Damn this was good. I'm thrilled for you, my dude. When I saw the official playoff announcement I couldn't help but yell out an ecstatic "GODDAMMIT OLAF!!"
I feel the same way. My father in law is a great dude and a beleaguered Michigan fan. Somehow I'm happier for the Cincy contingent and AC as the unofficial online spokesfan.
As someone with no allegiance to any university in the U.S., I always root for the "little guys" to upend the FBS cartel, so this year I'm rooting for the Bearcats. The AAC Championship Game wasn't televised on ESPN Brasil, but the Big 12 Championship Game was. If I was relieved that Oklahoma State didn't advance the ball a few more inches in that last play, I can only imagine how that must have felt for Cincinnati fans
So, with the Big 12 game on at noon EST and the AAC game at 4pm, they had the earlier game showing on a big screen they'd put up on the Campus Green (the main tailgating area). We knew that Baylor was still leading when it was time for us to head into the stadium, but I learned of that last play while in line at the gates, when I heard a huge roar from back on the green.
it was so nice to only have to focus on the game we were in and not something happening at the same time, so for the first, last, and only time in my life: thanks, Baylor!
Scott and i were actually in line for the game at the stadium and you could hear the cheer erupt around us (in the stadium, out in the tailgate where they had it on a giant screen with a projector.
It was like the university itself shouted out for joy
It's like the cosmic opposite of when I watch a Jags game and can hear a cheer or boo from the crowd in the stadium moments before watching it on the tv, giving it all away.
Absolutely adored this. More generally, your love and enjoyment and revelry in the successes of the Bearcats has mirrored my own extremely vocal and borderline obnoxious joy surrounding those other Cayuts from the I-75 corridor as we are in the middle of the most successful stretch since the Bear left town. I audibly applauded when I read the line "none of that matters." Because it doesn't. It just doesn't. Congrats to you, congrats to Bearcats everywhere, and congrats to us all for getting to follow it through your eyes!
Yes! (We're not going to talk about the MLive article claiming that Michigan is the real CFP Cinderella because no, stop, wrong, what in the actual hell?!?!)
Congrats. I have been rooting hard for the Bearcats. The talk of a G5 team not belonging and your team just winning their way through it to shut up the naysayers has a lot of parallels to the 1999 season for VT. At the time, a lot of people said VT didn't play anybody (even though Miami was still Miami and all of those Pitt, WVa, and Syracuse teams were hard, physical teams) and that they didn't belong in the National Championship conversation. They too needed to pull out the last minute win (Miracle in Morgantown) to preserve their perfect season. They needed a few blue bloods ahead of them in the polls to lose for them to slowly creep ip the rankings.
All of this to say, that I kind of have a reference point to how you are feeling and I am so happy for you. Most importantly, win or lose this season, Cincinnati now has their foot in the door. The respect has been earned. Add that to entering a P5 conference next year and it means that they won't have to scratch and claw just to get table scraps. Now they have a place at the table.
I've cited Virginia Tech a few times in conversations about Cincinnati's long-term future, specifically with regards to Luke Fickell's future--it's still entirely possible he bolts for another job at some point, especially if Ohio State comes open, but with the Big 12 coming and facility updates on the horizon, I could see a world in which he chooses to have a Frank Beamer-like tenure in Cincinnati.
In case you somehow need a Monday boost, after making stoverij yesterday, my wife's responses were: "This is the greatest thing you ever made that didn't come off the smoker" and "Action Cookbook is the best thing you ever found on the internet!"
And thanks for your writing that captures how this ridiculous, flawed, wonderful game always manages to pull me back in and why it means so much to so many. Go Bearcats!
In the comments section of the stoverij recipe you linked, a commenter tells the story of using that recipe for Belgium on their family's quest to eat their way through the alphabet, county-by-country. Lots of content to mine there after you complete the Fifty States!
Scott, I (and I'm sure so many of us here and on twitter too) am so happy for you. I've rooted for the Bearcats the entire season hoping for this to happen, both because of your interest in it and to see if the powers that be would actually do it should they be forced into such a scenario.
So let me ask you this: are you just happy to be here? I mean obviously you want your team to win the whole thing, but realistically I would venture to guess you think it's still a bit of a longshot to happen. So are you simply hoping for a competitive game against Nick Saban and the best college football program ever, or are you diving in headfirst, maniacally driving the train without brakes straight into Indianapolis CHAMPIONSHIP OR BUST BABY?
I'll phrase my answer this way: this season is a joy no matter what happens from here, but I'm also building a trophy case. (I assume they'll let me keep the trophy.)
I saw you were going to the championship and got scared you were gonna die given how the Tulsa game went. Getting old is hard. Really happy for y'all. Enjoy this run. Legit great team
As a football fan who has a hard time explaining my love of the game to non-sports people, I felt this in my soul. And as a Michigan fan who has suffered through some rough times lately, I rejoice with you! I hope we get the honor of playing each other on January 10th. Up until then, I'll be cheering for you guys!
Damn this was good. I'm thrilled for you, my dude. When I saw the official playoff announcement I couldn't help but yell out an ecstatic "GODDAMMIT OLAF!!"
Man, I legitimately could not be happier for anyone on this God-forsaken Internet than you for precisely this reason.
I feel the same way. My father in law is a great dude and a beleaguered Michigan fan. Somehow I'm happier for the Cincy contingent and AC as the unofficial online spokesfan.
As someone with no allegiance to any university in the U.S., I always root for the "little guys" to upend the FBS cartel, so this year I'm rooting for the Bearcats. The AAC Championship Game wasn't televised on ESPN Brasil, but the Big 12 Championship Game was. If I was relieved that Oklahoma State didn't advance the ball a few more inches in that last play, I can only imagine how that must have felt for Cincinnati fans
So, with the Big 12 game on at noon EST and the AAC game at 4pm, they had the earlier game showing on a big screen they'd put up on the Campus Green (the main tailgating area). We knew that Baylor was still leading when it was time for us to head into the stadium, but I learned of that last play while in line at the gates, when I heard a huge roar from back on the green.
it was so nice to only have to focus on the game we were in and not something happening at the same time, so for the first, last, and only time in my life: thanks, Baylor!
Scott and i were actually in line for the game at the stadium and you could hear the cheer erupt around us (in the stadium, out in the tailgate where they had it on a giant screen with a projector.
It was like the university itself shouted out for joy
This is honestly the best way to find out good football news.
It's like the cosmic opposite of when I watch a Jags game and can hear a cheer or boo from the crowd in the stadium moments before watching it on the tv, giving it all away.
You could be talking about the NFL Jags or the NCAA ones who until this year played less than a mile from my house. That was a frequent experience.
Absolutely adored this. More generally, your love and enjoyment and revelry in the successes of the Bearcats has mirrored my own extremely vocal and borderline obnoxious joy surrounding those other Cayuts from the I-75 corridor as we are in the middle of the most successful stretch since the Bear left town. I audibly applauded when I read the line "none of that matters." Because it doesn't. It just doesn't. Congrats to you, congrats to Bearcats everywhere, and congrats to us all for getting to follow it through your eyes!
https://store.theonion.com/products/man-walks-on-moon-front-page-poster-from-the-onions-our-dumb-century
Enjoy!
I was aiming for half this and half Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber haha
I loved this Scott, both your palpable joy but also your construction here.
Thank you!! And it’s nice that we avoid direct competition between our teams until the final.
Yes! (We're not going to talk about the MLive article claiming that Michigan is the real CFP Cinderella because no, stop, wrong, what in the actual hell?!?!)
If the football gods wanted Bama or Georgia in the final, they wouldn’t have put it in Indiana.
Michigan is more like Michael Corleone in the middle of settling up all of the family business. OSU -- dead. Big Ten West -- dead.
As long as we're not Sonny (played by MSU's own James Caan.)
take the canoli
Or Zingermans coffee cake, as the case may be.
Did Mitch Albom write that article?
No, he's still collecting paychecks from the notoriously anti-Michigan Detroit Free Press.
Fantastically written, as always.
Congrats. I have been rooting hard for the Bearcats. The talk of a G5 team not belonging and your team just winning their way through it to shut up the naysayers has a lot of parallels to the 1999 season for VT. At the time, a lot of people said VT didn't play anybody (even though Miami was still Miami and all of those Pitt, WVa, and Syracuse teams were hard, physical teams) and that they didn't belong in the National Championship conversation. They too needed to pull out the last minute win (Miracle in Morgantown) to preserve their perfect season. They needed a few blue bloods ahead of them in the polls to lose for them to slowly creep ip the rankings.
All of this to say, that I kind of have a reference point to how you are feeling and I am so happy for you. Most importantly, win or lose this season, Cincinnati now has their foot in the door. The respect has been earned. Add that to entering a P5 conference next year and it means that they won't have to scratch and claw just to get table scraps. Now they have a place at the table.
I've cited Virginia Tech a few times in conversations about Cincinnati's long-term future, specifically with regards to Luke Fickell's future--it's still entirely possible he bolts for another job at some point, especially if Ohio State comes open, but with the Big 12 coming and facility updates on the horizon, I could see a world in which he chooses to have a Frank Beamer-like tenure in Cincinnati.
So excited and happy for you Scott!! Let's go Bearcats!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In case you somehow need a Monday boost, after making stoverij yesterday, my wife's responses were: "This is the greatest thing you ever made that didn't come off the smoker" and "Action Cookbook is the best thing you ever found on the internet!"
And thanks for your writing that captures how this ridiculous, flawed, wonderful game always manages to pull me back in and why it means so much to so many. Go Bearcats!
This genuinely does give me a boost, thank you so much!
In the comments section of the stoverij recipe you linked, a commenter tells the story of using that recipe for Belgium on their family's quest to eat their way through the alphabet, county-by-country. Lots of content to mine there after you complete the Fifty States!
ooh, there's a challenge. I love it!
My 7 year old, who subsists on cheese, flour tortillas, salami, and yogurt is really excited at the prospect of our family trying it out!
[nodding somberly in consideration of my 6- and 5-year-old's diets]
Scott, I (and I'm sure so many of us here and on twitter too) am so happy for you. I've rooted for the Bearcats the entire season hoping for this to happen, both because of your interest in it and to see if the powers that be would actually do it should they be forced into such a scenario.
So let me ask you this: are you just happy to be here? I mean obviously you want your team to win the whole thing, but realistically I would venture to guess you think it's still a bit of a longshot to happen. So are you simply hoping for a competitive game against Nick Saban and the best college football program ever, or are you diving in headfirst, maniacally driving the train without brakes straight into Indianapolis CHAMPIONSHIP OR BUST BABY?
Just curious.
I'll phrase my answer this way: this season is a joy no matter what happens from here, but I'm also building a trophy case. (I assume they'll let me keep the trophy.)
BE-AR-C-A-T-S Go Cats Go! One of the best march cadences around.
Beat Bama!
GO BEARCATS
I saw you were going to the championship and got scared you were gonna die given how the Tulsa game went. Getting old is hard. Really happy for y'all. Enjoy this run. Legit great team
As a football fan who has a hard time explaining my love of the game to non-sports people, I felt this in my soul. And as a Michigan fan who has suffered through some rough times lately, I rejoice with you! I hope we get the honor of playing each other on January 10th. Up until then, I'll be cheering for you guys!
crazy that Gene Cernan is still the most recent person on the moon. This means that Purdue still owns it, right?
/ moon tears ACL; out six to eight weeks