Tears of JOY and of PAIN

Well, on Friday night I was able to make it to Crestview just after the kickoff. I met cousin Mark on the way in and we sat together for the 1st half. My high school is 4A, not the biggest in the state of Florida, but the facilities and the atmosphere are top notch. Since I cover games most Friday nights, I see a lot of stadiums and the Bulldog’s Jack Foster is a really nice set up. The atmosphere was GREAT, the band is one of the best in the state, but Crestview’s performance on the football field was not. Pensacola Catholic has an excellent offense, running the spread very well, with great skill position players. They will score on just about every team they play this year, even in the playoffs. At first, it looked like Crestview would control the ball with their big offensive line and keep the Crusader offense off the field. But, Crestview’s offensive creativity and imagination is OFFENSIVE. They make Woody Hayes look innovative. Catholic won 40-20. LONG drive to Okaloosa County, very bummed with the game. And then Mark called from the Rocky Bayou game, where he had dashed off too, and they lost 70-2…ouch. At least my dad and I watched the first half of a fantastic Lakeland vs DeLaSalle game on TV when we got home.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. I hit I-10 by 8:00 because it is 150 miles to Tallahassee, and I lost an hour going across the Chattahoochee river. Get to Doak Campbell in anticipation of a wonderful day of college football with the Noles and the South Florida Bulls. Tailgate party with Roger and the Camps is “premium” as always. It is very HOT in Tally, and finding the shade before the game is a priority, because there is NO SHADE in the stadium. FSU as most of you know is TWO teams. One of their teams can beat a top 10 team on the road, badly, while the other FSU team can almost lose to Jacksonville State at home. Well team #2 is the one that showed up on Saturday. In heat stroke conditions, the Seminoles were horrible. Much like the night before, everything was AWESOME until the game got going…Flyover, Military appreciation, 99 team honored, etc. All down hill after that…

So, some time with Josh after the game, and I headed up to Cairo, Georgia to watch the Gator game with my in-laws, Frank and Ouida. The Tebow injury was scary. Glad he is OK. Do NOT listen to the pundits who claim that if he can’t play that the Gators are no longer the top team. Florida is the deepest team in the country, and the QB position is no exception. John Brantley will do just fine!

I’ll have some more thought tonight about the weekend that was, and the one to come.