Trip to Baton Rouge

Justin, Jason and I finally made it down to Baton Rouge this year. It had been a couple of years since we had been to visit during football season, so we were really excited to take a road trip. Friday night we drove straight to a party being held for a bunch of old geezers we know. Just kidding, it was for a bunch of fabulous people we know that have been friends since they attended LSU, and just happen to be turning 60 this year. 2 of the honorees are of course my Mom and Dad (Mimi and Papaw to Jason), and it was fun to be there to help celebrate. It was also the first time some of my parent's friends heard the news of our expecting another baby, which was fun news to share. Jason also got a lot of attention and was very well behaved considering he had spent the previous 7 hours in the car.

After the party we headed on over to our good friends Emily and Drew's house, who were gracious enough to let us stay with them for the weekend. They have a very handsome almost 5 month old, William. Jason was very taken with the baby, and I think Emily and Drew got to see a little bit of what was in store for them when Will gets a few years older.

Saturday we got dressed up in our LSU Tiger gear and went out to LSU's campus for some tailgating. Good food, great fans, a lot of purple and gold, and multiple tailgating parties to attend = a great day of fun, albeit a long one. Our little tiger Jason was pretty worn out come game time. Emily and I took Jason back to the house and let the boys go to the game, where LSU soundly defeated Auburn. GEAUX TIGERS!

Sunday morning we went to brunch with a bunch of Baton Rouge friends and even managed to have a table of 14! It was really nice catching up with friends that we have not seen in a while. Then it was time to hit the road and head back to Texas, but not before stopping at CC's Coffee House (Community Coffee) for some to-go coffees.

The drive home was fairly uneventful, but as we made it back to the metroplex we got to drive through some pretty heavy rain. We managed to pull into our garage and quickly unload the car before it got really nasty. It's really fun to do road trips every once in a while, and this one was a success.

Mavs Game

On St. Patrick's Day, we got to sit courtside at the Mavericks game against the Detroit Pistons. No, we didn't get the tickets from an extremely rich relative, and we didn't follow a rainbow to find a pot of gold at the end. We simply won them in a drawing. We were very fortunate to get the tickets. It was a great way to relax after a long, busy day at the office and it was really cool to be right in the middle of all the action. We also got to see firsthand how truly athletic these players are and how physical the game of basketball can be.

This may rank as one of the coolest sports experience for me. After a little thought I came up with a list.

Justin's Top 10 personal sports experiences:

10. 2003 Cotton Bowl - The year LSU played Texas, the game was still being played in the morning of New Year's Day. It was quite a feat for folks in their mid-20s to make it there in time for kickoff. We're pretty fortunate to have a decent bowl game so close to home. It'll be even closer now that the game is being moved to Jonestown (aka. the New Cowboys Stadium), but it may lose a bit of it's sense of tradition.

9. Suite at the Texas Motor Speedway - While you lose a little bit of the experience by being shielded from the noise of the cars, it's definitely a cool, once in a lifetime experience.

8. Suite at Texas Stadium (Cowboys vs. Redskins) - Again tickets that we won in a drawing. Hopefully we'll get to go to a game in the new stadium next season.

7. Texas State defeating Georgia Southern in the 2005 Division I-AA Playoffs - I'm sure this would be viewed as the most controversial experience on this list. Though Texas State isn't known as a football powerhouse, you have to understand that a) Georgia Southern had been considered a top team at the level; and b) Texas State had never experienced at game of this magnitude at home. So the underdog Bobcats won, and people stormed the field. I think I even recall hearing Al Michaels somewhere saying, "Do you believe in miracles?"

6. Rangers Ballpark (aka Ameriquest Field, Ballpark in Arlington) - I think sometimes we take the Ballpark for granted, but remember Arlington Stadium? Sure, the Ballpark could have used a retractable roof, but they have the Home Run Porch, a museum, and an overall cool look that includes architectural features of various, now-defunct ballparks. (Note that this sports experience ranks below the Fort Worth Cats.)

5. Fort Worth Cats at LaGrave Field - We sat along the third base line, first row. With downtown Fort Worth in the background, the scene just had a really good vibe.

4. Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers playoff game - The Stars won, the place went nuts, and I didn't feel so well the next day.

3. Fenway Park - Sitting in center field, right by the Green Monster. With so many stadiums being replaced over the years, Fenway is one of the last historical ballparks still in use. I couldn't quite figure out why the Red Sox fans were heckling the Yankees while their team was playing the Twins. It was quite amusing.

2. Sitting courtside at a Mavs game - (see below)

1. Tiger Stadium, any night game at LSU - The game that really comes to mind is when LSU beat Auburn on a last second TD pass. If you were there and weren't either in a fit of joy (LSU fans) or completely devastated (Auburn fans), then you have no soul or may possibly be some sort of undead zombie.

Honorable mentions: UT/A&M game at Kyle Field, UT/A&M game at Memorial Stadium, Fort Worth Fire Hockey, a at day at the Colonial PGA tournament.


On my "to do" list are:
Wrigley Field, Lambeau Field, Indy 500, Daytona 500, Augusta National, (this list will most likely continue to change and grow).


Courtside!

LSU License Plate Day!!!

Jill's brand new license plates arrived and we had to put them on as soon as we got home. For those of you who don't already know, LSU is the first out of state school to have official plates made in Texas. We can already tell Greg is jealous and wants some LSU plates of his own. Actually, we hear that the University of Arkansas may not be far behind with their own Texas plate, so if he must, we'll let him have a set (ewww pigs....).