Guns up!

It is said that a road less traveled is a road worth travelling. Thus, I made my college football pilgrimage to Lubbock, TX, this weekend for the first time to watch the Texas Tech Red Raiders spar with the Kansas State Wildcats. Lubbock sits in the middle of West Texas cotton and cowboy country, a good five-hour drive from Dallas/Fort Worth. I would be joined on this segment of my journey by daughter #2 and her beaux. We would link up with Lubbock locals: my brother-in-law, his wife and daughter. Texas Tech plays in the Big 12 Conference, and once upon a time they were part of the now defunct yet notorious Southwest Conference. Legendary players such as Patrick Mahomes, Zach Thomas, Michael Crabtree, Danny Amendola and Wes Welker graced the gridiron of Jones (AT&T) Stadium. Friday night consisted of dining at Cap Rock café on Bison burgers and playing pool (very poorly I may add) at Crickets on Broadway street, the campus bar area.

Friday Night Sights!

Saturday was a prototypical cool, crisp, sunny West Texas big sky kind of day. We walked the famous Key on campus where there was plenty of public tailgating with family-friendly activities and a live concert. We were invited to attend the Matador Mafia tailgate in lot C4 on the NW side of the stadium. I was connected with the primary host, Chris Evans, AKA Captain America via social media. Chris played at TTU back in the late 80s under legendary coach Spike Dykes. Chris went on to ride bulls professionally and has the medical records to prove it. We were introduced to his crew, of which every other person seemed to be named Chris including my brother-in-law. Chris Evans prepared smoked brisket chili that was simply world class. My brother-in-law’s homemade top-secret recipe jerky made its first appearance at one of my tailgates as well and was devoured quickly. We all swapped stories and toasted a few cold ones. As the sun began to set, we said our goodbyes to yet another group of people who will remain friends on this incredible tailgating and football journey that I am on. Onward into the magnificent stadium we strode.

Hanging with the Matador Mafia!

FireIceball? Forced to do the K State Claw for a pic, ladies of the tailgate, Me and #2 daughter.

Fun at the tailgate!

Jones stadium was erected in 1947 and has a current seating capacity of 60,000+. It is immaculately laid out with gradually rising seats as opposed to a steep incline. Plenty of concessions and beer were served inside. It was once said that Texas Tech has the best home field advantage due to its passionate fans. I considered wearing some Baker Mayfield schwag just to poke the bear a bit, as he started his college football journey here before transferring to OU for his legendary career rise. Needless to say, Baker is not loved in West Texas. I digress. Texas Tech had a great pre-game show and player entrance to the field as the sun lowered into the horizon beyond the western bleachers of the stadium. We chose to purchase seats on the 40 in the upper level of the East side. The Red Raiders have been in the midst of mediocrity ever since the great Mike Leach was run out of town by Fake News trumped up by Bieber HOFer Craig James. New head coach Matt Wells has a big challenge competing against the likes of OU, TX, TAMU and TCU for the state’s top players. The Red Raiders were sporting a record of 4-6 coming into Saturday’s contest. Kansas State under first-year Coach Chris Klieman has had several signature wins this year against Oklahoma and Mississippi State and came into the game bowl-eligible at 6-4.

Weekend at Bernies? The TTU Band, the DFT banner serving as warmth and the Lone Rider doing his thing.

Texas Tech’s “in game pageantry” and traditions are unparalleled in college football. Chants of “guns up” with fingers mimicking a pistol and shouts of “wreck ‘em Tech” can be heard throughout the game. The masked rider will take the field on horseback after every Red Raider score. The most interesting tradition is the throwing of tortillas throughout the stadium for certain on-field situations which I am not entirely clear about. The first half seemed less like a Big 12 game and more like an SEC smash mouth game as K State was only able to muster up two field goals to Texas Tech’s one for a 6-3 halftime lead. At halftime, we were treated to a Christmas song medley performance by the 400+ member “Goin Band from Raiderland.” Both offenses kicked into gear in the second half as K State QB Skylar Thompson led the Cats on four scoring drives for an additional 24 points. Texas Tech hung tough behind QB Jet Duffey for 25 points. So, doing the math, you see that K State won 30-28 in a well-played, hard fought match. We stayed until just a few minutes remained on the clock when it was apparent the outcome would not be altered. We journeyed onward to Chick-fil-A and back to the hotel for a night cap and viewing of the late games. If you have not been to a Texas Tech game, plan on an excursion out to Lubbock for a fantastic college football experience.

That look when your future ex son in law comes back from the bathroom without a beer for Dan!

Around the Country - In the marquee game of the day in Columbus, Ohio, the Buckeyes raced out to a 21-0 lead over Penn State in what appeared to be a runaway game. Penn State however, showing the pride of the lions that they are (see what I did there?), clawed back into the game with 17 unanswered points in the second half. The Buckeyes behind Heisman Candidate Justin Fields would score once more to secure a 28-17 victory. Out west in the PAC 12 in Tempe, Squirming Herman Edwards and the Devils pulled off the upset of the day by silencing the Ducks and taking them out of playoff contention. In other PAC 12 news, SUC knocked off ACLU in the battle of LA LA Land. Over in the ACC, Florida International must have been offended by being Miami’s homecoming opponent so they took it upon themselves to embarrass and beat the Hurricanes. In the battle for the Vatican, the Catholics from South Bend defrocked the Catholics from Chestnut Hill 40-7. Navy ended SMU’s hope of a New Year’s Six Bowl by corralling the Stangs in Annapolis in another nail-biter Naval victory. In other Group of Five action, Boise, Memphis, Cincinnati and App State all kept their hopes alive to win the honor of playing in a New Year’s Six Bowl game. In “The Game,” Yale beat Harvard in double OT. More on this in Bieber. Lastly, the Monte Vista Mustangs ended their 2019 campaign in a loss to national powerhouse De La Salle. A shout out to the graduating seniors on this team, for many of whom it may have been their last game. Hope to see the rest of ‘em playing on Saturdays the next four years!

USF Cheer squad courtesy of the Major.

Uncanny resemblance between TTU OC David Yost and Harry Dunne

Bieber –  There were a lot of choices this week for Bieber honors such as the annual SEC cupcake week, Tom Hermann head butting his helmeted player pre-game, my brother in law leaving the Texas Tech game in the first quarter and me not coming to Norman for the OU v TCU game. However, the award goes to a bunch of knuckleheads in New Haven, CT, on Saturday. At halftime of the historic Harvard-Yale game, a group of entitled, misinformed, hypocritical students from both schools organized an on-field protest regarding something called “Climate Change.” First and foremost, do your research. Natural disasters such as volcanoes and forest fires do far more damage to the environment and the ozone layer than thousands of years of man-made usage of fossil fuels. Debate me – I dare you to prove me wrong. Second, how do you think these future Antifites got here to the game? Did they walk, ride bikes, horses, Flintstone cars? No, they rode in fossil fuel-generated transportation like cars, trains, planes or motorcycles. And don’t forget, electrical plants are powered by fossil fuels. It’s not entirely the students’ fault as they have been brainwashed by people even less intelligent than them who should know better. “If you tell a big lie enough times it eventually becomes the truth” so said the biggest monster in the history of the world. Nonetheless, there were about 150 students who occupied the field and delayed the second half by an hour. The game was in danger of being postponed as there were not lights at the Yale Bowl for this event. With the sun setting at 4:30 and the protest taking so long, this was a real crisis. Eventually, security cleared most of the unwashed from the field and arrested two dozen playdough-squeezing whiners and incarcerated them for a few minutes. So, little Gen Xers, since you probably love Justin Bieber, this may not be much of a slam to you, but us Boomers want you to take your Beebs award and go to your crying rooms with it. Enjoy it Snowflakes!

Ginger – Nothing too over the top this week, but the award goes to injured Youngstown State QB Nathan Mays who was basically carried onto the field by two of his teammates so he could take his last official snap of his career. Nathan, a red shirt senior, had a serious season-ending leg injury three weeks ago. He really wanted to suit up for his final collegiate game. He had decided that if his team was up big, he would approach coach Bo “the Nose” Pellini and make the request. They were, and he did, and Bo said yes. After his teammates helped him onto the field, he was able to hop on one leg to the line of scrimmage, take the snap and then take a knee with the help of two teammates. His dad was in tears in the stands seeing this. It was a brave badass act, but also good sportsmanship shown by opponent Illinois State to allow this to happen. Congrats Nathan, and good luck to you in your future endeavors.

Next week –  I will be co-hosting a tailgate with Irish Mike Iorio at Stanford when my Fighting Irish come to town. Game time is at 1:00 p.m., tailgate starts at 9:30 a.m. We will have a brunch spread and a Bloody Mary and mimosa bar going.

Happy Tailgating!