robertreid

Texas is scared of other teams:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=dw-bcs102009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Oh, and the link for ESPN: http://bit.ly/4uQnQ7

CollegeGameDay: State College, PA

Here's my take on what to do -- football and otherwise -- at State College, the home of Penn State and the 3am 'sticky.' Not as bad as it sounds. Well, it is bad for you.

Game Pick: Penn State over Iowa, 27-9

But as a destination? Iowa City is near some interesting sights -- I really enjoyed seeing Herbert Hoover's home, a half-hour drive away. The campus is nice. I had some veggie curry and saw bad rock bands playing by the river. But actually found other parts of Iowa more inspiring -- like the Loess Hills near Nebraska, or (particularly) the gorgeous Mississippi River Valley around Dubuque (which has a funicular train). Iowa City points: 13

State College has its moments, often drunken or high in cholesterol, but the nearby bike paths and mountains to climb are hard to argue with. I've been going to the area all my life. My mom was born in Franklin, just west. State College points: 17

State College beats Iowa City as destination, 17-13.

Actually State College seems more interesting to me than Columbus, Ohio.

Vs Network You know you're not top tier programming when you label the 'third guy' in the booth as 'ThirdGuy.' As seen during the Kansas/Duke game about 25 minutes ago.

Anyone watching football last weekend could see it plainly: the screams swelling at every pass, punt or hiked ball in college football...

Tech Fan Says Predicts Longhorn Loss

I wrote about Austin's game-day scene for ESPN this week:

http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=4479120

And a Tech grad living in Austin told me Tech would pull the big upset (making Red Raiders' record for key on-the-road big games something like 1-86 over the year), and a Texas band member acknowledged the girlishness of the Longhorn band uniform.

Predictions and key surprises of week:

* Tennessee doesn't score vs Florida. Final 42-0.
* Tech does not win.
* Fresno State beats Boise State tonight, 18-13.
* Nebraska beats Virginia Tech on the road, 30-20
* Oklahoma struggles big time with Tulsa, but wins ugly, 38-34
* Florida State beats BYU and nonsense talk of Max Hall as Heisman candidate (based on double turnover game vs shellshocked, Bradford-less Oklahoma, who missed last-second FG for win) will end. Final 28-9
* Arkansas beats Georgia at home. 7-6

"I have been drinking heavily and don't blame myself at all"

Perhaps the best quote of all time from a college football fan, coming from a Colorado fan after the team got crushed by Toledo.

"I have been drinking heavily and don't blame myself at all."

Link: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/34375/this_week_in_schadenfreude_sept._14

Thanks Lake T. If the season's goal is to win a national championship, OU's season is already about other games -- they have no chance to...

Cal? USC? UCLA? A Pac 10 fan, I'm guessing....

Lake, stay focused. It's easy to go back and forth on games, but you don't have to. What's your team, your conference? ...

Don't Go Back

Part of why I travel so much now is how much of a planning role I got to play as a kid. And that works hand in hand with going to NEW places -- and not just back to Disney World or 'the lake' every summer.

My parents always let me play an active (sometimes lead -- sometimes failing) role as a planner, finding B&Bs, ski resorts and the like for family trips. One wasn't so successful. I wrote about it, and why going to NEW PLACES are the huge family bonder for Travel Savvy Mom today:

http://www.travelsavvymom.com/blog/family-travel/just-had-a-great-family-vacation-super-just-dont-go-back/#comments

Columbus tail gate > LA's tail gate

Ohio State fans think the Big 10 knows how the pre-game ritual better than the Pac 10, and with as many fans outside a stadium as in, it's kinda hard to argue. Here's my take the perfect game day on ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=4452781

By the way, check out Google Maps' street view around Columbus' Horseshoe. The photos were made on a game day -- so you can see the tailgate frenzy for yourself.

For those who don't understand why Hunter S Thompson titled his suicide letter "Football Season is Over" don't really...

ESPN Game-Day Plan

Here's my game-day plan for Atlanta when Virginia Tech and Alabama play this Saturday night: http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=4426600

Georgia Tech tickets for $15 sounds pretty good to me too.

Atlanta: Georgia Tech

The first College Game Day will be for Alabama/Virginia Tech playing the neutral locale of the Georgia Dome. But let's not forget that Atlanta is Georgia Tech's home town. GT host Jacksonville this Saturday. If you go... the best gameday GT tradition is either eating at Varsity -- and lines get large.

But the best GT tradition during the day is JUNIOR'S GRILL (www.juniors.gatech.edu). Georgia Tech’s favorite dining spot, where the tea comes sweet and a buffet line of meatloaf and collard greens is amidst a wall of football keepsakes (like a chunk of the goal post from the 1980 national championship win over Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl). Closed Saturday and Sunday.

See here for more info on what to do in Atlanta: http://inside-digital.blog.lonelyplanet.com/2009/09/01/college-football-planner-atlanta/

Anyone have other Atlanta favorites?

Introducing Lonely Planet/ESPN College Game Day Planner

I'll be writing a College Game Day Planner for all the college towns that Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso visit this fall for ESPN's greatest program of all time. The goal is treating the places not just as football destinations, but as destinations. I post a suggested itinerary for game day Saturdays on ESPN's College Game Day site, then fill out a weekend with favorites here on LP.com.

But I'm curious how the College Game Day towns compare with other college towns that ESPN doesn't visit...

Top Ten 2009 Predictions

1) We will never hear the end of how great Tim Tebow is. It will not matter when they drop two regular season games -- I'll guess Georgia and, oh, Florida State, but could be anyone -- and he loses the Heisman.

2) Speaking of which, the Heisman watch will begin three days before the season's opening kick-off this Thursday. Generally the front-runner will be whichever quarterback (Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow) had the best, most recent game. If Jimmy Claussen actually shows something or USC's new QB, add them to the mix.

3) The 'BCS is crap' talking point will fill four of five college football broadcasts/columns all season long.

4) References to Texas not playing in the Big 12 championship last year: at least once every two times Texas is mentioned. Which is a lot.

5) 'Pick six' will be uttered the 543,551st time by October 17.

6) One wacky team -- a Utah, a Boise State -- will go unbeaten and everyone will talk about how wacky teams of the past -- a Utah, a Boise State -- can win on the big state. Before they're snubbed in the championship game for a one- or even two-loss team from the Big 12 or SEC.

7) The SEC will not win the national championship this year.

8) Notre Dame will lose five games.

9) The Big 12 will win the national championship.

10) We will continue to compare quality wins and quality losses and relative strength of schedules and conferences -- just like gymnastics judges -- until we have some sort of system OTHER than 119 teams playing, without playoffs, for a single championship game.

No sports league is more irrational. Let's just love it.

Clothing not costumes

On Martha's Vineyard last week, I had the opportunity to spend a day with members of the Wampanoag tribe, who occupy and own most of the western tip of the island. One member told me, 'We've been here 10,000 years!' Before I sat to watch the Wampanoag's 'Legends of Moshup' pageant -- an outdoor telling of the tribe's traditional tales -- I made the mistake of calling their traditional clothing they wore as 'costumes.' 'No, it's not costumes,' they gently reminded me. 'It's our clothing.'

Clothing, not costumes. Something to keep in mind when in western Martha's Vineyard, or mingling with various 'minority groups' in places like Southeast Asia...

Need one of those hats.

OK to travel with young ones?

I've learned that a NYC mom's chat group -- not public -- have discussed my recent post of traveling with my four-month-old daughter. Some angrily discussed it. Suggesting that there's too early an age to go on the road. That it's selfish. That there's no point if they don't remember it.

I think that's ultimately the decision of each parent, but I have no reason to believe that there's too early an age to go and see new places and spend time with the family unit. We've refrained from doing 14-hour flights, and I'm not sure I really would want to put my daughter (or my wife and I) through that. We might.

But I CAN say that seeing my daughter kick and laugh as a parade passed her in Philadelphia -- a relatively easy three-hour drive away -- was well worth the trip.

Hilarious story. I regret I don't even know that much French! (I cheated in Mr Becknell's class in 9th grade.)

St George Greeting If you go to St George, Romania, perhaps skip page two of the brochure. This grumpy looking guy is fond of pens and bow-tie-folded Romanian flags. Probably should have taken a second shot to beat that quizzical look.

Most Questionable Collage of All Time? This shot -- from a brochure to Prahova Valley, Romania -- may have the worst collage of all time. Train, bored hiker, some dumb house.

Brasov Mall No people. No address. No hours. No number. But 'check' on the inclusion of three logo/artworks and bad lighting.