The game last week was a lot of fun. It usually is when you play one of the worst teams in the nation. We beat Florida Atlantic 45-6. We had a good tailgate watching some football and eating tequila-lime wings and herb shrimp kabobs. We also sat up in the upper deck for the first time in Williams-Brice instead of our regular seats since we knew there would be lots of open areas up there. It was fun sitting as a group anyway with the friends we tailgate with for a change.
This week's game is actually tomorrow. Our fourth straight home game so it'll be really strange next week when we're on the road. On one hand this week it's nice having a Thursday night game because I'm taking tomorrow and Friday off work and we're the only game in the nation tomorrow so we're on ESPN nationwide. On the other hand... we're playing #2 Auburn. Now I won't say we can't win... because I know we can if our defense can hold them in check and our offensive line can protect Blake behind center.... but honestly, it's not going to be easy. They come in favored by 14 points. At least the tailgating will be fun? :)
I haven't posted many photos recently because honestly I haven't had much time to shoot anything. Panic and overwhelmed are two very good words for work lately. Anyway, one of the photo requests recently at work was a photo of our current building on campus, which isn't easy to photograph because of the trees all around it:
I've also got the initial shots from Graniteville, SC online now. I still have one trip down there for a couple shots I missed the first couple times. I've also got a few ideas for some additional more creative shots on the last trip also. Just click the image or the link to go to the gallery:
Well, it is if you're taking Friday off like me. :)
It's been a while since my last update... things are finally starting to slow down at work though, so things are getting better.
The class I took last week was okay - I knew most of what was covered, but did learn a tip or two here and there, so that made it worth it.
The game last week against Wofford wasn't pretty. We started a lot of freshman for the first time for a variety of reasons, but it made the game closer than it should have been. Wofford ran this annoying little option offense and kept getting around the corner and getting first downs... I think they had 71 plays in the game compared to our 51. We ended up winning 27-20, but we should really learn to beat teams like Wofford by more. We have Florida Atlantic, one of the worst Division 1-A teams out there coming here this Saturday. Clemson didn't put up a lot of yards against them in Week one when they played at Dead Valley, but they certainly made them count and put up a lot of points. Hopefully we can finally win comfortably in one of our games.
Anyway, I had to post today. This day 10 years ago Christina and I first started dating. We made the trip up to Charlotte from Rock Hill to see a Nine Inch Nails laser light show for our first date of sorts. Lots of fun. :)
So, I had some flowers sent today and we went to lunch:
We have a knack at losing 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' type games again Georgia. Our defense holds Georgia to 16 points (offense gave them 2 points on a safety) at home on a Saturday night ESPN primetime game and we can't win? Hard to ask for more than that... especially when we get in the red zone inside THE 5 YARD LINE three times and come away with zero points. Zip, nada...
Painful to watch...
Oh well, at least the next couple of weeks will be more fun. Wofford and Florida Atlantic come to town. A couple of games to work out the kinks in the *cough* *cough* offense.
Been a long week.... blah. At least next week I spend Monday through Friday in training at a local company in downtown. USC is switching from a Novell network to a Microsoft network so they're offering some training. Of couse, I'll probably know 85-90% of the stuff covered since I have a lot of experience with the Microsoft stuff, but I'm sure there'll be a nugget or two in there worth going to the courses. Plus, it gets me out of work for a week. :)
Big game is tomorrow! Definitely nervous because they always say 'so goes Georgia, so goes the season'. It's really our big springboard game and winning it gives us a huge headstart on competing for the SEC East. The Dawgs come into Columbia favored by around 3 points. They have a new QB this year and lost a few other skill spots, so we definitely have a chance to win. We just need to find a way for the Offensive Line to protect our QB better because that was awful in our first game.
We're tailgating in the Farmer's Market this year across the street from Williams-Brice stadium and it should be a fun year. Tailgating with Brian and his wife Debra and Dave and his wife Janna. Different Dave than the one I work out with though - he's a gamecock fan, but he tailgates with his Dad instead. We'll have a few extras here and there for some games at our tailgate too. And of course TV... getting everything together tonight - TV, battery is charged, satellite dish is set up...
Wish us luck, should be an exciting night game on ESPN at 7:45pm... stadium is always rocking for night games, especially since this is a big game and our first home game this year. Everyone should be pretty jacked for this one.
Also, I made another batch of beer a couple weeks ago and I finally got a chance to use the new bottles, caps and bottle capper, and printable labels I got from Homebrew Heaven online. (Thanks again Nicki and Miguel!)
The bottles and the caps and capper were great... the labels were okay. The main problems with them was that they're just gummed back paper, not stickers, they're plain paper fronts instead of glossy, and I'm too lazy to cut all the white from around the label. :)
Anyway, here's the labels on the four 22 oz. bottles I'm bringing with me tomorrow for the tailgate and a close up of the label itself. The beer is called Fowl Blackberry Wheat. It turned out all right - still a little sour flavor in the background, but definitely drinkable... sure beats my first batch which I poured out. I think having perfectly clean and sterile bottles is what helped.
Lost my first childhood pet today. My Mom called to let me know that Kari, our cat we had when I was growing up, died this morning. She was right around 20 years old, which according to charts online, made her 96 in human years.
Even though you know it's around the corner when they're at that age, it's still tough. She did live a long, pampered life though - much more so than she would have in the wild I imagine. She also didn't have to suffer though pain in the last days either.
I'm glad I got to see her in July when we went back to Michigan. Wish I could have seen her more over the last 10 years... tomorrow is exactly 10 years to the day that I moved down here to South Carolina. I guess that's reason #1 why I don't tell people that *everything* is great here - being away from home and family (cats included) isn't easy.
Here's hoping over the next 10 that we've got more time and a better budget to travel more and see family and friends more often.
Hang on to any of the new State of South Carolina quarters. If you have them, they may be worth much more than 25 cents. The U.S. Treasury announced today that it is recalling all of the South Carolina quarters that are part of its program featuring quarters from each state.
"We are recalling all the new South Carolina quarters that were recently issued," South Carolina Treasury spokesman Jack Owens said Monday. "This action is being taken after numerous reports that new quarters will not work in parking meters, toll booths, vending machines, pay phones, or other coin-operated devices."
The quarters were issued in the order in which the various states joined the U.S. and have been a tremendous success among coin collectors worldwide.
"The problem lies in the unique design of the South Carolina quarter, which was created by a Clemson graduate," Owens said. "Apparently, the duct tape holding the two dimes and the nickel together keeps jamming the coin-operated devices."
Well, Carolina won 15-0 last night on the road at Mississippi State. It wasn't the prettiest game in the world and I'll guarantee you none of the "first play of the season" guesses were for an interception. But any road win in the SEC is a good win.
Having today off work has been great since we get Labor Day off also this Monday. Normally we don't at USC, they usually save that day off for around the Christmas holidays.
Ripped the game to my computer and sometime this weekend I'll clip out the commercials and halftime stuff and burn it to DVD. I did that with a lot of our wins last season too.
Looking forward to this weekend for our first home game against Georgia. I believe it's either on ESPN or ESPN2 nationally. We nearly beat them last year in Athens and would have if we hadn't missed an extra point. Still, even though they lost their senior quarterback, they're still a very good team and it'll be a tough game.
