It's been over 20 years since I've been in Champaign/Urbana, Illinois. Or is it Champaign-Urbana? Either way, it was about what I remembered... overcast, cold, windy. But it was a lot colder in Memorial Stadium for Illini fans on Saturday since the Buckeyes stomped them to win back the Illibuck (a wooden turtle substituted after the live one expired)(oh yeah, and the Illini juniors won't actually hand it back to their Buckeye counterparts until next year... kind of a weird trophy/ritual, eh?)
Anyhoo, had I given much more thought than I did to this trip when I first learned I was invited back in September - when it was still quite warm and the 5-hour bus ride after my 3-hour drive to Sidney was still months away - I probably would not have gone, but it turned out to be pretty cool.
I went with two brothers- and a father-in-law and though we were all rather tired after beginning the bus trip at 5 am, and all pretty much passed out by (some of us, like me, well before) 9 pm Saturday night, it turned out to be a good time thanks to the Buck's victory and that team from up north's loss. A hatred of that team up north seems to be universal throughout the Big 10 as the entire stadium cheered in unison when the Northwestern score appeared on the scoreboard.
There were at least as many people in scarlet and gray on our side of the field as there were in orange and blue, and most of us were civil, even cordial with each other throughout. There's always that one fan though... and this poor guy got paid back in spades when he left with 2:30 left on the clock. He had just announced loudly an Illini fumble recovery for a huge gain, but when the play was reviewed, overturned, and the ball returned to Ohio State so we could just run out the clock, he and his buddy (who apologized for this guy's behavior all day) got up and left as though no one would notice. That was the loudest the crowd got throughout the game. Cracked me up... the guys next to me too, and they were Illinois fans! I really didn't think the guy was being that obnoxious. I was entertained, but apparently he'd pissed off a lot of others and they were glad to return the favor when he left.
Anyhoo, it was a great game, the rain held off, there was beer for breakfast supplied by our hosts on what was billed as a "non-alcoholic trip," I got my picture taken with a Woody Hayes impersonator, I slept for about 12 hours before the long ride home Sunday morning, and life was, in almost all respects, good.
Except for one thing that's bugging me. I hear Obama has made it clear that he won't support so-called "sagging pants ordinances" like those made famous in Florida. He considers them a waste of time at a time when our nation has bigger fish to fry.
I'm disappointed in his judgment. If we as a nation won't enforce laws upholding common decency, it won't be long before everything goes to hell in the old basket. There will be guns, drugs, crime, unemployment, witches and all kinds of evil overrunning us. For the love of Bob, man do something about the PANTS!
Luth,
Out
6 comments:
Ah...but he's simply toeing that laissez-faire, small goverment line. Though it doesn't prevent him from using the bully pulpit to lay down the law. Here's what he said:
"Here's my attitude: I think passing a law about people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time," Obama replied. "We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, getting health care, dealing with the war in Iraq. Any public official who is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to spend some time focusing on real problems out there.
"Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants. You're walking by your mother, your grandmother, and your underwear is showing. ... What's wrong with that? Come on. There are some issues that we face that you don't have to pass a law [against], but that doesn't mean folks can't have some sense and some respect for other people. And, you know, some people might not want to see your underwear — I'm one of them."
Ever read James Kilpatrick's column, The Writer's Art? He would call your post a blinker. You're going on and on about a weekend long beerblast bacchanalia talking about some football team who continually stumbles when faced with a real opponent then shift gears to Obama and didn't even use the clutch. I could hear those gears grinding.
OK, before you blast me, I'm really an Ohio State fan. I was very disappointed when they lost to Penn State recently.
I'll be visiting Columbus, or more specifically, Pataskala, next week.
Dear Ray,
Welcome to Horsepoup. It's always great to hear from new readers! I assume you're here by accident as you seem to have some expectation of coherence or, as Bud Light might put it, readability.
If you poke around here long enough you'll notice that there's rarely much refinement to the drivel spewed on this 'blog. The only real thread, if you wish to follow one, is that occasionally comments get pulled into the main page with or without any connection to the post where they appear. I like to give my readers the chance to see their thoughts outside of the page 2 comments area and it keeps topics on the main page fresh!
Stick around. Though we've hit a rut as of late, I predict good things in the future. Who knows, we may solve the world's problems right here, in this forum.
Oh, and just for the record, that three-beer breakfast was the extent of the bacchanalia. I did what I could to hold my eyes open while watching the Minnesota-Wisconsin game on TV from my bed... until 7 pm... then I gave in and slept until breakfast. Pretty wild night, eh?
True dat on the big games remarks... I gotta celebrate what I can get. I even started picking the Browns to win now that they've started Quinn, but I don't expect much out of either of Ohio's flagship football programs this year. At least next weekend shouldn't be a challenge... on Saturday anyway.
Bill,
Yep.
And as wishy washy as it sounds, I tend to agree.
We've all had our moments of questionable "self-expression" and it's superficial at best to judge folks based only on that... who really cares... but it's OK to apply a little peer pressure once in a while, ain't it?
If nobody ever did, how would we rebel and express ourselves? What would I ever have to rant about?
I think Ray's point was that, textually speaking, your drawers were showing!
;)
Bill, that was good, you read my mind. But, it sounds like Luth was still severely hung over from that game when he replied above.
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