Minutes to Memories

I have been to many sporting events in my years, but I have NEVER had as much fun as I did today. No Cardinal baseball game, no Razorback game, not even the NCAA Final Four can compare to my day watching the Arkansas Razorback football team upset the #2 ranked Auburn Tigers on Auburn’s home turf today.

I had set my alarm at 4:30am, and I got up ready to go. I hit the road by 5am, and arrived at my parking spot down some Alabama dirt road just after 9am. I bought a ticket from the first guy I saw with one, but after noticing there were plenty of tickets to choose from, I wondered if I bit too early. But I should not have wondered. This was meant to be a perfect day.

I took 268 pictures today, the first bulk coming when I found myself smack dab in the middle of a pre-game Auburn pep rally on Donohue Street in front of Jordan-Hare Stadium. The band arrives at the four-way stop from all four directions, and I found myself basically in the middle of them. Great photo opportunities!

When I went into the stadium, I was shocked to find my seat on the 13th row adjacent to the Razorback fans and directly across the aisle from the Razorback band. I was a few steps away from the tunnel for the football team (great photo opportunities!). I was directly facing the Razorback cheerleading squad (great photo opportunities!). And before the game started, I moved over and sat directly behind the tuba section of the band (believe it or not, great photo opportunities!).

And then, under a bright sun, blue skies, and temperatures in the upper 70s, I watched the Razorbacks kick some Tiger (or War Eagle?) tail all afternoon. Jordan-Hare seats over 87,000 fans, and there were probably 2,000 Razorback fans there. And we had a blast!!! I felt like a kid again, waving a pom-pom, singing the fight song, high-fiving band members and Hog fans I’ve never met before, and screaming until I was hoarse! The CBS Sports cameras were all over our area, too, and I even reverted further back into childhood trying to get on TV!

I enjoyed meeting the family sitting behind me, too. Turns out they were from Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, a town about 30 miles from where I grew up. The man of the family played college basketball with my friend, Troy (who now pastors in Fort Lauderdale, Florida). Before long, we were sharing all the people we both knew and exchanged business cards for our email addresses. He told me he and his son were trying to make it to all the SEC stadiums, and Jordan-Hare was number eight for them. Sounds to me like a neat thing for a father and son to share.

When the miracle came to its beautiful end in a 27-10 victory, there I was down by the field slapping Marcus Monk on the shoulder pads and giving high-fives to Razorback football players. Just like a kid! I even got a hearty high-five from new offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, who may have been the happiest man in the whole house.

The only bad thing today was in the pre-dawn hours I killed a cat on the interstate. Come to think of it, it could have been a baby tiger, in a little case of foreshadowing.

(I’ll try to upload my very best pictures from today to my Webshots page tomorrow!)