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October 28, 2007
Fall Saturdays in Austin, Texas
The fall is a great time of year, especially when we get the first cool wave from the North. It means that a chilly morning will produce a layer of fog over Lake Austin and Lake Travis.
Here's a look at a burnt orange sunrise with the fog over the lakes:
It also sometimes means a home game for the Longhorns which this particular Saturday was. In this case, we had Nebraska coming in to Austin.
Deb was with the girls at a Saturday tennis workout, so Scott and I headed down to the game. We started by hitting the Goal Post Club tailgate party where Scott took advantage of the moon bouncer:
The Horns were rather lethargic for three quarters of the game but finally came alive in the fourth quarter, with Jamaal Charles putting on a show with three touchdowns and over 200 yards of rushing in the fourth quarter alone.
It was Mack Brown's 100th win as coach of the Longhorns, which we celebrated after escaping with a victory that should have been easier.
Scott kept his string alive in only witnessing victories when he goes to games. We'll need him for K-State next time!
Posted by Jim at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments ()
October 27, 2007
Let's Add Volleyball
Not content with just tennis and band, Meg has also been playing this season on her middle school volleyball team.
Fair warning, you don't want to be on the receiving end of her serve!
This match was a heartbreaker for the Lady Bucs with the teams splitting the first two games, and then dropping the third game 27-25. So close!
Posted by Jim at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments ()
Friday Night Lights Pregame Entertainment
On Friday night, we took in another Lake Travis High School football game. All of the middle schools had a chance to participate with the Lake Travis HS band and play for the crowd during the pregame festivities.
Meg had a chance to get a field-level view of what it's like to play before a big Lake Travis crowd.
Here she is in her first big show biz break:
Oh yes, the game was exciting too! Lake Travis jumped out to a quick 24-0 lead by early second quarter and it appeared it would be yet another blowout. Connally fought back in a major way in the second half, yet LT ultimately prevailed 31-28.
It's great seeing a winning program, something that I did not get to enjoy in my high school days!
Posted by Jim at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments ()
October 14, 2007
Friday Night Lights
We're in that swing of catching occasional Lake Travis High School football games. This week was homecoming week against Lampasas. Lake Travis crushed them, scoring 28 first quarter points. The whole family went with Kate and Claire meeting up with their friends, Meg with her friends, and Deb and me watching and meeting some of families we know through the Austin Tennis Academy.
The big news was that Scott asked one of the girls at his school out to the game. Actually, it was to meet at the stadium. Some of the players on his football team also asked girls to the game. His "date" showed up a little late. I whispered in his ear that he'll have to learn to get used to this!
For the first half, they hung out in the end zone area behind one of the goal posts with all the other kids their age. She, her mom and her sister were ready to leave and took off at half time.
No worries though--his football buddies were there and Scott even caught an extra point on one of the numerous Lake Travis touchdowns.
I asked Scott to sum up the evening to which he replied, "Good." There you have it!
Posted by Jim at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments ()
October 10, 2007
Working on the Chain Gang
"That's the sound of men working on the chain gan -ay ang" - Sam Cooke.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to work the chains at Scott's football game. It gives you quite a view of the game since at most you are right there at the sidelines within 10 yards plus the distance between the players on the field and the sideline.
Scott's team rolled to an impressive 26-0 victory. I tried to take credit due to my exceptional placement of one the sticks and tautness of the chain. Scott would have none of it. It's a good thing we raise such bright children.
In the gazillions of football games I've seen over the years, I've never paid much attention to the guys working the chains. It's really quite an inexact science, especially when one considers how games can be decided by mere inches. The side judge estimates where he wants the pole measuring the spot of the football to be placed, and one of the poles with the ten yard chain is place at this spot. The other end is placed by pulling the chain tight. At least at the junior pee wee level, this is nothing more than a rough guess on the placement. At that point it becomes gospel.
We never had the opportunity to trot on to the field for a close measurement. I think in large part it was because this was the refs fourth game of the day and they were tired. On anything close, they had us "move the chains" to signal a fresh set of downs. More importantly to them, it kept the game clock running.
I'm hoping to parley this experience into a gig at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for the Horns games. The effort is not too great, the view of the game is nice, and price of the ticket is avoided... heck I'd probably even make some cash in the deal. The downside is of course getting creamed by some linebacker or safety as they make a tackle on the sideline.
Until that big-time stint happens, I'll keep taking those opportunities to work the junior pee wee chain gan-ay-ang!
Posted by Jim at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments ()