Game of the Year: Oregon @ Arizona

Coming from Boston, 77 and sunny couldn't have been more exciting.  That was the exact weather in Arizona when I arrived on Friday afternoon to visit my brother and see the Arizona Wildcats take on the Oregon Ducks in one of the biggest football games in Wildcats history.  Upon arrival the anticipation of the game was seen throughout.  Students were donning their "Duck Hunter" and "Zona Zoo" shirts and talking about the game.  The College Gameday Crew was set up and doing their traditional Friday afternoon show, and nothing else seemed to be important.  I enjoyed the experience, and the campus.  I saw the gameday site and the bookstore to look for Arizona stuff.. 

The rest of my day was a bunch of relaxing.  I went to my brother's place after a little pizza at a popular joint No Anchovies.  Living in Boston, I'm not used to being able to sit outside and watch Sportscenter on a Friday afternoon so that was a nice bonus.  We then went to my brothers place to hang, grabbed some In-N-Out for dinner and a Keg for the night.  Then we hung out and got ready for the festivities.

In order to introduce me to all of his buddies, my brother had a party at his place to see the guys and girls and enjoy what Arizona had to offer.  I had a great time and it felt awesome to fell like a college kid again with keg stands, beer pong, and shots of cheap alcohol.  The night ended earlier than probably expected, which worked out well because we had to get ready for College Gameday the next day.

On the East Coast, Gameday is at 10am, in Arizona its 8.  Those two hours make a difference.  After slowly getting out of bed at 7:30, and slowly walking over to the Mall, the site of Gameday, I came upon a sea of people.  The scene was wild as students had been there since 4am and others were crowding to try to get on television  The scene was wild with excitement as cheers were blasted when special guest Amanda Beard picked Arizona and boos when Lee Corso picked Oregon.  After that, I went to a sports bar to watch my Boston College Eagles get smoked by North Carolina, and enjoy a few beers and chicken wings.  

The rest of the day was dedicated to Arizona football tailgating, house parties and an early 1 hour entry just to be allowed into the Zona Zoo, the student section that was completely filled up by the 45 minute mark with anticipation. And these fans stayed loud the WHOLE game.  45 minutes before 30 minutes, 10 minutes, down 10-0 early, up 24-14 late and even the play before (and some time after) they lost 44-41 in 2OT.  The game will be remembered for the Arizona fans that began to storm a little too early (up 7 with a minute plus left) or the 4th and 7 play hit by Oregon with 30 seconds left.  I will remember it for the memorable back and forth performance.  The big plays by both sides including a 75 yard touchdown pass for Arizona to go up 31-24, or the Oregon field goal that somehow hit the bar and went in.  I'll remember the crowd, staying lowd and rowdy for four hours, and the anger the fans in the crowd showed to those that began to storm.  It was maybe the most wild game I had ever seen live or on TV and I will remember it forever.   

My weekend ended as it started.  A trip to No Anchovies, watching 4 games on 6 Tv's, sitting outside enjoying the beautiful Arizona weather.  The whole weekend was amazing and one I will remember forever.  Because of the time I spent with my brother, my dad and the Arizona community.