Playing at Road Games

In the words of Taylor Martinez: "I like playing at road games."

I like them so much I try to go to one every year. It's a continuation of a family tradition. We always tried to go to a road game annually. We went to the 1998 Orange Bowl, laughing and cackling as the Blackshirts abused Peyton Manning so bad that he still has trouble bringing it up in therapy.

Of course, I was also 3 years old and asleep by the 3rd quarter. I was probably just laughing at the Orange Bowl mascot.

It's gotta be annoying forever looking out of the side of your eyes like that. 

Then there was the time we went to the 2002 BCS National Championship Game. We got whooped that time 37-14 by Miami. I don't really remember much about that game. I just remember getting nachos at halftime and the Miami fan who threw a flaming marshmallow at our car.

Classic Miami.

But Jason? Why are you bringing this up today? We have a home game against Purdue in a couple of hours!

To that I say, it's Purdue. Do you really want to talk about Purdue? Do you really want to talk about how their mascot looks like a remorseless killer who sucks out the souls of his victims with his eyes? No, I didn't think so.

They say if you look into a mirror and say "Boiler Up" 3 times, Purdue Pete will appear and bring with him a really crappy recruiting class.

I actually bring it up, because last week my wife and I made our 2nd annual pilgrimage. Last year was our first road game together and we wen't to Minnesota. This time it was to Bloomington, Indiana to watch the Huskers take on the Hoosiers.

Hoosier fans are a surprising cocky bunch for a program that hasn't been to back-to-back bowl games since 1991, calling their stadium the "real" Memorial Stadium. One fan speculated that we must have made the trip down to Bloomington to be a part of a "real" football program.

Kacey and I at the "real" Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana

It was all in good fun I suppose. Watching Aaron Williams come down with the game-sealing INT was all in good fun too. On the whole Hoosier fans were a pretty welcoming bunch, which is appreciated.

I've come to look forward to this annual road game. Last year's trip to Minnesota was pretty special to me, because it was the first time that my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I went to a road game together. We stayed at some friends of her dad's who lived in Minneapolis who were gracious enough to let 2 college kids, one whom they had never met before, crash at their house. So we're very grateful for that.

That trip was special because it was a continuation of our old family tradition, introducing it to what would soon be a new member of the family. I can't wait to introduce it to all of the little children creatures we may have later.

I plan to eventually visit every Big Ten stadium and hopefully I have my family in tow with me. So far I've knocked out Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana and Purdue.

There I talked about Purdue. Happy? Go Big Red!