Rooting for the other side

I did something that I never thought I would do in my lifetime. I not only went to a KU football game but I rooted for them. And not just the "let's go KU.. clap, clap, clap, clap, clap,clap" it was a full on Waving the Wheat and high fiving all the other crazies.

My company gave away a bunch of free tickets a couple of weeks ago and as luck would have it I was free the weekend of the game. After I received the tickets, I had to figure out who I was going to invite. There was my one friend who loves KU but punches stuff if they lose and then the other one who...wait, I only know one person who likes KU. As it turns out, I learned that a friend from church was a pretty big fan and this would a good chance for us to get to know each other better and boy did we ever.

Tom picked me up at 9:30 and we were on our way to the land of the dirty bird. Since this was Tom's country, he drove us on all the back roads and I was able to experience some of the beautiful country side. We found excellent parking right away (Anything free is excellent) and made our mile trek to the stadium.

As we got closer to the stadium, I could feel the school spirit coming from all the people hanging out on their porches drinking, grilling and playing tailgating games. Beer pong is a very popular sport in Lawrence! Our walking journey was coming to an end and the stadium lay before us in all her glory. I was getting pretty jazzed about the game and Tom was texting loving words to his wife so neither of us noticed the car speeding down the road. I had just enough time to scream at Tom to stop and save his life. His version of the story may be a bit different... :-)

The road to the stadium

Tom

Here comes the stadium

Larger than life

On the way into the stadium, I heard the familiar sounds of "Hog calling time in Nebraska"; however, this version was in tune and was sung with lot of heart. Unbeknownst to me, the band has a tradition of singing this song before every game. You can listen to them sing it here (Hog Calling Time in Nebraska). I got chills when I first heard it and again when I heard it on Youtube. Listen closely as the 2:35 mark.

The KU marching band

Once in the stadium, we enjoyed the pregame festivities and ran into a few people from work. Our seats were perfect, the weather was just right and I was ready for a victory!! There was a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks and Then the National Anthem went off without a hitch.. well, except for the Air force refueler that flyover during the first note of the anthem.

Can you read it? KU

A view of campus from the stadium

The final score before the half

The game was stupendous! The Jayhawks played their hearts out the first half and left the crowd wanting more as they ran off the filed. The half time show was also pretty cool. A flag the size of the football field was stretched out, taps was played and they acknowledged all the people who had served in the armed forces, police, fire and paramedics.

The flag

Unfurling the flag

The second half was just as crazy as the first and KU beat down a ranked team. This is where is waved the wheat, high fived everyone and basically lost all self control. The crowd lost it too and charged the field at the end of the game. Tom and I made our way around the stadium and heading out to get some of the best BBQ in Lawrence. If you ever head out that way, try the spicy BBQ sauce... way hot!!

The final seconds of the game

The crowd reacts

And storms the field

Final Score 28-25

From the opposite end zone

1/2 mast for 9/11 remberance

Quote of the day (From the lips of this hippie dude before the game): "dude, it is a great day to be a Jayhawk" What and the heck does that mean???

I hope you are able to let is all hang out once in a while!

Go Hawks (last time ever.. swear!)
Bill

48 Hrs in the City by the Bay

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to travel to California for work. The trip was scheduled for about 48 hours and we would be within 30 minutes of San Francisco. As most of you know, I am all about getting the most out of my travels especially if they are free. :-)

Our plane landed on Monday about 5pm and we had about 2.5 hours of daylight to hit all the major landmarks in the city. As our plane was descending into the "city by the bay", I spied with my little eye a very large fog bank. I was still determined to show my K.C. guests what the city had to offer. Once we had our rental car, we were off on our journey.

The fog bank

We hit Twin Peaks which are a couple of hill peaks that over look the entire city. Unfortunately, the earlier mentioned fog bank was resting directly on the peaks. We then headed to a beach located in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Bridge and walked on the beach for a few.

The view from twin peaks

Hemal,Jason,Me,Ted

The beach

The Golden Gate was our next destination... When we arrived, there was nothing there. I had to explain to everyone that there was indeed a big bridge that went across this large body of water. We had to walk about a 1/4 mile onto the bridge before we could see any proof that a very large bridge did exist. I think some of them were still in doubt.

The Golden Gate is behind us. Really

On the bridge.

Since we were all still on Kansas City time, it was really two hours ahead of the local time and dinner was in order. We enjoyed a very messy dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and then made our way to the hotel in Walnut Creek.

The dinner crew

Ted after a satisfying meal

The client visit took up the entire next day and as dinner approached I had a craving for the best burgers in the U.S. According to google, In n Out was a short drive down the road so we loaded up the rental and headed out to get a bite to eat. As we were contemplating our next moves, we heard a pack of police vehicles and a helicopter go screaming by on the freeway. It was a high speed chase! The next day we read about it and the guy they were chasing had done some very bad things. When they caught him, the ended up shooting him and found a body in his car... that is crazy!

Burgers beyond belief

dinner time

We all decided that we needed to give the Golden Gate another chance and headed into San Francisco for a late night viewing. Our "Never Lost" navigation system took us on the scenic route and after about an hour of driving and following in the tracks of the high speed chase, we made it to the bridge. The drive over the bay bridge at night was breath taking! We drove by AT&T park (the Giants were in town and playing), through China Town and up and down all the steep roads that make San Francisco, San Francisco.

I hope your business trips are eventful as mine.

Bill