BUCFP veteran BigOrange sent me an email after his impressive two game Saturday. Remember, ANY BUCFP player is welcome to submit material! (UglyMutt I'm looking for a Cajun's in the NorthWest Pacific write-up!) HEre's what BigOrange has to say...
After ten years of living in New England, I have returned south last week and set up residence in Atlanta with my fiancée. Among the many benefits of living in the south (the lack of sub-zero weather comes to mind), is the common appreciation of the beauty that is college football. Not that there isn’t CFB in New England, it’s just that it ranks in popularity somewhere between professional lacrosse and high school womens hockey. My native New Englander wife-to-be is a pretty good example: Wahoowa (Jason W) was witness when she once asked “What’s Auburn?”… gulp. She’s a little shocked to be living in a place where a friend’s grandmother got fired up about Urban Meyer. I love it.
So, how to celebrate my arrival in Georgia and the beginning of the season? Why, take in a couple of live games:
Georgia Tech vs. Jacksonville State
It’s hard for me to explain why, but this was also the only live game I saw last season. My friend (GT alum) has free tickets, so I guess the price was right for both us and Jacksonville St to come to Bobby Dodd for a trouncing. Some thoughts:
- Bloody marys and vodka tonics at 11 AM are a great way to start the day
- I was looking forward to again watching Ryan Perrilloux, the former LSU quarterback who was kicked out for cheating and was a man among boys for JSU last year. Oops, he was suspended by the team for their biggest game of the season. I don’t feel good about his future.
- Jacksonville State is in Alabama. Who knew?
- The score was 10-0 before we even made it in. Not much football commentary needed for this game.
Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
After watching the glorious introduction of the Griffin era and Georgia not live up to high expectations for the 35th time in six years, my friend, Jessica, and I took off for the Georgia Dome to watch the marquee matchup of the weekend (#5 v #7, SEC v ACC, etc.) We managed to get some pretty decent scalped tickets. More random thoughts:
- The crowd was louder before kickoff from outside the dome than the earlier game. Once inside, it was awesome. Packed house. Kind of felt like the SEC Championship – which is the only time more tickets have been sold to the Dome.
- One benefit to going to the game with a girl: she could sneak in 12 Jim Beam nips in her monstrous bag. Tasty and economical.
- Big question: who am I rooting for? As a Tennessee fan, the idea of cheering for Bama makes me taste bile. Still, I have no love for the Hokies, and I’d prefer an SEC team - one that we get to face later - win. The devil you know and all that. So Bama it is. Dear Lord. Fortunately, we were surrounded by about 20 Tide fans on the VT half of the stadium. There would be too much irony if I got in a fight because I was cheering for a rival.
- Bama sloppily dominates for most of the first quarter. Well, except for the red zone. That area is pretty important. Good defenses, but I didn’t think field goals would win the game.
- VT runback for a touchdown. I’ve never understood how Beamer can own the special teams category. I’m sure Bill can answer this, but does Beamer recruit specifically for special teams, like a task force? Or does he go the other way and keep his star players in for all kicks, injuries be damned? I just don’t see how other D-1 teams can’t replicate it.
- Scratch that last thought, two VT kick return turnovers ended up being the biggest difference in the game.
- Jessica says that she could tell the difference between VT and Bama girls, even if they weren’t wearing team colors. Some combination of the words “Tech”, “redneck”, and “trashy”. She said it, not me.
- Watch the last few minutes of the BYU/Oklahoma game while getting more mixers. Wow. I always thought that USC and Sooner QBs got too much credit when surrounded by great teammates. Might have to rethink that after what happened to the Sooners without Bradford.
- Also overheard the UVA’s troubles. William & Mary did beat Temple in 1998, so they can’t be that bad. Better luck next team, Al Groh.
- Somehow VT was winning going into the second half, despite Bama having three times as many yards.
- In the 4th quarter, it looked like Alabama’s offensive line just wore the Hokies down. It still could have been a close game, but a VT fumble on a kick return on the 20 pretty much sealed the deal. Frankly, I didn’t think either team looked like a championship contender (lots of stupid Tide penalties, which I bet Saban will punish accordingly). But you have to lower the bar for the first game – and I credit both teams for not setting up pansies for the usual opening week demolishing.
- Again, not much pure football analysis. Things are a little fuzzy after halftime – my all-day drinking stamina is not what it once was. Though I do have to say that both fan groups gave a good showing, and were friendly all around. Oddly, the average age seemed to be around 50.
All in all, a good day. I’m glad to be back.
After ten years of living in New England, I have returned south last week and set up residence in Atlanta with my fiancée. Among the many benefits of living in the south (the lack of sub-zero weather comes to mind), is the common appreciation of the beauty that is college football. Not that there isn’t CFB in New England, it’s just that it ranks in popularity somewhere between professional lacrosse and high school womens hockey. My native New Englander wife-to-be is a pretty good example: Wahoowa (Jason W) was witness when she once asked “What’s Auburn?”… gulp. She’s a little shocked to be living in a place where a friend’s grandmother got fired up about Urban Meyer. I love it.
So, how to celebrate my arrival in Georgia and the beginning of the season? Why, take in a couple of live games:
Georgia Tech vs. Jacksonville State
It’s hard for me to explain why, but this was also the only live game I saw last season. My friend (GT alum) has free tickets, so I guess the price was right for both us and Jacksonville St to come to Bobby Dodd for a trouncing. Some thoughts:
- Bloody marys and vodka tonics at 11 AM are a great way to start the day
- I was looking forward to again watching Ryan Perrilloux, the former LSU quarterback who was kicked out for cheating and was a man among boys for JSU last year. Oops, he was suspended by the team for their biggest game of the season. I don’t feel good about his future.
- Jacksonville State is in Alabama. Who knew?
- The score was 10-0 before we even made it in. Not much football commentary needed for this game.
Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
After watching the glorious introduction of the Griffin era and Georgia not live up to high expectations for the 35th time in six years, my friend, Jessica, and I took off for the Georgia Dome to watch the marquee matchup of the weekend (#5 v #7, SEC v ACC, etc.) We managed to get some pretty decent scalped tickets. More random thoughts:
- The crowd was louder before kickoff from outside the dome than the earlier game. Once inside, it was awesome. Packed house. Kind of felt like the SEC Championship – which is the only time more tickets have been sold to the Dome.
- One benefit to going to the game with a girl: she could sneak in 12 Jim Beam nips in her monstrous bag. Tasty and economical.
- Big question: who am I rooting for? As a Tennessee fan, the idea of cheering for Bama makes me taste bile. Still, I have no love for the Hokies, and I’d prefer an SEC team - one that we get to face later - win. The devil you know and all that. So Bama it is. Dear Lord. Fortunately, we were surrounded by about 20 Tide fans on the VT half of the stadium. There would be too much irony if I got in a fight because I was cheering for a rival.
- Bama sloppily dominates for most of the first quarter. Well, except for the red zone. That area is pretty important. Good defenses, but I didn’t think field goals would win the game.
- VT runback for a touchdown. I’ve never understood how Beamer can own the special teams category. I’m sure Bill can answer this, but does Beamer recruit specifically for special teams, like a task force? Or does he go the other way and keep his star players in for all kicks, injuries be damned? I just don’t see how other D-1 teams can’t replicate it.
- Scratch that last thought, two VT kick return turnovers ended up being the biggest difference in the game.
- Jessica says that she could tell the difference between VT and Bama girls, even if they weren’t wearing team colors. Some combination of the words “Tech”, “redneck”, and “trashy”. She said it, not me.
- Watch the last few minutes of the BYU/Oklahoma game while getting more mixers. Wow. I always thought that USC and Sooner QBs got too much credit when surrounded by great teammates. Might have to rethink that after what happened to the Sooners without Bradford.
- Also overheard the UVA’s troubles. William & Mary did beat Temple in 1998, so they can’t be that bad. Better luck next team, Al Groh.
- Somehow VT was winning going into the second half, despite Bama having three times as many yards.
- In the 4th quarter, it looked like Alabama’s offensive line just wore the Hokies down. It still could have been a close game, but a VT fumble on a kick return on the 20 pretty much sealed the deal. Frankly, I didn’t think either team looked like a championship contender (lots of stupid Tide penalties, which I bet Saban will punish accordingly). But you have to lower the bar for the first game – and I credit both teams for not setting up pansies for the usual opening week demolishing.
- Again, not much pure football analysis. Things are a little fuzzy after halftime – my all-day drinking stamina is not what it once was. Though I do have to say that both fan groups gave a good showing, and were friendly all around. Oddly, the average age seemed to be around 50.
All in all, a good day. I’m glad to be back.
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