My Journey thanks to my wife!
Leave my house near Philly at 3am on Monday morning.
Fly at 5am from Philly to Tampa. 2.5 layover
Fly 10:30am from Tampa to Austin.
Drive 2 hours from Austin to Houston.
Check in at the Crown Plaza Hotel
Walk into the lobby and see 12 Lufthansa flight attendants in training sitting in the lobby.
Drive 15 minutes to the team Hotel.
Walk into lobby and speak to Harold Pressley. See tons of formers players. Seems like it is 1985 when I was a sophomore. Turn to the bar area and first person I see is BEEFER. He jumps out of his chair and give me a big hug. Kjbert comes immediately over to say hello. Hang out in the bar area for an hour so. It was great seeing everyone. Head over to NRG stadium for the alumni tailgate party. Run into tons of friends that I have not seen in years. Spend mucho dollars on t-shirts for my family and friends. Go back to the car to rest for an hour. The long day of traveling and the excitement of seeing everyone and the championship game looming is getting to me. I was near exhausted. 7pm comes and we head into the game. I was supposed to have these great seats 17 rows up one section to the right of the Nova bench. Well the seats were 17 rows up but behind the Carolina bench. My buddy Mark and I are watching this game with 20,000 Carolina fans surrounding us. We are the only ones not dressed in Carolina blue. I thought oh my god I am I going to make it out of hear alive. Mark and I for a pair of 50 something old men are not quiet during a game. We yell and scream and cheer Nova on. Much to my surprise the Carolina fans we great during the game. We talked hoops and cheered our respective teams on throughout the game. Fast forward to the end Kris Jenkins hits the shot and Mark and I are screaming for joy among our new found Carolina friends. Everyone is crying for joy and sadness. Honest to God, I was hugged and congratulated by at least 25 Carolina fans around us. We hang in the stadium for 90 minutes watching the team celebrate and then stand in line for an hour to by our National Championship shirts. It is now 2am. Leaving the stadium a coca-cola guy gives me a coke with the Nova V on it and saying 2016 National Chmapions. He had a pallet of the stuff. I asked him for a few extra. He gives me two twelve packs. Those puppies are in the process of being shipped FedEx back to Philly. Long story short Mark and I get back to our hotel at 5am after partying at the team hotel and the adopted Nova bar in downtown Houston. We have to leave for Austin by 10am.
The journey home. Find a freaking FedEx store to ship the goodies home and then drive 2 hours to Austin. Leave for Chicago on a 3:30pm flight. Get to Chicago at 6pm. 3 hour layover over. Our flight back to Philly is at 9:30pm. Oh shit our flight is delayed for 3 hours. Mark and I go to the bar and guess what is on? The replay of the game. Along with 15 of our new friends in Chicago, we watch the Cats win the title again. Arrive back in Philly at approx 1:30am. Get home at 2am. Stayed up and rehashed the game with my wife for 2 hours. Get up at 6am and go to work.
We had four flights in 48 hours, drove 350 miles to and from Austin. Visited Florida, Texas and Illinois in between. Slept maybe 5 hours since Sunday and watched the Cats win it all.
I know there are a ton of similar stories of folks who travelled from near and far to see our beloved Wildcats, but I just wanted to share my journey and thank my wife of 26 years who said to me you have to get to Houston. There is no way I am letting you stay home and miss this game. My wife has sat by my side for the past 30 years at every Nova game. She tells me to go and she will take care of the kids. I would do this again in a second but with one change. My wife must go with me when the Cats are back in the final four hopefully this happens very soon.
Thanks for reading this. I love my wife and the wildcats. We are 2016 National champs!
Cats win! Cats win! This has been the best 48 hours of my life.
Thanks...RobN
Leave my house near Philly at 3am on Monday morning.
Fly at 5am from Philly to Tampa. 2.5 layover
Fly 10:30am from Tampa to Austin.
Drive 2 hours from Austin to Houston.
Check in at the Crown Plaza Hotel
Walk into the lobby and see 12 Lufthansa flight attendants in training sitting in the lobby.
Drive 15 minutes to the team Hotel.
Walk into lobby and speak to Harold Pressley. See tons of formers players. Seems like it is 1985 when I was a sophomore. Turn to the bar area and first person I see is BEEFER. He jumps out of his chair and give me a big hug. Kjbert comes immediately over to say hello. Hang out in the bar area for an hour so. It was great seeing everyone. Head over to NRG stadium for the alumni tailgate party. Run into tons of friends that I have not seen in years. Spend mucho dollars on t-shirts for my family and friends. Go back to the car to rest for an hour. The long day of traveling and the excitement of seeing everyone and the championship game looming is getting to me. I was near exhausted. 7pm comes and we head into the game. I was supposed to have these great seats 17 rows up one section to the right of the Nova bench. Well the seats were 17 rows up but behind the Carolina bench. My buddy Mark and I are watching this game with 20,000 Carolina fans surrounding us. We are the only ones not dressed in Carolina blue. I thought oh my god I am I going to make it out of hear alive. Mark and I for a pair of 50 something old men are not quiet during a game. We yell and scream and cheer Nova on. Much to my surprise the Carolina fans we great during the game. We talked hoops and cheered our respective teams on throughout the game. Fast forward to the end Kris Jenkins hits the shot and Mark and I are screaming for joy among our new found Carolina friends. Everyone is crying for joy and sadness. Honest to God, I was hugged and congratulated by at least 25 Carolina fans around us. We hang in the stadium for 90 minutes watching the team celebrate and then stand in line for an hour to by our National Championship shirts. It is now 2am. Leaving the stadium a coca-cola guy gives me a coke with the Nova V on it and saying 2016 National Chmapions. He had a pallet of the stuff. I asked him for a few extra. He gives me two twelve packs. Those puppies are in the process of being shipped FedEx back to Philly. Long story short Mark and I get back to our hotel at 5am after partying at the team hotel and the adopted Nova bar in downtown Houston. We have to leave for Austin by 10am.
The journey home. Find a freaking FedEx store to ship the goodies home and then drive 2 hours to Austin. Leave for Chicago on a 3:30pm flight. Get to Chicago at 6pm. 3 hour layover over. Our flight back to Philly is at 9:30pm. Oh shit our flight is delayed for 3 hours. Mark and I go to the bar and guess what is on? The replay of the game. Along with 15 of our new friends in Chicago, we watch the Cats win the title again. Arrive back in Philly at approx 1:30am. Get home at 2am. Stayed up and rehashed the game with my wife for 2 hours. Get up at 6am and go to work.
We had four flights in 48 hours, drove 350 miles to and from Austin. Visited Florida, Texas and Illinois in between. Slept maybe 5 hours since Sunday and watched the Cats win it all.
I know there are a ton of similar stories of folks who travelled from near and far to see our beloved Wildcats, but I just wanted to share my journey and thank my wife of 26 years who said to me you have to get to Houston. There is no way I am letting you stay home and miss this game. My wife has sat by my side for the past 30 years at every Nova game. She tells me to go and she will take care of the kids. I would do this again in a second but with one change. My wife must go with me when the Cats are back in the final four hopefully this happens very soon.
Thanks for reading this. I love my wife and the wildcats. We are 2016 National champs!
Cats win! Cats win! This has been the best 48 hours of my life.
Thanks...RobN
