Guys Trip

Since the whole point of this site is to catch the UK Football experience through the viewpoint of a fan, I guess a word or three is due on my trip to Columbia this weekend to see the Cats take on the Cocks. Last year, I read a book by a young, southern lawyer who took a fall season and attended a game in every SEC venue, some while following his beloved Tennessee Vols, others out of necessity just to finish the trip. Having only ever gone to Vandy to see a road game (and attended Alabama games in Tuscaloosa as a child) I decided the least I could was to duplicate the trip, albeit over the next ten years. The trip to Columbia is the first in what will hopefully be a long line of fun jaunts.

This weekend I am travelling with the boys. As it turns out, two great law school friends (Big Z and Todd) are coming with me from KY and my cousin, Ap (or with apologies to Tucker Max TheCousin) is meeting up with us from Atlanta, where the Danville native is doing some sort of complicated radiology fellowship. Todd and Dave are two of my best (and funniest) friends, and Ap is the brother I never had. So there is almost no way I have a bad time.

Unlike my usual bowl plans, I have very little in the can for this trip. Well, not exactly true. I was able to get killer hotel rooms nine months out. The Courtyard by Marriott Downtown for $115 a night. Two miles from the stadium, right off campus, and very close to the Columbia bar and restaurant scene. Visitors tickets in the lower level courtesy of the asking based on my season tickets at UK and a simple request in July. All in all a good deal. I think that we will try to tailgate tomorrow with a group of UK alumni from "SC Upstate", which Todd learned about today from checking on the plain ole UK alumni web site. Good shit.

Beyond that, though, no restaurant reservations or any other plans for where to be when.

And yes, there is a football game to be played. Vegas has decided that USC is a good team and that we are not. It is USC -9 1/2. That is a chump line, in my opinion. Even with our two starting corners out, this game could go either way. No one really knows how good or bad UK is. We got the dropsys and made the UofL game close. Other than that, we've lost to two vastly superior teams and beaten an over matched one. S Carolina is proven, but it could play well or poorly, depending on the day. They are a clear step down from our last two opponents. There is no reason why UK cannot compete in this game.

That said, Mike Hartline needs to have a decent game tomorrow. If he looks awful, the Cats are justified in trying someone else at QB against Auburn, and giving that person a lot more time against ULA-Monroe the following week if he is successful. I am saying they are justified, I am not saying that it will actually happen. It won't.

Last year I woke up the morning of the UK-USC game and knew that Captain Munnerlyn was going to kill us. I was right, but it wasn't some grand prophecy. It was because he had killed us for his whole career. Munnerlyn is gone, but Eric Norwood is still very much a Cock. I'd fear #40 all day tomorrow. Let's hope for the best, and know that either way, it will be a good weekend for UK Football Fan.