So I’m back from Louisville, where I attended my cousin’s wedding. It was a good trip.
First, Louisville is a great town to visit. I mean — it has the Louisville Slugger museum! What could be better? And a very attractive downtown area.
Second, we stayed at the Seelbach Hilton, which is a very attractive, very old hotel downtown.
Truly excellent service. It just has these teeny, tiny bathrooms. We decided to consider these an intended safety feature. You see, they’re so small that if you fall down and hurt yourself, you’ll necessarily fall out the door and into the bedroom — so your wife will surely notice.
The wedding was at the Seelbach, with dinner afterwards at the Oak Room there — and it was truly excellent.
Third, the drive up I-65 through North Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky is really pretty — with pastures, farms, and trees. I just love the countryside in those parts.
Fourth, my cousin made certain the Alabama-Arkansas game was on during the reception! The wedding was at 4:30 ET, right in the middle of a 3:30 ET football game. It was tough missing most of the game — especially such a close, exciting game — but that’s family. (And my brother figured out how to watch the game on our iPhones thanks to the CBS Mobile app. Very cool — despite the poor wi-fi service. (Great to have such an understanding cousin.)) (And, no, we didn’t watch during the wedding itself. That would be rude.)
Which brings me to the Alabama-Arkansas game. I’ve had an appreciation for Arkansas fans since they first joined the SEC. Alabama and Arkansas have played some great basketball games, and their fans have always been loyal, crazy loud, and classy (unlike certain other schools that I’ll not name). And although the good people of Louisville hate Arkansas Coach Petrino, the man can flat coach. Arkansas will be a solid football team for many years.
So I’m very glad to have gotten past this one — but this wasn’t a grudge game. It’s just the best of college football — excellent football played with passion and skill between schools that respect each other. (And I can’t say how glad I am that Mallett won’t be back next year!)
Well, thanks for the nice commentary on Arkansas fans. I spent some time in Eastern Tennessee and loved it there. The place where I worked had intermural basketball games with our sister plant in Albertville. In other words, lots of avid sports fanatics. Arkansas had just entered the SEC, and we enjoyed some friendly rivalries during my tenure there. I sure wanted my hoggies to pull that one out, but I must say that 'Bama's o-line and their running game were about as impressive as I've ever seen! Once they put it in low gear and started to rumble, they were unstoppable. I'm satisfied that our team seriously challenged 'Bama, and am looking forward to the rest of the season.