On New Year's Day, we left the horrific Dust Bowl of Lubbock (see blog below) and headed for the Cotton Bowl 2006, which pitted Texas Tech against the University of Alabama.
The five-hour drive to Dallas took us along the backroads where we were a few distance away from the grass fire. It was a surreal sight to see the glow of the fire and smoke in the horizon. What wondrous colors in the midst of a horrible situation.
We awoke early the next morning at 6 a.m. to make it to our parking spots at the Texas Fair Grounds. Yes, we had parking permits. Not only that, we also had tickets to the 3rd row on the 40 yard line. It's good to have connections, baby. Now I know why management hate to give up their jobs. Along with that, they'd have to give up with perks.
Some of you may not know this. M's from Alabama, near Mobile. His parents went to the University of Alabama (and Auburn subsequently). We got tickets via the AJ's connections. Guess who we are rooting for
We had earlier planned to root for both teams, generally a good game. So, there we were, seated among the Tech fans (with the exception of another Alabama supporter, see 2nd picture), cheering for both teams.
I felt rather schizophrenic after a while. I gave up around the 2nd quarter. Make up your mind, Ling. Stick to one and stand by the decision.
So, after Alabama made a touch down in the first 4 minutes of the 1st quarter (a play that was disputed AFTER the game), an approximate 80-yard run, I switched allegiance.
To be fair, I was going to root for Bama. I figured blood is thicker than water and since M's mom couldn't be with us, somebody gotta be the unpopular one among the Tech fans. I'm not afraid.
And did my allegiance pay off. Bama broke the tie at 5 seconds to the end of the game by kicking a field goal, making it just inches from the bottom left of the post. Now, that's a game. 13-10.
Photo below: A few of us thought he was a chicken. M immediately figured he was a cotton ball. How brilliant. He even had the physique for it! Oops, that was rude.
