Finally, some pictures from Mercer

As you are all well aware, I took a trip to Macon, Georgia to begin the year (and eventually to Fort Myers, where they will get the internet just as soon as they stop doing the Charleston) to catch a game betwixt the Mercer Bears and the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. I used my phone to take some pictures, then got a new phone, and anyways, I finally uploaded them, so here are the pictures from my time in Macon.

 Of course, I have to start with the greatest picture of them all... the coin operated cologne sprayer in north Georgia

Heading into the game, I had to take a picture of their baseball field. Alma Mater of the great Mike Mimbs!

This was the Mercer pep band. All of it.

A couple of shots of the arena. It filled up a bit by game time a bit more, but there was still a week until classes began again.

 This is where the FGCU women's team eventually sat.

I like the one guy for FGCU that tucked in his practice jersey. Nerd.

Growl!

A little more full, see? And GET PUMPED IT'S MERCER BASKETBALL.

It's game time! FGCU would have a huge challenge, playing against a Mercer team playing at home for the first time in a few weeks.

Also facing a huge challenge: This chair.

This is actually the Student Union/basketball arena, pictured the next day. IT was definitely a quaint campus.

GROWL!

This is outside my hotel the day I left Macon. Hard to tell, but the fountain outside is completely frozen. I'm glad I headed south for that. 

I enjoyed this trip quite a bit, actually, mostly because I really like the south, and I had Steak and Shake in Illinois, but the game was pretty good too. (Mercer won 76-54)

Highlights from Mercer - Florida Gulf Coast

As you can see, I was, in fact, at the game last night. An AP photo is out to prove it.

Now, some thoughts from the game. First, it was incredibly cheap. The ticket, a hot dog, water and slice of pizza ran me only 9 dollars. Total. Fantastic.

First, the arena. It was rather small, but the university did a good job giving the the game something of a big time feel. The concessions and what not were decidedly small time, but the action on the court was very competitive. Mercer players seemed more into the game than any team I had visited before. Even FGCU played like they knew what they were doing, which I can't say for certain other games I have attended. And the beginning of the game began with spotlights and a video played on a middle school geography class style projector screen. Still, I applaud the effort the school put forth in making the game important.

In this contest, it seemed like the big problem was the Eagles and their ball handling ability. They seemed to be better on defense when they were able to get back and get set. The most dramatic scoring opportunities came in the break for the Bears, especially when they were able to get the ball to Justin Cecil, who was white hot and clearly the best player on the court last night. Still, the Eagles clearly weren't comfortable with how they were playing, changing their defensive look regularly, and not really getting consistent stops until they upped the pressure on the ball, but that came far too late.

Perhaps it was the angle I sat at, but I would say it was the most technically sound game I have seen in my travels. Murray State played well two years ago, but in this game, both teams looked prepared, if not effective.

The Bears got out to a 20 point lead early, then kept their foot on the gas for most of the game. They had a deeper bench, a short guy named Shaquille, more energy, a black guy named Paul Larsen and frankly, more composure that FGCU who had a white guy named Eddie Murray.

For more in the moment, comical observations from the night, take a look at my Twitter feed. Some time this week, I will have some pictures and more in depth commentary on what it was like to be at the game.

One image from the road

If you can't tell, this is a coin operated cologne dispenser. I took it at a truck stop along the Tennessee/Georgia border. Please note the knob for selecting which cologne can be spritzed, for the distinguishing gentleman buying his cologne from a truck strop restroom.

I'm leaving for Macon tomorrow

In case you, like nobody else, was wondering, I have been posting year in review posts because I wanted to post a "hey, I'm skipping town for a while" post today. The plan is to leave as soon as I wake up tomorrow morning, which could be 8, could be 10. Then I will get to southern Illinois or western Kentucky by nightfall. I will make the rest of the drive to Macon on Monday. There shouldn't be traffic in Nashville or Atlanta, right?
I have a ticket waiting for me at Will Call at Mercer (three dollars!) and will spend a couple days in Macon before heading to Fort Myers for a few days. Then it's three days on the way back, and plow, back to regular posting.
I will try to throw up a few posts while I'm gone, but Steve has a couple in the can for New Years Day and the 2nd, so I will be gone from your eyes until the third. The game looks better and better with every result that comes through for those teams. Florida Gulf Coast is on a two game winning streak, with games against Toledo and Maine, while Mercer continues to look strong against big time opponents, like Georgia Tech and Seton Hall. I can honestly say, I don't know who will win this game, but I bet it will be a pretty good contest.
There will be a few tweets, so stay tuned while I'm on the road! Happy New Year, everyone!

All set for Macon

As you may have remembered, I am planning a trip to Macon, Georgia to catch the Mercer Bears in action against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. There has been less time to prepare for this trip than there was for the trip to Wyoming back in October, so I haven't mentioned it quite as much, but yes, I will head out on New Years Day, with central Georgia as my destination. (I will also visit a friend in Tennessee and my parents in Florida... My first multi-tasking trip yet.)
Mercer has been having a pretty good year. They've defeated the teams they should have and lost to some pretty good teams, like Missouri, Belmont and Seton Hall. The only real blemish is a loss to South Dakota State, but even the Jackrabbits look strong this year. The Bears are lead by sophomore guard Langston Hall and forwards Justin Cecil and Jakob Gollun, who is somehow from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, playing for the Bears. Did I mention that Mercer has a medical school? Even if it is in central Georgia, they attract some good minds down there.
Florida Gulf Coast hasn't been quite as successful, but have been in a lot of games this season. In 4 of their 6 losses, they were within 3 points, and within 1 in three of those games. In fact, the largest deficit was a game at Miami, when they lost by 10. The Eagles definitely play a more defensive game, as Sherwood Brown (who sports some wicked dreads, by the way), the top scorer on the team, only averages about 12 a game. Distribution might be part of it, but I think it has more to do with low scoring games. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that they have a player named Filip Cvjeticanin.
I bring up the game so far out because I secured my tickets and reservations in Macon the other night. Any guesses on the cost of the tickets? Three dollars. Three stinkin' bucks. I have it waiting for me at will call. I think, given the Eagles propensity to stay in games, this will be three dollars well spent.

Wyoming Cowboys dominate three quarters, Take second quarter off

As you may remember, and as I showed in the highlight video I shared last night, the Wyoming Cowboys defeated the UNLV Rebels by a score of 41-14. As you might have heard, I was there. Here are some thoughts.

- First, there weren't many cowboy hats. Lots of Cowboys hats, but not many cowboy hats.
- UNLV's coverage early was atrocious, just like I expected. The problem was that the Cowboys are a running team, traditionally, and they got away from their game, trying to exploit the porous secondary. It didn't work out too terribly well. But UNLV is pretty bad, so even though Wyoming was slowed, UNLV wasn't able to find their way all the way back in. When Quarterback Brett Smith started to run, that's when the Cowboys really started to open up their lead. (He ended up with 59 yards on the ground, but it felt like a lot more)
- Special teams were huge in this game. The two biggest momentum shifts were on punts to Wyoming. The first was a second quarter punt that Wyoming muffed, only to have UNLV recover. They promptly scored 2 touchdowns. After the half, the teams were playing to a draw, more or less, until a 3rd quarter punt, which was returned all the way by Wyoming. I think, more than the score, the block I alluded to in the video yesterday changed the tone. Wyoming was more aggressive on defense and grittier on offense, eventually salting the game away.
- The Cowboys opened up the playbook in the 4th quarter. Chris McNeill who ran back the punt in the 3rd quarter also threw a touchdown to Brett Smith (the quarterback), and then on another reverse, threw the two point conversion. When one thinks of Wyoming, one does not typically think "razzle dazzle"
- Due to some strong winds, punters and kickers went out of their way to keep balls low to to the ground, taking angles on kicks, squibbing, etc to get it downfield but to allay the chance of a return. It was very strange.
- The Rebels started backup Sean Reilly, to give him a chance, I assume. He looked lost out there, but his receivers were no help. I assume the terrible receivers (and mediocre line) are why Caleb Herring's statistics were so down. Herring came in in the 4th and looked energetic and athletic, giving the Rebels a new life late in the game. He was afflicted by the same problems though, namely that his receivers were very, very bad. Herring should be in starting next week for UNLV.
- Some thoughts on the experience of the game... The Cowboys run out to "Cowboy" by Bon Jovi. At half time, the band did a Billy Joel themed set. The 80s are just now arriving in Laramie.
- After every score, at the beginning of the game, and after the end of the game, Wyoming fires off a cannon. A very, tremendously loud cannon that is fired by National Guardsmen. They are defending the no fly zone around the stadium, I have to believe.
- The food at the game was decidedly faux Mexican. They called it a "Jackalope taco", but really, it was a homemade, Norwegian style taco (i.e. no spice). I was picking jackalope taco out of my beard through the first quarter.
- The girl who sold me my Wyoming sweatshirt threatened to shoot me with a rubber band. I think she was flirting, but I can't be sure. Wyoming is weird.

OK, enough out of me, how about.... pictures! My camera/phone had a low battery through most of the game, so I stopped taking pictures soon after kick off. Nevertheless. here are the pregame pictures.

 The stadium is really high

 A look into the tailgate.

 I was able to get really close to the field. That was fun. I also got there really early.

Mountains to the west of Laramie. Please enjoy the  Mountain West flags off to the side. This was taken from a ramp at the stadium

Several pictures from my seats. Not bad.

 Look! A W! They're fight song is "Cowboy Joe" if you are ever on Jeopardy or something.

And now, last but not least, it's time for kickoff!

Day 2 observations

No, Cheyenne, I don't think I will be trying your sushi

- There is a gap between Sidney, Nebraska and the I-80-I-76 split where you can't get any phone reception, and I wasn't able to stream Pandora. At first, I felt lost, alone and and angry, and that made me realize that I've got it pretty good here in America. And then I realized I have to pass back through that same stretch of road again, and now I'm pissed. HOW CAN I GO 45 MINUTES WITHOUT HEARING TOTO

- While I was driving through Nebraska, I saw a legit cowboy working with some horses. He had the hat on and everything, I think he was rustling.

- While the first cowboy hat was a pleasant little novelty, I came to find that residents of Cheyenne wear them unironically. If you have a stereotype about Cheyenne, it is accurate. 

- I got into town early, and I headed to the mall (Frontier something or other). Honest to goodness, the first two stores I encountered were "Wild Western" which sold, obviously, western gear, and "Boot Barn" which sold western gear (with a special emphasis on cowboy boots). What IS this place?

- I went to the Chik-fil-a at the mall. There was a gentleman eating his sandwich while wearing a cowboy hat. 

- My hotel room overlooks I-25. Across the interstate is nothing. Miles and miles of nothing. I can see a couple lights, but that might be Laramie. Laramie is 40 miles away.

- There are a great many buildings with marquees here, something that adds to the undeniable charm of this place. Most of the marquees have a cowboy on them.

- The various news stations here come from; ABC - Casper, CBS - Denver, NBC - Cheyenne. The ABC station advertised it's morning show, claiming live coverage on Monday from the grand re-opening of the Red Lobster in downtown Casper. (Sidebar... internet research tells me the place burned down. Ironically, a bar in Eagan, MN called Casper's just burned down before I left. What do they have in common? I wouldn't eat seafood at either restaurant)

- I went out for dinner at a sports bar in downtown Cheyenne. It was a very nice bar, called Shadow's, with TVs (flat screen and tube. Tube TVs!) and very good burgers. Anyways, two customers stood out to me. One was a gentleman wearing a Detroit Lions sweater, which was strange enough, but he had a gigantic Lions tattoo on his calf too. Sitting next to him was a gentleman in a very nice full suit. He was wearing a cowboy hat.

Notes from Day 1

Well, I got on the road around 9 today, and it was rainy and gross in the Twin Cities. By the time I got to Owatonna, though, the sun was out and the rest of the drive was very warm. It really saps the battery on my phone/GPS. Here are some notes from the drive.

- I only made one stop, which is incredible. Thank YOU Dexter, Iowa and your Casey's General Store for pizza and gas and directions back to the interstate.

- There is a radio station in Omaha that goes by "The Big O".

- The entire state of Nebraska is under construction. Like, really, every major town had construction in and around it. It was a slow go.

- I went out for a barbecue pork sandwich and a beer. Through eavesdropping, I learned that I was sitting next to this guy's father.

All right, enough for now. I will check in tomorrow night. Game is on Saturday!

Looking forward to Wyoming

This time next week, I will have the Wyoming-UNLV game in my rearview. At the beginning of the season, it looked like a pretty clear, dominating win for Wyoming. The Cowboys started off 3-0, and then lost their next game against Nebraska despite putting up a good effort. They looked like a pretty reliable team in the Mountain West, if nothing else. Then there was this past weekend, when they got whitewashed by the Utah State Aggies in Logan. Not so good.
UNLV has been underwhelming all season. They were crushed by Wisconsin, Washington State, Nevada and most ignobly, Southern Utah. They did, however, win a home game against Hawaii. They still haven't allowed 60 points in a game, yet, like the Cowboys did in Logan yesterday.
The Cowboys are a perfect example of "running back by committee" They run for just less than 200 yards a game, and have 4 different backs who have reached that total on the season, Ghaali Muhammad, Alvester Alexander, Brandon Allen and quarterback Brett Smith, a Freshman who is improving with his arm as well. The Wyoming defense is the primary issue, as the team struggles with slowing down running games and allows too many big plays in passing attacks. If it stays true to form, this game will feature some high scoring.
The Runnin' Rebels are less successful running the ball, but more successful stopping the run than their counterparts in Laramie. They also scatter the ball around, with Tim Cornett, Bradley Randle and Dionz Bradford all get touches. Quarterback Caleb Herring is also a threat to scramble, but the Rebs' line is so porous that he will end up sacked more often than not. The passing defense has been atrocious for UNLV this season. Opponents have 200 more yards through the air than the Runnin' Rebels have total offense on the season.
I expect that, if Wyoming feels like they can open up their offense, they should have no problem winning their homecoming game against UNLV. It doesn't fit their typical scheme, but I think young Brett Smith is capable of leading the charge. The weather looks like it will be fine, despite it snowing there yesterday, so an airborne attack is totally viable. Prediction: Wyoming 49, UNLV 14

The 2012 Sports Adventure teams have been picked

As I'm sure you are all aware and yet completely indifferent about, I picked the two teams that I will try to watch live and in person during the 2012 calendar year. For those that don't know, here's how it works. I lump every team from NCAA basketball and football, the NFL, NHL and MLB into a random number generator, as well as a series of numbers, so as to pick a game off of a selected team's schedule. Then I go to the game. Simple as that. The randomness of this is what makes it an adventure, you see.
So without further ado, the teams. This is the 6th year I have done this, and I had yet to select a professional sports team. Additionally, I had never yet picked a team from the same city as a previous selection. It all changed this time! The 4 that just missed out were the Colorado Avalanche, Baylor basketball, South Carolina basketball and UC-Santa Barbara.Instead, I will be attending week 5 of the Chicago Bears 2012 season~

The Bears are, as I said, the first professional sports team that I have drawn in this little game, and the second team from Chicago. Two years ago, the University of Illinois-Chicago was selected, but due to a blizzard, I was unable to go to their game. Obviously, next season's schedule is not yet known, but the potential opponents are. The Bears could, of course, play at home, but also have potential road games at Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota, Arizona, Saint Louis, Tennessee, Jacksonville or any of the 4 NFC East teams, depending on how this season finishes.

Another trend when picking these teams is that I have never failed to select a college basketball team. This trend continued for 2012. I didn't draw a team from a state I had selected in the past. In fact, this was from a conference that I have until now left untouched. The last 4 out, as Joe Lunardi might say, were the Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans basketball (in their final D-1 year) Maryland basketball and Utah State football. The team that I selected had another ursine mascot... the Mercer Bears.

Wow, if the Bears have a home game, I can just wear Mercer gear and probably fit in, huh? Mercer is located in Macon, Georgia, and has, if I recall, a pretty decent medical school. They also have a home game on January 2nd against Florida Gulf Coast University, the 16th game on their schedule, which was the game I drew to attend. Mercer plays in the Atlantic Sun conference, long dominated by Belmont, and finished 11-9 in conference last season, good for 5th. Most importantly, I'm heading south in January!

An update on my trip to Wyoming

I got something in the mail today. What could it be? It's from the University of Wyoming and/or Pepsi.

A Fan guide? And ride the brand? Both of these things don't make sense to me. Let's open 'er up.

Awesome! A user's guide for tailgating! And, you know, some other stuff, like don't get in fights, don't be a jackass, stuff like that.

On the back are seating diagrams for the various arenas and stadiums in Laramie. Also, just outside of this picture is a blurb on NCAA Compliance. Basically, all it says is "boosters, comply with NCAA Rules" If only Miami had thought to do the same.

Oh, hey. There they are. My ticket! I am going to Laramie! Woohoo!

My trip to Churchill Downs

Back during my nascent wanderlust in college, I convinced a couple of friends to head down to Louisville with me, just because it was close and I was a senior who had yet to cross the Ohio into the adjacent state to our south.
So we went, me and my roommate Shawn and our friend Joel. It was only about a 2 hour drive, I think, from West Lafayette to Louisville, so we were able to spend the better part of a day in Kentucky's largest city. The city of Louisville, but the way, is rather majestic coming in from the north. During the day, we saw everything that one would expect in Louisville. We saw the Louisville slugger museum, downtown and the University of Louisville, all leaving us with a pretty good impression of the city. The last stop was Churchill Downs (mostly because I thought it was in Lexington, and didn't try to find it until the last minute), but we got there around 530, after the track had closed for the day. We were going to be content taking out picture out front and head back to school.
As we were resigning ourselves to the fact that our time in Louisville was nearly at an end, we sought one a security guard to take a group picture for us. She did more than that. "Hey, do you guys want to see the track?" she asked. We sure did! She led us through the facility and eventually down into the bleachers and right next to the dirt that is being raced upon today.
The impression I got was that everyone there loves the Derby, loves the track and mostly loves the tradition. Going into the race, most Kentuckians don't really care who wins the race, but are just proud to host it. Afterwards, at the track anyways, the hosts will cheer for whichever steed won the race. My brief time there, and the courteousness of the guard as well as the evident pride have left me with a soft spot for the race from that point forward. I probably won't get a chance to catch it, but I hope everyone has fun.

Finally, a story from New York

This was a picture of Yankee Stadium that was taken not long before the game started. Oh yes, it was truly that empty in the Bronx. The weather was brutal in New York at game time. Game time temperatures were in the low 40s with wind howling at about 30mph. I have never been to a baseball game that miserable. It didn't help that me and my friend were totally unprepared for the conditions, and only had a thin jacket on.
But still, we were there, and we sat through the game. We expected to have to contend with some obnoxious fans, to the point that we were nervous. There simply weren't enough people at the game to give us any problems. There were two brothers that drove up Virginia sitting next to us, but they were too cold to care (they were actually wearing shorts). We only had hot chocolate to drink. What I'm trying to say is that it was really cold and miserable at Yankee Stadium.
So, the Yankees took their 4 nothing lead early, and the game was moving along at a pretty steady pace, and we were OK with that. Then, late in the game, the Twins loaded the bases, and Delmon Young popped one up down the right field line. The way it hung in the air and corkscrewed back to earth, you knew it was going to drop. I have never been so devastated to see the Twins come back and tie a close game. If there was a game we didn't want in extra innings, it was definitely this one.
Naturally, this was the game that DID go extra frames. Fortunately, the pitching changes stopped, and the Twins scored quickly in the top of the 10th, then had Joe Nathan mow through the Yankees lineup. When we got up to leave, we were still wary of belligerent Yankees fans (especially after complaints about umpiring from those around us... again, those were our seats, and that was our angle) but most everyone wanted to go inside and get warm. It literally hurt to go down the stairs, because the fluid in my knees was freezing up. I'm lucky I didn't get hypothermia.
But we made it. We ended up on a train surrounded by other Twins fans who mostly kept to themselves and were just happy to be out of the wind. Also, there was a random, non baseball fan that I think tried to dance with me on the subway. She was sort of cute.

New York on my mind

In case you couldn't tell by the first two links earlier, I have New York on the brain. I am leaving bright and early Saturday morning. I will post some links tomorrow morning, probably, but may not have time to post much later in the day, so I wanted to tell you what's up. I haven't sought out guest writers for the trip, so instead, you can take a break from your Victoria Times reading for a few days, unless Steve checks in with a post, in which case you should definitely read something and pay very close attention to.
So here's the deal. I leave Saturday and will be in the Big Apple through Wednesday. I am going to the Twins-Yankees tilt on Tuesday, pending the weather. If you want to look for me, I will be in the third level on the first base side. I will be the one not wearing Yankees gear. If you want any pithy updates from me, than follow The Victoria Times on Twitter (you will also get a healthy dose of weather info as well... fair warning), as my chubby little thumbs will be tweeting a couple of times during the day.
OK, that's it. I may check in tomorrow with something, otherwise, I will see you next week!

My 2011 Random Road Trip destination is set

As you all know, I was unable  to go the Vermont-Stony Brook tilt back in January (Stony Brook just lost to Boston University in the America East title game tonight, by the way), but all systems are go for game two in this adventure. Where to? As you may or may not recall, the second team in this years road trip series is the Wyoming Cowboys' football team. Their 6th game was the game that was selected, and we were just waiting on the Mountain West to come out with their 2011 schedule.
They did just the other day, and game #6 on the Cowboys' schedule is a home tilt with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. I thought there was a chance I might see them play Colorado State last year, but that was not the case, and I get to catch the Rebs in Laramie this year. The game is on October 15th, and I couldn't be more excited to go.

The rest of the trip out west.

As you all know by now, I drove all the way out to sunny southern California last week to check out the game between San Diego State and Colorado State. I already shared some stories and insight from the game itself, so now I thought I would share some of the stories from the rest of the trip that you might be interested in. Of course, that's probably just the narcissism talking.

- Joel, my friend who went out there with me, didn't want to drive through the Plains, so he flew into Denver and I picked him up at the airport. I got there about an hour before his plane, so I had to spent the time waddling through DIA in the non-secure part of the airport. They don't generally put any of the restaurants in that part of the airport, and I ended up starving by the time Joel got in town. Everyone working there was pretty uncommunicative, but at one point a tall blond wearing knee high boots strolled in. Then the Denver Airport officials started throwing themselves at her. Nobody else got any help, however.

- We tried to book ourselves a hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado, but struggled to find one with availability. Apparently Grand Junction is a hotbed of convention activity. When we arrived, we found out that there was a soil and water convention in town. Let me tell you, those seminars looked like they were incredibly interesting. I have never seen so many full size pick up trucks in a Doubletree parking lot.

- We went out to eat at a pizza place in downtown Grand Junction (I wish I remembered the name) and were surrounded by some serious hippies. One polite young lady was their with her dog and was smoking outside, when a BMW tried to park in a spot much, much too small. We shared a laugh. But the really fun people there were at the seats next to us. I only heard one line from them. "So your zen is good...." Sure is, lady.

- Driving through eastern Utah left me with a profound sadness. It's so empty. It still affects me. The good thing is, when you reach 15, the speed limit is 80!

- I learned in Vegas that roulette is not my game. I kept losing and losing every time we played. At one point, we headed back to our hotel (Treasure Island) and Joel ran up to the room for a second. I won 110 dollars playing blackjack in the time he was up there. I ended up breaking even for the trip. At least we got to eat at MGM.

- The seedy underside of Vegas is all the Mexicans handing out fliers for escorts.

- Went to the Hoover Dam and crossed the Dam Bridge. There was a lot of Dam information to take in. My biggest Dam problem was that people wouldn't get out of the Dam road.

- We stopped at the Boulder City Albertsons to pick up some supplies. A cart attendant started talking to us as we were loading up the cooler. And kept talking, and talking. After she would say something, she would wish us a nice day, then start talking about something else, like how hot it was, or how we drove a long way. It was... uncomfortable. Also at the Albertsons? A limousine. I have no explanation for this.

- Here in Minnesota, most of my friends have labeled me as a fast driver, and make fun of me as a leadfoot. Pretty much everywhere I went, I was the slowest car on the road. Perhaps Minnesotans just drive too slow? I think so.

- In San Diego, we went to the world famous zoo. I for one love zoos, and this was obviously the best I had ever been to. It was HUGE and had packed in a crazy number of animals. The highlights were the rhinos, which I had never seen before, the hippos, which you could see above and below the water line and the mountain lions, another animal I had never seen before. Scary to think they have been seen around here before. Wait, I was thinking of cougars, which have been seen at suburban bars.
I was wearing my Southeast Missouri State shirt. A couple checking out a fox with us turned to me and said "oh, we're from St. Louis" then kept walking. People seem unwilling to chat with me out on the street.

- The next day, we went to the Grand Canyon and headed out to eat. As we were leaving the restaurant, a guy was staggering around his car and asked if the "General Store" was open. Then he noticed Joel's Purdue sweatshirt and obviously pleasant demeanor and started talking about his son, who went to Purdue and was now at Johns Hopkins and just went on and on. He was obviously severely intoxicated, and said he was looking for more beer. I doubt his son went to Purdue or Johns Hopkins.
By the way, the hotel at the Grand Canyon was far and away the busiest we saw.

- On the way into the Grand Canyon, we were slowed by a herd of elk. Almost as bad as traffic in Riverside. there were also signs for large cat crossings. We saw no such thing.

- We DID see tumbleweeds crossing the road, however. I managed to hit a few of them. The first one was sitting in between two lanes of traffic in the direction I was heading. I didn't know which way to swerve and it bounced up and over the car. The second one was the real problem. It rolled right out in front of us and I drove over it, managing to get it wrapped up and under the car. It was hilarious at the time, but damn, those things are prickly. Pulling it out was not a pleasant task. I made Joel do it. By the time the third hit (off the passenger door) there was nothing left to say.

- At the Grand Canyon, we hiked down about 3/4 of a mile. Going down is a lot tougher than coming back up, surprisingly. My knee still hurts. When we came back out, there was a mother and her two children playing with sticks. The bratty little son grabbed one of the sticks and hurled it over the side, down on the trail. Joel and I were mortified, but thankfully, we haven't heard any stories of people getting killed by getting knocked off the trail and falling 2 miles to the Colorado.

- We saw the donkeys at the trailhead. One tried to eat my jacket.

- On the way back out of the Rockies, we put the car in neutral and coasted 10 miles. We got 38+ miles to the gallon on that tank.

Solid trip all around, if you were to ask me. I would say my zen is good.

I leave for San Diego on Tuesday

Now that it's the Sunday before November 6th, I have pretty much all the information I'm going to get from the two teams I will see next Saturday. Yes, it's time for another awkward post about how I am going to see a game somewhere else in the country. The plan is to depart Tuesday to begin my journey to Qualcomm Stadium in beautiful San Diego for the game between Colorado State and San Diego State. I drew Colorado State and their 10th game of the season way back on October 5th of 2009 and had to wait until now to plan the trip, much like I'll have to wait until next year for both of my trips.
But this is about this year. Colorado State and San Diego State each played yesterday, and they each won conference games. I'll start with the Rams. Colorado State won at home versus the woeful New Mexico Lobos, 38-14. The Rams are now 3-6 and out of bowl contention. It seems that no matter the situation, the Rams always play in blowouts. There has only been one game within 21 points in either direction, a 38-34 win against Idaho. They even lost to Miami of Ohio by 21 points. So, it seems as though Colorado State isn't even as good as their 3-6 record says. Their greater successes seem to come through the air, where Pete Thomas, Rams QB and member of the witness protection program, has passed for 2007 yards, all while doing an excellent job of distributing to dozens of receivers. Their running backs have a good yards/carry average, but they are never in the game long enough for that to be a big factor.
The Aztecs of San Diego State are on the opposite end of the spectrum in the Mountain West Conference. They are on a three game winning streak, starting with a win against then ranked Air Force. They have a total of two losses on the season (and six wins), and the two losses were at Missouri (by three) and at BYU (also by three). The Missouri game looks more impressive, and the BYU less so now in retrospect. The Aztecs have done a good job beating teams they should defeat, and struggling against teams more talented, but they have never truly been out of any game. They rely on a strong passing attack as well, 19th in the country in fact. Ryan Lindley, Aztec QB has thrown for 2255 yards and 15 touchdowns, while mitigating mistakes, only throwing 7 INTs and taking 4 sacks. The offensive line must be a good one, because the team has also sprung running back Ronnie Hillman for 893 yards (including 228 against Missouri) but he is battling injury and has slowed way down, getting only 44 yards against Wyoming yesterday.
I have to believe that this game is easily in hand for San Diego State, clearly superior and at home against the Rams, but they need to beware of the potential for a trap game. Colorado State has nothing to lose, and the Aztecs may be looking ahead to a couple of games against the highly ranked TCU Horned Frogs (#4) and Utah Utes (#8). I don't see that being a huge issue, however, and I would guess this one goes the way of San Diego State, 41-13.

Ryan's Random Road Trips, 2011

With my upcoming voyage to San Diego for the Colorado State-San Diego State game completing my 2010 road trip campaign (the first was to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for a basketball game game between Southeast Missouri State and visiting Murray State), today was the day I drew my trips for 2011.
The two teams that I drew were a near statistical improbability to have drawn at all, let alone for the same calendar year. For those that don't remember, my picks are made by inputting all Division 1 basketball and football teams, NFL, MLB, and NHL teams into a computer program which will randomly select any one of those teams. After the teams are selected, I then have the same program randomly select a game (by number, depending on the length of their schedule. It skews heavily towards college basketball, and in fact, every year I have had at least one, if not two basketball games come up on the schedule. This year was no different. 1 basketball, 1 football game.
The first team that was drawn was a basketball squad who is often in the NCAA Tournament from the America East Conference. There is only 1 team from the entire state, and it was drawn:

Team one is the Vermont Catamounts! Game 13 was selected for them, which on the 2010-2011 schedule is a road game against Iona... However this falls in 2010. I'll have to wait for next year to find out exactly where and when the game will be. Vermont is one of 2 states (Maine being the other) with only 1 possible team to be selected. Even Alberta has more possible teams than Vermont, yet somehow the were the team chosen.

On to team two. The football game I am going to in the first week of November is a Mountain West contest between Colorado State and San Diego State. Either of those teams could again be in my plans as one of the remaining Mountain West teams was drawn:

The Wyoming Cowboys! Their 6th game on the season was selected, but that is relatively meaningless. The conference is getting dramatically changed next season, with BYU and Utah are leaving, while Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada are joining the conference, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Wyoming has only two teams, with the University of Wyoming basketball team being the other in the state.
This is a pretty fun set of teams, and it will be interesting to finally see who the opponents will be!

Believe it or not, College football is a mere 7 weeks away

With Minnesota and Purdue projected to linger at the bottom of the Big Ten for this season, and if expansion continues, perhaps for the rest of history or until both are deported to Conference USA because they aren't profitable, and a 32 team national super conference is the wave of the future
Where was I? Oh right. With the two teams that typically receive my support dropped towards irrelevance, It's hard to look forward to the season without thinking of the game I will try to attend as part of my random road trip adventure. For those that don't remember, it will be November 6th and will feature Colorado State playing in San Diego against the SDSU Aztecs.
Both teams were awful last year, with the Aztecs winning two conference games and the Rams going winless. That said, it's still college football, it's still a road trip, and it's still going to be awesome. I can't imagine how delirious with road trippin' excitement I will be by the end of October. Heck, it's still mid July and I'm already thinking about a game between mediocre teams at the tail end of their seasons.
But hey, Robert Marve might be good for Purdue.

Now this is a road trip

I'm sure everyone obsesses about my annual road trips and knows that my next one was to be the Colorado State Rams football team, and their 10th game of the season. All I had to do was wait on the schedule to come out. It finally did. For the second year in a row, after expecting schedules to maintain a similar format from year to year, I was surprised to see that the conferences in question changed things up. Instead of a game in Fort Collins against UNLV as I had suspected, they are on the road.
Way, way on the road.

Yeah, they are going to be in San Diego against the San Diego State Aztecs on November 6th. Whoo boy.