Yesterday, I attended Nashville's very own bowl game, the Music City Bowl. I admit I bought tickets back before the UT/Vandy game when I had hopes of getting to pay only ten bucks to see the Vols play in a bowl game. Alas, UT lost to Vandy and my hopes of seeing my beloved Vols in person again this year were dashed, but I figured--you know, how often do you get to go to a college bowl game?
As big a college football fan as I am, I'd never been to a bowl game, though I've watche more than my fair share on television over the years. So, I figured why not give it a try.
I met up with my old friend, Rich and after putting a good dent in the Shoney's breakfast bar, we steered toward the Coliseum to watch Virginia take on Minnesota.
I have to admit it was a novel expereince for me--it was the first time I've ever gone to a college football game where I didn't have a dog in the hunt. I was hoping for a good game that would be entertaining and I have to admit--I got my money's worth. At first, it looked like the Golden Gophers would blow out UVA, but UVA put on quite the rally in the second half to take the lead with just over a minute to go and win the game. And we even upgraded our upper bowl seats to lower bowl seats at half-time...heck, the ushers were encouraging us to since the game wasn't sold out.
Which brings me to my point--come on Nashville! I know it's not exactly a national championship game but it's still a college bowl game in your city. And you know, it was pretty darn entertaining and fun to watch. And for ten bucks, how can you really go wrong? So many times I hear complaints at how much a game costs to go but here's an affordable opportunity many didn't take advantage of. I remember back in the day, my family lived close to where the Blue/Gray game was played. My dad got some inexpensive tickets and took me to the game. I remember Johnny Majors was the coach that day and my dad telling me great stories of Majors and how he was the coach for UT and what a good guy he was. I don't recall much of the game, but I do recall the fun afternoon with my dad out at a game. I hope that if I continue to live in Nashville and they continue to have the Music City Bowl and I'm blessed with kids someday that I can take them to the game and create some similar memories. At the very least, I hope to someday take Davis to the game and spend an afternoon with him, should he like football.
So, it was a good game and a nice way to start the New Year's weekend. Sure it wasn't my beloved Vols, but it was still two decent college football teams both playing it out. And it was fascinating to watch the fans for both schools, the marching bands and the various cheerleaders for both sides. I saw the Minnesota cheer squad take a few minutes to let a small kid (he must have been threee or four) onto the sidelines with them for some photos. He was dressed in a Golden Gopher outfit and watching it, I couldn't tell who was more eccstatic--the kid or his parents.
Good fun. I plan to go to the game next year and hope you'll make your plans to join me as well.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 12/31/2005 10:01:00 AM |
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