- The family drove up to the small East Texas town of Lindale the day before Thanksgiving. After our Thanksgiving lunch, the kids stayed with their grandparents and we drove to Austin for the TCU/UT game. On the way to the game, we saw three empty police cars on the side of the road. I’m guessing it’s a passive way to enforce the speed limit so law enforcement can spend time with their families.
- I mounted my cell phone on the dash and hooked up the audio to the SUV’s stereo and used our Slingbox to stream some television during the drive to Austin. WifeGeeding was able to catch up on ‘Survivor’ and we both got to partake of the first half of the lackluster Cowboys game. Sprint’s coverage wasn’t too bad for most of the trip, but I couldn’t even get one bar or any 3G or 4G service when I was in DKR Memorial Stadium. Gosh, I can’t wait to ditch Sprint.
- We decided to park at the intramural fields where parking was free but you had to pay for the bus ride to and from the stadium. It worked out pretty well and would recommend it.
- While it was festive, there was a lack of buzz outside the stadium. I’m guessing that’s attributed to most students being home for Thanksgiving and Longhorn fans knowing their odds of winner were pretty slim.
- Other than the 1999 Cotton Bowl, this is the only other “real” college game I’ve attended. Sure I’ve been to Hardin-Simmons games, but it’s really just slightly glorified high school football. Heck, HSU doesn’t even offer scholarships. I have been to a Baylor/North Texas and Missouri/Baylor game, but the atmosphere and attendance at those games were depressing.
- This game made me regret my decision to attend HSU tenfold. Forget the athletic teams, I’m talking about quality of education, price, recognition, and professional networking. Oh, and I’ve never seen so many hot girls in my life.
- WifeGeeding was surprised at how spacious the corridors of the stadium was. They had the Cowboys game playing on all the HDTVs, and I was surprised to see the nice lounging areas with couches and coffee tables. Instead of regular stadium food, I saw chains like Subway, but the longest line I saw, which had to be at least an hour wait, was for Starbucks. Also a bit surprising, their water fountains were designed so you can quickly fill up a water bottle. I’ve seen these things on the HSU campus, but was surprised you’d see them inside a stadium, thinking they would try to gouge you to spend money on concessions.
- WifeGeeding saw several Longhorn dance squad girls and told me I should get a picture with them, but she was picky on who I could and could not pose with. I like a woman with standards.
- Our seats were in the north end zone and thirteen rows up. The stadium appeared to be about 85% full. I was surprised at how big it looked and how small it felt.
- It was senior night, and the biggest cheer was for David Ash.
- I don’t know if this is the norm for all college stadiums, but they mic up the band so you can hear them play, which I think that’s cheating.
- WiFi was offered, but you had to pay for it. I think it was like three bucks an hour or you could buy full day access for twenty.
- Before the start of the game, some dude in a jetpack flew around the stadium, and that thing was wicked loud.
- WifeGeeding and I were pleasantly surprised at how friendly everyone was around us. Heck, even the TCU and UT folks were friendly and respectfully chiding each other. It was crazy how civil they were with each other. They were so cordial about it, I took a life lesson away from it – stop taking everything so seriously.
- The TCU crowd was both larger and louder than I thought. Overall, I thought the entire stadium crowd would be louder.
- When a Longhorn was injured on the field, UT fans hold the Hook ‘Em sign up until they got up, but I was surprised to see them do the same thing when a TCU player was injured.
- It was Bevo’s 98th birthday and he was got well wishes from other college mascots like Uga from Georgie and Ralphie the Buffalo from Colorado. Also sending him birthday wishes were Roger Staubach (two granddaughters at UT), David Robinson, George Strait, the governor-elect, and others. Shockingly, Matthew McConaughey wasn’t part of the video.
- One video they made sure to play was the winning kick in their last game against aTm. There were a few dudes wearing Aggie and Baylor gear at the game. The Longhorn fans around us all were talking about how proud they are of what Baylor has done over the years and want them to get into the final four more than TCU. Oh, and the stadium liked paying highlights of former Longhorns that are current NFL players on the video board.
- I kept looking for the overhead camera that zips all over the stadium, but there wasn’t one much to my shagrin.
- Our plan after the game was to stay with WifeGeeding’s brother in nearby Georgetown. She was going to ride back to East Texas with him and his family and I was going to head back to Lewisville in the morning. But I was so wound up with energy I just decided to drive back that night to sleep in my own bed. I got home around 2:30 AM and saw a pretty heavy police presence on the way back. It was a bit weird to see full parking lots at places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. One advantage of driving back that late – no traffic whatsoever.
- That was the first Thanksgiving I spent away from my home or place of residence, which makes me a tiny bit sad but at the same time I feel a bit liberated.
- I posted a Texas Monthly article about Baylor a few weeks ago and part of it talked about desegregation. Looking at the year mentioned, I asked my mother-in-law if she was there for the event, and it happened during her senior year, though she never did see any black students on campus. I know you have to take into consideration the time of events, but it’s just fascinating how one can go through college without having any black classmates.
- While in East Texas I was offered the chance to own 0.01% of a wildcat oil well. The investment would cost roughly eight grand.
- With the wife and kids gone, I caught up on some DVR watching and finished the ‘Houdini’ miniseries on the History channel. It met my expectations, but there were lots of inaccuracies.
- I watched The Wolf of Wall Street and it didn’t meet my expectations. It seemed to run long and you just had an idea of what was going to happen next.
- I watched The Guardians of the Galaxy and it also didn’t meet my expectations, but Bradley Cooper’s voice acting exceeded my expectations.
- FXX had a Phil Hartman ‘Simpsons’ marathon that took up a decent part of my Sunday.
- A reader pointed out that the anonymous commenter who criticized my writing misspelled “grammar” as “grammer”.
- For my fellow KTCK The TICKET listeners – A P1 house sat for us and I didn’t notice this message he left for us for a few days.
- Deadspin: Former Oklahoma RB: DeMarco Murray Had An Affair With My Wife
- Last night’s big death on ‘The Walking Dead’ wasn’t all that surprising to me but it was cool seeing a preview of ‘Better Call Saul’ and seeing how Saul and Mike first met.
- This makes me happy – Benedict Cumberbatch has no plans to quit ‘Sherlock’
- Watch this haunting look at Chernobyl, as seen by drones
- In this man’s obituary, he playfully admits he was Spider-Man and was married to Gwen Stefani. Here’s an article about it.
- The Story Behind Bowie and Bing’s Offbeat Christmas Classic
The only Div1 games I've attended were TCU games on Band Day at ACF. To be honest I can't remember the first opponent or the score. I was in HS and more interested in all the hot girls. The second was as a chaperone to the band some 20 years later. They played K-State and won.
From what I've heard, there are many Longhorn fans not happy with the game day experience at DRK. The advertising and mic'd up band are two of their complaints.
My family lives in Lindale. We always have Thanksgiving at their house.