Bowlin' Baby!

So we went to our very first bowl game a couple weeks ago! I've had other opportunities to watch my beloved Clones in bowl games - such as the 1977 Peach Bowl. But hell, I wasn't as big a fan then while I was actually a student, as I am now. Plus Vicki Kim, the big O of organizing trips, didn't organize one! My friend Thea says it wasn't that fun - she went.

Oops - took time out to work on our computer network (at Joan's). Why oh why didn't I get a kid who was a whiz kid with computers. I only have me. Been working on issues with Linksys for a week. No luck! So I started the above blog last night. Back at it.

We left Grand Junction (after our fab Xmas with my fam in Vail) on Sunday 12/17 after a night with the Alvillars (that's my sis Susi - her last name is pronounced all vee ar. They have a beautiful mansion that backs up to the Grand Mesa - a gorgeous natural wonder. We had spaghetti, yum nice change after all the Xmas food.

Jud, Paul and I headed south and west through Utah and some gorgeous desert scenery. We ate breakfast at Denny's in Moab and entered Indian Reservations. My bro in law Jim cautioned us not to speed. Some of that portion of our trip was pretty bleak. We got to Flagstaff, AZ (home of the Lumberjacks, school of niece Jordie) that night - a nice small city in the foothills of mountains.

Monday it was on to Aunt Jean and Uncle Bruce's in Green Valley, AZ, a couple hours south of Phoenix, a beautiful home in a retirement community. We had a drink in the fancy clubhouse. I'm mad that I didn't think to take pics! It was so good to see 'em.

Tuesday the 29th it was off to Tempe and my very first ISU Cyclones bowl game. So...back to football talk.

Okay, then there were the 80's and 90's - a dark couple decades in Cyclone football history. Jim Criner (the Clones definitely weren't finer with Criner...), Jim Walden - seemed to be a nice guy but not a good coach. And remember there weren't nearly as many bowls back then.

Then, the good Danny Mac years - I recall several lean years prior to improvement. I'm glad ISU stuck with Mac - he was just the coach to slowly improve things - and BEAT those damn Hawkeyes (after 15 straight years of getting our asses kicked by those turkeys). I'll never forget the year Sage Rosenfels and company engineered a victory in Iowa City - it was a FINE day indeed!

In 2000, the Clones were invited to play in the Insight Bowl in Phoenix. Lots of our friends went, but we couldn't afford it. (yep, I know insert sad clown face and violin music). I only worked part time back then, and didn't make a bundle at my job as recycling coordinator. Same story for the next couple bowls - Independence and Houston Bowls early in that same decade.

So when our new coach Paul Rhoads willed our team to 6 regular season victories, becoming bowl eligible at the Colorado game in Ames. We were there. And you mighta heard we beat Nebraska at Lincoln. Stunner!

So we waited on pins and needles to find out which bowl would pick us (pick me, pick me!). We had a good track record with Insight, and by golly they picked us over Missouri. Go Clones!

We stayed at the Embassy Suites - a great place for staying multiple days since it's a 2 room suite. Jud had his own buddies to stay with, so we had a little break from each other. Yay (for both parties). We ran into Dwight and Marilyn right after checking in, and headed to Scottsdale for some siteseeing - art galleries. Dwight liked the naked ladies.

That evening we went to an underground bar for a Cyclone party, then headed back to Embassy to meet with my hometown buddies, Toni and Dan Mason and Jeff Allen - all my classmates ('76 baby). Fun to catch up with them!

The next day McKims blew into town and we went into campus town for lunch - the Library had good burgers (and the librarian - waitresses were hot to according to Paul). More tomorrow on my bowl game experience.