THE game!

GAME DAY!!! It had been a long wait since the SEC Championship game, but finally it was THE day that all Auburn fans have been waiting for for 50+ years. We started out the day with breakfast and talked to Wes Byrum's family who happened to be staying in our hotel. Little did we know at the time that in a few hours he would be hitting a game winning field goal!

Around 10:30 we left the hotel, stopped by one of the stores in Old Town Scottsdale to pick up my trip ornament and a surprise for the boys, and headed to Glendale. The tickets we had purchased came with tickets to the pregame tailgate party. We got to Glendale early and used our parking pass which let us park right next to the stadium. Usually at an Auburn game you park miles away so this was a real treat! There was nothing else to do except wait in line for the tailgate party to open, but we ended up being some of the first in which ended up having it's perks. Most everyone else stood in line to show their IDs but we started walking around and happened to run into David Pollack. Now a few years ago he would have been the enemy (he played for UGA) but now he's a sports radio/tv announcer so he's ok. The boys talked with him for a bit and got a picture and I just listened and hoped I wasn't staring too much. He's pretty cute!

We did a few other fun fan things like taking a picture with the Coach's trophy (the big crystal football), playing the throwing challenge, football plinko, and watching ESPN U's pregame stuff which included one of my favorite past tigers Jason Campbell! After some free lunch, cheering on ESPN's pregame show and seeing Cadillac Williams we headed over to Tiger Walk. Unfortunately, due to security issues, the players and coaches weren't allowed to get off the buses but there were still thousands of fans their to cheer them on!






We wanted to make the most of our game day viewing so we headed over to the stadium immediately so we could see it all! We had pretty great seats in the corner of the endzone, which just happened to be the endzone where our defense had a great goal stand and Wes kicked our game winning field goal. I cried twice in the game which I know sounds ridiculous. In pregame, without any warning for us emotional ones, the bowl committee reunited (as a surprise) a few families with their soldiers from overseas. SERIOUS TEARS! I also teared up when we won. I mean when you've been an Auburn fan your whole life no matter if they're good or bad and you come and watch a team who has so much unity work together to accomplish this amazing sports thing you get a little teary eyed! I screamed louder and cheered harder than I have in a while and I loved every minute of it. It is absolutely, positively GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!!

*fun fact. The shirts in the next picture are the only shirts Zach and I wore on game days this year. Never before had we ever had specific game day shirts. We bought them new before the season on a trip through Auburn and after we kept winning, we kept wearing. Zach actually never even washed his. After every game he folded in neatly and put it back in his tshirt drawer to wait patiently until the next week.

WAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR EAGLE HEY!!!