It's All My Fault

Or, at least, I think it *might* be all my fault.

I’ll explain. Over the Thanksgiving weekend Dave and I had the chance for a little diversion from our usual post-turkey-day activities - not that we have any real hard-and-fast post-holiday activities scheduled.

With a huge shout-out of appreciation to our friends Bob and Julia (Julia is a quilter!) who gave us their tickets for Saturday’s football game between hometown Syracuse University and Boston College. They couldn’t attend, and asked us a while back if we might be interested in taking their seats for the game. Bob, Julia, and I are all SU alum’s. We won’t hold it against Dave that he attended another college for his degree - he’s still a hometown Syracuse fan.



We arrived on campus just as the SU marching band started the day with a pep rally on the steps of Hendricks Chapel on the quad.




We quickly discovered that Bob and Julia really have the game day routine down pat! Their tickets included a visit to the pre-game tent event. . .




Wait, what? Stuff the *birds*? My bird-loving tendencies started to take offense, but then I realized the rival mascots are the Eagles from Boston College.




Inside the tent—a hot brunch along with libations to set the mood.




Back out on the quad, and ready to follow the marching band into the Dome. . .




. . . But not before completing a game-day tradition - touching the shoes on the statue of the great Ernie Davis, Syracuse Grad, and first African-American Heismann Trophy recipient (1961) and first-round draft pick. Tragically, Ernie Davis died of leukemia before he ever got to play pro-ball for the Cleveland Browns. The movie, The Express, tells his story, and is worth a look.




Inside the Dome, Dave and I find our seats, and the excitement (and silliness) builds. That bright green sweater, ugh-hh. It’s the Syracuse ORANGE, not the Syracuse *bright green*. I definitely felt a little out of place in a sea of orange-clad fans!




It’s hard to keep from getting caught up in the excitement when the team makes their entrance on the field. . .Thus the jiggly photo.




From our fantastic seats (Bob and Julia know how to ‘do’ football!) Syracuse (in the dark uniforms) is a few yards away from scoring! (Unfortunately, this was a fourth down, and they didn’t make it across the goal line) But we had *great* seats!



After the game we wandered around campus a bit. The Hall of Languages at the entrance to the main campus is a such a classic building, and the scene of many of my classes, back in the day.



Our walking tour included a visit to Manny’s on Marshall Street (M-Street, if you will) to procure the proper football attire for next time. . .



Unfortunately Syracuse lost the game on Saturday (BC 42, SU 14), and I *think* it is all my fault. Had I been wearing ORANGE instead of that neon green sweatshirt, perhaps our boys would have been victorious!!

Or not.


Happy Stitching!



Joan Ford