Texas Bowl = Choke Bowl

Now that I've had a few days to process all that the Texas Bowl was (or wasn't) for Baylor, I feel like I'm ready to write about the experience.

First of all, Baylor actually getting to a bowl game was a really long time coming and the excitement among Baylor Nation leading up to the game was very cool. I got email updates at least twice a day discussing tickets sold, pictures of what the team was doing, and all the fun that was going to be had at the 2010 Texas Bowl. As soon as we became bowl-eligible in October my one Christmas list item was a trip to whatever bowl Baylor ended up going to. So, the excitement began for me on Christmas day when I opened this...


Early Wednesday morning my sister Ashleigh (BU Graduate '07) and I loaded up and headed south. We decided to take the Aggie way to Houston so that we could make a quick stop at the Baylor bookstore. Our quick stop turned into an hour-long Baylor gear shopping spree! Apparently, I have no fiscal control when I step into that store!! By the time we got back on the road it had started raining pretty hard and didn't really stop the whole way to Houston. Here's a view from the road...


We had planned to arrive in Houston by 2:30 to take part in all the pre-game festivities. As we were nearing the stadium at about 1:45 we received word that because of the downpour in Houston all those activities were cancelled and the gates wouldn't open until 3! Now we needed something to do to kill a little time. We didn't want to get too far away from the stadium so luckily there was a Cavendar's right across the highway. I have never set foot in that store before so it was sure to be a fun time. We wandered around and I stuck my foot in a couple pairs of boots. Ashleigh abandoned me every time a worker approached leaving me to look like a total dork. I returned the favor by making her take my picture with this guy...


We stepped outside of the store and were close enough to see the stadium...


However, there was a lot of rain between us and the game. I'm kind of a weirdo about having wet hair so Ashleigh made the sacrifice and let me use her umbrella. We were discussing whether or not it was worth it because sometimes you get soaked just trying to get the umbrella into the car with you when Ashleigh informed me of my mom's special umbrella-into-the-car move that saves you from all the mess. Apparently, I have never seen my Mom in action because I ended up with a bruised hand and this...


This may have been one of those you had to be there moments, but the entire trip to Houston was worth seeing Ashleigh standing on the porch of Cavendar's Boot City doubled-over laughing at me and realizing there were people watching the whole thing in the car next to us! Good times!

Anyway, we finally made into the stadium complete with wet hair, wet clothes, and wet feet! By the way, I think I'm shrinking in my old age...I'm the short one again!


The anticipation and hope for a stunning Baylor bowl game victory was very real! Reliant Stadium was FULL of Baylor fans, it was really cool to be a part of it! Unfortunately, it became apparent about 1 minute into the game that while victory was still possible we would have our hands full. Not quite what I was expecting. By the end of the first quarter we realized that someone gave the Bears the wrong game time because they most definitely didn't show up! In the end, we played horribly and pretty much embarrassed ourselves with the whole world watching. Which we were totally fine with because that's pretty much the way it works with Baylor Football!

Ok, I've taken a few deep breaths. We had a great little trip and had tons of fun...it was totally worth it! It's just a game, we had a good season and definitely have something positive to improve on. And these are the days of our lives...the Baylor version!