On Monday afternoon I had just finished teaching my last PE class of the day and I was getting ready to head out to basketball practice when I got a phone call from my dad. I answered, "Hey dad!" and the first words out of his mouth were, "Do you want to go to the game tonight?"
I didn't even have to think about it. I answered emphatically, "Yeah! I want to go!"
So I went to find our head coach to ask him if I could skip practice to go to the game (knowing full well that I was going to go!) When I found him and asked him if he would be upset if I missed practice so I could go to the game, he answered, "Yeah I would, I want to go!" But told me to go and have a good time. Feeling somewhat bad I said, "I"ll send you a picture!" And he responded, "Oh thanks," with a hint of sarcasm. Then I headed to my car, still giddy from excitement!
I got home (still just feeling completely jazzed), got ready and texted my sports buddy, Shawn, telling him where I would be going that night. His response: "HOW???!?!??" I told him that my dad got them from someone at work and he replied,"I'm so so so so jealous."
My dad came home, we got in the car, drove up to his office, got the tickets and headed to Glendale for the BCS national championship game.
We got there around 5:15 and parked about a mile away from the stadium and started our trek through the thousands of cars, and even more Duck fans and Tiger fans. Once we were to the entrance we were thrust en masse to get "checked" before we could go in. While we were waiting within this huge throng of people a little girl in an Auburn cheerleader outfit sitting her dad's shoulders was not shy of making her opinion of the Ducks known the Oregon fans, getting into arguments and sticking out her tongue at Oregon fans. That was quite entertaining and reminded me of myself at that age (although I sometimes still find myself acting that way!).
After we made it through "security" we saw a couple of people we knew, made a pit stop and pushed our way through a sea of people halfway around the stadium to our seats among the Oregon fans (good thing we were rooting for the Ducks).
To say these seats were good was an understatement. I never, in a million years, would have thought that I would be sitting 14 rows up on the 20 yard line at a BCS title game! It was an amazing atmosphere. I immediately started taking pictures, mostly for proof that I was actually there, and taking it all in.
We met the people sitting around us, watched the bands and waited for the game to start. All the pre-game activities began: the singing of "God Bless America" and the National Anthem with the football field-sized American flag, the eagle flying across the field, the introduction of the Ducks and Tiger and the coin toss with Lee Corso. Then the game began.
It is a totally different experience actually being at a game then watching it on TV. You don't realize how much stoppage time there actually is because of commercials, but it's noticable when you are at the game. Nonetheless, this was a great experience.
We had great seats. And I don't say that because we were 14 rows up on the 20 yard line, which was definitely a plus, but my favorite part of where we sat was seeing a bunch of ESPN employees standing down on the field right in front of us. Erin Andrews, Lou Holtz, Jesse Palmer, Rece Davis, Mark May, Craig James, Todd McShay, and I even saw Urban Meyer and Nick Saban. I must be a nerd, but that part was so exciting for me!
The game was not the high scoring, fast-paced, offensive game that everyone was predicting and even expecting, however it didn't disappoint. Throughout the game my dad and I got into it with the fans and cheered for the Ducks. High fiving and fist pumping for the great plays and feeling the disappointment of the bad ones.
The final touchdown drive that the Ducks put together was definitely exciting! All their fans were going nuts and so were we (although we were just a little more tame).
Then Auburn got the ball back. And began their drive.
Michael Dyer made his run, got tackled and everyone on the Oregon side calmed down and geared up for the next play. I thought it was over but then I looked up and saw he was still running. I questioned the play, but saw the replay on the jumbo tron and knew that it wouldn't be called back. And also knew that the Auburn Tigers would be the new national champs that night.
You all know how it ended. It ended very fast for the Oregon fans. But no one could deny that it was a great game. And a great experience for me.
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