Texas HS Football Playoffs - 2021

Team:      Texas 6A Playoffs

Year:       2021

Game:     Allen 49 Lake Highlands 24

Rating:    7
Cost Index:  Mid

Stadium:  Globe Life Field

Attendees:  Bones, Carl

Overview:   This was a spur of the moment decision. I was visiting my friend in Dallas and wasn't aware that the Texas playoffs had started.  We researched the games and the biggest game was at Globe Life Field (Texas Rangers) so we decided to head over there on a Friday night. 

Pre-game:  Sat in stupid traffic for about 45 minutes. You would have thought this was the first football game every played in the state of Texas.

Game Experience:  Game was ok. Lake Highlands got the early lead but Allen ended up taking control in the second half.  Allen is one of the more dominant programs. Their coach is Chad Morris who's last job was HC at Arkansas and he gets paid 130k a year, so that gives you an idea of how things work. 

Post Game:  Globe life is in the middle of a stadium complex, there wasn't much going on there post game so we drove back to Dallas. 

Stadium: Globe Life field is one of those Warehouse baseball stadiums.  I don't really know why they felt the need to have the game there, the crowd wasn't big enough to justify it and the seating isn't great for football, it's not bad, just not great. 

Summary:  Interesting experience but no need to have the game in such a large venue.

Game Summary:  https://www.maxpreps.com/games/11-19-2021/football-21/allen-vs-lake-highlands.htm?c=wEajlkisYkqvt4YBw8VAaA#tab=recap&schoolid=

Oklahoma (Big 12) 2021

Team:     Oklahoma Sooners

Year:       2021

Game:     Oklahoma 28 Iowa State 21

Rating:    9
Cost Index:  Low

Stadium: Memorial Stadium

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  Dallas
Don't Miss:  OU Campus

Avoid:  Oklahoma City

Attendees:  Bones, Carl

Overview:   My buddy Carl moved to Dallas a year ago. I've long wanted to go back to OU as the first time felt rushed and it was also a long time ago.  So we put this one on the list hoping it would be an important end of year Big12 game.  It was moderately important, but since Oklahoma lost the previous week and Iowa State had a down year it wasn't quite what we had hoped but it was still the Big Noon game on Fox. This meant we had an 11AM kick.

Pre-game:  We left from Dallas early in the AM so we didn't have a lot of time before the game to do much other than grab a bit to eat beforehand at a food truck.  

Game Experience:   This was a really good tactical game and we had excellent seats.  At one point in the first half we saw the Iowa State QB get crushed.  We both assumed he was out of the game but to his credit he came back in.  Game was back and forth and Iowa State hung in there even though it was clear Oklahoma was a lot better. As it turns out, this was Lincoln Riley's last home game before leaving for USC. 

Post Game:  After the game we went to the area just north of the stadium with the bars and restaurants.  They close the street and there are vendors all around.  It wasn't bad, we had a beer and watched the Alabama vs. Arkansas game for a bit. Eventually we got out of there as we had a hotel in Oklahoma City.   

We went to our hotel and watched the rest of the 3:30 games and regrouped.  We went out in OKC that night and we were not impressed with the offerings.   We hit the Bricktown and Automobile Alley and had no luck finding anything interesting.  We were about ready to give up and found midtown.  We walked around a bit and found Kong's Cantina, which wasn't bad except their cook wasn't there so the menu was very limited.  We ate what they had and got out of there and went to Fassler hall.  There was just something missing in that town.  I honestly can't believe they have an NBA team in there. 

One interesting thing, the next morning on the way out of town we stopped at the OKC bombing memorial.  It was very well done and worth the detour.  Another interesting observation -- there are a ton of weed dispensaries.  Many more that I would have expected.   

Stadium: Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium

Summary: Oklahoma is certainly a legit big time college football spot. I won't be in a rush to go back as outside of Norman I don't see a whole lot going on, but also would not rule it out.  

Game Summary:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401287944

Indiana (Big 10) 2021

Team:      Indiana Hoosiers

Year:       2021

Game:     Ohio State 54 Indiana 7

Rating:    6
Cost Index:  Mid

Stadium: Memorial Stadium

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  Indianapolis, Chicago
Don't Miss:   

Avoid:  Indiana football

Attendees:  Bones, Theodore

Overview:   I've been trying to get to Indiana for a while because they are the last of the original Big 10 games I haven't attended.  It's tough to justify because Indiana is rarely good and therefore they rarely have a decent game at home. I prioritized it based on them having their best season in years last year.  

Admittedly, I did not do this one "right" so I should probably go back at some point but given the problems already detailed it may be a while. 

Pre-game:  I had my little boy with me and it was a long drive so there was no pre-game activities.  It did look like a pretty good tailgate. 

Game Experience:  There were some mitigating factors here.   Mainly the weather was bad and Ohio State's domination started early and was relentless.  The score was 44-7 at halftime. So my game experience was incomplete. 

Post Game:  Headed home

Stadium: Memorial stadium was ok. Nothing stood out to me but it was also perfectly fine.  One complaint is that there are no sight lines from the concourse.  So if you go to get food or a beer you see nothing. The TVs weren't even that good.  This is especially a problem when there is bad weather. 

Summary:  I guess it had to be done.  I probably need to go back without a 2 year old in tow but Indiana is so unreliable and such a pain in the ass I'll probably just stick to basketball. 

Game Summary:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401282730

*No pics, left my phone in the car

Tennessee (SEC ) 2021

Team:      Tennessee Volunteers

Year:       2021

Game:     Ole Miss 31 Tennessee 26

Rating:    9
Cost Index:  Mid

Stadium: Neyland Stadium

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  Nashville, Lexington
Don't Miss:   Rockytop

Avoid:  Getting hit by a golf ball or water bottle

Attendees:  Bones, Polychronopolus 

Overview:   I've been to Tennessee a few times, it's one of my favorite places. Knoxville is a neat little city that hasn't managed to get overrun like so many other places. Nashville being the most prominent.  I also am on their preferred ticket list so I get early access to great tickets.  When I saw that Lane Kiffin was making his return I thought this would be a great game to experience. 

Pre-game:  My brother and I ended up camping at our usual spot up in Norris Dam state park.  The night before the game we had a few beers at Clinch River brewing.  This was a 6PM kick off so we got in there earlier and decided to head to the south side to jump around a few breweries.  Printshop, Hi-Wire & Alliance.  We got some pizza from a spot called South Coast.  

Game Experience:  Tennessee is always pretty good. Considering how bad the team has been over the past 10-15 years they are still very well supported and the crowd is loud and the traditions (Rocky Top) are pretty cool.  We had great seats about 3 rows in back of the Ole Miss bench.  Game was decent, Ole Miss seemed on the verge of pulling away most of the game but Tennessee fought hard and kept it competitive right to the end. 

The crowd didn't really get on Kiffin as hard as I would have thought.  I know the end of the game got a lot of bad press. It was a little weird being there. I was near the bench and saw the water bottles and batteries being thrown.   I never felt like danger was immanent but when it didn't stop we ended up moving back a few rows.  

Post Game:  The game took four and a half hours.  We just went home after a long walk back to the car. 

Stadium: Neyland is always great but they don't know how to mange the crowd there, especially trying to get into the stadium.  They could use some operational improvements in that area. 

Summary:  Great spot, I really like Knoxville as a city.  I would visit even without a football game. 

Game Summary:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401282110

Virginia Tech (ACC ) 2021

Team:      Virginia Tech Hokies

Year:       2021

Game:     Notre Dame 32 Virginia Tech 29

Rating:    8
Cost Index:  Mid

Stadium: Lane Stadium

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  DC and Baltimore are each about 4 hours away.  JMU is a couple of hours.  Charlottesville is in range
Don't Miss:   Enter Sandman

Avoid:  Angry folk at the tailgate

Attendees:  Bones, Clyde

Overview:   After almost two years on the bench I'm back out there.   I was targeting the Lane Kiffin return game to Tennessee, which happens on the 16th.  When I saw that ND was playing at VT the week before I checked with my friend who lives relatively close by and he was a go. 

Pre-game:  We got into Blacksburg around 2PM for a 7:30 kick.  I had been to Blacksburg previously but missed the downtown area.  We landed downtown and after getting the lay of the land we ended up at the Coop.  We hung out there for a while because the early games were extremely compelling.  Arkansas and Ole Miss came down to a two point conversion (52-51) while at the exact same time Texas and Oklahoma were having a drunken 55-48 Texas choke job.  Factor that in with the fact that we had a table in full view of three TVs and the place wasn't overly crowded and there was no reason to leave.

I didn't get the feeling that Blacksburg has a crazy pre-game.  People weren't visibly wasted like I've seen at other spots.  The downtown bar area had a pretty small footprint.  

We ended up giving up our free downtown parking so we could pay 40 dollars to park in someone's yard. We ended up having a few twisted teas and watching some dude freak out and almost fight some guy playing bags.  It's interesting how quickly people fly off the handle these days. 

Game Experience:  We got there about 40 minutes before kick off.  VT definitely has a military culture to it so the place was pretty full when we got in.  We got up to our seats in section 35 and watched the pre-game festivities.  VT has a pretty large ROTC or something along those lines as there were a ton of cadets on the field pre-game.  Enter Sandman was fine, nothing too special in my book but it's their thing and they love it.  

After the game started we grabbed a couple of beers and meandered down to the lower level.  Honestly, we missed most of the first quarter just catching up and evidently Jack Coan (NDs QB) played so badly he was benched.  The game was very close throughout.  Virginia Tech took control in the fourth and it looked like they would hold Notre Dame off.  However, late in the fourth quarter Brian Kelly put Coan back in and he engineered 11 points in the final couple of minutes and pulled out the win.  The crown was very good. Into the game and loud until the end.

Post Game:  We had to get moving as we were staying pretty far away so we didn't get any taste of the post game night life. 

Stadium: Lane stadium. The stadium and the surrounding complex are very nice.  Very utilitarian.  

Summary:  VT is a good, not great, college football experience.  They don't quite let loose like some other places. 

Game Summary:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401282656