Feast of the Roundtable. Jinkies! Sign here, please. He Hurt Me. Tryptowhat?

Hey sportsfans!

Last week the seniors worked very hard in preparation for the annual Feast of the Roundtable evening at Altamont. Always a fun event that features a senior slideshow, kids performing their musical talents and a dessert reception in the Land of Scooby Doo. The kids worked all week building, painting and preparing the props and decorations. Scooby, Shaggy and the Gang were all there, including a 12' x 4 ' Mystery Machine. Well done, seniors. Sid's year the theme was SpongeBob. Other years have included Star Wars, Harry Potter, Batman, Monty Python, Super Mario Brothers and many other iconic cultural characters.

 

 

Em and I watched a very athletic UAB team take on Furman at Bartow Arena. Even without injured PG Nick Norton, the Blazers are an experienced and talented team that should do some damage this year. Fun team to watch.

Hard work. Dedication. Sacrifice. Set backs. Accomplishments. Goals. It's all worth it to these fine athletes who recently signed with college programs and will continue their sports careers. Congrats to Michael (Wofford. Baseball), Hudson (Transylvania. Baseball), Emily (Rollins. Lacrosse) and all the others who signed this past week. Here is the link to the Altamont article about Emily on their website: Emily signs.

And now for a little bit of nostalgia ...

Remember this guy? Rod Smart played with the Las Vegas Outlaws in the XFL. Ran a 4.25 40, but not sure why he didn't make it in the NFL.

How about last weekend in CFB? Last time #2, #3, #4 last time same weekend was 1985. Crazy. Fruitbasket turnover. For the first time in school history, Troy was ranked in the AP Top 25! Congratulations! Short lived. They got spanked Thursday night on television by Arkansas State. Oh well. They will be back. I miss baseball. Braves have opened an AARP wing on their pitching staff. Colon, Dickey, who is next? The Dores have some life left in their season. After an impressive win over Ole Miss (best 6 loss team in the country), for their fifth win of the season, they are now bowl eligible. The play the orange team for state bragging rights later in the week. When has Bama ever been this big a favorite (18-19 points) over the Buggers? Kindof scary. You never know what will happen in the Iron Bowl. Did you see the Yale students strip nude  in the stands at the Harvard game?  Those Ivies .... Jayhawks > Loghorns for first time since FDR was President. Ouch.

More progress being made at Altamont on the gym project. They have eight months to be finished before the Maccabi Games. 

Lots to the be thankful for these days. I hope you all get to slow down and enjoy these next few days. Annual Cracker Barrel dinner with the Kinneys, Macys Day Parade, decent rivalry games, serious nappages and moderate amounts of tryptophan are in my future. Happy Thanksgiving.

Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy

Why Is College Football So Important to So Many in the South?

Having grown-up and lived my entire life in the south I think I have a pretty good handle on why  football is so important to so many in this part of the country.

Like most young boys growing up in the 1970s in Dothan, Alabama  you had to choose. You rooted for one school or the other - Alabama or Auburn. Very few rooted for outlier schools such as Georgia, Tennessee or heaven forbid, Florida. Although my two best buddies rooted for other teams, Auburn and Georgia, I knew where my allegiance lied. I rooted for the best team - the Alabama Crimson Tide, coached by the best coach - Paul Bear Bryant. The Bear was revered and his players were royalty.

National Champs consecutive years when I was 10-11 years old, it was easy to pull for the best college team, especially when one of our hometown heroes, Steadman Shealy, was quarterbacking the team and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. My father played in high school and my uncle was an All-American for Coach Bryant in the early 1960s when the Tide won yet another national championship in 1964. Although baseball was my favorite sport as a child (and still is), football was in my blood. You could say I was born into it.  A large number of my immediate and extended family  (at least a dozen) attended the University of Alabama. Some still do.

All the guys I knew put on the pads once school each fall. I began playing football in elementary school at the Boy's Club in Dothan for the Superfoods Redskins (#74) with my buddy, Scott Wynne (#70).  I still shutter when thinking about playing the top team, the Vols. They wore orange and had some big players who hit hard! No wonder I still hate the color orange (see below) on the football field.

 

Fall 1977. Superfoods Redskins. Boys Club of Dothan Football League. — with Phil Riley, Shane Daniels, Norris Thomas, Kevin Royal, John Brackin, Robert Riley, Scott Wynne, John Chandlier, Ramon Bruner, Scott Morris ?, John Brackin, Sr., Tim Hartzell?, Jay Jackson, Tony Lasseter, Brian Richards, Jerry Bryant, Chris Watson, Mike Owen and Benny Lasseter. We thought we looked cool. My future high school team wore the same colors - garnet and gold.

 

I survived those early years and played through high school (Go Cougars!). I was then fortunate to continue my formal education on a football scholarship at Vanderbilt University. The Commodores were not very good on the field, but most of us knew we weren't going on to the NFL anyway.

Friday nights were reserved for high school football games. Saturdays were for the colleges. Sundays in the south are reserved for prayer and the NFL. Well, maybe more so for prayer followed by lunch and a recap of the previous day's college games.

Saturdays in the fall were the best. During my elementary school years, I recall many Saturdays either watching the Tide on television or listening to John Forney call the games on the radio. We had a sound system in our house that allowed listening in every room throughout the house. At halftime and when the game was over we immediately met the neighborhood buddies for serious games in the front yard. Shrubs and trees were no match for most of us. Most of the time. Since there were no NFL teams in the state, it was easy to claim which college player you were when scoring touchdowns in the yard. There were also occasions during those years when we would go to Tuscaloosa or Birmingham to watch Bama games in the stands. Those were awesome days! The Tide never disappointed!

My childhood football memories are all too common. Just ask my two brothers. Throughout the south - the footprint of the Southeastern Conference  - these football experiences are repeated weekly by many, many boys from Florida to Kentucky. From Georgia to Mississippi. Now into Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and South Carolina.  During my youth the closest pro teams to Dothan were in Atlanta, New Orleans and Tampa. In  the 1970s and 1980s these teams were just terrible. The Buccaneers lost every week. The Saints and Falcons were not much better. Why root for these losers when the college programs were so successful? Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Auburn each have won football national championships in past half century. Some have multiple titles. SEC teams have always known their toughest opponents are one another.  The conference was founded in 1933 and most of the schools in the conference have been playing football for well more than a century.

For the past many years, David and I have shared season tickets to the Alabama games. Nothing replaces sitting in the stadium on a fall Saturday afternoon. Having attended and played in hundreds of football games, some familiar themes keep occurring. College football gives people an identity. Something good to root for. A winner. It's a common ground for folks regardless of socio-economics or social standing. It's emotional. Mostly good ones, but some not so much.* It's bragging rights for a year. Your school just beat your neighbor's team. Co-workers. Family members. Rivals. Everyone gets to brag or have to deal with it until next season. A few hours each week fans get to let loose and forget about their daily lives. It's social in a big way. Ever been to The Grove in Oxford or the Quad in Tuscaloosa?  Chandeliers, champagne and BBQ are the norm at tailgating on campuses throughout the south.

A good percentage of each college team counts on sidewalk alumni for support. Sidewalk alums did not attend the school as students but usually are more passionate than actual alums. Every school has them. Some are more embarrassing than others. Just tune into Paul Finebaum's show each weekday afternoon. Phyllis from Mulga, Jim from Tuscaloosa and Charlie from Memphis are just a few of the daily regular callers from across the south who call "Pawl" with their daily takes on the weekly games. My grandmother was the biggest Tide fan you will ever meet. Took photos with many Bama greats - Namath, Perkins, Shula, Saban, Snake, and even Curry. Roll Tide!

Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Alabama fans Troy Ferguson and Jerry Bogle -- aka, "The Big Dogs" -- were fixtures at Crimson Tide games. Bogle died in 2004.Not sure if they are Bama alums, but they sure loved their Tide.

What is also remarkable about fans in the south is their level of knowledge of the game. Men and Women equally. Or at least they think they do. Once you play as a pee wee, or especially if you played in high school, you automatically know that Lane Kiffin must run the ball between the tackles for the Tide to roll. Check out Twitter next time the Tide plays and just search for "run the ball Lane" and see what you get. It will shock you. The funny thing is  - they're typically spot on with the in-game assessments. Go look at the television and radio ratings to see which cities lead in the highest percentages. Birmingham. Nashville. Memphis.

Maybe the Civil War is why we root so hard for our teams in the south. The south took a beating in the war between the states and now we've been taking it out on our northern, eastern and western opponents ever since. Maybe the Civil Rights movements had a similar affect as well.  The passion is there every time ESPN's Game Day comes to Fayettville, Oxford, Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Nashville, Athens or Gainesville. Check out the war paint and paraphernalia on the fans.  Rubber pigs and alligators on heads. Cowbells. 12th Man. Volunteer Navy. Game Day signs are very creative. Here's one of the best.

How about those Gridiron Greats who are worshiped well past their playing days conclude. Most are recognized by just one name: Tebow. Archie, Eli and Peyton.  Hershel. Bo. Bear. Shug. Snake. Cam.  Dak. Babe. Manziel. Kids wear their jerseys all year. Some are never washed. Some are hung in frames. I bet a good number of my southern brethren have a Bama Room or a room dedicated to their favorite college team.

Good grief. After this weekend when #1 Bama won by 48, #2 Clemson lost, #3 Michigan lost and #4 Washington lost, it's almost as if nobody else wants to challenge the Tide this year for college football supremacy. 

I am sure that a long ago other areas of the country became sick of hearing about how great SEC football is from the media. I am not saying that the awesome traditions and super fans are not in other great college towns such as in Austin, Norman, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Los Angeles, South Bend and places in between. What I am saying is that in the south those traditions mean more, last longer and more sincerely celebrated. With much greater success. Look at the list of recent Heisman Trophy and National Championship winners. Unless there is another civil war to settle these issues, I say tough cookies to the rest of you. These programs are not going anywhere anytime soon. Neither are their fans. Besides, here in the south, what else have we got to do except, fish, hunt, swim, water ski, hike, sail, Disney, Busch Gardens, Six Flags, etc?

The Sports Guy

* In 2003, a former client of mine was so distraught about Arkansas beating his beloved Tide in double overtime that when his son made the mistake of asking to borrow the family vehicle, the father fired his pistol narrowly missing his son. He was charged with attempted murder and domestic violence. I suspect certain beverages might have been involved as well. True story.

Treats > Tricks. Mr. Hilltopper. Cubs v. Bama? Go Vote!

Hey Sportsfans!

Another fun week of sports to report. Must start with the Cubs. Awesome Series. One of the best in many years. Too many stories to discuss. David Ross (see below) is probably the best one. Congrats! Hottest Halloween in years. Must have been north of 75 degrees at 7:45pm. Lots of the fun kids in creative costumes. Just in case you were wondering the fun-sized Snickers contains the following nutritional values: Calories 80. Sodium 80mg. Total Fat 8g. Total Carbs 21g. You're welcome.  Here are some friends and family in their best.

 

 

 

Wednesday night Sidney's hard work paid off in raising more than $4,000 for the Arthritis Foundation. The 76th annual Mr. Hilltopper was a fun night. Proud of you, Sid!

Cubs fans were feeling a little frisky after their Series win. They should enjoy the championship before picking fights with the big boys.How about David Ross and 5 mil of his closest friends celebrating the Cubs WS win.

This week former Vanderbilt football player Brandon Vandenburg was sentenced to 17 years in prison for encouraging his teammates to rape an unconscious student. I am ashamed for my University and Football program. Hope this putz rots in jail. Bama's defense is as good as it's ever been. Just ask Fournette. Did you catch Zach Cunningham's amazing field goal block against Auburn? Just awesome. Check it here: #41 is heading to the first round. Congrats to Coach John Cohen being named Miss. State's AD. They will lose him on the diamond, but gain so much more overall.  Highly recommend Tom Rinaldi's The Red Bandana. Great read. Have kleenex handy. Em begins stickwork later this month. I am sure she's ready.  It gets dusty. Tons of birthdays to celebrate this month. Rocky. Lilly. AA. Sam. LYB. And many others. Happy birthday to all! With the Series over, we are now forced to face Tuesday's election. Cannot be over soon enough. Go Vote!  

Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy

Baseball is so grand. Always has been. Always will be.

Sports take us away from our everyday lives. They are supposed to be fun. A distraction. Exercise.  Enjoyment. There are countless sports people play. Team sports. Individual sports. High scoring. Low scoring. No scoring. Lots of traditions. Well known and beloved teams and athletes. Without stepping on any other sport’s respective toes, in my humble opinion none of them compare to baseball. Yup, baseball. 

Baseball.

Nine innings. Nine positions. 90 feet between bases. 60' 6" means something. No clock. Managers. Coaches. Umpires. Peanuts. Hotdogs. Beer. Crackerjack.

The National Pastime.

It's American. Baseball's rich history is woven into the American fabric for more than 150 years. The Founding Fathers of the Game - Cartwright, Doubleday, Spalding and Company - helped create and shape a sport that has been enjoyed and celebrated for generations. Even during times of war, the diamond has always been a place to escape.  

This is the game little boys and girls grew up playing. Grown man still think they can play just like when they were young. Sitting in the stands watching players of all shapes and sizes on the field while reminiscing about glory days gone by. 

Baseball has a very special place in America’s culture. Bull Durham. Field of Dreams. A League of Their Own. The Natural. Pride of the Yankees. The Bad News Bears. The Sandlot. Moneyball. Casey at The Bat. Abbott & Costello. George Will. Eddie Vedder's Cubs' anthem "All the Way". Bill Murray. Billy Crystal. Larry King. The Marlins Man. Baseball Digest. Bill James.  Sport Magazine. Sports Illustrated. Street & Smith. Baseball Digest. Sporting News. Baseball America.

Little League. Minors. Majors. American Legion. High School. Travel. College. Independent. Pros. A. AA. AAA. The Big Show. The Philly Phanatic. Braves Bleacher Creature. Chief Noc-A-Homa. Bernie Brewer. Fredbird. Mr. Met. Running of the Presidents.

Maybe you've heard of some of the early greats. Mathewson. Anson. Lajoie. Johnson. Cochrane. Mack. These icons set the stage for growing the game.

First glove. Smell of new leather. 108 stitches on the ball. Bats - Wood. Metal. Composite. Breaking in a new cap. Flat bills and rounded bills both work, depends on the age. 

Famous franchises across the US in Chicago. New York. Detroit. Baltimore. Boston. St. Louis. San Francisco. And places in between. The front of the jerseys are iconic. Millions of fans claims their teams and the heroes who wear the same jerseys they do in the stands.

Cobb. Ruth. Speaker. Gehrig. Wagner. McGraw. Chadwick. Young. They changed the game with homers, hard play and big personalities.

Hallowed grounds where these sports heroes ply their trade: Fenway. Busch. Polo Grounds. Wrigley. Comiskey. Shea. Yankee Stadium. Memorial. Veterans. Ebbets Field. The truly great ones are revered in a special Hall located at 25 Main St, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

Playing catch with your father or grandfather or mother or brother or sister or buddy. A smile. A tear. A laugh. A song. A memory.

Listening to games on the radio. Cracking of the radio and listening to the voices of Scully. Harwell. Barber. Buck. Miller. Uecker. Allen. Brennaman. Carey. Gowdy. 

Famous calls include Russ Hodges' "Shot Heard 'Round The World." Red Barber calling Maris’ 61^st homer.  Vin Scully calling Koufax's perfect game. Scully calling Larson’s final out of his World Series Perfect Game. Scully calling Buckner’s famous error in the 1986 World Series. Jack Buck calling Gibson’s limp off homer to beat the A’s in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. 

Watching games on television. Monday Night Baseball. Game of the Week. This Week in Baseball. Commercials. Wheaties. Gillette. Aqua Velva.  Hamm’s Beer. Chevrolet’s “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie”.  Nike. Under Amour. Dick's Sporting Goods. ESPN.

Going to games and sitting in the bleachers. Fresh cut grass. The popping sound of the catcher's mitt when the pitcher zips one home. Chants from the fielders. "Hey, batter, batter. Swing!" Who knew pitchers were also belly itchers? The smell of freshly popped popcorn. Beer. Crackerjack. Hotdogs. Keeping score. Getting autographs before the game at the dugout. National anthem. "Play Ball!"

Coca Cola. War Bonds. Smokes. Razors. Automobiles. Con Edison. Seagram’s. Toyota. Delta.  Well recognized in-stadium billboards promoting the big sponsors.

The National Association of Base Ball Players.  National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. American Association. National League. American League. Negro League. Major League Baseball. 

Baseball cards. Flipping on the wall. Flapping in bicycle spokes. Opening new packs. The smell of the pink hard gum. The gross taste of the stale gum. Looking for the elusive Pepe Frias card to complete the Topps 1979 set. 

DiMaggio. Robinson. Williams. Berra. Kaline. Feller. Clemente. Koufax. Paige. Greenberg. Upper echelon superstars and trendsetters of past generations. 

#9. #6. #44. #32. #3. #4. #5. #7. We know which numbers belonged to those jerseys and what they stood for.

61. 715. .367. 4,256. 511. 5,714. These numbers mean so much to so many. 

Superstitions. Stepping over the foul lines. Rally caps. Same socks and jocks while on a streak. Naming favorites bats. Eating the same food before every game. Arriving at the ballpark at the same time each game. Sitting next to the same players in the dugout. The unwritten rules. Never put the tying or go-ahead run on base. Play for the tie at home, go for the victory on the road. Don't hit and run with an 0-2 count. Never make the first or third out at third. If one of your players gets knocked down by a pitch, retaliate. Never mention the no-hitter to the pitcher throwing it. 

Mantle. Frank Robinson. Rose. Oliva. Marichal. Aaron. Mays. Palmer. Yastrzemski. Hall of Famers and cultural barrier breakers who set the tone for the next crop of top players. 

The curses. Curse of the Bambino. Bill Goat. Bartman. Cursing from the dugout. Cursing the ump for being a blind bum.

The Streaks. Red Sox. Cubs. DiMaggio’s 56. Rose’s 44. Braves 15 years straight making the postseason. 

Mountain Landis. Selig. Chandler. Frick. Kuhn. Vincent. Manfred. Some were great men and respected leaders. Others had no clue. 

The nicknames. Stan the Man. The Babe. Shoeless Joe. Donnie Baseball. Chipper. Big Train. Charlie Hustle. The Kid.  The Splendid Splinter. Hammerin’ Hank. The Georgia Peach. The Yankee Clipper. The Wizard of Oz. 

Ryan. Schmidt. McCovey. Carew. Jenkins. Carlton. Munson. Fisk. Morgan. Bench. Jackson. Heroes of my youth. Still are.

Mendoza. You know. 

It's not the 1919 White Sox. The Designated Hitter. The Cocaine Trials. Manager Pete Rose. McClain. Work Stoppages in 1981 and 1994. The Steroid Era. Marge Schott.

Boggs. Ripken. Henderson. Raines. Garvey. Parker. Eckersely. Carter. Winfield. Valenzuela.  Loved and hated these guys equally. 

Lemke. Favorite Brave. 

Teams that are no longer around but not forgotten: Senators. Expos. Pilots. Browns. Spiders.  Highlanders. Colt 45s.  Beaneaters. Bridegrooms.

Maddux. Smoltz. Bonds. Clemens. Clark. Sosa. Griffey. Rodriguez. Piazza. Jeter. McGwire. Most of these guys are still spoken of very highly and will be elected to that special Hall. Most of them. 

The traditions. A simple father-son afternoon. Throwing out the first pitch. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. 7^th inning stretch. Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway. Handing money to the vendor assembly-line style to the end of the row for a beer. Bringing a glove to the game. Throwing back an opposing team’s home run. 

Pujols. Suzuki. Ramirez. Jones. Guerrero. Helton.  Ortiz. Recent stud hitters who caused higher ERAs and more scoring. 

Fresh memories include the Red Sox and Cubs breaking long-standing championship droughts, and doing do with such dramatic flare. President Bush throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium after baseball resumed post 9/11 attacks. Sid’s slide to beat Bonds' throw in the 1992 NLCS Game 7. Jack Morris v. John Smoltz. 2001 ALDS Game 3 for Jeter’s flip to get out Giambi at home. Every time I sit with my daughters at a game. 

Posey. Molina. Cabrera. Cano. Pedroia. Beltre. Trout. Bautista. Kershaw. Rizzo. Bryant. Kimbrel. The current all-stars who make the game so much fun to follow. 

Veeck. Frazee. Turner. Steinbrenner. Epstein. Kroc. Giles. Owners and execs who shaped the game. Some were game changers. Others were miracle workers.

Every few years the media discusses whether there is a decline in baseball’s popularity. Claims that football or basketball have passed it as more popular sports with today’s youth. They argue it's slower paced. No definitive time clock for a game’s completion. The better athletes are not playing baseball any longer. These things may or may not be true. I scoff at the concept that baseball is largely an older generation’s game. Baseball is going nowhere. It has a rich history and most recent dramatic World Series endings continue to cement my favorite pastime as America’s Favorite Pastime. I just wish west coast games would not start so late! 

Next time you want to go see a game, just give me a call. I might already be heading to the park. I’ll save you a seat. First hotdog and coke are on me.

Only four months until pitchers and catchers report.

The Sports Guy

PS: With all apologies and deference to the late and great late Ernie Harwell who penned his famous essay on baseball, "The Game for All America," parts of which he read at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1981.

Final Four. Rams > Bucs. 1948 > 1908. Destruction before the construction.

Hey Sportsfans!

Final Four.

Magical words to any high school sports team. A goal. A dream. Just get there. Altamont's volleyball team got there. Final Four at the Birmingham Crossplex. Great season. Just a little short of the big prize. In the semi-finals, the Knights lead the eventual State Champs, St. Luke's, 2-1 games, and ahead 16-15 and looking to close out the match, but could not hang on. Although St. Luke's won the thrilling match, the Knights have much to be proud. Highest rankings in school history by finishing in the top four with a 23-5 record. These girls should be very proud of their season and representing their school. Kudos to Ashley, Lucy and the other seniors who lead this talented group of athletes.  The following day St. Luke’s (46-14) won its first state volleyball championship, taking the Class 2A championship back to Mobile with after a 28-26, 25-11, 25-13 victory over Winston County.

Friday night we headed over to the Hoover Met for a nationally ranked match-up between #7 (MaxPreps) Grayson Rams from Atlanta being hosted by the #29 Hoover Bucs. Coming into the game Grayson (8-1) was ranked #1 in 7A Georgia polls. Hoover (8-2) was ranked #2 in the 7A Alabama standings. Both teams feature tons of talent who will be playing on Saturdays in the near future, and maybe some playing on Sundays years from now. It was great to catch up with former Northview teammate and friend #40 ILB Willie Banks. Willie went on to play at Troy State. His older son, Steven, is current defensive lineman and prospect for the Rams. 

The Rams had superior team speed  and were more disciplined during this game. Despite the refs' home cookin' (many ridiculous calls or no-calls), special team mistakes and turnovers doomed the Bucs. The final score was 36-14, but could have easily been more lopsided. The Rams took care of business when they needed to, even when the Bucs' band continued to play while the Rams had the ball. How rude!  

According to the late Coach Dennis Riddle, that Orange team from Knoxville are who we thought they were. Not very good. Butch Jones is not an SEC caliber coach. The Barners are getting better weekly. The Iron Bowl should be a doozy.  The Tide had better be prepared for Death Valley this weekend. With the Indians (last title was 1948) one game from becoming World Series Champs, Cubs  (1908) fans are already looking miserable. Pitching, pitching, pitching. Kluber, Miller and Company have been shutting down bats all post-season. MBHS Spartans lax girls team has been working out on Sundays this fall. They play in another tourney this December in Atlanta. Em has been attending the practices, but not ready to hit the field. She's instructing the defenders and hopes to be released back into the wild in a few months. Thanks Andrew!

Yea! Construction finally has begun at Altamont. New gym, driveway and much needed parking in the next few months.  Stay tuned ... While we are on this, if you would like to learn more about the project or to donate, just contact me. Or you can go online and donate directly. In the NEWS or COMMENTS section you can designate it to One More Lap.  www.altamontschool.org/giving. 

88 degrees in Birmingham for Halloween? Chocolate will melt. That's just plain wrong.  What's the over/under on how much pumpkin pie filler will Gavin and UR eat this week? More or less than 1/2 pound? Sid is hosting Mr. Hilltopper fundraiser this week. During this event Alpha Omicron Pi raises money for  the Arthritis Foundation. Mr. Hilltopper is womanless beauty pageant where all of the sororities and fraternities on campus each come up with routines and present one male as a contestant for Mr. Hilltopper.  Feast of the Roundtable is fast approaching. Sniff sniff. Signing Day is around the corner. Go Tars! What are you doing to celebrate LYB's birthday? I'm thinking rollerskating. Who gets to choose?

Save the Butterfingers for me.

Have a great week everyone! 

The Sports Guys