Thursday, September 27, 2012
Speaking of football
I think it should also be noted to my future self, that this month (well, maybe technically the end of last month) marked the first full season of watching Australian Rules Football as a fan of the Brisbane Lions. They didn't make the playoffs this year, but had some great comeback wins against top 5 teams (West Coast and Adelaide). I can genuinely say that I enjoy watching Aussie rules nearly as much as college football. Go Lions! #Footyfix
A Review of Football September (Year of the Dragon)
FOOTBALL SEASON BOYEE!!!
It finally arrived. The greatest season of all (yeah Summer... I said it). Like years prior, I've been engrossing myself in offseason rumors, recruiting, practice reviews and coach speak... all so I can get my hopes up to a level that requires my heart be at it's most fragile state. With grand expectations for week one, Jillian and I set off for Atlanta's Georgia Dome and the Chic-fil-A SECvsACC kickoff against Clemson. We met up with friend and local resident, Thomas, to sort out our sleeping arrangements and then set off for the stadium with booze in hand.
For some reason, we thought arriving 3 hours before game-time was early, but the parking situation suggested otherwise. All the dome parking lots were full so we ended up trusting some guys in a mechanic shop parking lot to not break into my truck after I gave them $20 and walked off. It ended up being a pretty decent space, for being only 3 blocks from the Dome.
We ran into Clemson fan early and often. A lot more had made the trip than I had anticipated. The majority were college age who were already drunk and throwing up in port-a-potties (and passing out roofies... and not being subtle about it) We met up with some other friends, got our tickets and danced our way inside. Or at least that's what I remember... b/c I had consumed generous amounts of adult beverage in those 3 city blocks.
Just like the last time we came to the Georgia Dome, the security staff were checking men's pockets and women's purses to make sure nothing was being brought in... and just like last time, the woman who checked Jillian's purse completely ignored her rum flask and didn't pat my pockets filled with minis. Jackpot.
The game started off well enough. Clemson got a field goal and then we answered with a 54 yard touchdown pass to a wide open receiver. That's just about the time things started going downhill. Within the course of the next few hours, my confidence in the season shattered, I began yelling drunk "jokes" to anyone who would listen and had an unfortunate talk with a 12yr old about how he should avoid drugs and whores. By the end I realized we might be in for a long season. Our offense couldn't move the ball and, most concerning, our defense looked like it couldn't tackle Michael J Fox wearing wet soap shoes on a freshly waxed marble floor. (I'm not quite sure that analogy makes any sense...)
Anyway, the game ends and I eat crow in front of the Clemson fans I called names and then apologized to the mother for my language, get up and go back to Thomas' apartment to set up an air mattress and go to sleep. We get up early, we drive home and enjoy the rest of our 3 day weekend.
Auburn 0-1
September 8th rolls around and we play Missippi State. Repeat all the happenings of above, but exchange the Georgia Dome for Jillian's house, switch up some of the friends and add cornhole. Cornhole was fun. Watching the Auburn game against Mississippi State was not. Game followed by watching Louisiana Monroe (our next opponent) upset #8 Arkansa.
Auburn 0-2
Sept 17th: After two rather dismal football games, Jillian and I decide to abandon any outside company and watch the game by ourselves. There was still a lot of alcohol and yelling but solitude seemed to do the trick. Auburn ends up squaking out a win in overtime. Whew.
Auburn 1-2
September 22nd gives us our second SEC game of the year against #2 LSU. Nick had invited us over to his house so he could rub a certain loss in our face. Jillian and I decided instead to go to the beach and soak in the sun. I was really surprised to see the diversity of football fandom around us. I spotted Arkansas, LSU, Florida State, Tennesee (lesbians), Bamers... I feel like I'm forgetting one. Anyway, there were a lot of people there and the weather was pretty much perfect. That may have been why the hermit crabs decided to make it their spring break. They were everywhere. It also happened to be the first time I had ever seen dolphins at the beach jumping completely out of the water and not just riding waves.
ANYWAY, we ended up getting back in town just as the game was starting so we set the dvr to record, washed up and put our cellphones away. The game ended up being a nail-biter as we ended up leading at half time and keeping the lead until about 5 minutes left in the game, passed up by a field goal. Ultimately, and in the usual heart-breaking fashion, Auburn failed to get points on the final 2 minute drive. What made this more heart-breaking was that I checked my phone about 1 minute before the end, saw 20 missed text messages and was convinced we had pulled off the miracle upset. Instead, I was just upset.
Auburn 1-3... yet much improved.
Just a note, This was the first time in Auburn school history that the football team had lost 3 games before October 1st.
Second Note: For the sake of history, This September also saw the result of the NFL officials strike... and some of the worst replacement officiating the game the NFL has ever seen. The lockout ended today (Sept 28)
It finally arrived. The greatest season of all (yeah Summer... I said it). Like years prior, I've been engrossing myself in offseason rumors, recruiting, practice reviews and coach speak... all so I can get my hopes up to a level that requires my heart be at it's most fragile state. With grand expectations for week one, Jillian and I set off for Atlanta's Georgia Dome and the Chic-fil-A SECvsACC kickoff against Clemson. We met up with friend and local resident, Thomas, to sort out our sleeping arrangements and then set off for the stadium with booze in hand.
For some reason, we thought arriving 3 hours before game-time was early, but the parking situation suggested otherwise. All the dome parking lots were full so we ended up trusting some guys in a mechanic shop parking lot to not break into my truck after I gave them $20 and walked off. It ended up being a pretty decent space, for being only 3 blocks from the Dome.
We ran into Clemson fan early and often. A lot more had made the trip than I had anticipated. The majority were college age who were already drunk and throwing up in port-a-potties (and passing out roofies... and not being subtle about it) We met up with some other friends, got our tickets and danced our way inside. Or at least that's what I remember... b/c I had consumed generous amounts of adult beverage in those 3 city blocks.
The game started off well enough. Clemson got a field goal and then we answered with a 54 yard touchdown pass to a wide open receiver. That's just about the time things started going downhill. Within the course of the next few hours, my confidence in the season shattered, I began yelling drunk "jokes" to anyone who would listen and had an unfortunate talk with a 12yr old about how he should avoid drugs and whores. By the end I realized we might be in for a long season. Our offense couldn't move the ball and, most concerning, our defense looked like it couldn't tackle Michael J Fox wearing wet soap shoes on a freshly waxed marble floor. (I'm not quite sure that analogy makes any sense...)
Anyway, the game ends and I eat crow in front of the Clemson fans I called names and then apologized to the mother for my language, get up and go back to Thomas' apartment to set up an air mattress and go to sleep. We get up early, we drive home and enjoy the rest of our 3 day weekend.
Auburn 0-1
September 8th rolls around and we play Missippi State. Repeat all the happenings of above, but exchange the Georgia Dome for Jillian's house, switch up some of the friends and add cornhole. Cornhole was fun. Watching the Auburn game against Mississippi State was not. Game followed by watching Louisiana Monroe (our next opponent) upset #8 Arkansa.
Auburn 0-2
Sept 17th: After two rather dismal football games, Jillian and I decide to abandon any outside company and watch the game by ourselves. There was still a lot of alcohol and yelling but solitude seemed to do the trick. Auburn ends up squaking out a win in overtime. Whew.
Auburn 1-2
September 22nd gives us our second SEC game of the year against #2 LSU. Nick had invited us over to his house so he could rub a certain loss in our face. Jillian and I decided instead to go to the beach and soak in the sun. I was really surprised to see the diversity of football fandom around us. I spotted Arkansas, LSU, Florida State, Tennesee (lesbians), Bamers... I feel like I'm forgetting one. Anyway, there were a lot of people there and the weather was pretty much perfect. That may have been why the hermit crabs decided to make it their spring break. They were everywhere. It also happened to be the first time I had ever seen dolphins at the beach jumping completely out of the water and not just riding waves.
ANYWAY, we ended up getting back in town just as the game was starting so we set the dvr to record, washed up and put our cellphones away. The game ended up being a nail-biter as we ended up leading at half time and keeping the lead until about 5 minutes left in the game, passed up by a field goal. Ultimately, and in the usual heart-breaking fashion, Auburn failed to get points on the final 2 minute drive. What made this more heart-breaking was that I checked my phone about 1 minute before the end, saw 20 missed text messages and was convinced we had pulled off the miracle upset. Instead, I was just upset.
Auburn 1-3... yet much improved.
Just a note, This was the first time in Auburn school history that the football team had lost 3 games before October 1st.
Second Note: For the sake of history, This September also saw the result of the NFL officials strike... and some of the worst replacement officiating the game the NFL has ever seen. The lockout ended today (Sept 28)
Monday, September 17, 2012
August '12 Summary
1. I learned in August the "joys" of selling things on Craig's List. To earn a little extra money to go toward an engagement ring (shh it's a secret...) I decided to try to sell a few things locally and learned a few things pretty quick; like making sure I put "Cash Only. No Trades. No Shipping". It's amazing how many people are proponents of the bartering system or want you to ship them things to Michigan. My experience in general was pretty good. Sold a couple things, and had my time wasted with some others... which brings me to the next topic.
2. I sold my Jeep.
This was a painful transaction in someway. The Jeep was by far my most prized vehicle and a large part of my college experience (good and bad). It had more than it's fair share of problems and after sitting up in my parents shed for more than a year, it was time to let it go. The guy who bought it told me he and his son were going to restore it together so I knew it was going to a good home. I'm still going to miss it on those sunny fall days.
3. I got one year older. I hit the big 31 in fact. I was expecting a nice quiet birthday dinner with Jillian... b/c that's just what she wanted me to think. Turned out she had organized a surprise party for me at Fly Creek Cafe. It took me a second to figure it out when I saw my brother there, initially thought it was coincidence, and then noticed the rest of my family and a couple friends. It was definitely a treat and always enjoyable to be publicly embarrassed by those you care about.
4. Hurricane Isaac was devastating for parts of Louisiana and Mobile... or at least that last part was supposed to be accurate; which is why I took half of my office home with me the Monday before it made landfall. What it turned into was 3 days of me working at home because of a bad thunderstorm. There was some damage though. I had a branch fall on my house and the protective cover I had on my camper was shredded by the wind (pictured below). I did learn something from this experience though. I will never be productive when I work from the house. It's just not possible.
2. I sold my Jeep.
3. I got one year older. I hit the big 31 in fact. I was expecting a nice quiet birthday dinner with Jillian... b/c that's just what she wanted me to think. Turned out she had organized a surprise party for me at Fly Creek Cafe. It took me a second to figure it out when I saw my brother there, initially thought it was coincidence, and then noticed the rest of my family and a couple friends. It was definitely a treat and always enjoyable to be publicly embarrassed by those you care about.
July Summary - Gatlinburg Trip
It appears I have a lot of catching up to do, blog-wise (if that's a word), so I'll try to recall as much as I can from the last two months, most importantly, the the trip Jillian and I took to Gatlinburg, TN.
The last week in July, Jillian and I drove up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a shared birthday weekend. It's her favorite place to vacation and I've certainly enjoyed the area the last couple times I went in college. Showing a difference in vacationing styles, this one, thanks to Jillian, was planned out to perfection and there were very few moments were we found ourselves wandering around looking for things to do.
To stray from my normal day by day reproduction of events I'll say that the overall trip was a lot of fun. We took Stella for a walk through the mountains and saw the remains of an old settlement, there was a morning devoted to white-water rafting, we spent a day driving a CanAm Spyder down the Cherohala Skyway and through the 'Tail of the Dragon', and even spared a little time to ride some 40mph go-carts in downtown Pigeon Forge. There were a couple surprises to the trip; most of which involved the cabin we rented. Apparently, there were some air conditioning problems to go along with their broken wifi, but those both took a backseat to the wasps above the hot tub that stung Jillian on the finger day two. Some pleasant surprises included how well Stella behaved around all the strangers in downtown Gatlinburg, and how accepting the shop owners were of letting her walk around the shops with us.
In the end we had a great time, were able to bring back some great souvenirs (including some regional beer and moonshine) and were able to get a better idea of the place we someday hope to get married.
The last week in July, Jillian and I drove up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a shared birthday weekend. It's her favorite place to vacation and I've certainly enjoyed the area the last couple times I went in college. Showing a difference in vacationing styles, this one, thanks to Jillian, was planned out to perfection and there were very few moments were we found ourselves wandering around looking for things to do.
To stray from my normal day by day reproduction of events I'll say that the overall trip was a lot of fun. We took Stella for a walk through the mountains and saw the remains of an old settlement, there was a morning devoted to white-water rafting, we spent a day driving a CanAm Spyder down the Cherohala Skyway and through the 'Tail of the Dragon', and even spared a little time to ride some 40mph go-carts in downtown Pigeon Forge. There were a couple surprises to the trip; most of which involved the cabin we rented. Apparently, there were some air conditioning problems to go along with their broken wifi, but those both took a backseat to the wasps above the hot tub that stung Jillian on the finger day two. Some pleasant surprises included how well Stella behaved around all the strangers in downtown Gatlinburg, and how accepting the shop owners were of letting her walk around the shops with us.
In the end we had a great time, were able to bring back some great souvenirs (including some regional beer and moonshine) and were able to get a better idea of the place we someday hope to get married.
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