Thank You For Your Service!!!

The annual weekend with my high school crew took place partially on the white sugar sands of the redneck riviera at the new World DFT Headquarters. This was followed by a trip to Troy University for their battle against Army. Meanwhile, Mrs. Tailgate was teleported back out to Cali so as to not witness the depravity of these shenanigans The fellas rolled into the riviera on Thursday, and as usual, we got home early that evening as we pledged to take it easy … Early as in 2 a.m. That’s early, right? Friday had us diving in the emerald clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico and partaking in some recovery beverages and tucking in by 10 p.m. This set the stage for our main event, which was the tailgate and game at Troy University.

Village Idiots, the white sands of 30A and someone had to shave their head!

After a two hour drive, we arrived in Troy to a balmy 72 degrees and sunshine only to see the temp drop 25 degrees throughout the day with clouds rolling in. Our menu consisted of protein, more protein and even more protein charred up on the grill, chips and beer, and a few other libations. I brought half of my tailgate belongings in the Florida move, and we put them to use throughout our three hour tailgate. Since it was military appreciation day, we were treated to a helicopter squadron flyover and static machinery displays in the tailgate area brought in by Fort Rucker. We blasted music, played cornhole and told tales that just keep getting more incredulous. After a final toast, we broke camp and headed into the game. Our tickets were provided courtesy of Vet Tix, a great organization that provides free tickets to veterans and law enforcement personnel.

Tailgating in Lot 5 at Troy

Troy University resides in the town of Troy, AL, which is in the southeastern part of the state. Troy is a university of over 18,000 students, and they compete in the Sun Belt Conference. Demarcus Ware and Virgil Seay are two of the most famous alumni to play at the next level. The team nickname is the Trojans, and their mascot is, you guessed it, a Trojan.

The stadium was relatively full to start the game with active duty soldiers from Fort Benning and Fort Rucker along with many veterans filling the stands. Fittingly, the stadium is nicknamed the Vet, short for Veterans Memorial Stadium. It was built in 1959 and originally only held 5,000 seats. Today, the beautiful Troy Colosseum holds 30,000 fans who love their team as much as Bama and Auburn fans do in the Yellow Hammer State. The Troy University band, named the Sound of The South, belted out many great songs but were also competing with the piped in music. They more than made up for it with an amazing patriotic halftime performance. We also witnessed history as sixth year Troy senior, Carlton Martial, set an NCAA record by recording his 546th career tackle.

Inside the Vet!

Army, in the midst of a disappointing season, came into the contest with a 3-5 record, while Troy was sitting at 7-2. Army jumped out to a 9-0 first half lead behind a touchdown run by Tyheir Tyler and a field goal. Army’s fortune would change as the Troy defense tightened up and their offense added a field goal. With eight minutes left, Troy would take the lead on a touchdown pass from QB Gunnar Watson to Tez Johnson for a score of 10-9. Each team would trade punts, and then came Army’s chance to earn a victory. However, they would fall short as they missed a 42 yard field goal attempt with time expiring. Off to our choice lodgings in Troy to begin our recovery process.

Around the Country - In the PAC 12, both UCLA and Oregon dimmed the chances of their conference getting in the CFP by both suffering their second losses of the season. This leaves only USC with an outside chance of crashing the dance. In the Big 12, TCU continues its Cinderella story, knocking off Texas to improve to a record of 10-0. All went as expected in the Big Ten with Michigan and Ohio State continuing on their collision course in two weeks, both winning and preserving their undefeated seasons. Down South in the SEC, Alabama left the Grove in Oxford with a close win, and Georgia and LSU both won, solidifying their collective grip on the SEC championship game. In the ACC, both Clemson and North Carolina improved to 9-1 creating a path to meet in the ACC championship with the winner perhaps getting in the playoff. Since it was Veterans Day on Friday and Military Appreciation Day on Saturday, let’s see how our other academies performed. The Midshipmen from Annapolis put up a courageous fight but were ultimately sunk by the Fighting Irish from South Bend. Air Force bombarded the Lobos from Breaking Bad land 38-3. 

Brady's Navy pregaming for Notre Dame- Navy game

 

 

The Colonel and his chicken

Condolences - To the three UVA football players who were murdered by a former UVA player over the weekend. This is a tragic loss of life and we do not know the reason as to why this happened. Please pray for their families.

Bieber - ESPN Gameday is this week's honoree. I still have no idea why they picked the University of Texas. Yes, TCU is worthy this year, but they were not the home team. Other than the shellacking the Horns gave the Sooners earlier this year, they have had a most forgettable season. Shame! There were many other worthy venues to promote, but you were lazy and picked Austin again. Maybe you can place the Bieber trophy on the desk where Lee Corso should be until his return. Honorable mention for the people in Reno who were afraid of a little weather — and a really bad home team — and bailed on the Boise beat down of their boys. 

Ginger - Coach Jim Mora of UCONN. UCONN has been the laughing stock of the FBS for over a decade now. There has even been talk of the program being jettisoned. They consistently were referred to as UCANT and found themselves in the ESPN bottom ten each week. Now in his first season as the man at the helm, Mora just secured the Huskies’ sixth win of the season with an upset over Liberty University. This makes them bowl eligible which is an incredible feat. Hats off to Mora for pulling this relic of a program out of the depths of despair and bringing respectability to Storrs, Connecticut. You, sir, are a badass.

Next Up - A double banger with my brother Brian for games at Tulane on Thursday and Southern Miss on Saturday. We might even pull off a surprise third game on Friday. Stay tuned.

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Happy Tailgating!