But then the team lost...

Well, it was that time of year again, time to make the drive to Athens for Homecoming.  It was forecasted to be a beautiful weekend and since the trees here were starting to turn, it was a pretty good bet that they were also taking on their fall colors all along Route 33. So off we went. 

The drive isn't that bad, and the traffic was pretty light at that time of the morning.  Of course, there was always the highly anticipated question -- was the by-pass around Nelsonville going to be open yet.  I had been driving this route off and on since 1968, spending way too much time in Nelsonville, Logan and Lancaster.  It seems the town councils of these three towns were quite content with having the snarled traffic messes in exchange for the possibility of additional revenue from food and gas sales and traffic violations.  Well the Logan by-pass came first, then, many years later, Lancaster fell by the wayside.  That was a huge improvement and left only the Nelsonville snag to be overcome.  This was a very big undertaking because it had to be carved out of the Wayne National Forest and I'm sure there were all kinds of natural and environmental challenges.  But lo, and behold, when we got to the usual turn off which took all of the anxious travelers back thru the home of Rockey Boots, we just kept on going -- it was now completed and open !!

This is no exaggeration -- it took almost 20 minutes off the trip each way.  Congratulations to those who were involved in this highway project.  What an improvement.  Now, those who wish to stop off in Nelsonville can do so without all the aggravation of OU travelers.  What a beautiful drive in southern Ohio.

Now, back to the trees.  They were not as far along as their northwest Ohio cousins.  There were spots of color, but nothing like what I expected.  Pam and I are planning to drive back down in a few weeks to ride the Nelsonville train so maybe they will be much prettier then.

We made it to Athens and were in for a treat.  There is quite a bit of construction going on -- building new dorms, taking down old buildings (the Natatorium,  the old Baker Center building, and many others are all gone) and putting up new ones like the new all-weather practice facility being built right next to Pedan stadium, and many others on the West and South Greens.  Of course, traffic was a mess, but we were still able to get a parking place down by the golf course. 

We walked up town and visited the book stores, and purchased our yearly supply of OU stuff.  Prices are about the same.  And the places were all real crowded.  One refreshing thing, however, was that as you couldn't help but bump into people, the you younger people were very quick with an "excuse me," or "pardon me."  On several occasions, this was accompanied with a "sir."  I didn't think it was that obvious that I was 3 or 4 times older than they were.  Gray hair must have given me away.  I certainly don't think of myself that way.  Anyway, that was refreshing.

 So on to the game.  The alumni band played and the sun came out.  Both were hot.  Unfortunately the team wasn't.  But the Bobcats had fought back and had control of the game.  They were leading and the defense had found a way to stop the Central Michigan running backs -- finally.  It was just under 3 minutes to go, the Bobcats had forced the CMU team to two plays of no consequence.  I thought this was our day.  At this point I really had to go to the bathroom, so I got up and went to the men's room.  I heard a big roar and figured they stopped their opponent's again and were going to get a put that would signal the end of the game.  

All of a sudden, my mind flashed back to a Cincinnati Reds game this past summer when I heard one of the radio broadcasters, Chris Welch, say that when it comes to a tight place in a game, one needs to continue doing whatever you were doing and don't change anything or do anything different until the game or the tight spot is over.  Otherwise, you will jinx it and bad things will happen.  I should not have gone to the bathroom!  The Bobcat who was back to receive the punt, dropped it and the CMU players recovered it.  Of course they took the ball in and scored the winning touchdown with only 22 seconds left in the game.  My fault. 

Here we are -- standing here trying out this camera on the phone.  Everyone else is pretty much gone, the alumni band is playing, and the team lost. I hope the rest of the people don't know it was my fault!

The drive home was uneventful, but it sure was nice to drive once more over the new section of Rt. 33 around Nelsonville.  Don't know if I would have been very patient sitting in another traffic jam next to the Rocky Boot outlet store.

Homecoming is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. 

Hooah