Post Game Review

OK, imagine this crowd of people but imagine that it is pouring down sheets of rain, lightning and thunder AND imagine that all of these people are crowded under the stadium because the rain began 30 minutes before game time and most of these people were already IN the stadium!

I am extremely claustrophobic so when we were making our way to the upper deck and we hit a wall of people who were not moving because they were against a wall of people..........

They had cleared the stadium because of lightning, thunder and blinding rain. So 80,000 people were crammed together under the "grandstands".

After about 20 minutes I got the familiar hot, panicky feeling. I excused myself from Donovan and DeLena and pressed my way to the 10 feet of space that looked out into the parking lot.

Very soon I was joined by other "clausties" who had toughed it out longer than I had and were on the verge of passing out! It's amazing how freeing it is to be able to see open spaces even if it is pouring down rain!

The game was delayed for an hour. It was already our latest game of the season starting at 6:45
so why not just go ahead and wait until 8:00??? An hour before my bedtime!?!

When we finally got into the stadium and the game started, West Virginia scored 2 touchdowns in about 2 minutes! ( A little exaggeration but not much!)

We are thinking." We waited an hour in the rain for THIS?"

Well, the NEW TIGERS picked up the pace and soon it was 14-10......Then 21-10......then 21-13.
To make a Loooooonnnnnng story shorter we finally pulled ahead at the end of the third quarter but the 4th quarter was so back and forth that we were on the edges of our wet seats but it all paid off.....We Won 41-30! War Eagle!

Whew! By the time we got back to our car it was 12:00 am....by the time we got home it was 3:30 am. It was a truly sweet victory, though!

It is great to be an Auburn Tiger!

p s Another side story...Marlin realized that he had not locked the car. It takes 30 minutes to get back to the car when you ride the shuttle....longer it you don't.
We got ready to go into the game and realized he had DeLena's ticket with him. So we turned on our southern charm and told the ticket taker uppers what had happened and they let DeLena into the game!
She wanted Marlin to promise to go through the same gate and give her ticket to the same lady with the long strange fingernails so that she would know that we were not lying. He did....and she remembered!

Game Day/Night

Well, for the 3rd week in a row we are headed to Auburn and for the 3rd week in a row it will be a night game.

Night games are great because they are cooler and breezier but they are really bad when you have to drive 2 + hours to get back home. And that does NOT include actually getting out of Auburn which takes 45 minutes to get back to the car and 30 minutes at least just to get moving past the traffic jam. It also does not include stopping at Waffle House to get coffee and food to help us make the drive back.

Tonight's game against West Virginia ( our toughest competition yet) starts at 6:45, is on T V AND an added bonus......has a 70% chance of rain. WHY do we do this? Because we love our team!!
Also, it's so wonderful that our offense is FINALLY exciting.

Even when we were good about 3 years ago, the offense was lackluster and we really had to count on the defense to keep things in tact. Let's face it...touchdowns are much more exciting than lack of 1st downs for the opposing team!

So, we are off t0 Walmart or somewhere to buy me a VERY lightweight poncho to watch the game in the rain. We know how those ponchos are air tight. I don't want to be wet AND hot!

Anyway, as Peej says, "War Eagle...Take me down to the field."

Cute Story

Peej in the car with his Auburn helmet

Brooke told me today that Peter and Peej have been going to Mark Murdock's football practices.
Mark is their neighbor and friend and he is about 11 years old. His Dad, also Mark, and a former UT football player coaches his team.

When Peej goes to the practices, he "dresses out" in full football gear....Helmet, pants, shirt... I'm not sure about pads and cleats.

Even though Mark's brother, Turner, Peej's favorite older friend is there playing on the playground with the rest of the teammates siblings, Peej doesn't play with them. He does everything that the players do.

If they are doing "knee lifts", Peej is right there doing them also. If they are doing lunges, he does them also. At the end of practice when he tells them to "take a knee" Peej does that, too.

So cute!!! They are coming to the Auburn/ Kentucky game and he thinks that he is going to go down on the field and play also!

Brooke promises to go to practice and take pictures and videos so we can all see Peej in action!

My Daddy

Peej and Daddy's footprints

One day when we were in Gulf Shores and headed to the beach we reached the end of the "pier"
and Peej saw his Daddy's shoes at the end of the pier.
Everyone left their shoes at the end of the pier to walk in the sand.

So Peej said,"I am going to put my shoes right next to my Daddy's shoes because I love him SOOO much. He carefully placed his crocs right beside his Daddy's tennis shoes!

So sweet!!! I didn't have my camera with me at the time so the footprints will have to suffice!

Why?

After his first day of Preschool, Peej and Mom were in the car and he asked the question,
"Why did Jesus die, Mom?"

Brooke explained that Jesus died on the cross for our sins...for Mommy's sins, for Daddy's sins,
for your sins......"

Peej again asked,"Why did Jesus die? Was he hit by a car?"

Peej in the car....thinking

See, Peej has a tendency to wander away from the car in the parking lot and Brooke tells him,
"Do not leave the car and go into the parking lot or you may be hit by a car."

So, in his little 3 year old mind, if someone dies, he has been hit by a car. We will see how Brooke and Peter explain Jesus' death on the cross to Peej.

She did say that she said to Peej,"This is hard to understand and you will understand it better when you are older."

As far as preschool goes, he had a GREAT day. He liked his new teachers and he is in the big boy class where he does not take a nap!!!

Brooke gets a checklist of the things he did and did not do....the only thing he did not do was eat all of his food..... which is pretty typical of Peej.

He had much rather play and talk to his friends than eat!

AU BU RRRRRRRR N

The 'Sea of Orange' during Tiger Walk before a game last year

Last year at Blue Day
Becky, DeLena, Donovan, Marlin

Excitement is in the air as we get ready to head to "The loveliest village of the plains" to see our first game of the new season tonight at 6:00!

An entire staff of new coaches?!?!?! Kind of don't know what to expect. But then with Auburn you rarely know what to expect anyway!

Some of you know this about me but many of you don't know that I turn into a complete alien at the games....yelling things like," What is wrong with you idiots? " and other obscenities, burying my head into my hands when a big play is about to happen, going under the stands when we're just miserably losing, calling David to complain about how horrible we are, calling Dale and Sharon who are also big football fans to complain. Also, I just scream out Aihhhhhhhh!!!!
when we fumble or do something idiotic. My throat actually hurts after the games!

Another huge diversion is that Emily my best friend since 5th grade sits right across from us at all the home games so I can talk to her for at least one quarter and that takes my mind off the goings on on the field!
PD, Em's hubby and Donovan are very patient as we go back and forth across the aisles. So are the other people who sit around us as we crawl over them!

Anyway, when we ARE winning, I usually really get into the cheers that have the bad words in them. At the beginning of the game I kind of gloss over the d---s and the h---s, but when we start really winning I shout those words along with the rest of the cheers!
Weagle Weagle War D--- Eagle
Kick Em in the B---big Blue
and
Track Em Tigers Just Like Beagles
Give Em H--- you War D---Eagles!

More Fun!!

"Broverly" Love (Peej's words)

Cute Benny !

Peej and Matt going down the slide at the "Laizy River"
Brooke happened to hear an Alabama accent referring to the
Laizy River

"Laizy River".....notice Peej sitting in his innertube like a big guy!

Peej's favorite toy at the beach. There were three hoses and a shower on the pier.
He stopped at all 3 on the way down and 4 including the shower on the way back from the beach
no matter how many times a day we went...He never got tired of it!

More Beach Pictures

Benny's Tent

Benny's Sunglasses

Sandcastle

Peej on the Raft

Benny in his tent