I awoke the morning of the OB on the floor of a balcony of the Westin Diplomat, where I had decided to take advantage of the 70-degree weather and the roar of the ocean to help put me to sleep. (With four of us guys in a two-bed room, I was bound to sleep on the floor anyway!) When I awoke at night, I could see the lights of the ships as they passed slowly during the night, and the sunrise over the Atlantic was truly awesome, a sight I will never forget. Not many people on the beach at 7:30 am as I ventured out to collect some seashells for my 6-year-old son, an avid nature collector. There was a lot of excitement in the lobby and later at the pool as fans continued to drift in and everyone got ready for the game.
The rain did a number on us tailgaters, but it seemed to end not long before the game got started. I thought we would be vastly outnumbered by Louisville fans, but it didn't seem that way. Wake's side was well-represented and, from where I sat, seemed to be the more enthusiastic. We stood almost the whole game and the pom-poms flashed in unison at the right times. Of course I would have liked the game to have turned out differently, but I felt the team and the fans handled the loss well. Very, very few Deacon fans left before the end of the game, and the team got a long standing ovation when came down to our corner to salute their supporters.
"Proud to be a Deacon" seemed to be a phrase coined for this moment. I hated to see it end.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Orange Bowl reflections
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I read this blog with great pride and its true accuracy and style. I am a physician in Atlanta, a Wake undergrad and Bowman Gray grad. It was extremely hard for me to schedule a trip to the Orange Bowl, but those guys played their hearts out all year, accomplished a lot with athletic ability and belief in themselves and put Wake on the map everywhere and made us all believe we are real for now and a long time to come. I just had to be there. There is no question in my mind where I sat and had a clear view of the upper and lower stands that Wake supporters outnumbered and out-supported the Louisville supporters. I was actually amazed but it made me lose my voice even quicker! Our school is class plus: the Orange bowl, 96% graduation rate and a degree that EVERYONE respects. Louisville was lucky to have a SEC referee crew (of which Long-time Clemson coach Frank Howard accurately called the "Knuckle-head League"),to stop our momentum and keep Louisville in the game.
But, I just heard a few moments ago that the new head coach of our professional football team, the Atlanta Falcons, is Bobby Patrino of Louisville. Well, we didnt get the best coach out there (i.e. Jim Grobe) but the Falcons got a pretty good coach, and most importantly, Louisville has to start looking!!
Dan Huntley, BA '73, MD '77
Well said, Dan. I wish there was some way we could quantify the difference between how long Wake fans spent on their feet vs. in their seats, compared to Louisville fans. I'm sure we blew them away by that measure. I shold mention we had a goodly number of Deacs from the Atlanta area in our crowd.
Your description of the OB was great, you made it come alive for the rest of us who couldn't make the drive/flight etc... I was definitley there in spirit though Thanks Gabba...
Now it's time for ACC basketball!
Hey Gabba!
What a blast was had by all in Miami! I too felt as"proud to be a deacon" as ever! The scene in the stadium was awesome...never seen Wake like that at a football game. I was thrilled to be a part of this historic game for WFU. My voice is finally getting back to normal! Until next year!!! GO DEACS!
Christy Williamsen
Jeanne - we wish you could have been there, you were missed.There were so many people there it was hard to spend as much time with everyone as we would have liked to. But just to see so many from Wake there and having a good time was great. Hopefully you can be there for next year's BCS game :)
Christy - I've never been on the losing end of a game and still felt so proud and upbeat. It was amazing. You're right, it had a feel unlike any other game. Good to see you in South Beach too.
Post a Comment