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The Return of the A-Line Board of Football Experts Virginia Tech- East Carolina Tailgate pictures at the Clubhouse Tailgate
The Opening Trip 09/01/08 All things
considered, it was a pretty good trip. A football journey involving five
days, four nights, two stadiums, two hotels and two games involving four
teams was not a bad way to kick off a football season. There were some
downsides, such as some seriously-high heat and humidity, plus the little
matter of Saturday’s score. But, all in all, things went pretty well. It had been
decided that, for a few of us, simply one football game per week was
simply not enough. We required two. Tickets to last Thursday night’s NC
State- South Carolina game, as well as an invitation to join some Cocks in
a luxurious Gameday condo adjacent to Williams-Brice Stadium seemed a
terrific way to indulge ourselves. Wednesday
morning, we rolled out of Danville in cool weather and a pouring rain
heading south. A few hours later, the first leg of the trip ended in
Columbia in sunshine, a temperature around 90 and humidity higher than
that. When one is
going to attend a football game in Columbia, South Carolina in late
August, an air-conditioned condo is not a bad place to hang out before the
game. Neither is having an air-conditioned end zone stadium club at
one’s disposal during the game. It cut the humidity nicely. Just about
all of the Cocks we met were truly great people, starting with our host
Earl Weaver, who offered his condo for our use [and we quickly learned how
to use it to maximum advantage] and his sister Mary Ruffin Childs, who
provided us with access to the stadium club as well as club seats. Mary
Ruffin also went way beyond the call of duty when, by halftime, when the
heat and humidity had proven to be just a bit much for a member of the
group [me], she arranged for a golf cart to ferry me back to the condo,
where I spent the Second Half rehydrating and watching the rest of the
game from Earl’s sofa. Thanks again, folks. Prior to the
game we had discovered to our delight that Earl had lots of friends in the
neighboring condos, fellow Cocks who always greeted us with smiles, warm
welcomes and invitations to help ourselves to their lavish Tailgate
spreads. They quickly found out that it was not necessary to ask us twice.
Among the
great people was the guy whose condo was decorated with the memorabilia
accumulated from over forty years of following college football, a
collection he proudly showed off as he gave us a tour of his Gameday digs.
It was like touring the Louvre.
Friday
morning it was one game down, one to go. We were on our way up I-77 from
Columbia to Charlotte for the weekend’s main event. A couple of hours
later, we were in Uptown Charlotte, checking into our hotel and starting
the process of connecting with a Clubhouse Tailgate that was scattered all
over the Carolina’s from a Rock Hill RV park all the way to a
Winston-Salem Hooter’s. It took a while. When making
reservations at the Marriott early last summer, they had neglected to
inform us that the hotel was the ECU headquarters. Spying the banner over
the front desk that proclaimed ‘Welcome East Carolina’ did provide a
clue. They also
hadn’t mentioned that to the hundreds of other Hokies staying there, or
to the couple we met on the elevator from the parking garage to the lobby
who were there for a romantic weekend getaway, or to the young ladies who
had a bridal shower scheduled there for Saturday night. In these tough
economic times, I guess you grab whatever business is available. I’m
sure the couple found her birthday dinner in the on-premises fine dining
establishment that was crammed with football fans to be a delightful
experience and the shower party enjoyed walking across the lobby being
ogled by more than few male Hokies and Pirates. I know we did. One thing we
have noticed in our travels around the East, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast is
that football fans tend to be exactly alike irregardless of school.
Whether they be Tar Heels, Wolfpackers, Deacons, Tigers, Cocks, Dawgs,
Jayhawks, or even Hoos [I would include Devils but we never seem to meet
any when Tech plays at Duke], the people who actually go to the games are
terrific people. The Pirate fans were no exception. There didn’t seem to
be any message board loons from either side in the Marriott. The Pirates
were friendly people who enjoyed talking football and most anything else.
I enjoyed my interactions with them, just as I do fans everywhere with the
notable exception of the Hills. The ECU fans
want nothing more than to be included with all of the other fans traveling
around the major college football circuits. They certainly have the fans
and, as it turned out, the team to shine in. It is perhaps unfortunate
that the limited opportunities afforded by CUSA along with the onerous
travel costs associated with that league will one day lead to some hard
decisions. As for the
message board loons, those in the ACC certainly had plenty to screech
about. The sorry performance by ACC teams over the weekend certainly gave
them a lot of ammunition. At least sports Webmasters got to see a lot of
site hits. Whether it
was State demonstrating that Chuckie left very little behind, Tech getting
the annual absurd MNC hype out of the way early this year, or Clemson
jump-starting the Tommy Bowden Death Watch right off the bat, it was not
the best football Saturday for Little Johnny’s teams. You have to wonder
how miserably bad Baylor must be. The Tech game
demonstrated that this is indeed a very young team that will have problems
this year. How many will depend on the success the coaching staff has in
molding them. Frank throws out the ‘We have a lot of work to do’ line
most anytime a member of the media is around; this time he really means
it. The Tech
disaster against ECU was one of those games, that seem to be popping up
quite a bit these days, that makes some wonder that perhaps the program
has been shifted into overdrive as Frank winds down his career. While this
was a completely different Tech team than was on display last January in
the Orange Bowl, the constant was that Tech was beaten by an inferior team
that seemed to be much better prepared. The notion
has crossed a few minds, again, that perhaps Frank needs to spend just a
little less time relaxing at the lake contemplating his net worth or
discussing business deals on the golf course and a little more paying
attention to his team, particularly the offense. Just a thought. In any event,
there is almost a whole season of football left to observe the team’s
improvement. The chances seem pretty good there will be some. The opening
week of another season is in the books.
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