This weekend: Clemson at Virginia Tech

This weekend Clemson wraps up the 'Schedule of Champions' part of the season facing off against the defending ACC Champs in Blacksburg. It's our first big road test, but I don't think location will be too much of an issue. Even though the noise has worked in our favor and not against us this year, we know what loud sounds like, and at least we won't be surprised. What I am worried about is consistency. Anyone who has been a Clemson Football fan will tell you it takes years off your life. The biggest culprit is the stress that accompanies inconsistency. We've played some good games and some not so good games, and that make me nervous. The only good thing is Clemson usually gets up for big games, and this qualifies as big.

The best part about this game is it will be my first big 'tablegate' of the year. A good friend of mine went to med school at Virginia Tech, and we're going to watch the game in HD at her place. She has treated me to many an amazing meal, and so I'm excited to bring a tablegate spread. If you know me at all, I'm all about a party, good food and good friends.

Prediction: As soon as I pick the Tigers, I'm going to loose. But I'm going to do it anyway. I like the passion of this football team. I was impressed by our ability to finally wrap up a tackle vs FSU. VTech has a young team, and I think that works in Clemson's favor...ie our freshman are better than theirs. This is a big game and I like Clemson's track record when it matters. The first half will be ugly, but Clemson will get it together in the 2nd half. Tigers win on the road, and become the first ACC team EVER to win 3 in a row against ranked opponents. (and possibly loose the ACC in the same season. That would be our luck)

(Re)Discover Chattanooga - Church Music

I had some friends visit me in Chattanooga this summer, and in my driving them around town they made the comment "Man, there are a lot of churches here." I hadn't given it much thought, but I did a quick search of 2010 Census Data, and the Religion rating for Chattanooga is 194, or 1.94 times higher than the national average. This is even a little higher than the TN State Rating of 188.

When I was little, I didn't think about the fact that my ballet classes weren't offered on Wednesday nights. I knew that it was 'Church Night', and a lot of kids were busy. It didn't bother me when they added Jazz classes on Wednesday nights, because I got to take Jazz. I was too young to make the connection that there was an assumption that the kids wanting to take Jazz wouldn't be the kids going to church on Wednesday nights. Well, I was one of those kids, and nope, I wasn't in church. (side note: my family was always a religious family, but my dad drove race cars out of town on Saturday nights, so Sunday mornings were more about sleeping in and eating chocolate chip cookies than getting dressed up for church)

The other thing I didn't think much about as a kid is the fact that when Dave & Dex came on the local country radio station, US 101, at 5:00 on Wednesdays, they played 'Church Music." I think there were a couple of songs that they played, but my favorite was "Shake a Snake." Considering that Sand Mountain is not too far away, and famous for their snake handling churches, this song was more than mildly entertaining.

Since I've been back in Chattanooga I have not gone back to my country music roots, and I have no idea if US 101 still plays this song (Dave has since passed away). BUT, I was out playing pool last week, and someone said the phrase 'shake a snake.' I haven't thought about this song in 10 years, and we of course found the video on youtube - a digital transfer of the Pinkard & Bowen song on 45. This song is too good not to share.


Happy Church Day Everybody!

Horray for Football & Friends!

Just wanted to make a quick note that I had a Fantastic football weekend in Clemson this past weekend, and that I made a few game picks over on BOILER UP with Phats. I missed on the Clemson game, but I'm always happy when they surprise me and play up to their potential and win one they're "supposed" to win.

I didn't get to as spend time with everyone as I would have liked to, but there are only so many hours in the day, and as much as I hate it - I do NOT do well on no sleep. But I had a wonderful time listening to music, hanging out at Backstreets, getting some new stained glass projects into the design phase, meeting new friends, getting to know some old friends better, and enjoying a beautiful football Saturday in Clemson.

Photo courtesy of/stolen from @olivertwisted on tumblr

Butterfly Window

I forgot to take a picture of this window when it was finished, but it was installed today at Backstreets, and they sent me a picture from Pete's phone. I'll get a portfolio picture later. I like it, hope you do too!

Oops

I forgot to post my Bloody Mary recipe Saturday morning. There was too much football and I just forgot. Since the post was only halfway finished anyway, I'll finish it tonight, and go ahead and schedule it for this Friday.

All 3 of my teams won this weekend!! Clemson, Tennessee, & GaTech got wins, and UTC even put up 7 on Nebraska. How did your teams do?

My College Football Teams

As promised, here are my teams, the teams I tend to pull for, and the team I hate.

Clemson - I spent 10 years in Clemson and fell in love with the town and the people. NOTHING in Clemson is more important than football. I have always been able to fake being a Clemson fan, I was a Rally Cat, I had a job in Clemson where I was required to wear orange on Fridays (or wear a construction vest & hat all day) and I was literally paid to set up tailgates. Many of my friends incomes are directly tied to the outcomes are directly tied to the success of the football team. Over the past few years no one has forced me to watch or follow the Clemson Football team, but I have. I know a lot about these guys, and I really do want them to do well. Being a Clemson fan may take years off your life, but I do pull for them.

Tennessee - I grew up a Tennessee fan. When I was little one of the few times I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime was the Tennessee Alabama game in October. Peyton Manning was the quarterback when I was in High School, and I used to know all the running backs, the fullbacks, and the receivers. Those were the "Glory Days" of Tennessee Football under Phil Fulmer. While I was in Clemson it was pretty hard to find a place that would show the Tennessee game, so I've missed the past few years or so....probably not a bad thing. I'm really excited about getting back into Tennessee football, and seeing their progress this season.

GaTech - When I was in 3rd grade, a literal line was drawn on the playground. Were you a Georgia fan or Georgia Tech fan? Most everybody picked Georgia, I picked Georgia Tech. Just so happens that my boyfriend out of high school, and one of my best friends went to GaTech, and they both joined the same fraternity. I spent about 3 solid football seasons in Section 221, bobbing up &down between the 3rd and 4th quarter to the Budweiser song, proclaiming myself to be a 'hell-uv-an engineer' and tailgating with 'my boys.' Being a GaTech fan is special. It's Tech, so you know it's not a football school, but the fans they do have are as loyal as any you will find. And every once and a while, the football team will surprise you with some big plays and some unexpected wins.

Teams I hate, hate hate:
Florida, or anything associated with Steve Spurrier. I hate them. I just do.


Teams I have associations with:

UTChattanooga - I live in Chattanooga. My sister and her husband met at UTC. This is the little football team that could. They're not an SEC school. The players are not very big. Attendance is directly tied to if Tennessee is playing home or away. But you gotta have hope for this team. They play in the same conference as Georgia Southern, Elon, Furman and App State, and have yet to win a title. But they're trying to get better. Last year they played at Auburn, this year they open at Nebraska. They don't have a prayer in these games, but they're trying to earn money and show their players that they have a chance to make some plays on a big stage. UTC has a local hot-shot QB, an inexperienced offencive and defensive line, and I hope they can be "the little team that could." You can't help but root for the hometown boys.
Edit: As indicated in the comments, my sister wants to make it known that she played D1 tennis for UTC, and remains proud to be a MOC. Yeah, I guess that's another reason to pull for them ;)


Auburn: This is my sister's favorite team, Alma Matter of my friend Nicole, and an SEC school. They're fun to watch, so I'll pull for them unless they're playing one of 'my' teams.






Alabama: I'm nostalgic. I'd love to see Alabama come back to the glory days of Bear Bryant. I want them to be great, but I still want Tennessee to beat them. My cousin is a sophomore this year, so there's another reason to keep up with them.





LSU: My friend Colleen is a HUGE LSU fan. Seeing as how I'm going to be taking advantage of their super football cable package this year, I have a feeling I'll end up an LSU fan as well.