Egg Bowl 2011

Well, we did it.  We faced the bad weather forecast full on last Saturday for the annual Egg Bowl!  One day every year, Mississippians come together in one stadium...this year it was Davis Wade Stadium...to cheer on their team!  Of course, we were there for our Bulldogs!

Loyal fans to the end.  In the stands rain, sun, sleet, or snow!  After much debate and going back and forth, we ended up putting up one tent and one small table of snacks with chairs to tailgate a little before the game.  This was after a yummy lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Starkvegas.

We made a small stop by The Lodge to stock up on our last gameday goods.  One of those purchases included Daddy's "doorbell."  Yes, it's a cowbell that hangs on the wall...or, in our case, our tent.  Every time Daddy walked by, he rang the doorbell.

We are glad Daddy decided to give in and put up a tent for two reasons.  #1 - Russ looked pretty silly sitting out with all the random chairs.  #2 - It started raining just after we set up!

As always, we enjoyed our visitors and passersby.  Jimbo and Rachael never fail to stop by and visit.  They win the "great friends of the football season award" this year, because I never made it by their tent.  Yet, they rarely missed a week to visit us! 

Jimbo and Russ

Dustin had a few friends in town to play.  Ha!  Most of them included Ole Miss fans I think.  I was thankful for their willingness to not dress in bright red and blue.  For the most part, they remained neutral.  However, there was some debate on whether Dustin was sporting red or maroon.  Hmmmm...I'm still going with red.  He swears it's maroon!  What do you think?

Dustin and Sheila

Mama, Ben, and his friend (or girlfriend...I can't remember!)

Daddy and Carson solving the world's problems

Like I said, it began to rain soon after we got settled.  That didn't stop Mama and me from greeting our Dawgs at the Dawg Walk!  It was just as loud and fun as always.  I forgot my camera, so I had one free hand while the other was ringing my cowbell.  What did I do with my free hand?  Oh, well, I gave the following "fives": Coach Mullen, Tyler Russell, and Chris Relf...among others. 

Me and Mama in our cute ponchos

We had a surprise visit from Russ's cousin and my great friend, Season!  She had her sweet little Hunter in October.  She let Stacee keep the baby so she could enjoy one football game this season.  I'm not sure if she made it through the entire rainy game, but I'm sure her pregame festivities made up for it!  Ha!

Season and me

We had a last minute change to our stadium seating arrangement.  Kristin and Lee found out they couldn't make it to the game, so I immediately texted Jeff to see if he wanted to bring Seth.  Seth and I share a mutual obsession with anything MSU.  Thankfully, Jeff was willing to brave the rain and bring Seth.  I think, or I hope, they had a blast!

Jeff, Seth, and Russ

Sitting on "Smith row"....section C row 6!

The rain may have dampened the ground, but it didn't dampen True Maroon spirit!  Our team came out wearing their new Egg Bowl uniforms complete with gold shoes, gold numbers, and "Hail State" written on their backs!  We cheered on our senior players and got ready to play ball against TSUN (that school up north).

It was wet, cool, and rainy!  It was fun, exciting, and a little sloppy too.  Worth every soaked bone and every chill bump!  We scored one right after the other up front.  We took it slow after halftime much to our dismay.  However, our Dawgs held those Rebels to only one field goal.  No touchdowns!

Me and Russ

Dustin keeping the rain out!

As expected, the Rebel fans began to trickle out.  Ben texted Dustin to tell him he thought it was about to hale .  He wondered if they were ready to leave.  Likely story!  Ha!  Dustin simply texted back...."Yeah, it's gonna hale alright....HAIL STATE!"  Just for the record, State fans have been there MANY times before, so we try not to enjoy the misery of "the other team" too much.  We know it hurts.

But in the end, it was fireworks, cowbells, cheers, yells, and running around with the Golden Egg!  Bulldogs wrapped it in maroon and white!

We are bowl bound!  Our tickets are preordered, our hotel rooms are reserved, and we are patiently waiting until Sunday's announcement.  Will it be Nashville or Memphis?  I'm crossing my fingers for a fun Music City Bowl on December 30.  We'll see.

Until then, we'll enjoy this win and the next 365 days of bragging rights.