For those of you who don't know, I made a trip up to Ruston this weekend for Tech's Homecoming football game and a Halloween party thrown by several of my friends. It was supposed to be a trip for both E-beth and me, but she got sick Friday night and didn't come. Here's a quick look back to the weekend that was:
Since we had taken a vacation day on Saturday (the only way for me to get out of town), I had a lot of work to do Friday night. Just because I'm gone, the work still gotta get done, ya know what I mean? So I worked late. Didn't leave the office until after 3 a.m. Came home, did the dishes (cuz I promised), took a shower, packed a bag and then got on the road around 4:30 a.m.
That's right, I'm going back to college, right? Might as well pull an all-nighter. I rolled into town around 6:30 a.m., grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed on campus. Since Elizabeth didn't make the trip, I figured I'd try to get a press credential and do a story on a starting defensive tackle (D'Anthony Smith) from Cenla. Vacation? What vacation?
I dropped by the TAC to see if Malcolm Butler, football SID, might be in his office. Instead, I found coach Kerry Rupp of the basketball team, and he invited me to watch their 7:30 a.m. practice. So I got a good look at the Dunkin' Dawgs for the first time. Liked what I saw of some things. Have some questions on other things. But that was good.
After watching practice, I ran by the bank to deposit a check (yes, Elizabeth and I are still loyal Community Trust Bank customers) and then headed out to the Tech golf course, where I caught up with Binni, J.J., Dave Asfar and Jason Shinaberry for the second (?) annual Homecoming golf round. Spent a few holes with them, laughed a lot, encouraged some, took a couple of swings myself and then headed out hoping to see more faces that I hadn't seen in two or three years like J.J., Dave and Shinaberry.
The next stop was the radio. I stopped by the ESPN 97.7 studio for the high school football recap show hosted by Nick White. Spent about an hour there with the only person I know with more knowledge and passion for high school football than me. Here's to the "prep guru"!
After that show ended at 11 a.m., I went over to Joe Aillet Stadium to spend a little more time on the radio with Sean Fox and Ed Hebert for Tech's pre-game show. While there, also saw some old faces like Bradley Walker, Adam McGuirt, Charlie Hogan and Jason Jones. Fun times.
The game was a blur, an amazing 38-35 Tech win over rival Fresno State in which the player I was doing a story on had a good game -- six tackles, 0.5 sack and a pass breakup. Did the whole post-game press conference deal, which was nice, wrote my story and then headed over to Alan and Misti's for the Halloween party.
Let me tell you, this was a good, good time. It was great to hang out with some folks that I haven't seen in a long, long time. And, of course, it's always great to hang out with people I do see, like Alan, Kyle and Binni. Others who were there: Stephen Taylor, Gil Colvin, Scott Sutton, Haywood, Jay Whittington and many others. Sometimes, it's hard for me to believe it's been over three years since I graduated college. The time has flown.
There were some great costumes. Gil's penguin head, I believe, was the best one. Very, very funny. Alan and Misti were rock stars. I was The Man (with my LeBron James jersey) in the Yellow Hat, complete with a Curious George doll draped around my neck. Kyle came as Superman, which always seems to be the case! Amber and Malcom came dressed as officials, while Dustin and Rindy Swafford were an angel and a devil.
Fun times. Of course, we spent most of the time watching the Texas-Texas Tech game on the big screen. Sorry, Misti! It was an amazing game and a good way to end the day. While I'm sure they partied late into the night, this young fella was pooped, since was working on zero sleep, and headed to the Roberts house to crash around 11 p.m.
On Sunday, I grabbed a bite to eat -- Johnny's Pizza! -- and took it over to Alan's to watch a little football (J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!) for a couple of hours. Then I stopped off at the Ferrels house and visited with my old friends there, Sherri, Casey, Ashley and Michelle. Also saw Casey's twins, Aiden and Brenton, who are now 4 years old, and the newest member of the family, 5-month-old Charlee.
Overall, it was one of the better trips home I've had since I moved to Alexandria. There were so many old faces and such a good time catching up with folks that I haven't seen in so long!
