Saturday, October 30, 2010

Cam Newton for Heisman

When there's a chill in the air, when the jack o' lanterns are flickering away in every window, when Central Park is exploding in a riot of color, it can mean only one thing: time for Mei to start complaining that winter is nearly here. And oh yeah, it's college football time too.


So keep those winter coats in the closet for one more weekend y'all, it's off to sunny Auburn, Alabama for Tiger Bowl 2010, a game that promises to be a monumental battle between two unbeaten SEC heavyweights. The winner stays in national title contention. The loser is gone. It's that simple. It's orange versus purple. It's Auburn versus LSU. Let's play ball!

Southern belles know how to ride to the game in style.

There's no better place to be than a college town on game day. The tailgate grills are sizzling, the campus is overflowing with orange and blue, the bookstore is doing a roaring trade in last minute team gear, and the tigers are out in force.

Aren't these dudes a little small for linebackers? Oh I see, they're the water boys.

A glorious autumn day for some gridiron.

The quarterback and receivers walk through a few final plays before heading to the locker room to pad up.

Facing third and long with 15 seconds on the clock Rock seems a little overawed by the occasion, while the QB seems a little short on downfield options. Actually any options for that matter. At this rate you'll be lucky to beat the hungry crowd in the student center to the Chick-fil-A counter, let alone a hungry opponent in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Now that's more like it. Here's someone who can give Cam Newton a run for his money in the Heisman race. Look at that poise in the pocket.

Who are you, Tony Romo? Rock needs to spend less time posing, more time winning.

It takes a Texan to really show how it's done - perfect spiral with one hand, hook 'em horns with the other. Just don't mention 4-4 folks.


Just like the Mannings, except without the Super Bowl rings. And without the hundred million dollar contracts. And without the SportsCenter specials. So, uhm, nothing like the Mannings really.

Hang on, a touch of Manning here. Err... hate to break it to you chief, but Manning ain't a receiver.


There's no shortage of game gear for those cashed up alumni to load up on in between dishing out million dollar endowments.



Lucky Rock's forgotten all his physics training, otherwise he might question the veracity of these interpretations of Newton's Laws.



The Hail Mary is now the Hail Beverley.


The mighty SEC may be the greatest conference in the land, but CBS SEC Tailgate might as well be an non-AQer when it's pitted head to head against the College Game Day team. The fact Rock can wander right up to the stage without having to battle past rabid fans who have been camped out since 3am to see Corso's pick says it all.


Prowling for QBs are we?


Mei took this picture, honest.


Time to get fired up! The gates are open and the fans are streaming in. Oh, and Mei is coming in too.



Matching cameras. Matching hats. Matching blogs with the same lame comments.


It doesn't get any better than this. Actually it does, just wait till Cam Newton drags a 250 pound corner the last 10 yards for a rushing TD after making the rest of the LSU defense look like they spent all offseason working out with Rock.



Incoming babe alert. More importantly, incoming coke alert!

No prizes for guessing which one Rock is going to pick. I mean in the coke versus water stakes, not the wife versus football one. Actually there's no prizes for the second one either - let's play ball!


Best seats in the house, right on the 50 yard line. And to think we used to waste time watching a game where they have meters and can't throw the darn ball forward.


That's where the cool people sit. As usual watching them on TV is as close as Rock gets to them.


Well I guess we know which way the cheerleaders are.


A beautiful day for BCS hunting.


If the football team can match even half the precision of the Auburn marching band, then LSU is in deep trouble. Alternatively, just give the ball the Cam - same result.


Oooooooh say can yoooooouu seeee... Stirring stuff as the Auburn band belts out the Star Spangled Banner and an F/A 18 Hornet screams overhead.



Here come the Tigers! Err... the cool Tigers, not those pretenders from down south. Err... from even further down south.


Don't block the play dear. How about another coke. And some peanuts.

Note to Auburn offensive coordinator: how about you stop calling plays that involve Cam doing anything other than single handedly barrelling over the defense. Would have thought 80,000 screaming fans would have got the message across.


Epic! 440 yards of Cam Newton carnage later and Auburn send the LSU Tigers plunging from the contenders list to the endagered list. Heck, make that the extinct list.


The game is over but this party is only just getting started. Get the kegs ready, there's a victory to celebrate ya'll.


Tradition dictates that glorious triumphs on the battlefield shall be immortalized for the ages by... uhm... draping toilet paper all over the trees. College football may be big money, but it's nice to see some things never change.


Halloween is just around the corner. Conveniently tonight is a good night to be orange.


It looks cool now, but what happens tomorrow when the dorms are a little short of an essential item?



Day 2, time to head back to Atlanta, but not before a quick stop at a little country town (which shall remain nameless since Rock is too lazy to Google it, and since TwoPhatKiwis is so far behind they haven't even made it to Everest base camp yet) for a spot of southern hospitality.



It's actually, like, warm down here. Enjoy it while you can, by the time the next post comes round the Husdon will be frozen.


Stop pointing and start baking. It's pumpkin pie season.


It's time for the Real Thing. Time to Open Happiness. Time to Enjoy. That's right, it's time for Coke World!


If there's ever a man who deserves a statue, this dude is it.

Spot the kiwi bottle. It must be L&P!


It's a universal langage. And a universal taste. Speaking of which, how long before we get to the tasting room?


Is anyone else getting thirsty?



They may look a little wierd, but if that's what it takes to be an official taste tester then sign me up.

Back then coke cost 5 cents a bottle. With the ol' greenback going the way it is, those days are gonna be making a comeback.



The first coke machine in space. Even in zero gravity you can't beat the burn of CO2. On second thought, the burn of CO2 is probably not the greatest sign when you're kind of hoping your little bottle of oxygen is going to last till splashdown.


The tasting room has coke brand drinks from all around the world. Funny, but it's almost like they're all here just to confirm that there's only one Real Thing.


Bottoms up!


One for the road boys.


Last stop, the CNN world headquarters. Apparently this is the tallest escalator in the world. Then again, anything looks tall with Mei standing on it.


Clearly the world is a quiet place today, all is calm in the staff cafeteria. No sign of Anderson Cooper though, he must be out chasing hurricanes. Oh wait, he's not, because his red windbreaker is right here on display for the gawking tourists.