KTJ
01-06-2006, 05:21 PM
Well folks, I'm back. After a grand total of 46 hours on the road (15 hours from Austin to Phoenix, 4 hours from Phoenix to Las Vegas, 4 hours from Las Vegas to Pasadena, and 23 hours from Pasadena back to Austin) I am back in the great state of Texas with the TEXAS LONGHORNS as the NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! I will give you some snippits of things I saw and thought of and will keep this brief.
1.) 95% of USC fans have no clue - None, whatsoever. The majority of them were just there to be there but didn't really know much about the game of football itself. Now this isn't to knock USC, but even their fans knew that they only knew so much about the game. The things they did know were basically the same things that ESPN was saying. The fans just repeated it.
however, USC fans didn't talk much crap at all. It was weird to walk around and not hear anyone talk any smack.
2.) Texas fans will travel but we were outnumbered in the stands - Once again, Texas fans showed up when they needed to. Of course we would, since it's the National Championship game. We were clearly outnumbered in the stands. I'd say USC had about a 60/40 stadium split, and it could have possibly been 65/35. Did they make as much noise as us? No. And even though they outnumbered us in the stands, we had close to 20,000+ fans outside the stadium who didn't have tickets but came for the experience. Couple that with about 5,000 who had a watch party in Vegas and it shows you how well we did, considering this was USC's backyard.
3.) The false USC excuse - I about died laughing when I heard Leinhart's excuse about "we were the better team but we didn't play like we should have" or something of that nature. The reason I laughed is because, yeah, USC played like the have been playing all year. They handed the ball off to Bush as expected, White got his couple as expected, and Leinhart threw his passes as expected. It was the same USC team I'd seen all year so what makes them think they should have been different is beyond me. They reason they didn't blow us out as they had hoped and expected to was because USC had simply never seen a D like the Texas D. Never. USC is a great squad but please, don't ever assume that because you did something to one team means you'll do it to every team. Texas was not Oklahoma last year.
4.) LenDale White of USC is a stud - I'm giving major props to LenDale as he had one hell of a game. Yeah, you can say "well KTJ, the Texas D didn't stop him" and to you I say this--that was the plan. We held Reggie Bush, the Heisman winner, to only 86 yards on 10 carries and I'll take that anyday of the week. Let LenDale run. The goal was to stop Reggie and hold Matt to limited passes. We did our job.
5.) The Rose Bowl has a horrible, horrible setup - Once again, my seats were great. I saw everything, including the winning TD run by Vince. However, getting in to, parking at, and leaving the Rose Bowl is HORRIBLE. We park on a golf course that is wet and muddy and the cops and traffic patrol had no idea what to do.
6.) MACK BROWN - He deserved this championship. And he gave props to Texas High School Football during the presentation. What a great year for him. Simply amazing.
7.) David Thomas - The dude makes plays all the freaking time. No matter when, he steps up when we need him. You can't hate him, no matter what team you're on cause any team would be vastly improved with a TE like Thomas on their squad.
8.) I hate LA - I can't say this enough.
9.) I am still in shock - I'm still in shock. Still. And it feels great.
10). Vince Young - He's simply amazing. No matter who you are, you can't deny that the guy is an amazing player and one of the best you've ever seen. I've even had Sooners tell me they love the way he plays. No matter his decision, I and every other Longhorn, past, present, and future, appreciates everything he's done for UT and the program. If he comes back, we're going back to the NC game in Phoenix. If he doesn't, I wish him well in the NFL. Congrats as he has done the best job I've ever seen in my short life. IMO, he's the real Heisman winner. But then again, I don't get to vote.
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So that's my trip. I have pics coming. They need to get developed and I'm having some mailed to me. I have pics of us tailgating, the game itself, the scoreboard, and others. I'm hoping to get a pic of the Tower with the #1 lit on it sometime this weekend. Now it's time to check the 130 emails I've received since the game. Crazy.
:D
1.) 95% of USC fans have no clue - None, whatsoever. The majority of them were just there to be there but didn't really know much about the game of football itself. Now this isn't to knock USC, but even their fans knew that they only knew so much about the game. The things they did know were basically the same things that ESPN was saying. The fans just repeated it.
however, USC fans didn't talk much crap at all. It was weird to walk around and not hear anyone talk any smack.
2.) Texas fans will travel but we were outnumbered in the stands - Once again, Texas fans showed up when they needed to. Of course we would, since it's the National Championship game. We were clearly outnumbered in the stands. I'd say USC had about a 60/40 stadium split, and it could have possibly been 65/35. Did they make as much noise as us? No. And even though they outnumbered us in the stands, we had close to 20,000+ fans outside the stadium who didn't have tickets but came for the experience. Couple that with about 5,000 who had a watch party in Vegas and it shows you how well we did, considering this was USC's backyard.
3.) The false USC excuse - I about died laughing when I heard Leinhart's excuse about "we were the better team but we didn't play like we should have" or something of that nature. The reason I laughed is because, yeah, USC played like the have been playing all year. They handed the ball off to Bush as expected, White got his couple as expected, and Leinhart threw his passes as expected. It was the same USC team I'd seen all year so what makes them think they should have been different is beyond me. They reason they didn't blow us out as they had hoped and expected to was because USC had simply never seen a D like the Texas D. Never. USC is a great squad but please, don't ever assume that because you did something to one team means you'll do it to every team. Texas was not Oklahoma last year.
4.) LenDale White of USC is a stud - I'm giving major props to LenDale as he had one hell of a game. Yeah, you can say "well KTJ, the Texas D didn't stop him" and to you I say this--that was the plan. We held Reggie Bush, the Heisman winner, to only 86 yards on 10 carries and I'll take that anyday of the week. Let LenDale run. The goal was to stop Reggie and hold Matt to limited passes. We did our job.
5.) The Rose Bowl has a horrible, horrible setup - Once again, my seats were great. I saw everything, including the winning TD run by Vince. However, getting in to, parking at, and leaving the Rose Bowl is HORRIBLE. We park on a golf course that is wet and muddy and the cops and traffic patrol had no idea what to do.
6.) MACK BROWN - He deserved this championship. And he gave props to Texas High School Football during the presentation. What a great year for him. Simply amazing.
7.) David Thomas - The dude makes plays all the freaking time. No matter when, he steps up when we need him. You can't hate him, no matter what team you're on cause any team would be vastly improved with a TE like Thomas on their squad.
8.) I hate LA - I can't say this enough.
9.) I am still in shock - I'm still in shock. Still. And it feels great.
10). Vince Young - He's simply amazing. No matter who you are, you can't deny that the guy is an amazing player and one of the best you've ever seen. I've even had Sooners tell me they love the way he plays. No matter his decision, I and every other Longhorn, past, present, and future, appreciates everything he's done for UT and the program. If he comes back, we're going back to the NC game in Phoenix. If he doesn't, I wish him well in the NFL. Congrats as he has done the best job I've ever seen in my short life. IMO, he's the real Heisman winner. But then again, I don't get to vote.
---------
So that's my trip. I have pics coming. They need to get developed and I'm having some mailed to me. I have pics of us tailgating, the game itself, the scoreboard, and others. I'm hoping to get a pic of the Tower with the #1 lit on it sometime this weekend. Now it's time to check the 130 emails I've received since the game. Crazy.
:D