New Chapter: Columbia, SC

Austin has been good to me since college, but soon I'm going to be breaking up the Korean double-team on our street as I've accepted a new job and I'll be taking my talents to Columbia, SC.

Next week we are headed out to do a little house hunting and then I start my new job after Labor Day.  Shey and Maci will be holding down the fort in Texas while I do a bit of commuting, and then we plan on our full move in October.

The Backtoms Tailgate is still on for the Texas A&M game on November 3.  The tailgating trailer has been secured and as it gets closer we can work out some of the details.  I put in an order for 10 tickets which are allegedly spoken for, but tickets are still available as best as I can tell if you are ready to commit.

Golf Outing in Austin

The Austin SEC alumni groups are holding their golf tournament on Friday, April 1 if any of you are interested in coming down.  Why should you care?

Not only have I heard tales that we'll be graced by the presence of Aaron H. and Nunnrey, but Coach Jackie Sherrill is planning on coming out to help us represent MSU.  If you are ready to come re-live our college glory days with Coach Sherrill, then I suggest you contact me and start making travel arrangements. Be dialing.

Founders Day 2011

Anyone planning on going?  It's the weekend of March 25-27 this year.  In 2009 there was a large showing of our crew.  In 2010, not so much.  I spent a significant portion of the weekend drinking alone so this is me asking for your support so that doesn't happen again.

3rd Annual Backtoms Football Tailgate Plans

I'm pleasantly surprised to be heading into the weekend nationally ranked and on a nice winning streak (no whammies).  Here is what I know:

• James/Shey, Nunnrey/Kaci, JT/Lisa and John all get to Jackson on Thursday.  Be on the lookout for our Pimp Mobile aka mini-van all weekend.
• The above will be staying the night in Philly to make a little scratch to pay for the weekend.
• Deebo plus (grown-up) girlfriend are arriving in Starkville Friday evening.
• All of the above are staying at the luxurious America's Best Value Inn and Suites.
• Clay/Shay are driving up on Saturday.
• Current plans are to tailgate somewhere on the East side of Dorman (obviously subject to change due to availability).

Never heard back from some of you, but tickets are still available if anyone would like to join us.  And of course the more the merrier at the tailgate so join us for the day or at least swing by if you are around.

3rd Annual Backtoms Football Tailgate Plans

Plans are coming together.  Here are the details so far:

• Game is Kentucky on Saturday, October 30
• A few of us have done the unthinkable again and booked rooms at America's Best Value Inn and Suites (starting to become a tradition).  Checking in on Friday and checking out on Sunday.
• I've booked a room for Philly at Silver Star on Thursday night if anyone wants to join us and make some money.
• I'll be arriving in Jackson, MS on Thursday night at 9:15 PM.
• Leaving Jackson, MS on Sunday at 2:45 PM.
• If you guys want me to get our tickets together I need to know how many.

3rd Annual Backtoms Football Tailgate Planning

It's getting that time of year again and we need to pick the weekend for our 3rd annual tailgate.  Here are the Saturday home games:

Sat, Sep 04 Memphis
Sat, Sep 25 Georgia
Sat, Oct 02 Alcorn State
Sat, Oct 23 UAB (HC)
Sat, Oct 30 Kentucky
Sat, Nov 20 Arkansas

Deebo already chimed in and is picking Georgia since we don't have an opportunity to see them at home as often.  My wife is wanting October so it will be cooler.  I don't necessarily have a preference, but I want to float it out there and see if we can get some consensus.  Put your comments on here or if you can't figure it out...email me.

Also, if you are planning on making it out to the game in Houston on October 9th let me know.  My crew will be heading down to tailgate.  Hopefully, this year John can refrain from breaking his leg.

Road Trip: Founders Day 2010

It's March 26-28 this year. Georgia will be playing our baseball team in Starkville that weekend. I believe all of the normal golf and crawfish festivities will be on again. Anyone planning on going?

Also, anyone got any tickets for sale (or know someone that's selling) for the Auburn @ MSU basketball game on Feb 13? John and I will be in Starkville and for a reasonable price would like to go to the game.

Thanksgiving in Vegas 2009 Update

Just a reminder that Vegas will be giving away money over Thanksgiving. So far we've got:

JT and Lisa

Nunnrey and Kaci

James and Shey

Michael, are yall in or out?

The invite is open to anyone interested. We are staying at the Bellagio. I believe we all get there on Wednesday, November 25. Some of us are leaving the night of Saturday, November 28, and some are leaving on Sunday morning.

What's Better Than One Hooters?

Thirteen Hooters

As John pointed out in Back from the big D, and I mean Dallas we decided to take on the challenge yesterday:

• ~9:00 AM - John makes the call and asks if we are going to do this today. I reluctantly agree.
• ~9:45 AM - Depart to run some errands and head to DFW
• 11:45 AM - Arrive at the Czech Stop for some kolaches
• 1:25 PM - #1 Hooters of South Arlington
• 1:43 PM - #2 Hooters of Ft. Worth; we go ahead and eat lunch here; John shows his philanthropic side and donate to charity to have his truck washed by the bikini team in the parking lot; we also saw some dummy hit the one nice (parked) vehicle in the parking lot...a Porsche
• 3:14 PM - #3 Hooters of North Richland
• 3:34 PM - #4 Hooters of Arlington
• 3:55 PM - #5 Hooters of Irving
• 4:18 PM - #6 Hooters of Grapevine; on the way to this one saw some chick throw her car in reverse on a ramp for a toll road...not a good idea
• 4:49 PM - #7 Hooters of Lewisville; this location had the best layout
• 5:23 PM - #8 Hooters of Addison; independently told by two sources (Tarkus and Erik) that this location has one of the best talent pools...we weren't too impressed
• 5:49 PM - #9 Hooters of Plano; on our way out John does his good deed for the day and changes a tire of some girl in the parking lot
• 6:34 PM - #10 Hooters of Mesquite; leaving this location we see a grass fire on the North side of I-30
• 6:59 PM - #11 Hooters of Dallas; the largest Hooters in the world; met Jeff, Kristin and Erik here for dinner
• 10:20 PM - Stop at the Czech Stop for round two of kolaches
• 10:43 PM - #12 Hooters of Waco
• 11:39 PM - #13 Hooters of Killeen
• 12:45 AM - Finally get home

If you are wondering how to take the fun out of Hooters...follow the above recipe. Anybody want to try and beat that single day record?

Thanksgiving in Vegas

Starting to work on plans for another Vegas trip. Right now we're looking at heading out there for the Thanksgiving holidays. We (Nunnrey, Shey, me) did this in 2007 and it was great. We ate a buffet for t-day dinner and watched a lot of football while at the tables and slots. It wasn't very busy which made it even better.

Right now it sounds like JT and Lisa are in and Nunnrey and Kaci are in discussions. Anybody else interested?

Update: 2nd Annual Backtoms Football Tailgate

As mentioned in April, some of us are planning on making it back for the Florida game on October 24. Here is what I know so far:

• Shey and I have plane tickets arriving in Jackson on Thursday and leaving on Sunday. We are planning on staying in Philly to make some money to pay for the trip.
• It's my understanding that hotel rooms have not been secured at this time. It is being worked on.
• Single game tickets go on sale today for Bulldog Club members. I am planning on purchasing 8 tickets. If you would like in on those let me know. I doubt there will be a problem getting more, but I simply don't want to be stuck holding the bag on extra tickets.

Today is a good day to learn how to comment if you would like to sound off with your intent on attendance (and if you want one of the tickets I'm buying).

Ever Heard of Chicken Fried Steak?

Yesterday on my way home from work I was listening to some talk radio on Sirius XM.  One of the hosts was talking about his recent trip down to Texas (I believe the show is located in the New York area).  I didn't catch it all, but sounded like he must have stayed with a friend somewhere near New Braunfels (which is located just north of San Antonio).

I'll spare you most of the boring details I remember, but there were two things that he said I wanted to point out:

1. He had never had (or heard of) chicken fried steak.  He started making an issue about is it supposed to be chicken or beef...this is some crazy dish from Texas, etc.  The other guys on the show pointed out that he can get this "crazy" dish at several restaurants in their area.
2. Much like John, he had never heard of Twang.  He couldn't actually remember what it was called, but he saw lots of people putting the salt-like substance in their beer while tubing down the Guadalupe River.

Okay, I'll give him not knowing about Twang.  But not knowing about chicken fried steak?  If that is the hidden gem of the South that he made it out to be then people are missing out.  Maybe I should open a place in New York specializing in chicken fried steak, steak sandwiches (The Project style), and putting Twang in the beer.

We're On A Boat

Today we begin our cruise and I thought you may enjoy this video so you can see what we are up to.

Be on Ready Five

As you guys know, some of us (JT, Lisa, Shey, me) are headed off for a Mediterranean cruise later this week.  Just read this on FOXNews.com:

An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away, the commander said Sunday.

My suspicion is that our ship won't have Israeli private security (not to mention the fact that we aren't going anywhere near Somalia).  But as a precaution, I hope you guys will be on ready five in case you get the call from my emergency contact (John) to come rescue us.

And if you haven't seen last week's episode of South Park you should check it out.  It's titled Fatbeard and you can watch it here.  Hilarious.

2nd Annual Backtoms Football Tailgate

I believe we all drunkenly agreed that this years annual tailgate will take place on the Florida weekend which is October 24.  The General's Daughter (Devin) is already preparing his checklist for all of the supplies we need.

If you missed it last year we had a great time.  We had ~15 of us there under 2 of the 10'x10' tents in The Junction.  Devin worked his butt off by measuring each burger out to the 1000th of an ounce to match his special blend of seasoning (he counted out each grain of dry seasoning).  This year we are looking to go even bigger and better.

Details about where/when we are staying are in the planning process now.  Stay tuned for updates.

Founders Day Wrap Up

I'm finally feeling back to about 99% today after the long weekend of drinking in Mississippi.  What did we learn:

• Philly was very good to a few of us.  I think my winnings will be just enough to cover my deductible for the hail damage to my roof (if I need a new roof as my roofer is telling me).  I think John is buying more AR-15 equipment with his, and I guess Nunnrey will probably buy some chickens.  I'm wondering if I should add the mustache to my list of winning slot moves.
• Crunk Craig is a jerk according to the slow chicks in front of us at the golf course.  It only took one hole to realize why.  Maybe my Red Ryder will speed them up next time.
• The birthday girl (aka Trained Killa, aka Gun Cleaning Machine), Vanessa, doesn't appear to be able to drink like she used to.
• Courtney is learning the SWA Rap as we speak.  Be on the lookout for her on a future flight.  Did I mention Courtney is a NKOTB groupie?
• On Saturday night, I think that waitress from Friday night was out celebrating the large tip she earned from us.  Too bad we didn't have her the second night instead of that slow, forgetful chick we had.
• Tarkus is getting old.  His hair is gray.  He's not on any of the social networking sites and has never heard of Twitter (not that I completely understand why people use it).  When I said blog he had a puzzled look on his face.  And then he started in on the virtues of face-to-face discussions over email.
  
• I want to welcome our new authors to the blog.  I know you guys are dying to post so here are a few of the older posts you should check out first: Genesis, What's It Gonna Take and Blog Template.
  

The People Have Spoken

The poll regarding John bringing das boots closed yesterday.  Let's look at the results.

Should John bring das boots to Founders Day?

Yes: 5

No: 0

Only if he shows up handcuffed to the carrying case: 10

Looks like as long as John mans up we'll be celebrating Founders Day with das boots.

Founders Day 2009

Alright, this trip is right around the corner.  Here's who I've heard from lately...any of this changed?

In:

Luke and wife

Michael and gf

Me and wife

John

Nunnrey and gf

Brian J. and wife

Tarkus

Sean (haven't heard from you...you still in?)

Devin

Out:

Clay

Boy Shay

Aaron H.

Ryder (at least the last I heard)

Daniel

JT (unless Nunnrey is asking in which case he's in)

Never heard one way or another:

Bill

Les

And the info for the weekend is here.  Do me a favor and update your address if you're not receiving your newsletters (obviously you non-lammas need not worry).  Also, there is still time to vote on the poll for John to bring das boots with him.  

It's sure to be a good time so make your plans and spread the word.  The first wave of us arrives in Jackson Thursday night and we'll be staying in Philly so we can make some money to pay for the weekend.  Then in Starkville, most of us will be staying at the Comfort Suites.  Contact me if you need more info.

Hotel Fun

So I made it home from my trip without any complications.  I do have one more tidbit to share.

First, let me set the stage.  My flight out of Boston was at 6:00 AM this morning.  Which meant getting up at ~3:30 AM so I could knock out the three s's, check-out, turn rental car in, etc. Last night we had to do some maintenance on our application which was started at around 11:00 PM.  This lasted until about 11:30 PM and after I wrapped up with work and brushed my teeth I finally headed to bed knowing that I had less that 4 hours before I needed to wake back up to leave.

As I headed to bed, I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.  Silence and sleep...exactly what my body desired...or was it?  The walls in my hotel must have been slightly thicker than a sheet of paper for I could hear every breath, bed squeak, and moan of the people in the next room making sweet, sweet love.

I let this go on for a few minutes before I decided to try and drown them out with the TV.  This didn't actually work too well.  I was steady flipping through the stations and finally landed on a Latino channel where there was a soap opera on (come on...the girl looked good so I stopped).  I could still hear my neighbors and for a brief period while they were making love on TV I actually muted the sound so I could use the live sound effects.  Didn't match up too well, but it made me giggle.

I've got to hand it to the dude...this went on for at least 10-15 minutes while I was aware and not sure about what was going on before I turned off my TV.  Needless, to say...when that alarm went off this morning I was not happy that they robbed me of the extra 15 minutes of sleep.

New England Observations

I've already pointed out the most obvious thing...it's frickin' cold.  I've moved over to the Hartford, CT area this evening and the low here is around 4 degrees tonight.  However, now that I've had the day to see some things besides the drive from the airport to the hotel I wanted to share a few observations:

1. I've never seen so many Dunkin' Donuts in my life.  I remembered passing one last night so we were using that as a landmark to get our bearings this morning.  Not a good idea...Dunkin' is on every other corner.
   
2. I've never seen so many Obama bumper stickers in my life.  I'm sure John and Luke would love it up here!
3. Haven't seen to many cute females around.  Statistics show that the proportion of cuties compared to population determines how well I'll like an area.  Not so many here.  Not sure if it's because it's below freezing out or if it's because they eat too often at Dunkin' (see #1).  Or maybe it's a combination of both plus the fact that they have to bundle up for most of the year so their skin is all pasty white.

As you can tell...not too impressed.  Ready to get back to the 80 degree weather in Texas where I can shoot my Red Ryder BB gun on my back porch.  Too bad the forecasts show crappy weather here Thursday night and a possibility of ice Friday morning when I'm supposed to be flying out.  I'll be having Groundhog Day nightmares for the next couple of nights.