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Straight from Albuquerque: a Triple Game Diary
11/16/05
by Clay
This game diary
comes from
The first night at
Watching and writing game diaries from
Without further ado, here is my second attempt
at a triple game diary on Saturday's three best games: Florida-South Carolina,
LSU-Alabama and Auburn-Georgia.
1. I arrived at the Fox and Hound sports
bar in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the morning for Florida-South
Carolina's kickoff. No one else is at the bar and all the waitresses are wearing
Starter jerseys replete with no discernible team color associated with any
actual teams, random numbers and no names on the back. This answers the eternal
question of what ever became of the Starter company. Now my Cincinnati Reds
Starter jacket can rest in eternal peace. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
2. I'm uncertain what time it is, or if
I have gauged the starting time correctly for Florida-South Carolina because
in the preceding day, my travels from St. Thomas had me stop in San Juan (Atlantic),
Miami (Eastern), Dallas (Central) and finally Albuquerque (Mountain).
3. The
Our waitress.
4. Immediately, the camera
pans into the stadium where a
5. Chris Leak is intercepted by a huge lineman
for
Twitching is hard to capture with still photographs.
6. South
7. In a previous game diary, I mocked Steve
Spurrier for putting in vintage videotapes from Gators teams of circa 1996
in an effort to demonstrate to his USC players how his offense should be run.
I also said Spurrier resembled Uncle Rico from the movie Napoleon Dynamite.
At this point, I would like to apologize. Unlike Uncle Rico's failed quest
to reclaim 1982, Spurrier has officially reclaimed the early '90s.
"I think this is the angle where I
see the SEC east title."
8. I believe
9.
I have no idea what animal is on his hat.
10.
11. I can't be certain, but I think I just
saw the glimmer of a tear in Urban Meyer's left eye. Steve Spurrier is officially
back ... and the SEC East just became the most ridiculously competitive division
in college football.
12. Unfortunately, I miss almost the entire
first quarter of the Alabama-LSU game because my college roommate

FUPA brought to life.
13. We arrive back at his house in time
for the henchman of the Anti-Christ, Jamie Christensen, to drill a field goal
and give
14. LSU coach Les Miles appears to have
heeded my criticisms regarding his Madonna-like headset and wearing his baseball
cap as if it were a cowboy hat. Somewhere, my wife Lara is shuddering at the
thought that anyone might listen to my fashion opinions.
15. Upon further reflection, there is a
0 percent chance Les Miles knows I exist. Maybe my man Verne Lundquist can
introduce the two of us.
Verne knows everyone. Here he meets someone else I don't know.
16. Speaking of Verne, he just called David
Toms, "David Poms" and erupted with laughter. No one else in all
of America laughs with him.
17. I'm sick of this Dr. Pepper commercial
with the unattractive mother while the song Stacy's Mom is playing
in the background. We all know Rachel Hunter is Stacy's mom and if Dr. Pepper
is not willing to pony up for Rachel Hunter, then I'm not willing to drink
Dr. Pepper. Period.
Dr. Pepper...meet your new favorite drinker.
18. LSU's 42-year-old running back Joseph
Addai is feeling the effects of his age. Everyone knows rheumatism gets worse
as winter approaches. Ergo, he's only available for third downs.
19. Alabama's offense scores a touchdown
for what feels like the first time since General William Tecumseh Sherman
burned Atlanta. 10-0 'Bama.
Sherman is hiding his play sheet in this
photo.
20. The second half begins with an impressive
LSU drive and touchdown on fourth and goal. 10-7 'Bama.
21. LSU's Laron Landry epitomizes the Alabama
second half offense in one play. He sacks Brodie Croyle while driving his
forearms directly into Croyle's kidneys. As Croyle rolls around on the field
in pain, I decide this would be the perfect time for one of those organ donation
commercials.
22. LSU's Chris Jackson (not the basketball
player) drills a field goal. 10-10.
23. CBS cameramen strike gold and reward
the country with footage of twin coeds in houndstooth caps. I'm not sure about
this, but it seems possible that the twins might have set a record for collective
use of the phrase, "Oh my God." This houndstooth caps on sorority
girls trend is out of control.
An Alabama fan's wet dream.
24. How many times have television announcers
this year praised LSU's Skyler Green without him doing anything? OK, we get
it, he's a great punt returner. But do we need to be reminded of this fact
every time there is a punt in a game he is involved in? Brodie Croyle is a
great quarterback, but you don't hear an announcer say, "Look out,"
every time he drops back to pass.
Is it just me or does Skler Green sound
like she should be the hottest girl on earth. Nope...google agrees.
25. Admittedly, immediately after writing
the sentence above, I expect Skyler Green to return three punts in a row for
touchdowns.
26. Verne tells a story about Mike Shula
wearing flip-flops. Somehow the significance of Shula wearing flip-flops is
lost on me.
27. Todd Blackledge points out that the
Madonna headset is now missing from Les Miles wardrobe. I decide that Todd
Blackledge and I are the Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren of college football
wardrobes.
28. My wife Lara points out that I still
own and wear corduroy pants. Perhaps I am the fashion-equivalent of the guy
behind Zubbaz.
KWo still owns and wears these.
29. LSU's Chris Jackson misses a field goal
wide left that would have given LSU a 13-10 lead. Dale Brown is going to bench
him for sure.
30. Alabama has zero offensive yards for
the second half. Brodie Croyle is sacked for the sixth time.
31. Verne Lundquist takes a great shot at
CSI: "I'm still waiting for CSI: Steamboat Springs,"
he says. No one watching the game with me has any idea where Steamboat Springs
is but everyone is certain it would star Ashton Kutcher.
32. LSU's Chris Jackson is wide right with
under a minute to play. I think in his postgame news conference he should
blame the Tourette's even if he doesn't have Tourette's.
He could even wear this shirt.
33. The phrase "controlling their own
destiny" is used for the 463rd time during the course of this game.
34. Alabama is tackled at the 10 to end
regulation.
35. My least favorite player in the SEC,
"Money", is good from 34 to give Alabama a 13-10 lead.
36. Steamboat Springs is located in Colorado
and is known as "Ski Town USA."
37. LSU scores a touchdown on third down
on a Jamarcus Russell pass. 16-13. I swear to God, immediately after the touchdown,
I saw two LSU men kissing. Somebody else had to see this. Either that, or
a woman has a really bad haircut.
The wrong football...and actually the wrong
idea at all times. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
38. Georgia-Auburn begins and it quickly
becomes clear that Kenny Irons cannot be stopped. He scores from 30 yards
out to give Auburn a 7-0 lead.
39. Bob Davie gives us a digression on bulldog
weight, life, and breeding techniques. Evidently in addition to being a poor
match for Ron Franklin, he is also a bulldog expert.
40. Georgia tight-end Leonard Pope is running
open for Georgia. How in the world does anyone lose Pope in coverage? He takes
up five yards just standing still.
41. Bob Davie confidently asserts that Georgia
quarterback DJ Shockley "is faster with a knee brace than without."
The laws of physics surrender.
If this dog could talk, he would say, "Just
ask Bob Davie."
42. At the half, it is 21-20 Auburn and
my pen has run out of ink.
43. There is a story about Georgia players
riding horses. I have no idea what the purpose of this story is, but we all
get to see D.J. Shockley ride a horse, which I would have given pretty good
odds was unlikely before the game.
44. Kenny Irons is finally stopped. He fumbles
as Auburn drives, trailing 27-21. Seriously, if some guy came up to you and
said, "Kenny Irons is going to kick your ass" wouldn't you be incapable
of sleep? This is one of those classic normal yet terrifying names. In elementary
school, 2 to 1 odds he took other kids lunch money.
Kenny before he left
45. Georgia returns the fumble favor and
Auburn returns the gift for a touchdown. 28-27 Auburn.
46. Georgia's Coutu drills a field goal
to give the 'Dawgs a 30-28 lead.
47. We are treated to a walk down the tombstones
of the Uga's. Some day when we are all gone and they uncover these gravestones
in Sanford Stadium, latter day archaeologists are going to be really puzzled
as to how Uga IV won a national championship in football as it states in his
tombstone.
48. Auburn's John Vaughn drills the winning
field goal. 31-30 Auburn. This is sweet redemption for him after he missed
five field goals against LSU last month.
The photographer said, "Give me Abercrombie."
49. I'm drained, but college football is
the greatest game in the history of the universe.
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