Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame Wrap Up...

It is simply the greatest game ever. Saturday’s all day affair at the Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame game went as well as anyone could have expected, with the exception of actually winning the game. Our new tailgate spot is a winner and the big screen set up worked perfectly despite an early scare in which a bad bulb on the projector was discovered. This would have killed the spirits of most tailgate revelers, but not this group. We worked the phones and thanks to Debbie Lynch and her gracious boss, we came up with a replacement long before anything football related began to air. I’m not certain, but I think us guys did a pretty good job of draining a full ½ keg of beer, before packing it up and heading down the hill to Bobby Dodd Stadium around 7:30 PM.

Having ESPN Game Day on campus was great. While we struggled to get our mugs on TV, it was fun to be down there with the students, the GT band, television crew, etc… The only dark spot; having to bare being in the presence of the absolute worst sports color guy in all of broadcast, Brent Musberger. The guy is simply the biggest idiot to ever get air time. I even drew some hearty laughs doing my impersonation of him for the GT band we were standing in front of.

We tried in vain to make a few regular game day drunk dials to friends and relatives at other games across this great land of ours, mainly my sister and brother in law who were cowboying up at Happy Valley, PA watching Penn State stick it to the Akron Zips in the midst of hurricane Ernesto rements, but the crowds were too loud for either of us to hear our phones ring, and we were too numb from libations to feel them vibrate in our pockets. Being around a college campus on football Saturday is just a great feeling no matter which institution it might be. Katie loved the GT band coming around and serenading the tailgaters. Our fellow tailgaters, whether they be GT students, alumni, or visiting fans were a pleasure to hang out with. It was noted by more than one person how great the Notre Dame fans were in comparison to the king of all jackasses: Georgia Bulldog fans who come down to campus every other year looking to start fights and other trouble like the redneck drunken high schooler’s that they are.

The tailgate and Game Day coverage was great, but it’s all about the game folks and a great game it was. This was the best football game I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing since arriving here in Georgia 15 years ago. Yes, it would have been nice to win, but one thing for certain, GT’s defense smacked any sugar plumb thoughts of a blowout out of ND’s head the first time they lined up over the ball. It was a hard fought defensive contest in which no mistakes were made and ultimately ND just simply outlasted the underdog Yellow Jackets. The best thing about it was that the Jackets were in it up to the end.

It can’t go unmentioned that I was personally let down by the treachery of my friends who, after seeing me dump four/five airplane bottles of VARIOUS types of booze into my garbage pail size coke, failed to stop me from consuming all of it. This lead to wee hour in the morning consumption of too many Tums, which lead to no sleep, which lead to some porcelain hugging, and an entire Sunday’s worth of convalesence. No matter, it was all worth it. Lesson: when preparing your gametime drink, pick ONE type of booze and stick to it.

Elsewhere amongst my other college team favorites, things looked pretty grim. I didn’t get to see or hear any of the Army game against Arkansas State, but my dad says they played horrible. Not good. This was a game that they should have won. Could be a tought season up at West Point for the Cadet's if their rookie offense can't do better. Maryland Terp’s won, but not as decisively as they should have IMHO. They’ve got QB troubles on par with that of Army. I thought Penn State should have won bigger, but they did look pretty good in the muck and mire. For their first game, I’d say that verdict is still out on them. They head to South Bend, IN for a tough one against ND next weekend. That’ll be one to watch for sure.

As for GT, they've got a long string of home games against a couple of cupcakes and then UVA, who looked pretty bad this weekend, before they face anybody tough. After last Saturday’s game, it feels like these will be underwhelming events for us tailgater's in comparison to last Saturday, but that okay too. I have no doubt we’ll make the best of them and have as much fun as anyone can have. If anyone out there would like to make the trip down to join in the fun simply let me know and we’ll make it happen. Until then, GO Jackets!!!