Best of 09 - Day 5

  
    
  


December 5 Night out. Did you have a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked your world? Who was there? What was the highlight of the night?

This might not be most people's idea of a night out, but it was at night, and it was out, so Im sayin it qualifies. I'm going with the Miami-FSU game labor day weekend. My husband, an FSU fan, has had season tickets since I've known him. Up until the Jacksonville State game this year, he'd never won an FSU game I'd gone to with him. And lucky for me, the Miami fan, this night was no different.

We got to the stadium in time for the pregame festivities. I recall someone, seeing us holding hands and wearing shirts of our respective teams, commenting that it was "gross". We met M's fishing buddy and his girlfriend to tailgate a bit, and let him shit talk to me about how we were going to be destroyed. My philosophy is that in rivalry games, and particularly in this rivalry, it's a crapshoot; most years, who wins has nothing to do with who the better team is.

That game was intense and back and forth, lots of cheering and ulcers on both sides. The highlight was the ending, when a game-winning pass was thrown for FSU in the end zone with virtually no time left. The FSU fans went crazy, game looked to be over - teams coming on the field over. But then the officials announced that the previous play was under review. In the biggest letdown-to-thrilled moment I've ever experienced, and perhaps the converse for M, they finally announced that no, the pass hit the ground. Thrilling game, thrilling win...and awesome night out!

Best of 09 - Day 3

  
    
  


December 3 Article. What's an article that you read that blew you away? That you shared with all your friends. That you Delicious'd and reference throughout the year.
Eek, another one that's tough for me, just because my memory is shot to hell. That, and I dunno what Delicious is ;)  The one that comes to mind is an article about SEC football. I t was an SI article about the extreme level of competition in the SEC and the deep tradition of SEC teams. I hear so much whining from the Pac10, Big 12, and ACC about how tough they have it, and I'm an ACC fan, but...they ain't got nothing on SEC competition, and only a handful have nearly as deep-seated traditions as a lot of the SEC.

I went to law school at Alabama, which was my introduction to the SEC. I love my Miami, but Bama...wow, what an experience to go to a game. The best was my second year, when my dad came down for the LSU game. Now THAT was intensity. The first face-off between the teams since we got Saban. A year we were in contention, up until that game, for everything. So was LSU. I've never heard a stadium so loud or seen fans that went after each other that way. I also must admit that Iron Bowls are a crazier atmosphere than Miami-FSU, and Miami-FSU is pretty freakin intense. In the SEC, everybody knows about college ball and cares; not so with the ACC. I was surprised to find so many girls who knew what was going on in the game; I'm not used to that. I still think wearing dresses and heels to the game is weird, but that's how it is in the South. I hope I get to go back for a few games - but right now, I'm somewhere around #3000 on the season ticket waiting list. Now that's crazy!