Phewww....what a game and what a night!
Some of you I'm friends with on Facebook and other social media, but for those who aren't let me tell you a bit about my experiences in San Marcos.
The parking situation sucked. I got an email that the alumni were getting together in Lot 5 and that we paid at the gate. There was no pre-purchase required. Got there and the lot was "full" (even though it was half empty). This forced us to go find parking which in San Marcos is not that easy. Ended up having to park in front of a little Mexican Restaurant. Wanted to tailgate, but we were parked next to its nasty smelling dumpster. I shotgunned a few beers and then made the trek to the stadium.
Once we got in, we managed to sneak into a special area for Bobcat fans where they served nachos and drinks. I don't think we were allowed in there but somehow my wife managed to get us in. (She's still got it) I only saw one other ASU fan in there. Despite that, the fans were SUPER cool towards us. We would talk football, how far the Texas State program has come, and expectations of the game. Most of them were cautiously optimistic and stated they would consider hanging with a power-5 program (especially one that handled an SEC team the week before) to be a major victory for where they're at.
(that's me with the Arizona flag and my wife with the ASU flag)
Made it to our seats. I have to say I'm not sure what they were thinking with the placement of the student section. We were right behind them. Also they were right behind our bench. (@Hod Rabino thought that wasn't allowed). Being so close to the students they'd taunt us, curse at us, and so on so forth. Of course being an old Pac-12 pro, they were tame compared to the student sections of yore. (Something I made sure to remind them all about) At one point a student chucked a beer into our section. This prompted both San Marcos and New Braunfels PD to come into our section and watch the students like a hawk. I had fun taunting those little punks. One such moment lead to my three seconds of fame on national TV:
(this moment came just as we tied up the score and I started taunting the students with the Arizona flag)
Got a chance to meet freshman running back Jason Brown's family. They were really cool people! In addition to complimenting his dad on the massive pythons that dude was sporting, I told them how excited I was to see Jason in the future. I told them how impressed that he was waiting in the wings (trying to preemptively put to rest any thought of the transfer portal...just in case) and used the story of how I went to work for one of the largest plaintiffs firms in the country starting at the bottom and working my way into multi-million dollar litigation.
(me with the Brown family, Jason Sr right behind me)
After half-time, my wife (along with my two brother-in-laws) deserted me to go up to her boss's suite after the second play. My wife is the CFO for Casey Development here in San Antonio. Her boss is a Texas State alumnus and their athletic department's building is named after the dude! On the way up to the suite, I ran into Texas State's coach who won back to back division II national titles back in 81 and 82. I shook his hand and told him how impressed I was with everything they put together and hoped they could maybe join us in the Big-XII some day.
As for the suite, it was awesome but of course anyone knows I'm the "ASU Fanatic" and "theoriginalsundevil4life" so my wife stated "you need to be on your best behavior." I told her I would...
(my face's reaction as I said that)
I did actually behave myself....mostly. Couldn't resist these opportunities.
After the end of the game (or what I thought was the end...didn't see the craziness of them putting one second back on the clock) I made my way out and ran into these two cool guys including none other than the guy who just lifted the road curse, Mr. @Joe Healey:
The cherry on top of the great evening was getting the honor to meet the GOAT himself, Zane Gonzalez:
(I have to admit, I was very much a fanboy around him, but he was honored I think that I was)
It was a great evening!! When we host Texas State next year, I kindly ask all Sun Devils to show them the same hospitality they showed us. I was very impressed with their program and look forward to their success in the FBS.
Some of you I'm friends with on Facebook and other social media, but for those who aren't let me tell you a bit about my experiences in San Marcos.
The parking situation sucked. I got an email that the alumni were getting together in Lot 5 and that we paid at the gate. There was no pre-purchase required. Got there and the lot was "full" (even though it was half empty). This forced us to go find parking which in San Marcos is not that easy. Ended up having to park in front of a little Mexican Restaurant. Wanted to tailgate, but we were parked next to its nasty smelling dumpster. I shotgunned a few beers and then made the trek to the stadium.
Once we got in, we managed to sneak into a special area for Bobcat fans where they served nachos and drinks. I don't think we were allowed in there but somehow my wife managed to get us in. (She's still got it) I only saw one other ASU fan in there. Despite that, the fans were SUPER cool towards us. We would talk football, how far the Texas State program has come, and expectations of the game. Most of them were cautiously optimistic and stated they would consider hanging with a power-5 program (especially one that handled an SEC team the week before) to be a major victory for where they're at.
(that's me with the Arizona flag and my wife with the ASU flag)
Made it to our seats. I have to say I'm not sure what they were thinking with the placement of the student section. We were right behind them. Also they were right behind our bench. (@Hod Rabino thought that wasn't allowed). Being so close to the students they'd taunt us, curse at us, and so on so forth. Of course being an old Pac-12 pro, they were tame compared to the student sections of yore. (Something I made sure to remind them all about) At one point a student chucked a beer into our section. This prompted both San Marcos and New Braunfels PD to come into our section and watch the students like a hawk. I had fun taunting those little punks. One such moment lead to my three seconds of fame on national TV:
(this moment came just as we tied up the score and I started taunting the students with the Arizona flag)
Got a chance to meet freshman running back Jason Brown's family. They were really cool people! In addition to complimenting his dad on the massive pythons that dude was sporting, I told them how excited I was to see Jason in the future. I told them how impressed that he was waiting in the wings (trying to preemptively put to rest any thought of the transfer portal...just in case) and used the story of how I went to work for one of the largest plaintiffs firms in the country starting at the bottom and working my way into multi-million dollar litigation.
(me with the Brown family, Jason Sr right behind me)
After half-time, my wife (along with my two brother-in-laws) deserted me to go up to her boss's suite after the second play. My wife is the CFO for Casey Development here in San Antonio. Her boss is a Texas State alumnus and their athletic department's building is named after the dude! On the way up to the suite, I ran into Texas State's coach who won back to back division II national titles back in 81 and 82. I shook his hand and told him how impressed I was with everything they put together and hoped they could maybe join us in the Big-XII some day.
As for the suite, it was awesome but of course anyone knows I'm the "ASU Fanatic" and "theoriginalsundevil4life" so my wife stated "you need to be on your best behavior." I told her I would...
(my face's reaction as I said that)
I did actually behave myself....mostly. Couldn't resist these opportunities.
After the end of the game (or what I thought was the end...didn't see the craziness of them putting one second back on the clock) I made my way out and ran into these two cool guys including none other than the guy who just lifted the road curse, Mr. @Joe Healey:
The cherry on top of the great evening was getting the honor to meet the GOAT himself, Zane Gonzalez:
(I have to admit, I was very much a fanboy around him, but he was honored I think that I was)
It was a great evening!! When we host Texas State next year, I kindly ask all Sun Devils to show them the same hospitality they showed us. I was very impressed with their program and look forward to their success in the FBS.
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