A nod to Gatorama who brought so many great threads to the boards.
My usual crew and a new mate scouted a return to the Grove for this year. We last visited about twelve years ago, and planned to meet up with our College Station host from last year and his daughter who is an Ole Miss student. My third trip to Ole Miss and no less enjoyable.
Of course, we just don't a game anymore, always looking to parlay with Horse Racing, MLB postseason, more college football, heck even NBA (this year). I drove to Memphis this year, flight was $600+ and with a connection, I can get there just as fast from Indy in my car, plus no need to rent. Love that drive, got to head down the Redneck Autobahn (I-69) and a variety of US and State Highways to Memphis. Pretty drive, but dry dry, saw a median brush fire going through NW Tenn.
Thursday: Liberty Bowl, Tulsa at Memphis. After a stop at Rendezvous for some always tasty Q ubered over to the Liberty Bowl, which if you've been to Memphis, a few miles east/SE of downtown. 55,000 capacity or so. Great seating environment, can't really say there's a bad seat. $15 stub hub and we're in for a sparsely attended affair. Honestly, one of the most forgettable, lousy games I've ever attended. But...as we walked around the concourses, we ran into Ricky the Dragon Steamboat and other WWE types doing a signing and pictures. I posted one on the dreadful Midweek thread. Well worth the trip. Gorgeous evening. Memphis remains a gritty town.
Friday: Wedged in another tour of Sun Records (love that place) home of R&R (first recordings at least), and some work before we picked up some tickets to watch Ja Morant (certainly one of the best players on the planet right now). NBA not my thing but always cool to check it out from time to time. Griz handled the Twolves. Weather turning (cold).
Saturday: Early up and out to Oxford (80 miles) from Memphis. Highs in the 40s, mostly clouds, us Yankees dressed appropriately, can't say the same about some of the fans in Oxford. As usual, the Grove, if you haven't been, is a unfairly magical setting for a college football Saturday. The place is orderly, organized, and there are beautiful people everywhere. Like its their jobs, people come dressed (mostly) to the nines and ready to host people from far and wide. Just conceal your drink in the appropriate vessel (hide the glass, cans and bottles). I did run into former Senator Trent Lott. Kickoff was 2:30 so we strolled in around 1:15, and had terrific seats thanks to my younger brother's efforts. Vaught-Hemmingway has had grass, turf, grass, turf, now grass. Think it is in the low 60s for capacity. We had seatbacks and there probably aren't many bad seats. No comparison to a stadium like Kyle Field (the pinnacle IMO in terms of operations, space, egress, etc.) but it is a pretty solid in stadium experience. Ole Miss really had their chances to take down Bama, but alas. While we did have one overserved young woman in our row not make it to the 2nd quarter (her boyfriend and father took her out) i don't think I saw any other boorish conduct or fan behavior all day.
footnote: Max's is an elite bar to watch night games in Memphis. Fun neighborhood over near the Civil Rights Museum and the Lorraine Motel. That bartender worked the games like you haven't seen. (He could've been an alum of that sportsbar we were all at in Nashville for a Board Meeting). Why so many 'sports bars' are run w/o anybody minding the TVs properly is a mystery I'll never understand.
