This day was not supposed to happen like this, but it turned out to be a perfect day with Davis. He had plans to visit a car show in Mississippi with Cole and his family, but on the Friday before the game, Ms. Ginger found out that the show had been delayed due to pending rain. This left me asking Davis if anyone was going to the game, and I think he may have been hinting at me going, but once we saw a chance of rain, and some steep ticket prices, and that he had some tests to study for, we decided to just skip on trying to make it all the way over to Starkville for the game. I had several things I was prepping for that Friday evening, and actually got them all completed, and went to get ready for bed. Then checking the weather, I saw that the chances of rain had gone down significantly. And at 11:30 Friday evening, I took a chance that Davis was still up, and asked via text "ticket prices still up...if you want an adventure, I am game to drive over in the morning, pick up and we try to get tickets at the game." Davis quickly texted back "Let's do it! I was already planning to be gone on Saturday anyway".
Did I mention that the game was an 11:00AM start? So that meant that I had to get in bed quickly to be up and out of the house by 6AM. And after stopping by ChickFilA in Tuscaloosa, I arrived at Davis' apartment for the pickup. And we were out on another adventure to watch the "Battle of Highway 82". Our drive was not too bad, but Waze had me get off of 82 to run through reform, which was crazy because I think Waze did not realize that 82 was not a problem there, but as we were getting into Gordo, Davis helped us use Google to go way around a traffic jam. And we laughed as we actually got on a dirt road that was probably either named Elmore or Junkin road. It just seemed fitting on this adventure to be on some backwoods on a dirt road.
When we arrived on campus, the place was packed, and my plan the whole time was to park at the Baptist Student Union, as a buddy of mine said it was a good location, and usually had plenty of spaces. But when we arrived, they told us they thought it was full, but give them a minute to check. So we just parked right there at the entrance, and they found us like a perfect VIP spot right up front that was being held for some reason...perhaps for us. As I was stressing that we might not have a place to park, Davis was searching for some tickets. And since the rain had held up, and the day looked beautiful, the tickets had not started coming down, even though it was 9:30AM and the game started soon. We had a set of tickets, but then they were lost while we put in CC info, then Davis found another pair, that were...a little more than we were planning to pay, but I said "Just grab those". And now we had tickets and parking and a short walk to the stadium.
We walked along to the stadium while I bored Davis with stories of what it used to look like when I was here. I stayed at almost every dorm on the campus, but most of the ones I stayed at have been torn down by now. We made our way over to the Colvard Student Union before finally heading to the stadium. It was a joy to walk in there with Davis, and see almost a completely new stadium from what I remember. No endzone seats my Freshman year, then just glorified bleachers through the remainder of my time on campus. We made our way to the seats purchased and found out we had the perfect seats between the 40 and 50 yard line, towards the top of the lower section. And it was on the shaded side, so we did not get into the sun until after halftime. I am sure I confused many people on this day, as I chose to wear my Mississippi State polo with my Alabama dad hat. One Alabama fan directly behind me tapped me on the shoulder when all the cowbells started up, and said "We are going to make those things shut up by the end of the game". Turning around, he then saw that the crimson hat did not match the maroon shirt, and I told him "Yeah, I have rung a few cowbells in my time here also". He smiled and quickly said Oh I apoligize my friend, but him and Davis had plenty to high five about during the game.
As the game began, a wave of nostalgia washed over me, as seems to be the new normal in my over-the-hill days. I had to fight back the tears of remembering my Bulldogs running out onto that field. I saw them beat my original team Auburn a couple of times on that field. I stood underneath the goal posts when it came down after we beat Florida one year. And my Senior year, Magan and I watched Eli Manning get beat in the egg bowl on that field. Our seats were always in the endzone, and they were horrible seats, but those cowbells were loud and we never stopped ringing them. And so as I held back the tears, and tried not to let Davis see my face, I just smiled at the noise slowly deafening everyone in that stadium as the Bulldogs took the field.
Admittedly, I am now a fan of the tide. There have been too much Alabama games with my boys at this point for me to pull elsewhere, but here in Davis Wade Stadium, I held back my cheers for Alabama, and got excited when Kamario Taylor made some great plays in the first half to keep the game close. Davis recognized my struggle, and when Bama made a good play, I would not leave him hanging for the high five. And while not giving me the high five, Davis would give me one of his signature smiles and give me the low five when MSU would score. "Maroon, White...Fight, Fight, Fight...Mississippi State...Woooo, ya ....... right".
At halftime, Davis joined me to take a walk towards the new endzone area, and the way he was dressed made him stick out like sore thumb. But it was funny walking with him, as he had a drunk Alabama fan give him a big hug "Ro Tide Brother". Then he had random MSU college kid start talking with him. And then when needing to find the nearest water refill station, just started chatting with a pretty MSU girl. He just seems to have a magnetic personality like his momma, where I try to find the spaces away from where people would even see me. During the halftime show, the MSU band played the opening song from LaLa Land, so I had to record that for Belle. Then they honored a Korean War veteran that had not one but two purple hearts.
Korean War veteran Lieutenant William "Bill" Scott was recognized as a salute-to-service veteran at the game. He joined the Alabama Army National Guard in 1948 at age 17 and later deployed for U.S. Army basic training at Fort Jackson. He fought in the brutal Battle of Chosin Reservoir with the "Frozen Chosin," surviving sub-zero conditions and a shrapnel injury. In another battle, outnumbered ten-to-one on an Easter Sunday, he suffered a severe bayonet wound and lost consciousness. He famously woke up inside a body bag after hearing a voice tell him to have faith, just as a fellow soldier noticed the bag moving. Honored with the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Silver Star, he attributed his survival to divine intervention. Now 93, he lives in north Mississippi near his daughter, frequents VFW Post 4272 with his girlfriend Mary McDill.
The second half was just all Alabama, and they ran away with the game. Davis loved them playing the scene from SNL, where Christopher Walken stated that we just need more cowbell. And of course, the place erupted with the bells. Davis asked if they played that while I was here, and I had to remind him how old I am...pre-large video screens..."Sonny, the only thing we heard during the ball game was 'Who Let them Dawgs Out'". And sure enough, as I relayed this story, that song started playing. I laughed at myself one time after seeing an Alabama interception on the field, I could not believe how it even happened, so I pulled up my phone and clicked over to the game. Then I got mad and told Davis, they are not replaying it because they are on a commercial break. Yet, I said this like I did not realize I was at the game and could see that it was a commercial break. Anyway, Davis and I laughed at me being dumb.
Towards the end of the game, Davis' good friend from scouting, Isaac Puckett came over to see him. Isaac is another Eagle Scout of Troop 354, and these guys have been buddies since 1st grade. Isaac hang out with us through the end of the game, then walked with us over to the student union before we said our goodbyes and headed back to the BSU. Our adventure ended back in Tuscaloosa, where we enjoyed some free smells and high priced italian sandwiches at Jimmy Johns. And to close the adventure was a text to Davis "Our fun day ended too soon! It was great...love you". And his reply "Love you too, wish every day was a fun game day".
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