Holiday Bowl 2007

Don’t forget to check out the nominations for the “Skunkies”, here.

Thanks to B-Daddy for taking the wheel while we were at the Holiday Bowl yesterday. Texas beat Arizona St. 52-34 in what was….. the coldest flippin’ Holiday Bowl we can remember. As the score would suggest, it wasn’t much of a game so thankfully the game itself has nearly become an afterthought over the years to the main attraction which is, of course, the tailgating festivities. Marinated and spiced brats, Pop’s Chili, Oriental garlic wings, lumpia, tequila, cervezas…. and that was the fare only before the game. Afterwards, the grill was fired back up for carne asade’ and cayenne spicy wings.

Laydown area for the grills and tables is essential as it is difficult to have a safe and effective working/serving area unless one occupies a parking space in the Qualcom lot next to one of a handful of the highly-coveted “end pieces” (see below) at the end parking rows. Our 1130 arrival afforded us the opportunity to land this nice little piece of real estate.

Honoring the Flag during the national anthem. Flag was borne by Marines from Camp Pendleton.

Fly-over at end of national anthem by 4 F-16s. (The fourth, rightmost in formation is obscured by smoke from fireworks set-off during the anthem... a pet peeve of ours, by the way). Also, for the first time in memory, there was no jump-in by the Navy SEAL parachute stunt team. Members of the team jump out of helos from 10,000 ft. and bearing flags of the two respective football teams and the U.S. Flag, they land on the field itself... a completely unreal sight.

The 200+-strong Texas Longhorn marching band on the field at half-time.

The stalwarts braving the bitter high-40s conditions after the game.

Traffic is starting to die down a little but we better throw some more carne on the grill just to be on the safe side. Hate getting caught in that gridlock at the exits.

The Great White Whale of "End Pieces" was located on the way out. Next year!