We are home and yes the story below about "On the Road to the BCS" was about my proposed trip to the BCS National Championship college football game in Arizona. Yes, our daughter got a ticket from a Stub Hub booth, the day of the game, and the "Three Musketeers" got into the game. "One for all and all for one." I will never forget the trip to the National Championship with our adult children to cheer on our Oregon Ducks. One more thing off my "bucket list!" Except for the final score, and a lot of lines for bathrooms and porta potties, it was a great trip. The Auburn fans were for the most part nice folks. If you don't like crowds the BCS Championship is not for you. For two days we were together with thousands of people at the pep rallies and the game. As a result there were lines for everything, restaurant seating, restrooms, getting in and out, airports, shuttle buses etc. However there was also sensory overload everywhere. If you love college football it was wonderful !
Best parts of the trip in no particular order:
1. Spending time with my kids..... (best)
2. Southwestern Airlines.... much better than United.
3. Arizona weather in winter. 60 degrees plus when it was freezing back home.No fog or rain just beautiful sunshine.
4. Oregon Duck Pep Rally with 30,000 of your closest Duck friends and running into a number of folks from Medford.
5. The game and in particular Oregon tying it in the final minutes as Duck fans cheered and cheered.
6. Having a picnic at a nice rest stop in California on the way to Sacramento for our flight and having sun and shirtsleeve weather while we ate.
7. The excitement we all felt on game day when our daughter was able to get a ticket.
8. The meal we had at a large restaurant/ beer pub near Phoenix University Stadium on game day full of Duck and Tiger fans who would every few minutes let out competing cheers.
9. Old Scottsdale and it's western theme.
10. The La Quinta Motel Mesa West ... good value at a good price
11. Pizza delivered to our room in Sacramento as my son and I watched the Cotton Bowl on TV.....It reminded me of our trips together to Eugene to watch the Ducks when he was a little kid and we would stop in Eugene or Roseburg at a motel and have pizza together after the game.
12. Having my son do most of the driving on the trip.
13. In & Out Burgers after the game.
14. In spite of his voice problems, hearing "Shout" performed live by Otis Day and the Knights from the movie Animal House.
15. Fireworks after the pep rally.
16. Having two dinners with my friend and his wife.
17. Going by the Alumni Hotel to go to the "Duck Store" and seeing people we know.
18. Seeing thousands of Oregon fans on the same mission as you. The best way to describe Oregon fans as a whole is "zany"
19. Counting the number of Oregon fans we saw with their cars "Ducked out" on I-5 between Medford and Sacramento
20. Parking three rows from the stadium on game day.
21. On the Southwestern flight back to Sacramento we had a stopover in Burbank and I saw Oregon Basketball great and leading player of the Kamikaze Kids of the 1970's Ronnie Lee take his bag out of the overhead above our seat. The Afro is gone but the smile is the same. He noticed me smiling at him and said "Hi how you doing." I loved the Kamikaze Kids and Ronnie was the best and so fun to watch on the basketball court and an all around nice guy. I got through the drudgery of law school watching Lee and the rest of those Kamikaze Kids.
Worst part of the trip in no particular order:
1. THE FINAL SCORE (worst)
2. Long line to get into the stadium that took forever because they were frisking everyone. Ridiculous and ineffective.
3. Small scoreboard at a supposedly modern NFL football stadium (also small dark and dingy concourse with not enough restrooms.)
4. NFL stadium that did not do not have the atmosphere of a college stadium.
5. Small video screen in stadium with not enough replays
6. Not enough porta potties in the parking lot with unbelievable long lines.
7. Crowed restrooms wherever we went .
8. At the Oregon Pep rally Oregon politicians seeking to grab the limelight and musical acts that performed one song too many and not putting a microphone in front of the Oregon Band.
9. Long lines at restaurants close to the "action" all weekend.
10. Driving home from Sacramento through mountain passes in the dark and in a rain storm.
In the end Oregon lost a very close game in the final 2 seconds in the most competitive of the BCS games. Hell of a Game. The Ducks were picked for the BCS Championship on December 5,2010 and we basked in it's glory for 36 days!
Yes, 36 Days of Glory !
The Three Musketeers..... One for all and all for one !
( To read a detailed account of our trip click on the title above for a link to our sons blog)
