My day in Tuscaloosa

Dawgs win!
That’s the most important news. We have beaten a good, albeit overrated, Alabama team on the road and have now put ourselves in position to make this season more than the rebuilding campaign that I feared it had become.
RRB and I spent 22 hours in transit on Saturday. That's hard work to cross off my tenth (of twelve) SEC stadium. We left Columbus at 7:30 EST and made good time as we traveled up 280, through Auburn, into Montgomery, and towards Birmingham. We stopped for the ceremonial Chik-fil-a breakfast just north of Montgomery. As we embarked from the establishment, I phoned ahead to the KFC to find out what time they began serving chicken. 10:00? Perfect! It was 9:25 and we were 45 minutes from Birmingham.
We arrived at the KFC and ordered our chicken. The young lady working the counter gave us a puzzled look and then informed us that they don’t serve chicken until 10:00. “It is 10:20”, I replied. “No, It is 9:20”, she responded back. Dang you Central Time Zone!
We amended our plans and forged ahead towards Tuscaloosa. We stopped for chicken at a very ghetto KFC on University Blvd. near campus. I ordered 16 pieces of chicken. We departed and headed towards our tailgating spot. Upon being thoroughly blocked in, we realized that the fine, upstanding Alabama citizens at the ghetto KFC had given us 10 pieces of chicken and 6 biscuits. Very funny! But I would have the last laugh this day.
Our tailgating spot was fine. No tree-cover, so it was as hot as the proverbial fat lady’s thighs wearing corduroy. We got word from our tailgating partners that their flight out of Gwinnett was delayed. No worries. We had nothing but Georgia fans all the way around us.
We could hear this band across the street. So, as life-long band geeks, we ventured to take a listen. I thought the Bammer Band was good. Big sound, having a good time. All the things an SEC band should be. BUT… as a tuba player, it really pisses me off when a band has a mic-ed bass in the front ensemble. Come on! Lame! If there was any question, this band is way better than the one in crimson and white.
Hanson, Jones, Williams, Frey, White, & Guisasola arrived in Tuscaloosa much later than anticipated, but still in enough time to grab some tailgate necessities and then head towards the stadium.
The Dawgs were consistently inconsistent as usual. But, at the end of the day, that was enough to beat an overrated and overmatched Alabama team. Just a reminder to everyone in the Alabama community... Bear Bryant and Jesus Christ are not the same person. Also, I double checked... Bear Bryant is dead. Yep, dead!
After the game, the celebrating began. We partied in the stadium, on the ramp on the way down, and on the set of ESPN's College Gameday near the “Walk of Champions” (very pretentious if you ask me). I specifically enjoyed taunting Lee Corso for his continued lack of love for all things Georgia.
After a meal at a Tuscaloosa establishment with our tailgating companions, RRB and I tried to get out of town. For the record, the traffic in Tuscaloos is the worst I have ever experienced. This was almost three hours after the game ended and we still had to sit in gridlock. I guess Alabama people are still amazed at the invention of the automobile! RRB and I rolled back into Columbus abound 5:30! Boooo Alabama, roll over tide!
All in all though, a great day, a great game, and a great win! Go Dawgs!