Bowl Road Trip Diary Days 4 (cont'd) & 5

Ten men. Two vehicles. 3600 miles. Oh yeah, a football game and a hoppin' New Year's Eve party in between car rides. Follow TGOM's Bowl Road Trip Diary from the first mile marker to the last.

The final hours of our stay in Tempe were dedicated to rest and recovery. Yeah, we slept in.

After lazing around the apartment and indulging in the arcade games of our youth at a local restaurant, we packed up whatever was salvagable and headed to nearby Glendale, AZ for dinner before embarking on another 27-hour expedition.

When all was said and done, we spent about four more hours driving to Tempe than actually staying in Tempe, but no one is complaining. Our final semester of college begins next week, and who knows what the future has in store for us. But we will always have Tempe.

Here's a few random photos from the last couple days:

Like IU vs. Oklahoma State, Dan only had a puncher's chance in this boxing game. Actually, he put up a much better fight than the Hoosiers.

In this game, you are supposed to jump over a light that circles the outer ring. By the look on Jeff's face, you can tell he hated to jump rope as a child.

Leave it to Billy to pose shirtless with a guy that spends his days playing guitar in briefs and a cowboy hat. Apparently, the Naked Cowboy is a staple in Times Square and has his own reality TV show. We caught up with him in an outdoor shopping center in Glendale. Bizarre.

This was taken outside of Yukon, Oklahoma. I guess everybody has somebody.

There she is. The world's largest McDonald's. Your cholesterol rose slightly just looking at this picture.

Bowl Road Trip Diary Day 3 (cont'd) & 4

Ten men. Two vehicles. 3600 miles. Oh yeah, a football game and a hoppin' New Year's Eve party in between car rides. Follow TGOM's Bowl Road Trip Diary from the first mile marker to the last.

Talking to an Oklahoma State fan yesterday, it became clear that the Cowboys were, indeed, a superior team from a superior conference. IU certainly could have played better, but it would have taken an extraordinary effort for the Hoosiers to win that game.

The fairy tale season may have ended in disappointment, but we didn't let the lopsided loss keep us from enjoying our time in Tempe. Here's a multimedia synopsis of our day:

Our day began at In-N-Out Burger, one of the many advantages of living closer to the Pacific. We were so psyched for our first double-double burgers, we showed up ten minutes before they opened and patiently waited in the parking lot. Yeah, we're from Indiana.

I was reprimanded by the In-N-Out manager for taking this picture. Apparently, McDonald's has been after the recipe of their secret sauce for years.

This is the IU Will Call line outside Sun Devil Stadium. We had to pick up our free student tickets together so we would be seated in the same row.

Here's the Oklahoma State Will Call line. You think this game was slightly more significant for the Hoosiers?

Good thing I took this picture of my Insight Bowl ticket. I lost it somewhere on the streets of Tempe after the game.

After picking up our tickets, we ran straight to the parking lot where some semi-cold beverages awaited.

Chris and Matt prompt Conor on what he should expect at his first college football game.

One IU fan decided to buy every Oklahoma State poster from one vendor only to rip them up...

...and set them ablaze...

...while everyone gathered around and sang the IU fight song.

The odd couple, Billy and Brad defend their side of the beer dye table. It's a game of thirst and determination.

Matt shows off the tally on his arm as he was the first person to "drink 13." He's going to be a doctor someday.

Chris displays his Hoosier pride by bleeding crimson at the tailgate. Don't worry, he can't feel a thing.


Jeff shows up in the nick of time for the game. He spent the morning in the hospital after his fever resurfaced and his tonsils inflated to unnatural proportions. A couple IVs and a steroid prescription later, he's ready to cheer the Hoosiers to victory. A real trooper, that Poteet.

Sun Devil Stadium looms.

We made our way to our end zone seats where we joined the IU student contingent in the seventh row.

Ter-ry Hoepp-ner! Ter-ry Hoepp-ner!

Things seemed good approaching kickoff as the sun still hung in the air.


Planes made random, colorful designs before the game. Little did we know they were actually drawing up IU's offensive game plan.

I think this was OSU's starting field position for most of the first half.

No Conor, that's the other team that just scored.

The Cowboys are coming! The Cowboys are coming!

IU scores a touchdown.

The thundersticks kept us occupied in the second half.

We headed to the Block Party that night were we huddled under outdoor heaters like this one as the fully-clothed Barenaked Ladies played on stage. Who knew the desert could be so chilly?

Fireworks lit the sky at the stroke of midnight. It seemed strange to think that the rest of the country had already welcomed in 2008.

The crowd headed home to put up their new calendars after midnight. We trekked back to the apartment to prognosticate on the 2008 football season.

Bowl Road Trip Diary Day 3

Ten men. Two vehicles. 3600 miles. Oh yeah, a football game and a hoppin' New Year's Eve party in between car rides. Follow TGOM's Bowl Road Trip Diary from the first mile marker to the last.

Day 3: The Game

Game day had arrived.

On the morning of the Insight Bowl, we roused ourselves around 8 a.m. to prepare for our final IU football game as students. We started the day with double-double burgers at In-N-Out (Nothing like a 10 a.m. hamburger to jump start your day) and headed to the parking lot outside Sun Devil Stadium.

It was apparent from the start that IU fans vastly outnumbered their Oklahoma State counterparts. The parking lot might as well have been the grassy fields across from Memorial Stadium. The Hoosiers were "playing 13," so our goal was to "drink 13." Some of us fared better than others.

By the time kickoff rolled around, we were thoroughly pumped. Our state of excitement dwindled quickly, however, as IU allowed Oklahoma State to score touchdowns on their first five possessions. The Hoosiers looked every bit like a team that hadn't been to a bowl game in over a decade. It felt like the Cowboys were snapping the ball near our goal line on every other play in the first half. Maybe they were.

Pictures to follow, but now it's time to bring in the New Year on Mill Ave.

Bowl Road Trip Diary Days 1 & 2

Ten men. Two vehicles. 3600 miles. Oh yeah, a football game and a hoppin' New Year's Eve party in between car rides. Follow TGOM's Bowl Road Trip Diary from the first mile marker to the last.

Days 1 & 2: The Draining Drive

The drive was everything we expected it to be: Oftentimes dull, slightly scenic, but mostly just plain long. With ten drivers splitting time between a Pontiac Grand Prix and a Nissan Pathfinder, we clocked in around 27 hours of driving including the time we took to stop and switch drivers every three hours or so and fill up on gas.

Indiana and Illinois supplied the usual eye candy of dead fields and barren trees; St. Louis added a jolt of electric color at night; Oklahoma and Texas passed like a bad dream; New Mexico would never end and Arizona came just in time.

The drive went smooth, however, and the only people that complained were the two stuck in the back of the Pathfinder, a tight fit for the smallest of us. We made it to Tempe around seven o'clock on Sunday and got a nice look at Sun Devil Stadium on the way to the apartment complex where we are crashing (literally).

Tomorrow is the big day. The plan is to rise around 8 a.m. to pick up our tickets, tailgate until the game at 3:30 p.m. and then hit the huge block party nearby until the wee small hours of the morning. If the drive seemed long, tomorrow may drag on to (blissful) infinite. At least I won't have to fret over leg room.

And now before I pass out, here's a little taste of our road trip to Tempe:

The 1800-mile trip began in Avon, Ind. at the quaint quarters of Conor McDermott's rent's house.

The McDermott bathtub is pretty quaint too.

We drew cards to see who would start out in which vehicle and who would drive first.

Whoever drew the Jack drove first. Lucky me.

Chris Marcum shows off his pretty blanket to the boys. He's such a charmer.

Billy Bernard prepares the Red Rider with the Indiana flag. Unfortunately, it fell off somewhere in Oklahoma. We're planning on picking it up on the way back.

Illinois is a really exciting state.

I think this is what the St. Louis skyline must look like to people on LSD.

We stopped to pick up Brad Gessel outside of St. Louis, but he wasn't at his house. We waited until he arrived, but some things just couldn't wait.

Like I said, it was a little cozy in the Pathfinder. Luckily, we quickly adjusted to everyone's bodily odors except Dan's.

Dan Morgenstern cruises ahead at a cautious 72 miles per hour. There were plenty of bears behind those bushes.

Conor dreams about how his very first IU football game will be on Monday. Actually, this is what Conor looked like for most of the trip. The guy can flat out sleep.

Jeff Poteet makes a sick face. Jeff has been under the weather lately, but nothing could stop him from seeing the Hoosiers take on the Cowboys - not even a temperature of 103. A couple of early morning full moons didn't help his condition, however.

The Continental Divide is right over in that direction. Somewhere.

TGOM takes the wheel sporting the finest western hat wear that can no longer fit on his father's head.

Not too many of these geographical formations in the Midwest.

How better to unwind after a grueling trip than at the Library, Tempe's scholarly version of Hooter's?

Matt enjoys a beer at the Library. I think he enjoyed our librarian even more, however.

Some establishment messed up IU's logo in their advertisement. I guess dotting the I's and crossing the U's is secondary at a place where pole dancing is encouraged. If that isn't bulletin board material for Bill Lynch and the Hoosiers then I don't know what is.

Brent Ling, California's own, met up with us in Tempe. Brent flew in before us which explains why he looks sane.

I noticed this street on the drive back to the apartment. Is it a sign of good things to come for IU? The Hoosiers need wide receiver James Hardy to come up big on several drives to win tomorrow.

IU football memories past and present

OK, the next post will be for real. Tomorrow, I'm meeting up with WIUX's finest, Dan Morgenstern, on the way to Indy. Saturday, we hit the road.

But before we get out the Travel Yahtzee, I asked the guys to come up with a list of football memories - good and bad - we've accumulated over the years. Here's what we came up with in no paticular order.

1. Beating Purdue this year. Watching the students rush the Memorial Stadium field was one of those surreal moments where you barely trust your senses. Is this really happening? In Bloomington? After everything? Couldn't have been scripted any better.

2. Meeting Coach Hep. The man seemed a bit delusional at times (He once referred to the IU football program as a "soaring rocket ship" on live television.), but it was the kind of crazy that made sane people want to forget about silly things like being realistic. Coach Hep turned a bunch of hard Hoosier cynics into mild believers. That in itself is a commendable accomplishment.

I can remember the day IU announced Terry Hoeppner as the new coach and thinking "Who?" Today, I can answer my question with "The greatest thing to happen to IU football since Bill Mallory, that's who."

3. Loss to Penn State in 2004. Another forgettable year in IU football, but this game was particularly painful because of the way the Hoosiers found a way to lose. In the closing minutes of the game, IU had the ball near the goal line down by four with four plays to score the go-ahead touchdown. Two runs up the middle, a failed option right and another pathetic attempt up the middle. Game over. Good one, Gerry.

4. Kellen Lewis saves IU's bacon in Muncie. Down 17-0 in the second quarter against a MAC school with the third-string freshman quarterback taking his first snaps under center? Not the typical formula for victory. Then again, there's not much that is typical about Kellen Lewis. In his Hoosier debut, Lewis led IU to a 24-23 come-from-behind victory, accounting for more than 300 yards of offense and recording his first passing and rushing touchdowns.

A bunch of us made the trip to Muncie for that Sept. 2006 game and braved the rain that soaked the stands in the second half. Lewis' athleticism made a miserable downpour seem like a slight sprinkle.

5. Tailgating mayhem and general debauchery. Some of us awoke like children on Christmas morning on those autumn Saturdays to round everyone up and ensure prime parking position in the tailgating fields. Some of us constructed pinatas of the opposing quarterback to beat on before heading to Memorial Stadium. Some of us misused Wiffle Ball bats. All of us had a good time - at least we look like we are having a good time in the surfacing pictures. Oh, and the highest row of Memorial Stadium is a no-kite flying zone (even if you are wearing your Halloween costume).

6. Unlike baseball, there is crying in football. Everyone has felt it creep up on them at some point this season. Whether it was during the tribute to Coach Hep before the season opener, a dramatic ESPN exclusive with Jane Hoeppner or a sudden mental connection that brought a lump to the throat, everyone has felt the loss of Coach Hep in some way. The man will never be replaced, but his legacy will always inspire us.

7. Loss to Southern Illinois in 2006. This was another low point. The Salukis, a Division I-A program, steamrolled over the Hoosiers 35-28, while we watched from the stands wearing garbage bags beneath ominous skies. One of those days where you question the value of a college education.

8. Wins over Iowa in 2006 and 2007. No team has boosted IU's confidence like Iowa the last two seasons. In 2006, the Hoosiers toppled the No. 15-ranked Hawkeyes 31-28 prompting the "rocket ship" comment from Coach Hep. In 2007, IU spoiled the Hawkeyes' homecoming 38-20 and prompted one of the oddest scoring plays in football history when Kellen Lewis was credited with a 71-yard touchdown pass to...Kellen Lewis. Yeah, he's that good.

(OK, actually he recovered a fumble off of a passing play and took it to the house. The box score, however, makes Lewis look mythic.)

9. Gerry gets a road win in 2004. IU's win against No. 25 Oregon in 2004 was a fluke, we will be the first to admit that, but it was a memorable fluke. On that night, we watched the game from City Grille, DiNardo looked like a competent coach with a 2-0 team and I devoured the hottest wings on the menu. Since then, City Grille has gone out of business and Gerry has moved from the sideline to the TV studio. My stomach, however, is still recovering from those wings.

10. The first down march. It's a good workout. Plus, football is a lot more fun when your team gets first downs.