began our journey to LSU. However, first on the agenda was a stop at Lil Dooey’s in Starkville to take care of unfinished business.

Kyle Lewis, one of my best friends, was in Starkville for the first-ever Kyle Lewis Bowl, pitting the Bulldogs against Jacksonville State where he interned for a little over 1 1/2 years. We had talked during the week about getting to hang out for the first time since the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta back in December, and we thought Lil Dooey’s would be the perfect location for this.

Andrew met up with my family in Macon and rode up to Starkville with them so that he could leave his car at my parents’ house for the weekend. Meanwhile, I arrived in Starkville around 5:15 p.m. and went straight to the Bryan Building to catch up with Kyle and Tony Schmidt, another good friend of mine from Miss.
State. The three of us goofed off for a few minutes and went to the new bookstore across the street from the stadium while waiting on my family to make it to Starkville. After the bookstore, which features the only escalator in northeast Mississippi, we walked around the Junction where the dance team and cheerleaders were practicing for their Saturday halftime performance.

Kyle was in need of a restroom, so to his luck, we found the Junction Johnny and Junction Janie port-a-potties so that he could take care of things. Kyle was reluctant to enter through the car wash-like curtain because of other people possibly being in there, but we assured him that an old man had just left the building. Not three seconds after Kyle went in, another guy stumbled up the steps and followed suit. Kyle exited a couple of minutes later with a perplexed look on his face. I’m still not sure what the look was exactly for, but he did enlighten us that the potties inside were maroon and white. This is a fitting
touch, if you ask me.

We picked up mini footballs and shakers before heading over to Lil Dooey’s to meet my family and Andrew. Unfortunately, my mom, sister and her boyfriend Jaren were scared by the line inside and decided not to eat dinner with us, so we said our short hello and goodbye before we made our way inside. After placing our order and finding a table large enough for our group, I bought Kyle a shot of Crown & Coke for his birthday and the fun began.

I had the famous BBQ for the first time there, while Andrew enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich. I really don’t think you can get a bad meal here, so everything on the menu is recommended. It is truly a SEC traditional restaurant, even receiving the top Herbie Award on ESPN.com for the nation’s Best Gameday Meal.

We were joined over the course of the evening by Cassie Chance, her boyfriend Will, Amy Robertson, Susan Hughes and Jay Middleton. Our waitress was a lot of fun and had several hilarious comments such as “The Original Tony,” and randomly pointing out that she recognized Kyle by pictures scattered through his younger sister’s apartment. The best moment of the night, however, came when she alerted our group to a young man in a blue shirt named Ben stalking her throughout the restaurant. So, in her honor (and much to her displeasure, I might add), we began our own search for this Ben character. Alas, we were unsuccessful in our mission.

Just before we left, Kyle and I had to take care of a tradition we set a couple of years back at Lil Dooey’s by writing a certain message on the wall with a Sharpie. Andrew and I also signed the wall signifying that the Tour de SEC had made its stop at the Starkville landmark. After our goodbyes, it was time to get on the road.

Now, Andrew had a rough week and seemed a little somber at times, but when Robert and Jennifer joined us, he found his youthful spirit again. During the drive, I was constantly being showered with wet willies and objects sneaking through the crack between my backrest and seat in the truck. Robert even got me with an enormous ice cube down the back of my shirt, which didn't melt for like three hours. A new rule is to be formed from these shenanigans: No more riding in the backseat together for Andrew and Robert.

We arrived at our Red Roof Inn around 1 a.m. and checked into our rooms, nos. 204 and 208. The next morning, we woke up just in time for GameDay, being broadcast from Auburn, and got ready to go onto campus. After GameDay, we ate at TJ Ribs which was excellent. The atmosphere was great with Billy Cannon’s Heisman trophy as well as a replica of the 2003 National Championship
trophy on a spinning display in the center of the building with numerous LSU memorabilia on the walls. We split two slabs of ribs amongst the four of us and ordered several sides including red beans and rice, fries and a sweet potato.

After TJ Ribs, we parked for free on Lakeshore/Stadium Drive just shy of Highland St. Our first stop was the university bookstore where we made our ritual trip purchases and a little bit of walking around and exploring followed. We picked up schedule posters in the athletic administration building and made our way over to Alex Box Stadium where a baseball scrimmage was about to take place.

After watching a couple of innings, I got a phone call from Dennis Hodges, a good friend of mine who shoots athletic events for LSU, letting us know that he wanted to get us on a tour of the locker room and Bill Lawton Room – home to all of LSU’s trophies and awards collected over the span of their football history. We met up with Dennis and traded our upper deck tickets for a pair of lower level tickets with a scalper before waiting on the tour to start. One of Dennis’ good friends works in Event Management for LSU, and he was waiting on a family from Shreveport to show up before starting the tour. We waited for about 30 minutes before giving up and heading to one of our tailgate invitations.

Tim Parrott invited our group via e-mail earlier in the week after catching our post on tigerdroppings.com’s OT message board. After missing his set-up in our search, he sat us down and immediately fed us gumbo and smoked sausage. We stayed here for about an hour and had a great time. Tim, Pierre, Gary and the rest of the gang there really know how to throw a pre-game party. To top it off, they’re great people (and the food was excellent also).

We were trying to make it to a second tailgate with other members from tigerdroppings.com where they had a couple of TVs set up so that Robert and Jennifer would have somewhere to watch the Auburn-Florida game while we were inside the stadium. We couldn’t get up with Mike on the phone, and none of the
tailgates in the area where Tim directed us knew a Mike, so we gave up. We walked back to the truck to drop off our posters and bookstore purchases before parting ways with Robert and Jennifer as they headed to Walk-Ons to watch AU-UF.

We bought programs shortly after, and I returned to the truck to drop those off. On my way back to the program stand where Andrew was patiently waiting, I witnessed an arrest for “evading police” since a guy kept driving through a police barricade on Highland St. The female officer began yelling at him as he kept driving and finally grabbed ahold of his rearview mirror, pulling it off its hinge before pulling the driver out of the truck. After he parked his truck in the lot next to where he was stopped, he was cuffed and placed in the back of her partner’s squad car. To make matters even worse for him, he was given a citation and I’m pretty sure the truck was towed.

We entered the stadium and watched the closing moments of regulation and the overtime of the Alabama-Ole Miss game on the TVs located on the south endzone concourse. After buying our souvenir cup drinks, we located our seats behind the yellow S in the purple LSU end zone. We watched the game through the split of the uprights.

LSU’s pre-game march by the GOLDEN BAND FROM TIGERLAND is one of my favorite pre-game traditions in the SEC. When you hear the crowd erupt following the first four notes of “Tiger Rag,” it’s a thing of beauty. (Unless you’re my old co-worker and friend Rich Varner, who made a joke asking “You wanna know how to get 90,000 Cajuns to go nuts simultaneously? Play those four notes.”) Soon afterwards, the team ran out of the tunnel and kickoff was upon us.

The game was pretty boring, I’m not going to lie. There’s not much to report in a 49-0 blowout. LSU looked like they should have, and Kentucky followed suit when thinking about the competition they faced. The only negative on the night for LSU seemed to be that the defensive line had a hard time wrapping up on UK’s elusive quarterback Andre Woodson. I was impressed by his ability to turn what should have been a huge sack by Tyson Jackson, Glenn Dorsey and Co. into a 5- or 6-yard gain.

The halftime show was a tribute to New Orleans as the band rehearsed their halftime show for the Saints-Colts game the next day in the Superdome. In the second half, we saw our first action of Matt Flynn and Ryan Perilloux – LSU’s quarterbacks in waiting. Both of those guys are studs, but the offense did not flow as well with either behind center as when JaMarcus Russell was calling the signals.

A couple of more observations about LSU: Where is Alley Broussard? I know he had catastrophic knee surgery last season, but all I heard about him through fall camp was that he had regained his step and was back to bruising the LSU defense. On the same note, what happened to Justin Vincent? I’m shocked by
the fall-out these two have suffered since their phenomenal freshman seasons. When your leading running back is Jacob Hester, something is not fully clicking on your offense – especially with the recruiting Nick Saban and Les Miles have
done at that position.

Kentucky only had two good drives the entire game, but LSU’s swarming defense forced mistakes on both inside the redzone to preserve the shutout. It’s hard to believe that this team can go from beating someone 49-0, 45-3, 45-3, 42-17 and 41-7 to losing 23-10 and 7-3 against real defenses. They remind me a lot of Auburn from 2003. This does not bode well as Auburn’s hopes for a rematch with Florida in Atlanta somewhat rest on the shoulders of LSU’s ability to beat Arkansas in Little Rock.

With about 10 minutes left in the slow-moving game, we received word from Robert and Jennifer that Auburn had won 27-17 against Florida, and my celebration angered a few remaining LSU fans sitting around me. After I explained what we were doing with this trip, though, they understood completely and laughed about some of the stories from previous weeks. Once the final buzzer sounded, we trekked back to the truck where Robert and Jennifer
were waiting for us.

We walked down Highland St. to The Chimes restaurant for a post-game meal and waited out the seating delay by catching highlights of Auburn-Florida from Robert and Jennifer. Jennifer made a proclamation that she felt the two of them had watched different games, which I later agreed with after watching the replay on ESPN back at the hotel. After about 45 minutes, we were seated and ordered the Louisiana alligator appetizer.

I had a shrimp Po’boy while Andrew enjoyed the down home burger. Robert and Jennifer had eaten at Walk-Ons during the game, so they just enjoyed the appetizer and desert. We stayed around at Chimes for awhile, and I walked back to the truck so that not all of us would have to make the hike during the night. Once we loaded up outside the restaurant, we meandered back through campus to I-10 and returned to the hotel in the neighborhood of 2 a.m.

We were out of the Red Roof Inn at 11 a.m. and were in search of the Mall of Louisiana, which housed a Café Dumont to fix my craving for beignets. After not being able to find the exit, we retracted back to Perkins Road and tried to get a table at IHOP, but the line was way too long. By this time, food was a must and we finally found a McDonalds and hurriedly ate lunch before
getting back on the road to the Magnolia State.

The ride back was relatively uneventful as Andrew and Jennifer slept off headaches, leaving Robert and I to talk about the future of Auburn’s football program. I’m not sure when this happened, but Robert has suddenly gotten very interested in recruiting and can carry a pretty good conversation when talking
about some official and unofficial visitors, commitments, etc. We dropped the dynamic duo off at their house around 3 p.m. and hung out for about an hour before making our way to Macon.

During the drive, Robert alerted us to the first BCS standings released Sunday, and we discussed the possibilities for the rest of the trip. Andrew hung around for a couple of minutes before heading back to Birmingham. I had dinner with my family and watched football before leaving later that night to return to Tupelo.

A few odds, ends and notes from the trip:

Favorite quote: “Yes! Fries at the bottom of the bag! Goldmine!” – Good ole Robert Boully. His love for food is surpassed only by his love of his wife Jennifer (we think). As an awkward moment came up during the ride to Baton Rouge on Friday night, Robert made this exclamation to break the ice a little bit (or he may have just been oblivious to everything).

Runner-up for favorite quote: “Oh no…” – Paul Crane, one of our Auburn buddies, said this to Andrew after he called and let him in on a little secret on Saturday night. We laughed the rest of the trip about this exchange.

I wanted the song of the trip to be “Calling Baton Rouge” by Garth Brooks. I mean, come on, who could argue with that selection? However, Andrew trumped this due to his disregard for all things Garth. I think he needs to get over whatever caused this because “Calling Baton Rouge,” like Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” is one of the classics.

Best Waiter/Waitress of the Tour de SEC Award: The unanimous selection for this award for the first half of the trip goes to Jacob, our waiter at Chimes following the game Saturday night. He rolled with the punches all night long and kept our drinks full despite the huge crowd. Well done, Jacob. Well done.

Best Louisiana Mullet Award: Hands down, this award goes to our buddy walking through the concourse during overtime of the Alabama-Ole Miss game before we made our way to our end zone seats. The guy was wearing a white wife-beater and had “the party in the back” all the way down to underneath his shoulder blades. We got a picture, but unfortunately, it came out blurry.

Mitch Sighting: Mitch sat in front of Andrew and me at the game on Saturday night. He and his buddy made colorful comments throughout the evening. However, nothing can top him calling for the post-pattern to one of LSU’s receivers (no one in particular) every snap of the ball. His buddy almost topped him when Matt Flynn entered the game midway through the third quarter when he proclaimed that all Flynn does is throw touchdown passes, which angered some of the LSU fans sitting in front of him. These guys were from Shreveport, and you would have thought that this would be something to be extremely proud of the way they talked about it. I now know of four Shreveport natives and nothing about them makes me ever want to spend an hour in that town.

Thanks to Paul, Robert, Jennifer, Andrew’s aunt and uncle as well as my dad for keeping us updated via text messaging on the Chris Rushing Bowl going on down on the Plains during the LSU-Kentucky game. Auburn is 2-0 when we were watching Kentucky play simultaneously with an important AU contest in 2006.

Rocky Top will always be home sweet home to me next weekend as we take in the Alabama-Tennessee Third Saturday in October grudge match.

More Trooper Pictures

2009-10-19T22:35:00.005-05:00

I'll have the tailgate review in the next couple of days. In the meantime, enjoy a few more pictures of the lil' guy.

The Tailgate Plan to Win: The "Arkansas Review and Kentucky" Edition

2009-10-15T20:57:00.001-05:00

Just a short disclaimer before getting too far into this thing: Elmer's BBQ in Tulsa gave me an idea for a tailgate food item later in the year. While it's too late for Arkansas, we'll definitely keep this in the arsenal for a later date. Thanks to Andy Staples (yes, that Andy Staples of SI.com), I now know the wonders of the Badwich. Google this thing, you won't be sorry.

That being said, it's time to get back to doing what we do: home tailgates. After a pair of road games (and trust me, we are extremely fortunate to come out of that stretch 5-1 and not 4-2), it will be nice to be back under the lights at Jordan-Hare. That being said, who would have thought that (should Ole Miss be a night game), five of seven home games would be night kicks? That's what you get with the new ESPN plan: Ball State, Louisiana Tech and Kentucky all playing after the sun sets.

Last weekend was an all-around good one, despite what happened on the turf at Razorback Stadium. Not to be a negative person or anything, but with a new staff, you have to be ready for a game like that to come at any time. Honestly, I'm just thankful that it a.) wasn't at home and b.) wasn't against two of our biggest home opponents this year. I don't think I have to go into detail as to which two teams I'm talking about here.

We left for Fayetteville around 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Little Rock for a very brief (i.e. time enough to take a couple of pictures) visit at the Monroe compound in Roland before returning to the road en route to the middle of nowhere. (I kid, Fayetteville actually has become one of my favorite road trips in the SEC. Just takes four days to get there.) With a quick meal at Burger King (which triggered bad feelings about AU's chances - it broke my string of philly cheesesteak Fridays), we followed Carl and Co. to John's apartment in Conway.

Most of the drive was uneventful as we attempted to dodge raindrops and thunderstorms throughout the Natural State. We stopped for a fill-up at Love's near the I-540 crossing, and the clientèle here was interesting to say the least. Nonetheless, it was an opportunity to catch up with John, Marisa and Kaitlin before separating vehicles for the remainder of the ride.

The drive on I-540 North is one of my top 10 favorites, as you pass alongside mountain towns and all the foliage across the forests littering the Ozark Mountains. It's truly a sight to behold, and only the desert from above 32,000 feet could top it as far as my travels in 2009.

We got to the outskirts of Fayetteville around 5:15 p.m., and Zack Higbee (who combined with his better half Jodi to be our hosts for the weekend) instructed us on where to exit and meet him to get to their house. So we pulled off and waited for the appearance of Zack and his gold Acura. A quick U-turn and some winding through a neighborhood and we were at the Higbee residence.

Dinner for Friday was some BBQ at Penguin Ed's. Those of you who have been following the blog efforts of your's truly dating back to the SEC road trip in 2006 know that Penguin Ed's was Andrew and my first restaurant. As always, we left full and satisfied with the food choice.

With the early 11 a.m. kickoff, there was little time to do any significant tailgating. We met up with the Monroes, Frank and Kathy Buttler at the on-campus RV parking center where that group spent Friday night. Frank was getting irritated by the "hospitality" shown by most of the Razorback community on the bus, and the frustrations heightened when there was a question as to the location of Tiger Walk for the second-straight weekend.

Things continued on a slow, downward spiral during the pregame festivities when Kaitlin wasn't allowed to take in her camera due to its telephoto lens. This led to a long walk to/from the RV for Kaitlin and Carl despite efforts to get the camera through security checkpoints. Then, the game started.

Now, one of my least favorite fanbases in the world is an Auburn one made up of frustrated bandwagon patrons. Seriously, I'd almost prefer to spend an entire Iron Bowl surrounded by nothing but Bama fans and us getting whipped physically, mentally and emotionally than be around those guys (I said almost). Luckily for all of us, we were in the presence of several in our section, but one guy took the cake (I think he still is screaming "you cheating bast***s" in his sleep). Look, buddy, I wasn't a fan of all the penalties, either, but the zebras had nothing to do with the fact that we lost by 21 points.

I'd rather not go into too much more details about the goings on inside the stadium other than to repeat an old adage given by Chizik a few weeks ago: "Things are never as bad as they seem, nor are they as good as they seem either." The sky, most definitely, is not falling and there are brighter days ahead for the program (under the direction of Chizik? Jury is still out on that one.). There may be a couple more days like last Saturday, though, before we get back to thinking about championships on an annual basis.

After the game, we drudgingly walked back through the hordes of jubilant Hog fans to our vehicles. In my fourth game at Razorback Stadium, the Woo Pig Sooies finally got a win. (Then again, it just didn't seem the same without Brad, Andrew, Andy Shores, et all there either.) After saying our goodbyes, dad and I moved through traffic and got back to the Higbee house to watch football the remainder of the day.

We had the Ole Miss-Bama game on and caught up some more with Jodi while we waited for Zack to get back from work. While I hated that one of the victims of a day like that was Auburn, I do know that days like that make it a better workplace for my friend, and for that, it made things a little easier to cope. Then again, as I said above, I had a feeling that game was coming any week. Zack was definitely in a great mood when he got back from the office.

Jodi made us some nachos and buffalo chicken dip for dinner as we watched the snoozefest also known as LSU-Florida. It was the first Gator game I got to watch with Zack since my internship finished up, and the night was filled with our own commentary concerning Verne, Tracy, Gary and Steve Addazio (amongst others).

Sunday morning, after I finished posting for the day, I got a quick shower and we got on the road back. We stopped for lunch in Lonoke, Ark., at a Mexican restaurant. What we did not expect was an AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurant complete with a "grocery," Spanish road signs and no English spoken by anyone inside. The food was good, but I felt a little out of place as the only Caucasians in the joint until some of the after-church crowd walked in. You could tell they had been there before, though, since they brought an interpreter in tow.

All in all, the morale following my vacation this year was much, much higher than after the West Virginia trip last season when it became glaringly evident that Auburn was really, really awful. There's renewed spirits amongst our football team, and I've seen enough from this coaching staff to not fear a losing streak (14-0, 21-10 deficits and yet still winning by double-digits against West Virginia give me enough evidence on that).

Now, in comes the Kentucky Wildcats. My good friend Coach Hal warns us to watch out for cheap shots and late hits from Rich Brooks' squad. They are extremely wounded, coming to the Plains without their top quarterback, cornerbacks and most versatile offensive lineman. I look for Auburn to come out and play its most complete game of 2009. If not, well, the trip to Baton Rouge is going to prove to be even more difficult.

We'll have a small tailgate this weekend with burgers, bacon and Momma G nachos. Brad and Jarrod are coming down Friday night and will be staying the entire weekend in the camper. Besides the three of us, only Andrew Monroe has RSVP'd but Super Rita needs to scale back a little bit in order to finish strong down the November home stretch. We'll get started around 10-10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Do what we do. War Eagle. Have a great weekend if you are spending it elsewhere.

Chris

Day 2 Recap: Las Vegas

2009-10-08T07:49:00.001-05:00

No running diary style this time. We'll leave that to the experts.

So, yesterday was a lot of fun. I didn't walk nearly as much (just went about halfway down the strip to Caesar's Palace and The Bellagio. The plan was to watch some baseball at the sports book at Caesar's, but the place was too full for me to get a good seat. Therefore, I wandered around a little on the floor to take in what I consider to be Vegas' most popular casino and headed back out on the strip.

I was able to catch the fountains again at the Bellagio, this time in daylight. For lunch, I stopped at a little restaurant inside the Bellagio and had a nice philly cheese with onion rings. The order of onion rings was the largest I've ever had. Think large order of fries at Five Guys (that one was for you, Frank)...only bigger. After eating, I went to the sports book there and watched the last four innings of the Phillies-Rockies game and the first couple of innings of the Yankees-Twins matchup.

While watching, I received betting tips from Snake the Mexican, who had $40K riding on the Yankees to win straight up. Don't feel too scared, the dude made $10,000 easy and had already gotten another $20,000 earlier in the day for the Phillies' triumph. I'm glad I didn't take his advice on the Cards-Dodgers contest, otherwise I would have been out my $20 and felt awful about it. Then again, I would have stood to win something like 35 cents so it wasn't worth the time/effort to gamble. Next time, maybe, when I have more money to wager.

I also walked through the MGM Grand yesterday and New York, New York casino. The MGM was where one of my co-workers stayed last summer during his week-long visit, and I can see why people would enjoy being there. The place is massive. Also, the lion observatory was really cool. New York, New York rivaled the Bellagio and the Luxor as my favorites here in Sin City. There is a lot to do in there, and it seems to be the most family-friendly of the resort hotels in the city.

I was really up in the air as to what show I wanted to take in on my last night in Vegas. Jersey Boys was one that I have been wanting to see, but I decided that I'll wait until I can see that one on Broadway. Same goes for the Lion King. Either would have been great, but I wanted something that was Vegas-specific, which I had thought to be comedy or magic. I have already seen Wayne Brady during my year at UF, and I am not that big of a fan of Howie Mandel. If Frank Calliendo's show had started this week instead of next, it would have been a no-brainer (I probably would have gone to his both nights).

While in line at the first Tix-4-Less stand, I was behind a family that was waiting to go see Criss Angel's Believe. I had asked about O - the Cirque du Soleil show playing at the Bellagio - and got intrigued when the family asked about Angel's show. When I learned that it was also Cirque du Soleil, the decision was made.

When I got back from the Bellagio, I checked on a couple of things here in the room and changed before heading next door to the Luxor (the pyramid). That place was awesome, and I won $11 on a penny slot to bring my gambling losses on the week to only $4. Sure, I'm a wimp but I didn't find a single $5 blackjack table at my casino or any of the floors that I stopped on with an open seat, and I'm just not brave enough to drop $25/hand.

The Criss Angel show was a lot of fun, and it was very entertaining. The people around me left skeptical, but I wasn't going in expecting to be wow'd, just entertained. To me, he accomplished that goal, and I feel like I took in one of the Strip's best magic shows. Goal met.

Now, I wasn't that hungry after the show last night, but with my travel schedule today screwing with me, I didn't know how much I'd get to eat, so I went ahead and sat down at the Camelot Steakhouse here at the Excalibur. The steak was pretty good, but it's not like the ones momma makes. Really, it was just about being able to not have to pay $3 per Mountain Dew more than anything else. I just paid the $3 once, haha.

Before coming back up here to the room, I played one more penny slot and won back another couple of dollars, bringing my total losses to a measly $3. Not bad, not bad. Can I make it up next visit? I guess time will have to tell.

I have an 11:40 a.m. flight out of Vegas and the shuttle is coming by at 8:50 a.m. to pick me up. I've already gotten up to post articles on CollegeSportsMatchups, so there's no use in going back to bed for a couple of hours. This has been a lot of fun, and I'll catch ya on the flipside. During the flight, I plan to write the Tailgate Plan to Win: Arkansas Edition, but I can't make any promises at this time. I've done a whole lot of writing this week already.

Watch for texts and tweets with anything unusual or exciting from the last couple of hours out here in the desert.

Running Diary (C) Bill Simmons: My flight to Las Vegas

2009-10-07T07:25:00.000-05:00

The following text messages were sent yesterday a.m.:

4:41 a.m.: On my way to Memphis and the airport.

6:57 a.m.: I will get going (posting for the website) when I get through security.

8:16 a.m.: About to board.

10:45 a.m. (PST): We just landed safe and sound.

So what happened in between? Funny you should ask. Here are my notes from the flight.

8:27 a.m.: I am in the geriatric section of the plane. Awesome.

(my Twitter activity around this same timestamp): VEGAS observation No. 1: Old people flock there. I am on the biggest plane I have ever ridden and in the retirement community.

8:25 a.m.: King of the Retirement Community: wearing a pink suit, white velcro strap tennis shoes, sunglasses and his Las Vegas hat. He was approaching 90 if I had to guess.

8:30 a.m.: All the shawls just came out when they announced the temperature in Vegas. A balmy 51.

(Note: From here, the timezones got all screwy so the actual time of the notes may be a bit off.)

8:31 a.m.: Is there anything more awkward on an airplane than getting stuck behind the drink cart when you need to use the facilities? I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

9:24 a.m.: Had a State fan tell me War Eagle. Bammer on board who thinks the bear is still UA's coach was disgusted.

9:45 a.m.: Yep, there is something more awkward than waiting on the beverage cart to move forward. Using the facilities at 32,000 feet is darn near impossible. How a "Mile High Club" exists, I don't know. The stewardesses watch those doors like a hawk.

9:47 a.m.: How do you tell an old broad that she can't lean her seat back since it is complicating my use of my seatback tray while it is not in a locked upright position? Any ideas?

9:49 a.m.: Looking out over the desert. I could definitely live here in the land of cacti.

10:17 a.m.: If the Grand Canyon is cooler than this view, I can't imagine what it's like. We have made our descent into the Las Vegas area.

10:25 a.m.: The view? Desert, desert, desert, VEGAS.

I had a great first day, but I spent a lot of it walking. My feet are still killing me, but it's something I'm going to have to live with. After spending that much time on an airplane, I'll be able to rest them up for Arkansas.

- Went to eat lunch at Margaritaville near the Flamingo.

- Watched the Twins-Tigers game in the sports book at the Stratosphere. Real interesting experience, and I plan to catch most of today's baseball action at the top sports book in Vegas: Caesar's Palace.

- Saw the American Superstars show last night at the Stratosphere. It featured a mini concert from Elvis, Britney Spears, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and Michael Jackson impersonators. I went for the Michael Jackson portion of the show, but all of the impersonators were dead on. Great way to spend $25 and 90 minutes of your Vegas experience.

- Walked the entire strip up and down yesterday, hence the feet killing me. It's about a 3-hour hike to/from Stratosphere and Excalibur.

- I stopped to watch the fountains at the Bellagio on my way back. That was worth this entire trip.

- The strip at night is also one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The lights and the weather make for a great stroll, even if your dogs are barking.

- My hotel room is straight out of the 70s. I think that's why its $92 for the entire trip, but it has served its purpose well.

- I had six alarms set for 4 a.m. PST to post this morning. I got done with my posting for CollegeSportsMatchups.com a short while ago and will now get back to sleep. Who goes to sleep at 10 p.m. during their Vegas vacation? This guy.

- I'll try to blog more tomorrow morning about today's goings on. Early favorites for my time: baseball at Caesar's Palace sports book, Vegas double-decker bus tour and Jersey Boys at the Pelazzo, although I'm thinking about catching a comedy show instead.

Tailgate Review - The "TJ is Tennesseean for c***head" Edition

2009-10-07T07:22:00.000-05:00

From the Exaclibur's 18th floor in Tower 1, I bring you: The Tennessee recap.

Knoxville Thoughts:

- Left Brad and Ambers ~11 a.m. CT. Stopped just inside the Georgia state line to get gasoline. Spent some time visiting with Alex Dudchock, who was taking his son to Knoxville on a recruiting trip. His son is one of the top tight end prospects in the country from Oak Mountain High School.

- Kept in constant contact with Paul Crane, who was keeping us up to speed on parking availability near him. Paul earns tailgater of the week for his efforts (even though there was no formal tailgate).

- Amber further climbed All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk's ladder of favorite people for successfully navigating us to the Steak N Shake in Chattanooga. (It didn't pull up on the GPS.)

- Parked just below the church, but it is good enough knowing that their youth group got the money for the parking

- Knoxville is easily one of my top three favorite places in the SEC. It is a crying shame we have to wait five years in between trips there.

- The church folks were very helpful. They pointed out a nice shortcut to us to knock down walking time to the stadium to a mere eight minutes. Now, it was a treacherous shortcut, but a shortcut nonetheless.

- Saw Hillary Nowland in the parking lot when I was walking with Paul to get his sweatshirt. She is one of the nicest people I worked with at media relations. I am glad she is still around in the athletic department.

- Tiger Walk deserves it's own blog. Wow. I'd say there were between 5-6,000 people easy, and it was very loud still with an hour to go prior to the team arriving.

- TJ, the overzealous security guard, is a jerkface. He also deserves a blog to himself, but I will refrain.

- Whoever on the Bunker said that they don't know how to tailgate in Knoxville is full of it. I saw two of the coolest things: a checkerboard cornhole set and the ultimate tailgate trailer. It had a flatscreen, surround sound AND a beer tap mounted to the window flap.

- When you are looking for will call, people to trust are the folks in the green UT shirts. They were all great. Do not trust TJ's fellow security guards.

- Saw Frank and Kathy outside their gate following Tiger Walk. Got fired up with them for a minute before heading to our gate and our seats.

- The improvements made since I was last there in 2006 have really enhanced Neyland Stadium. The concourses are all spacious and the brick facade surrounding the playing field and sidelines is excellent.

- Our seats were almost directly behind where Andrew and I sat in 2004. Lots of good memories.

- Haber, who gave us the tickets, showed up about five minutes before kickoff. He left at halftime.

- There was a 9-year-old kid sitting next to me. It was his first UT game in person. He was a great kid, and his parents thanked us for being gracious winners.

- I promised him that he would see the Vols win a whole lot more than they lose in his lifetime. He got excited whn I told him I used to work in the athletic department and I got to watch games from the sidelines.

- The folks around us were great. However, Mr. War Chicken behind me got more annoying as the night went on. He was also more inebriated as ye night went on. Go figure.

- The University of Tennessee should change it's name to The University of Eric Berry and Lane Kiffin. They are in EVERY in-stadium ad, including a disturbing rap video aptly entitled "Eric Berry."

- I never felt like we would lose the game, and we played our most complete game of the year. Chris Todd has been unbelievable this year. If Franklin had gone about the QB competiton the same way as Gus...wait, never mind. Gus for Heisman.

- The Pride of the Southland Band playing War Eagle during pregame was a very nice touch. All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk still clamors for Auburn to pipe in the band throughout the stadium so all of us can hear them. Neyland just enhanced his desire.

- Following the game, we met back up with Brad and Amber then began the journey back to the Sequioya. We took the less treacherous route.

- For having so many people in town, traffic flowed pretty well all the way out the interstate.

- We stopped at Shoney's for their breakfast buffet after 75 split from 40.

- We got back to Brad and Amber's around 3 a.m.

(Note: this blog was written aboard the friendly skies of Delta's non-stop flight from Memphis to LAS VEGAS via iPhone. I apologize for any typos I may miss.)

Do What We Do. War Eagle. See you in Arkansas.

Chris

Tailgate Plan to Win: The "Brad's not stopping at any more redlights" Edition

2009-10-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

With the impending trip to Knoxville, I think back to the greatest road trip of all time. Now, one must understand that throughout our college careers, my group of friends and I went to see Auburn play football in places such as Starkville, Oxford, Tuscaloosa, Orlando, Fayetteville, Baton Rouge, Athens and Nashville. From 2002-2004, there were only a pair of games that at least one of us didn't attend (at Southern Cal and at Georgia Tech). However, none of these (no matter how fun they were individually) could hold a candle to the Auburn-Tennessee game that special season.

It was a first for many of us: first GameDay experience, first time to see Brad's bare feet, first Super Target experience...However, there was so much more, such as:

- Mark's clutch decision to make the trip with us. After Mark's first road trip to Mississippi State a couple of weeks earlier, we were able to convince him to go to Knoxville. Mark's one of the best (and most quiet) people I know. His presence was essential to our group's fun and excitement levels.

- All five of us in my truck, in unison, performing the "Walk Like an Egyptian" dance moves during the song's playing on Sirius. Yep, we are that good.

- Six of us staying in a Days Inn hotel room off I-40 on Luvell Road. It has since changed to an American Inn, but we'll never recognize the difference in chains. That place was special.

- Following dinner on Friday night at the Bar and Brewery downtown, splitting up for two reasons: 1.) to stalk the campus for a prime parking spot for Saturday morning and 2.) to get the food for our tailgate the next day.

- Meeting back up at the hotel to find Brad wearing the receipt from Kroger. I do not have this picture on this laptop, but it remains one of my favorites from the 04 season.

- Robert sleeping with Mark; Paul on the floor between the beds; Brad and I in the other bed. Where was Andrew?

- Andrew sleeping in front of the door to make sure that hotel management did not kick us out of said hotel room for having six adults despite only putting one adult on the reservation.

- Saturday morning, Brad, Paul and I made the short trek to Super Target to get a couple of additional tailgate items and some chairs. Brad and Paul broke out the big bucks and bought Eddie Bauer footrest chairs. They were the envy of the rest of our group.

- With raindrops falling lightly, we were trying to figure out how to get all six of us onto campus without taking more than one vehicle. Paul insisted on riding in the bed of my truck. Andrew refused to allow this to happen. What ensued was a battle of positions in the front seat between Mark and Paul that is still legendary amongst our circle of friends to-date.

- After parking, we walked a little around campus in search of the campus bookstore and GameDay. We made a brief appearance at GameDay (the show was in full-swing when we got there), and we kept searching for the store. Upon entering the store, we were harassed by an elderly couple. The old lady then preceded to tell us that she was confused with all the orange but could tell the difference since our orange was "more faded." Colors are hard in East Tennessee.

- This was our first true tailgating experience. Andrew and I used research from our trip to Baton Rouge in 2003 to figure out some essentials. We had a small TV and converter box running off my truck's battery. This required multiple key cranks, but it made it worth it to watch LSU-Georgia, Arkansas-Florida and keeping Paul from being able to watch Notre Dame-Purdue.

- Because of the aforementioned rain, we sometimes had a tarp covering the TV.

- Did I mention that the Friday night receipt from Kroger was enormous?

- It seemed like things were going too good. Great tailgate, great parking spot at the United Methodist Church...No way we'd win the game. Brad had different thoughts. His pregame prediction? 56-3.

- We were spread out throughout the Auburn lower bowl section. Paul was over by the band with Mark a few rows ahead of him. Robert and Brad sat down to our left, while Andrew and I were directly behind the UT entrance from their locker room.

- It must be said that this night was the same night that I developed my man crush on Trooper Taylor.

- The game...well, I won't give a game story here. Let's just say Brad's prediction was looking rather good at halftime (31-3 Tigers). Kirk Herbstreit bowing to our fans still resonates in my mind when thinking back to this great night and great trip.

- I'd be depriving you faithful pair of readers if I didn't let you in on the 14-year-old Tennessee slutwhores (sorry, it's what we called them) that were well on their way to growing into the half bear/other half cat women their mothers wished for their future. They pranced in front of the Auburn section all night. They were also one of the first topics of conversation when all six of us came back together to sing the alma mater following the victory.

- Traffic awaited us after the game, but the Tennessee fans were much quieter than they had been on the way into the stadium. To avoid traffic, Brad and I made an ill-advised decision to take back roads back to the hotel out on Luvell Road. A 15-mile trip turned into an hour and a half long journey through scary parts of East Tennessee. On a bright note, we did get to see Carl Stewart's hometown.

- During the lost portion of the evening, more position battles in the front seat between Paul and Mark added hilarity to our ride.

- At some point during the trip back home, with Brad driving, the idea of stopping at red lights went out the window. It's also been rumored that the truck's speedometer exceeded 100 mph. These rumors will not be confirmed at this time.

- I find it funny that, despite the blatant disregard for the law that night, Brad is now a police chief.

We will return to Knoxville and Neyland Stadium five years almost to the day for another battle with the Volunteers. Much has changed for both programs since that early October night in 2004. While it would be great to have all six of us go back together, it's not going to be that way. I am, though, looking very much forward to the weekend with a new group.

Those that I know making the trip this year are Paul, Brad, Amber, All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk, Frank Buttler and his wife Kathy, as well as Andy Shores. While I promise the memories won't be the same, I just hope for a similar result on the field.

I hope this brings back some great memories for everyone that was with me that weekend. I can honestly say it was one of the best of my 27 years.

Do What We Do. War Eagle.

Chris

Tailgate Review - The "Emma Boully and Ball State" Edition

2009-09-30T20:28:00.000-05:00

It's always fun to have new visitors to the tailgate, and it's even better when those new visitors are family.

Last weekend, we were able to finally have Robert, Jennifer and baby Emma come by for a game. I could not wait to see my niece again, and I must say that she is growing into a heartbreaker. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of our visit with the Boullys was when the three of them stopped by on Sunday before we left town and we got to see Emma interact with Trooper. Even though Trooper got restless after a little while (he had to potty something fierce), it was good to see him being so gentle and just allowing Emma to pat him continuously.

But, back to the tailgate. We had a solid group for the Ball State game, especially considering that we were taking on Ball State. It was nice to go into a game not wondering if we'd find a way to lose and enjoying the win for what it's worth (of course, none of us were happy with the defensive effort, but apparently neither was Antonio Coleman: http://auburn.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=995722).

For the first time, we featured a burrito bar with homemade salsa, rotel, white cheese dip and birthday cake. The cake, and I hesitate to say this with Andrew not being able to join us, was a double-doozy chocolate chip cookie cake, much like those that Robert, Andrew and I enjoyed from the cookie store at the mall during our AU tenures.

Joining in on the fun were: Robert's parents, Nancy and Bob as well as Evelyn (one of my favorite folks); Jennifer's brother Joseph; Andy Shores plus a brief appearance from his woman; Tammy and Summer; Brad, Amber and Jarrod Gregg plus Caleb; and the three of us. We were able to watch lots more football than I had done so far through the first three tailgates, and as stated before, it was great to have so many first-time visitors for 2009.

Katy Braden was sorely missed, but those of us at the tailgate understood her reasons for not being there. Tailgater of the Week goes to Emma just because she's that awesome. Honorable mentions go to Brad and Jarrod for all their help during the setup outside on Saturday morning as well as Amber for her continued assistance in the kitchen with Super Rita. Amber, you should know how much that means to her and to me.

Looking ahead to Tennessee this weekend, it's going to be nice to get on the road and see what kind of team we have in the face of a hostile environment. While I'll never feel comfortable knowing that this is our first road game and we have to go somewhere like Neyland, if we play like the better team, we will win because we are the better team. Simple as that. Regardless, Calhoun's on the River is calling my name, and I can't wait to get back to Knoxville - somewhere we always have a great time.

Tailgate will not be big in number of people but it will be huge in effort. Frank Buttler will be taking his RV to Knoxville, and we plan to meet up with him. All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk and I will travel to Brad and Amber's Friday night, and the four of us will head to east Tennessee Saturday morning. There is no official Tiger Walk, but I plan on having our group at Gate 7 when the team leaves the buses to go into the locker room. Hope to see you there if you are making the journey.

Do what we do and War Eagle.

Chris

P.S. Congrats to Ben and Ashia Good for the arrival of their beautiful daughter, Austin Rivers Good. You guys had better send me some pictures soon and have her meet me soon.

Tailgate Plan to Win: The "It's My Birthday and Ball State" Edition

2009-09-25T08:21:00.000-05:00

So it's my birthday, and I could do a run-down of birthdays past.

In 1994, we had my birthday party (a rarity, it seems, throughout my childhood) a couple of weeks early so that some of my friends who played fall baseball in Madison wouldn't miss a tournament. The highlight of this one was basically ignoring most of my friends to watch the fourth quarter of the Auburn-LSU interception game. It was awesome, although I learned a lot about being a good host that day.

In 1998, I turned 16. My parents had hinted at a big surprise for what seemed like an entire month. What does every 16-year-old expect if his parents say that they have a big surprise for them? I got a Playstation and NCAA Football '99. Yep, I was surprised.

In 1999, Auburn played host to Ole Miss, Tommy Tuberville's first game against the Rebels. I got my first taste of being in the press box for a game, and it was the first conference game I witnessed in Jordan-Hare Stadium. While the Rebels won 24-17 in overtime, I was able to be down on the sidelines and on the field following the game - pretty cool gift in itself. Meanwhile, my mom chatted up David Housel's wife, forming a lifelong friendship between our families.

In 2001, I was volunteering at Macon First United Methodist as a Youth Counselor, and the entire youth group surprised me in Starkville at Harvey's for dinner that night.

In 2004, Auburn once again played on my birthday, this time against The Citadel. Robert's family came down from Arab, and Megan was in Auburn from Tuscaloosa. We all had a great time, and I spent most of the evening just chillaxin' and watching TV.

In 2007, I got to spend the entire day getting estimates on my truck after some crazy dame ran into my back fender in a parking lot. She was hammered and fled prior to the cops getting there to give a DUI test. It definitely made things much more interesting. The real highlight of this birthday was taking the week off and spending Wednesday-Sunday in Gainesville, watching Auburn topple Florida 20-17.

Now, I sit here in the camper with Trooper at my feet and my mom getting ready to go hang out in town. We're going to have a great tailgate this weekend, featuring the first appearances by Robert, Jennifer and Emma Boully plus the return of some of the Hipp clan. The menu is a Mexican burrito buffet, and the plan is to break out the mammoth Margaritaville blender for the first time this season.

Also expected here are Brad, Amber and Jarrod Gregg; Bryan Bowen, his son Carter plus a couple more; Andy Shores; as well as Tammy and Jacob. We're saddened that Katy Braden won't grace us with her presence, but she will be here in spirit (and at least she now knows that the game is televised).

Brad's group is in charge of individual bags of Doritos, etc. The Boully trio will provide a few more tortilla chips for the homemade salsa and cheese dips. (Yes, Coach, THAT homemade salsa.) Everyone else, same as old - ice, chairs and drinks.

My phone has been acting up the past 12 hours (what a day to screw around - the one day where people come from every direction to call and send texts), so if I miss a call it is not on purpose.

Call or text if you need anything. Do what we do. And, finally, I'm sittin' on G, waitin' on O. War Eagle.

Chris

Pictures of Trooper

2009-09-22T18:42:00.001-05:00