Saban Stare
Shawn and Manny started the day quite early as they were stranded in Mobile the night before with Tornadoes sweeping through the state! They left at around 7am to head back for Tuscaloosa. For the next 5 hours, Shawn did interview after interview from the road. The media in Alabama have been incredible with an excitement level at an all time high!
Meanwhile, back in Tuscaloosa, Chuck and I were invited over to the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house for lunch to present Gridiron Bash. Two of our advocates on campus, Emma Anne McCain and Meg Williamson are sisters at the sorority and were kind enough to get us in front of their chapter. We talked GB over some great Taco Salad! Their hospitality is much appreciated!
We then reunited with Shawn and Manny and headed over to the Football practice facility. We had been invited over to check out a winter work-out and when we walked into the building you would have thought Alabama was playing Auburn in less than 24 hours. The atmosphere was intense to say the least. When we entered the building, Coach Saban gave us his patented stare. It is a stare that each and every one of us has seen on TV countless times! Coach walked calmly across the field, greeted each one of us and shook our hands. He joked with Chuck about joining the work out! Chuck kindly declined, stating that his best days are behind him. I disagree! We appreciate Coach welcoming us to his practice and more importantly welcoming us to his University for Gridiron Bash!
We then met us with Student Body President, R.B. Walker for some dinner at Deperados Steakhouse. R.B. is a tremendous individual that sure as heck bleeds the Crimson! He will serve as a great advocate for us in Tuscaloosa!
Dreamland Indeed!
This day started out somewhat slow with our entire crew getting some work done at the hotel before we hit the town with the RV. Breakfast/lunch was a bit of a debate between IHOP and the hotel breakfast.....luckily we chose neither! I remembered a friend back in South Carolina telling me about the most famous BBQ in the South....long story short, we punched Dreamland BBQ into our GPS system! Exactly what happened at that restaurant after that is somewhat of a blur! If i remember correctly, we ordered; ribs, fries, mac&cheese, pulled chicken and pork sandwiches, beans, and sausages! This order is of course not to mention the banana doodad that we were comped! I think I am still in a food coma! Dreamland is a "must go"! Enough said.
We then ping ponged our way from house to house, frat to frat promoting GB! I think most of the students were pretty surprised to see a 42 foot monster circling the campus but we made our presence felt! We stopped by a number of day gatherings (weather was 75 and sunny!) to spread the word and say hello to the outgoing youth! Our rounds reminded all of us of that very 1st spring day when we were in college! Those were the days!
Our day concluded with a stop at Buffalo Phils for a snack and some sun! I know every one of us went to sleep dreaming of the sweet BBQ!
Sweet Home Alabama!
Talk about firing on all cylinders! Our team back in NY worked day and night to get a release finalized at the University of Alabama so that the RV tour could get permission to hit Tuscaloosa! This was accomplished and after picking up good friend and MSL partner Lonny Sweet in Birmingham, we proceeded to Tuscaloosa. We arrived at around 12:30pm to a crew of video cameras shooting our arrival! Shawn was interviewed and then we all headed over to the Mal Moore Athletic Facility to chat with some of the football coaches. The first thing we heard on campus is that 92,500 fans for last year's spring game was no aberration and that Alabama would be the school to beat in this Ultimate Fan Competition! It is hard to argue with history but as we have said so many times, this is a "What have you done for me lately" competition! We predict that the Tide will rise to this challenge!
We then popped around town a bit spreading the word before we landed in the Women's Gymnastics meet. This was our first Gymnastics meet of the tour and it certainly did not disappoint! About 13,000 strong showed up to support their dynamic women's squad! If the GB crowd is anything like the Gymnastics crowd was last night, then we are in for quite a show! To wrap the day up, we dropped by Legacy, a local night spot to give away some tickets and t'shirts! I can't lie, we only announced GB 24 hours ago and the word has spread like wildfire! Everyone we ran into last night knew that Alan Jackson would be performing in Bryant-Denny Stadium the night before the A-Game! Once they find out this is a "Fan Competition" the rest of the competing field could be in some trouble!
The Blog
Shawn and Manny started the day quite early as they were stranded in Mobile the night before with Tornadoes sweeping through the state! They left at around 7am to head back for Tuscaloosa. For the next 5 hours, Shawn did interview after interview from the road. The media in Alabama have been incredible with an excitement level at an all time high!
Meanwhile, back in Tuscaloosa, Chuck and I were invited over to the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house for lunch to present Gridiron Bash. Two of our advocates on campus, Emma Anne McCain and Meg Williamson are sisters at the sorority and were kind enough to get us in front of their chapter. We talked GB over some great Taco Salad! Their hospitality is much appreciated!
We then reunited with Shawn and Manny and headed over to the Football practice facility. We had been invited over to check out a winter work-out and when we walked into the building you would have thought Alabama was playing Auburn in less than 24 hours. The atmosphere was intense to say the least. When we entered the building, Coach Saban gave us his patented stare. It is a stare that each and every one of us has seen on TV countless times! Coach walked calmly across the field, greeted each one of us and shook our hands. He joked with Chuck about joining the work out! Chuck kindly declined, stating that his best days are behind him. I disagree! We appreciate Coach welcoming us to his practice and more importantly welcoming us to his University for Gridiron Bash!
We then met us with Student Body President, R.B. Walker for some dinner at Deperados Steakhouse. R.B. is a tremendous individual that sure as heck bleeds the Crimson! He will serve as a great advocate for us in Tuscaloosa!
Dreamland Indeed!
This day started out somewhat slow with our entire crew getting some work done at the hotel before we hit the town with the RV. Breakfast/lunch was a bit of a debate between IHOP and the hotel breakfast.....luckily we chose neither! I remembered a friend back in South Carolina telling me about the most famous BBQ in the South....long story short, we punched Dreamland BBQ into our GPS system! Exactly what happened at that restaurant after that is somewhat of a blur! If i remember correctly, we ordered; ribs, fries, mac&cheese, pulled chicken and pork sandwiches, beans, and sausages! This order is of course not to mention the banana doodad that we were comped! I think I am still in a food coma! Dreamland is a "must go"! Enough said.
We then ping ponged our way from house to house, frat to frat promoting GB! I think most of the students were pretty surprised to see a 42 foot monster circling the campus but we made our presence felt! We stopped by a number of day gatherings (weather was 75 and sunny!) to spread the word and say hello to the outgoing youth! Our rounds reminded all of us of that very 1st spring day when we were in college! Those were the days!
Our day concluded with a stop at Buffalo Phils for a snack and some sun! I know every one of us went to sleep dreaming of the sweet BBQ!
Sweet Home Alabama!
Talk about firing on all cylinders! Our team back in NY worked day and night to get a release finalized at the University of Alabama so that the RV tour could get permission to hit Tuscaloosa! This was accomplished and after picking up good friend and MSL partner Lonny Sweet in Birmingham, we proceeded to Tuscaloosa. We arrived at around 12:30pm to a crew of video cameras shooting our arrival! Shawn was interviewed and then we all headed over to the Mal Moore Athletic Facility to chat with some of the football coaches. The first thing we heard on campus is that 92,500 fans for last year's spring game was no aberration and that Alabama would be the school to beat in this Ultimate Fan Competition! It is hard to argue with history but as we have said so many times, this is a "What have you done for me lately" competition! We predict that the Tide will rise to this challenge!
We then popped around town a bit spreading the word before we landed in the Women's Gymnastics meet. This was our first Gymnastics meet of the tour and it certainly did not disappoint! About 13,000 strong showed up to support their dynamic women's squad! If the GB crowd is anything like the Gymnastics crowd was last night, then we are in for quite a show! To wrap the day up, we dropped by Legacy, a local night spot to give away some tickets and t'shirts! I can't lie, we only announced GB 24 hours ago and the word has spread like wildfire! Everyone we ran into last night knew that Alan Jackson would be performing in Bryant-Denny Stadium the night before the A-Game! Once they find out this is a "Fan Competition" the rest of the competing field could be in some trouble!
The Blog
