One year of home games, I stumbled and fell into a street sign on the way to the Michigan ND game, the first of the year. Michigan won. Did I encourage my friend to push me into the street sign every home game that year?
We went undefeated at home, is all I know. Bruised and undefeated.
Back in 2016, when I still had a facebook account, even then mostly as a relic, I typed and deleted about fifteen screeds(and I mean SCREEDS) about people making "World Series Parade Reservation" events starting on Saturday night, October 29th. I "unfriended" at least 10 people over that.
Several years ago when Doc Halliday still played for the Blue Jays he pitched a perfect game. One of the players (forget which one) was interviewed after the game. He said after the sixth inning it got real quiet in the dugout. Doc was sitting by himself doing whatever he does and the rest of the team went silent. The dude said he really needed to relieve himself, but he was afraid to move in case he jinxed it. He held it for three innings. Hey, it worked. This is my favourite sport-superstition story. Another good read, Scott.
Oh, I have one more dumb one, but it's all too true:
Every home game in the 1997 season, as my roommate and I walked down to Michigan Stadium, there was a frat that had a huge presence just after you get past the Michigan Union. (Looking at Google Maps, it seems to be Alpha Delta Phi, I'll trust that.) Every game, as we walked by, they seemed to be playing "Block Rockin' Beats" by The Chemical Brothers. It was like clockwork. We didn't know if it was a mix tape, a burned CD, or just they were playing it on a loop.
We may have walked very slowly by that house before the Ohio State game when we did not hear "Block Rockin' Beats" on approach. As we were ready to just stand there and wait, it came on.
I have socks that I think may be lucky this season. At first I thought it was my Hillflint sweater, but I wore it without the socks once and we lost to Miami. Neither the socks nor the sweater were worn before the Virginia Tech game because it was too warm, so the WMU loss has no impact.
Said socks are Script Pitt, but in navy and Vegas gold, and they also have white snowflakes. I bought them at the 2017 Miami game because my dad and I had driven out for the game, and it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and my feet were cold.
Some folks might remember that as a superweapon firing. It was.
It was also Kenny Pickett’s first start. I watched him hurdle a defender for a TD right in front of me, and I knew he was special then. I should have known all along that the socks wanted to be part of his last ride.
Also, this is just gold: "[I]t was nice to get quality wine recommendations in between offensive series. I imagine this is what it’s like to attend a Michigan football game." But I think you can get the same experience at the Harvard-Yale tailgate.
OUs now nonexistent undefeated 2021 season is because I went to a newly D1 St Thomas football game at Drake in Des Moines. Why do I know I have this impact? Because OU was losing to KU and was merely tied with Iowa State before I started watching both of this games.
I have my Michigan "are we really sure about this" wolverine shirt from Homefield Apparel, which was ordered on the day that Indiana beat Michigan to end the 24 straight win streak last year. I wore it as the base layer to Michigan/Indiana this year earlier this month, which preserved the 20 straight home wins vs. Indiana, a streak that dates back to 1971. I was channeling Homefield Magic.
So the last two weeks, for Michigan road games, despite sitting in my appropriately warmed home, I have worn it as the base layer, underneath a white polo, which sits under one of my vintage 1995-2005 Michigan Nike jerseys. Home jerseys for home jerseys, away jerseys for away games, consideration if the player whose number I am wearing that day ever beat the opponent in question (which is how John Navarre's #16 ended up being the choice for Penn State last week, as he was 2-0 against the Nittany Lions in his career.)
Anyway, there is much consternation for this week, since I need to sort out which jersey to wear. The #21 Biakabatuka would be a natural but I haven't found one in my size on eBay. I think I have to break in the Woodson, but I bought it in the middle of the season and I am not sure about bringing a new jersey into the rotation mid-year. So it will likely need to be the #37 Jarrett Irons, which feels fitting given my fondness for the inexplicable 1996 game. But the Homefield shirt will be on as the base layer.
Before MSU lost to Purdue, I was hunting Saturday. I told the universe that I would take getting a buck and one of my cases resolving favorably over MSU winning. I shot a deer at 8 AM, got a call at 1 PM with a favorable settlement offer, and MSU promptly lost handily to Purdue.
I still have the locally produced "New Orleans Football" shirt I bought in August 2009, right before my first season as a Saints season ticket holder. That was, of course, the 13-0 start, home NFC title clinching, Peyton Manning-intercepting Super Bowl year, an experience that I believe will never be topped if I live another 100 years. Everything about that whole season was so magically, joyfully, improbably wonderful. I don't wear it anymore, a combination of age, structural integrity issues (AKA unfortunately placed holes), and the fact that I was 28 and skinny as hell from law-school living. But I will never let it go. It's too important.
There's was a legendary pizza place here in Gainesville called Leonardo's By the Slice near campus that my dad and I used to go to before games (still kinda emotional that it closed a little less than a year ago). They had amazing pizza and legendary garlic rolls.
So, in September of 1999, the Gators were undefeated, ranked #3 in the country, and had not lost at home in 5 years. We were playing the Mike DuBose-led and Shawn Alexander-powered Alabama Crimson Tide that day. We usually had just gotten garlic butter to dip the rolls in, but my dad opted for marinara as well that day. To make a long-story a bit shorter, we were upset that day and we blamed the marinara since it was about the same color as the Tide and never ordered it again on a gameday.
I have exactly one UK baseball cap at any given moment. I wear it on all Kentucky gamedays, and if it breaks in the middle of a season then I wait until the end of the season to replace it. Current hat is two years old.
One year of home games, I stumbled and fell into a street sign on the way to the Michigan ND game, the first of the year. Michigan won. Did I encourage my friend to push me into the street sign every home game that year?
We went undefeated at home, is all I know. Bruised and undefeated.
Back in 2016, when I still had a facebook account, even then mostly as a relic, I typed and deleted about fifteen screeds(and I mean SCREEDS) about people making "World Series Parade Reservation" events starting on Saturday night, October 29th. I "unfriended" at least 10 people over that.
Several years ago when Doc Halliday still played for the Blue Jays he pitched a perfect game. One of the players (forget which one) was interviewed after the game. He said after the sixth inning it got real quiet in the dugout. Doc was sitting by himself doing whatever he does and the rest of the team went silent. The dude said he really needed to relieve himself, but he was afraid to move in case he jinxed it. He held it for three innings. Hey, it worked. This is my favourite sport-superstition story. Another good read, Scott.
Oh, I have one more dumb one, but it's all too true:
Every home game in the 1997 season, as my roommate and I walked down to Michigan Stadium, there was a frat that had a huge presence just after you get past the Michigan Union. (Looking at Google Maps, it seems to be Alpha Delta Phi, I'll trust that.) Every game, as we walked by, they seemed to be playing "Block Rockin' Beats" by The Chemical Brothers. It was like clockwork. We didn't know if it was a mix tape, a burned CD, or just they were playing it on a loop.
We may have walked very slowly by that house before the Ohio State game when we did not hear "Block Rockin' Beats" on approach. As we were ready to just stand there and wait, it came on.
I have socks that I think may be lucky this season. At first I thought it was my Hillflint sweater, but I wore it without the socks once and we lost to Miami. Neither the socks nor the sweater were worn before the Virginia Tech game because it was too warm, so the WMU loss has no impact.
Said socks are Script Pitt, but in navy and Vegas gold, and they also have white snowflakes. I bought them at the 2017 Miami game because my dad and I had driven out for the game, and it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and my feet were cold.
Some folks might remember that as a superweapon firing. It was.
It was also Kenny Pickett’s first start. I watched him hurdle a defender for a TD right in front of me, and I knew he was special then. I should have known all along that the socks wanted to be part of his last ride.
Also, this is just gold: "[I]t was nice to get quality wine recommendations in between offensive series. I imagine this is what it’s like to attend a Michigan football game." But I think you can get the same experience at the Harvard-Yale tailgate.
OUs now nonexistent undefeated 2021 season is because I went to a newly D1 St Thomas football game at Drake in Des Moines. Why do I know I have this impact? Because OU was losing to KU and was merely tied with Iowa State before I started watching both of this games.
Panthers lost yesterday because I was driving and couldn't wear my Cam jersey from his rookie year. It's my fault
I have my Michigan "are we really sure about this" wolverine shirt from Homefield Apparel, which was ordered on the day that Indiana beat Michigan to end the 24 straight win streak last year. I wore it as the base layer to Michigan/Indiana this year earlier this month, which preserved the 20 straight home wins vs. Indiana, a streak that dates back to 1971. I was channeling Homefield Magic.
So the last two weeks, for Michigan road games, despite sitting in my appropriately warmed home, I have worn it as the base layer, underneath a white polo, which sits under one of my vintage 1995-2005 Michigan Nike jerseys. Home jerseys for home jerseys, away jerseys for away games, consideration if the player whose number I am wearing that day ever beat the opponent in question (which is how John Navarre's #16 ended up being the choice for Penn State last week, as he was 2-0 against the Nittany Lions in his career.)
Anyway, there is much consternation for this week, since I need to sort out which jersey to wear. The #21 Biakabatuka would be a natural but I haven't found one in my size on eBay. I think I have to break in the Woodson, but I bought it in the middle of the season and I am not sure about bringing a new jersey into the rotation mid-year. So it will likely need to be the #37 Jarrett Irons, which feels fitting given my fondness for the inexplicable 1996 game. But the Homefield shirt will be on as the base layer.
What about "Welcome to kentUCky?"
Before MSU lost to Purdue, I was hunting Saturday. I told the universe that I would take getting a buck and one of my cases resolving favorably over MSU winning. I shot a deer at 8 AM, got a call at 1 PM with a favorable settlement offer, and MSU promptly lost handily to Purdue.
It's all my fault.
I still have the locally produced "New Orleans Football" shirt I bought in August 2009, right before my first season as a Saints season ticket holder. That was, of course, the 13-0 start, home NFC title clinching, Peyton Manning-intercepting Super Bowl year, an experience that I believe will never be topped if I live another 100 years. Everything about that whole season was so magically, joyfully, improbably wonderful. I don't wear it anymore, a combination of age, structural integrity issues (AKA unfortunately placed holes), and the fact that I was 28 and skinny as hell from law-school living. But I will never let it go. It's too important.
Great musical addition to the end of the post. I am seeing them on Sunday night in Jacksonville and cannot wait!
There's was a legendary pizza place here in Gainesville called Leonardo's By the Slice near campus that my dad and I used to go to before games (still kinda emotional that it closed a little less than a year ago). They had amazing pizza and legendary garlic rolls.
So, in September of 1999, the Gators were undefeated, ranked #3 in the country, and had not lost at home in 5 years. We were playing the Mike DuBose-led and Shawn Alexander-powered Alabama Crimson Tide that day. We usually had just gotten garlic butter to dip the rolls in, but my dad opted for marinara as well that day. To make a long-story a bit shorter, we were upset that day and we blamed the marinara since it was about the same color as the Tide and never ordered it again on a gameday.
I have exactly one UK baseball cap at any given moment. I wear it on all Kentucky gamedays, and if it breaks in the middle of a season then I wait until the end of the season to replace it. Current hat is two years old.
there are times when I will hold my pee during an Eagles game because if I do urinate, I fear they will lose their momentum. this has happened before.