Reflections

It’s 7:30 on a Friday night. I’m sitting in my office drinking a bit of wine. A few minutes ago I finished packing the car for the final tailgate of the year. Funny how that sounds at this point. “Final tailgate.” Game number twelve.

It seems like it was just a few weeks ago when we looked at each other and decided to take on this challenge. When we decided to spend the entire fall celebrating our 30 years of matrimony by going to every UTSA football game. And to not only go to every UTSA football game, but to represent the school in a celebratory manner. As Lynn would put it: “To go all in.” To not only attend the games, but to make our presence known. To become a beacon of hope and friendship at remote, foreign campuses.

So we started this journey with the University of Houston game in Houston. Linda and I hooked up with Matthew & John (TailgateSA), John & Chris (RowdyTalk) & Anthony and his brother (TexasFatBoys) and we put on one hell of a tailgate! Linda and I take very little credit for this one as we basically just showed up and brought some of the food and stuff. Anthony gets probably most of the credit for putting this one together. But what a party it was!

The week, as most all weeks when we traveled out of town, went something like this:

• Decided what the overall setup would be and what the menu would entail
• Go shopping for food, misc supplies (utensils, napkins, etc), basic camping-type supplies
• See that heavy rain is in the forecast, purchase tarps and other rain type of supplies
• Precook what you can.
• Pack car
• Drive to Houston
• Pick up ice in morning and start tailgate setup
• Tailgate
• Teardown before game
• Final teardown after game
• Drive to hotel
• Re-pack car in morning and drive home
• Unpack car
• Wash, clean and otherwise prep items for re-use

In Houston, the event was very special. We setup just before the rain hit, then just road it out. When the weather settled, we finished setting up and then the party started.

The aftermath, filmed in the proper manner, would make for a good start of a horror movie. Three kegs floated. Flags, tents coming done. 1AM in the morning with a somber atmosphere. Being in the bad part of town. And the UTSA faithful chanting and cheering, though somewhat with slurred speech and a wobble to the walk!

The game was a Friday night, so all day long we tailgated in Houston. The following morning we dragged out of bed and drove back to San Antonio. Unpack, start cleaning and get ready for Church the following day. Then a short work week while trying to finalize our plans for the Arizona tailgate on Thursday!

This was the start of what would become an all too familiar pattern. One thing that Linda and I never thought about was the continuous planning and activities. This past week as an example. I honestly hadn’t thought about visiting with my relatives in Kentucky until Tuesday (flight on Thursday early morning). I hadn’t even thought about what to pack until Linda reminded me the day before we were leaving.

 

Now don’t get me wrong. I have enjoyed just about every minute of this experience. It just has happened so quickly and so back-to-back-to-back that we have not had much opportunity to stop and reflect on it very much.

But now that we have completed our last road trip and have this single game left, I have that opportunity for reflection. And with this opportunity here are a few of the first things to come to mind:

• I am extremely blessed. Not only in my faith of the Lord, but in all that I have: My wife. My wonderful parents that have given me everything I have ever needed. Even though at the time I didn’t necessarily understand, want or even like it. But it was what I needed.
• I have severely missed the time together with my loving wife Linda. Everyday life has gotten in the way of us spending time together. The drives and entire weekends together has helped to remind me of why I love her in the first place.
• UTSA has some incredibly passionate fans. We have had the pleasure to meet some of these and with the fear of not mentioning all of them, I will mention a few:
  • John, John and John! We have met a number of John’s but you know who you are. Attending every game you can. Always being there. Representing the team and staying positive, even with the year we have had.
  • Pat.  What can I say except that you don’t know how much Linda and I respect what you have done and are doing. It’s not about the money.  It’s about staying true to yourself, understanding your blessings and giving others the opportunity and means to succeed. It’s easy to write a check. It takes a lot more effort and passion to inspire hope and change in the young minds of today’s adolescents.  You excel in this and for that we truly admire what you are doing.
    
  • Matthew.  Keep the faith! You have built a strong following and I hope that you are able to continue to take it to the next level. Never lose sight of where you came from and keep the passion and fever for UTSA athletics in your heart.
  • Brandon and Taylor. I know that part of your involvement is purely work related. I’m not naive about the concept of sales and salesmen. But at the same time, both of you have shown a great desire to promote UTSA above and beyond just sales and have done a wonderful job of supporting those of us that are out here daily supporting the team!
  • And there are other friends: The Taylor’s; DavidG; Noriega’s; Dyer’s; Marc; JJ; Jeff; etc, etc, etc…
• Oklahoma State fans were great! We had probably our most enjoyable time at an away tailgate there in Stillwater. The OSU fans that were tailgating around us were the most gracious, kind and fun groups to be with. They offered not only us, but all of the UTSA fans that came by food, drinks, seats and just general hospitality! There was friendly banter and discussion about the upcoming game, but it all stayed in the friendly manner that it should be. They were all very grateful to have the amount of UTSA fans that traveled. Without question, they were the most friendly and enjoyable to be with.
• We learned that what is officially published on the web by the different schools as far as tailgating rules, locations, etc. is all fantasy and not grounded in fact.
• LaTech students were assholes. Need I say more?
• That said, LaTech alums were great and the tailgating next to them was a lot of fun. Linda and I will be hosting a few of the LaTech alums next year at the Dome. Looking forward to it!
• FAU, though beautiful for being in Florida, didn’t have a clue when it came to tailgating, parking passes, etc. It all worked out OK, but technically was a big cluster.
• Western Kentucky had the nicest campus and general facilities (though, OSU had, without a doubt, the nicest stadium).
• Southwest Airlines, easily my favorite airline, will look you straight in your eyes and lie. When you call them on it, they will just go from lie #1 to lie #2. Truth will get there eventually, but that is not their first direction.
• Cab drivers in Dallas are crooks.
• Louisiana still has the worst highways. Although Oklahoma is a close second.
• When you are tired, lacking sleep and about to drive all morning there is nothing like a good breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

Linda and I have had an enjoyable time this year. I would like to personally thank Lynn, Brandon and Taylor for helping make this a special year for us. I know that some of what you have done for us is above and beyond and we truly appreciate it.

We have been asked by a few people what are our plans for next year. Part of that we will decide over the next few months but a few things I do know at this point:

• We will be renewing our tickets for next year. We have offers to upgrade to nicer seats and such, and we have not decided that at this point. But at a minimum you will see us back in the front row of section 210 again next year.
• We will be tailgating again next year. We may not tailgate every home game and instead do a more major (can you say “SEC Level”) tailgate at a few games.
• We will not attend all away games next year. We have no interest in UTEP (no comment, but those of you that know what happened this year will understand). And we won’t go down to Southern Miss. But we do currently plan on going to the Arizona and UNT away games next year.
• I want to do a full video feed next year at the games I do attend. Not just pictures. Assuming there is interest (is there any????)
• We have not decided what lot we will shoot for next year but leaning on the RV lot.

Finally, there is the question of George and Phil. Believe it or not, these both take a fair amount of effort to bring to each game. Phil especially. I’m not sure if they will return next year. I may leave it up to the masses to vote. More to come in the future J.

So as I finish this, I reflect back on the year. For those that are considering doing this in the future I will say that without a doubt it is something that will give you numerous memories! There are parts that we have loved. There are parts that we have not. Without a doubt it is more tiring than either of us realized it would be, but we tailgated pretty extreme, so that could be toned down a lot!

I will say that the tweet that I sent out at the WKU game was very accurate and reflects where we ended up this year from a tailgating perspective. As simple and possibly cliché as it may sound it was very true:

RowdysRoadhouse If you fly it they will come. #UTSA fans are drawn to the flags. #represent #All_In #UTSAftbl http://t.co/KYa4kLwDwM 11/22/14 9:48 AM

At the WKU game, all we did was invite a few people and then put out a few tweets on where we were and raised the flags. The next thing we knew, UTSA fans from Nashville, TN, somewhere in Indiana, from Bowling Green, KY and then a few from the team buses all just dropped by. It was a bunch of people that did not know each other. Didn’t have anything in common at all except for being fans of UTSA! It was great to see. And even greater to know that Linda and I helped to bring these people together. Hopefully we also helped to create a more enjoyable experience for all of these people that came from hundreds of miles away to cheer on their school. After all that is what this is about. People, fans, cheering on their school. Having the opportunity to show their spirit, drive and excitement for what is now a four-year old football program.

Ten years from now, no one will remember what Linda and I have done this year. We will probably fade into the crowd as the team becomes more popular and graduates don’t know about a time when there was not a football team. But that is OK. We will continue to follow the team and be involved in what ever way and means we are capable of. So look for us. We may be in a corner of one of the lots. Just relaxing and people watching. Thinking back on what a wonderful time we have had this year. On the friends we have made and the times we have shared.

But we have one more tailgate to finish. UNT at home! Let’s go out in style. Let’s go out with friends, family, fun, drink and celebration of this first initial full four-year class of athletes. Let’s finish it off with dignity, spirit and class!

Birds Up!

david