It has been a week since the big Thanksgiving Friday game. After a few losing seasons - the Florida State Seminoles are showing signs of the good old days returning. Bobby Bowden is long gone. The Seminoles are still wearing garnet and gold uniforms - but everything else in college football has seemed to change. Coaches are still getting $10 million a year - but now players are getting paid - and they can jump from school to school. FSU's former coach jumped to a Texas school and got a $90 million no cut contract. He left a mess in Tallahassee - and now the hang man is upon him after a 5-7 season there.
Our friend Sally from Schuykill County in Pennsylvania drove down to visit. She wanted to see a Florida State football game before continuing on to Disneyworld and Key West. The game was at 7:30 PM - but Lulu and Sally went to campus in our Honda van - to park by Lulu's office and enjoy some campus activities. I would drive the scooter over later - when it was time to find tickets. I left our house at 5:30 PM - but half way to campus it started to rain - so I turned around and went home for rain clothes. I also parked near Lulu's office - up on the hill on campus. I am guessing it was a ½ mile walk to the stadium. I found Lulu and Sally at the Band Practice Field - and we all walked to my favorite "ticket seeking spot."
It was 6:30 PM - and I was seeing very few tickets for sale. I think Stubhub - the ticket buying and selling site - has ruined the market for selling tickets at the stadium. You have to be very cautious with buying computer printout tickets. What is left to stop someone from running off several copies - nothing. There are still a few printed tickets but they are rare. I was offered a few single tickets at high prices - I declined. Then a nice family with a very good pair of tickets approached me. They want $100 each for 2 tickets on the 20th row - at about the 5 yard line. I wanted to get Lulu and Nancy in early to see the band and senior night activities - so I bought them with 2 - $100 bills. Because the ticket scanners are so slow - a long line built up - as they entered.
Once they were in the stadium - a pretty young freshman girl was with her parents. She said she had one extra ticket. It was on her iPhone - and she transferred it to me. I gave her $40 - probably could have gotten it for less. I got in the line to go in. The scanner guy was so slow - I decided to just walk by him. If he stopped me I would have showed him my ticket. He just did not see me or did not care. I was in. I went to sit with Lulu and Sally. I sat near them - their tickets were lucky enough to have optional seat backs! Most of the stadium is cold aluminum bleachers.
Side Note - to be a freshman at FSU - is becoming quite an honor. 80,000 applied. Only 6000 were accepted this year. The average SAT score is 1300 plus. If you don't get in - you go to Tallahassee CC. After 2 years there - you automatically transfer in. TCC is about 2 miles away. Our son Keith spent his freshman year at FSU - in the honors program. He then transferred to Georgetown. We were living in Tamaqua PA at the time. Getting into FSU as a freshman from out of state was next to impossible - but he did it.
The game started with rain threatening. It was about 65 degrees - it dropped to 57 by midnight. I was glad I went back for extra clothes.
FSU scored a touchdown - the Gators answered. This went on all night. At the end - FSU was ahead 45 - 38. On the last drive - with seconds remaining on 4th down - the Gators threw a pass to the end zone - it missed the target. The Seminoles won - and their record was 9-4. If they win a bowl game - it would be the first 10 win season in a long time.
The crowd roared and stormed the field. The entire field ended up covered by fans - no problems - no destruction. No one was arrested. Fireworks went off. Lulu frowned when I said I wanted to go down on the field and celebrate.
We had to walk the mile back up the hill to our parked vehicles. I went home on the scooter - Lulu and Sally in the van. We got home at the same time - I passed them in the driveway. It was 1 AM.
COMMENTS - It is always fun to beat the Gators - but several things for me have made it better to watch at home. First - I cannot see the game as well as I can on our big TV. I also like hearing the announcers talk about the players - etc. I found myself watching the big screen that was closer to me. We paid $240 for 3 tickets. The stadium food is expensive - chicken fingers - fries - a big coke - cost $20. We parked on campus free - but stadium parking is $20 - $50. They sell beer in the stadium now - there is a lot of peeing and buying beer - they cross in front of you. At this game - everyone stood up the whole game - call me lazy. Finally - they blast hip hop noise the whole game. When we lived in Tamaqua PA - we would kill to go to a game - now not so much.
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