My, where has the time flown...

First off, many apologies for the delay in this posting. I know people say this all the time, but there just hasn't been enough hours in the day lately to get everything I need to accomplished. Including writing on here and CollegeSportsMatchups.com. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, enough time will open to bring you faithful reader(s) up to speed.

I wanted to say that San Diego was awesome. From a night out on the U.S.S. Midway to a 9-0 Padres victory over the Brewers, I had a great time in one of the most friendly environments I've ever visited. I'd love to go back, but I could never see myself living somewhere like that. When you're dropping $60 on a dinner for one, it's not exactly friendly on the wallet. (Thankfully, BancorpSouth paid for the week in full.)

Getting back to Birmingham proved to be a chore. I had an 11 a.m. flight out of San Diego with what was supposed to be a three-hour layover in Minneapolis. No offense to any Minnesotans that read this, but I hope it's a long time before I'm ever in that airport again. To no fault of the city, Delta had a plane issue that kept us grounded until 12:30 a.m. when we were finally allowed to get in the air.

Now, I was supposed to take off at 8 p.m. That first got moved to 8:30 p.m., but a gate change rectified the first delay and got us back on time. After a quick dinner at T.G.I.Fridays, I arrived at the gate and watched Arrested Development (thanks, AT&T Wireless card and Netflix Instant Queues) for the next couple of hours. When they announced we were delayed again to 8:30 p.m. thanks to maintenance work on the plane, I didn't think it was that big of a deal.

Then, 8:30 became 9:30 p.m. Still working on the plane. Soon, one old man that did not shut up from the time he sat down in the gate began trying to spread rumors of our flight being canceled. All I could think about at this point was getting back to the South for a certain appointment in Nashville that Saturday night.

Once 9:30 came and went, it was "We'll get you on the plane as soon as the paperwork is wrapped up. Please do not leave this gate while personnel is wrapping up their final inspections." No big deal, we'd be in the air by 10:30 p.m. at the latest. As the ticketing agent promised, we were on the plane at 10:15 p.m. and headed towards the runway.

Now, those of you who know me well know that I can sometimes have a smart mouth when it comes to being around bammers - especially ones that don't have the knowledge radiating through their appearance and actions that they've ever stepped foot inside a college classroom, much less graduated from their beloved universitah. As we were getting into our seats on the plane, one such gentleman sitting behind me said, "It's that there Auburn fan's fault we's having to wait to get out of here. I'll tell you what, at bammer, we don't have silly things like plane maintenance issues."

(No, I'm not exaggerating.)

Then, some of his buddies had obviously been wanting to say something about my Auburn attire all night at the gate and chimed in, "Yea, we should get him off this plane so we can get out of here. He can worry about them Tigers up here." Due to close quarters, I just turned politely and smiled then said, "Hey, you guys got your crystal football. Does it really have to be an Auburn grad's fault that we're still stuck in Minnesota?"

(I emphasized "grad" in that statement, by the way.)

We got to the runway when the plane stopped and the propellers turned off. I thought about how odd this behavior was and then got freaked out when they OPENED THE DOOR AND TOOK SOMETHING UNIDENTIFIED FROM MAINTENANCE. You can't even use your cell phone at this point in the flying process and they've opened the door? I began wondering just how easy it would be to change my flight the next day direct to Nashville.

We were instructed to deplane back at the gate because maintenance did not fix whatever issue they were having before, and we would be notified of any and all further instructions inside the airport. I'm continuously talking to my parents, who were in the process of dropping Jeanie off in Birmingham so she could go to Nashville with Brad, Amber and I the next day.

A funny thing happened, though, at this point: the "amusing" bammer thought aloud how this "always happens to (him) when he's trying to get home from somewhere. (He) ain't never had an easy trip back to Sylacauga since (he) started flying years back." The rest of the plane, including his bammer buddies, turned on him at this point, allowing me only to say, "See, it's not my fault. Blame this guy."

And blame that guy they did. I even had one couple come up and apologize to me in the sitting area while we waited for a new plane. I'd just really like to thank Delta at this point for the additional sky miles they credited my account with for all the hassle of this ordeal.

I was nervous about getting back on that particular plane, but I also did not want to stay at some low-rent hotel when I had a nice room waiting for me in Birmingham if we could ever get there. We took off at 12:30 a.m. and touched down around 2:45 a.m. I got to the Hyatt Place on 150 around 3:30 a.m. and got some more sleep.

Jeanie and I got going around 9:30 a.m. Saturday and headed to Sylvania to meet up with Brad and Amber. We were to head to Nashville to see Jimmy Buffett that evening. It was the highlight of my entire week out of the office. Now, the date for this concert was May 1. If you pay attention to current events, you'd know that this was the day of the 500-year flood that is still plaguing the Music City today.

We left anyway, more afraid of tornadoes and stormy activity than the fear of flooding. On the road, we got texts describing the hysteria the rain was causing in the Nashville area, and we started to get just a bit hesitant about attending the concert.

We stopped off in Manchester, Tenn., and this lovely town has one of two Coconut Cafe's in existence. So, thinking this was like a Jimmy Buffett-themed restaurant, we stopped off for some pre-concert grub and weather tracking. What we found on the Weather Channel and through other meteorologists out there amongst our friends was nothing but bad news.

After waiting things out a few more minutes, we made the smart adult decision and turned back for Sylvania. If we had gone a few more miles up I-24 from that point, we'd have been caught in the water and possibly worse - this is where the mobile home was floating along the road.

So the concert did not happen, but we all got back to our desired locations in one piece and without any damage to any vehicles or bodies. Had we still been in college, I'm pretty sure we'd have kept going but you gotta grow up sometimes...and that's a little sad in a way.

I'll have more stories later when this audit is over. If any of you out there work for the FDIC, please know that we can't be friends right now. Maybe later when the dust has settled, but you have really thrown a wrench into the lives of a lot of people I know here lately and I'm not a big fan at the moment.

Have a good one folks, and we'll talk more soon. As always, War Eagle.

Chris

Live from San Diego...a few Trooper photos

Since I'm missing the little guy so much, I figured I'd put up some pictures for the time being.

By the way, San Diego is awesome. From my hotel room king sized bed, I can see Petco Park, most of the skyline, the marina and the Pacific Ocean. When the fog lifts, it's going to be a superb view. Lunch at Pier Cafe today and dinner tonight with Sarah Suitor.

The Tailgate Plan to Win: A-Day 2010

Ah, spring football. Two things that I love but never seemed to mix very well when I was a student at Auburn. I hated working spring practices and even worse, the A-Day game.

One of my favorite memories, though, was the 2004 A-Day game when pretty much every full-time staffer had schedule conflicts, so the work crew ended up being pretty much Meredith and a bunch of students. Sometime in the first quarter, I got a call on the radio that I would need to stick with Tuberville since Meredith was going home early. Josh and Kim would handle things in the press box, then Josh and I would be in charge of the locker room post-game.

I remember that 31 players were requested for interviews that day. Josh, Matt Jernigan and I got 30 of those 31 in the interview room. I kept knocking guys’ names off the list, but there was one that was missing. That guy was A.T. Williams, someone who never turned down an interview. Matt had missed him in the locker room and refused to go track him down outside. Josh got him back in the room, and we got nothing but praise handed down to us from the writers in the room.

It was a good day.

This Saturday, I get to go back to A-Day with a different perspective and look forward to getting to Auburn and just hanging out with some friends and (hopefully) get a picture with Tracy Rocker, Trooper and Luper. We’ll see, though.

So, this is a fun tailgate plan to write. The guest list isn’t all that long, but it should be filled with great folks. Possible attendees are Trey Eiland and his daughter, Bryan Bowen and his crew and a few other assorted folks from my dad’s group. Brad and Amber Gregg will be there with us every step of the way. I fully expect Andy Shores and Michelle to hang out with us also.

The plan right now is for Super Rita and me to go down to Auburn on Thursday night. It will be a late arrival, so Friday may be a little slow to get started. We have a few new additions to the camper to show off, so that should be a lot of fun. All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk will get into town Friday night.

It’s going to be low-key and casual. Hopefully, the weather sticks around for awhile too. It’s been absolutely wonderful here the past six days.

If you are coming, let me know by sending an e-mail (rushicw@gmail.com). I’ll have assignments later this week. Right now, the plan is to fry up some wings and thighs in our new propane cooker for post-game. Pre-game will be light with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. Those of you not being able to join us in Auburn, you can catch the action on ESPNU with Mike Belotti handling his first ESPN assignment.

It’s time to Do What We Do at our tailgate and get 2010 started right. I’m glad its back, folks. Have a good one.

Til next time, War Eagle.

Chris

New AU football site

I'm not sure who designed this site, but they did a fantastic job. Auburn has been needing something like this for quite some time, and I dare say it blows sites like UrbanMeyer.com out of the water.

http://www.auburnwareagle.com

Make sure not to skip the intro and watch the Auburn Creed. You will not be sorry.

A long December...(and January and February)

"One Day at a Time"

Soon the sun will shine again

Soon things will be fine

Until it does, trust God above

And take one day at a time

- Judith Bulock Morse

This afternoon, I have been trying to clean up a little bit on my desk after a couple of months that have been an absolute whirlwind. Amongst the clutter here in the office, I found a couple of unused/unopened Christmas presents. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal - what with it just being a picture frame, notepad and framed poem. Except the poem came from my grandmother.

You know the drill - sometimes you don't always get a present that is exactly what you want, but you thank the giver for their efforts and thoughts anyway. Over the last few years, my grandmother's Christmas presents have ranged from ties that I never wear to stuffed animals to framed poems that really don't mean very much to me at the time. I thanked her for every one of these gifts, though, because I know how hard it was for her to a.) buy me something and b.) find something perfect for me that didn't have an AU markings on it at all.

Back to today...I decided to look at this frame one more time to try to come up with somewhere to put it. After all, this was the last Christmas gift she gave me, and it's something that will always hold a special place in my heart. When I read it, a funny thing happened - I broke down.

She could always tell me when and where she saw the gift throughout the year that made her think, "This is what I'm going to give Chris." No ifs, ands or buts. However, when I said thank you to her on Dec. 25 for this, she confessed she couldn't remember what she got me. "I bought it a long time ago," she explained.

Well before the stroke, I believe she knew her time with all of us was running down. After three months of fighting, defying the odds, Emma Jean McKinney (all semblances of a grandparent Jeanie or I ever knew biologically) joined her place amongst the angels on Wednesday, Feb. 24. I had prepared myself for the phone call for three months. I wasn't ready, though, not by a long shot.

When dad told me, I became numb. I was panicked because I knew I needed to get to my mom. My boss was in a meeting. Everyone and their mothers around me in the office were on phone calls. I had just unpacked my funeral clothes after Jeanie said she was doing so well the weekend before. It wasn't supposed to be Feb. 24, but I was numb because I knew she was better finally. Just numb.

Phone calls, texts, e-mails - they all came pouring in. It was touching hearing from everyone, and the distances some folks traveled were minuscule compared to the leaps and bounds they brought up my spirits. I'll never forget any of that, and I'd be there for them in a second should the roles be reversed.

It has taken some time, but I'm slowly coming back around to my old self. I'm so very proud of my grandmother for everything she accomplished, and I am just happy she can spend Billie's birthday with her in heaven. The last six years since Billie's death took their toll, and she will never have to spend a day without her or my grandfather for the rest of eternity. That's a truly awesome peace of mind.

When I was writing the obituary (which is one of the most difficult things I have ever written), I didn't break down. I suffered from writer's block like you wouldn't believe because I guess I didn't want to fully process what is going on. I don't know if it was because I felt like I needed to be strong for my mom or my aunt or for others, but I couldn't force myself to crumble even when I've been here by myself.

Little did I know it would just take the words "One day at a time."

This is just a small step in the road to normalcy, but I can feel again. Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas - they're all going to be difficult in a way. The last week of February will carry with it a black cloud for a little bit. I miss her terribly, but I didn't leave anything unsaid. The peace from that is unbelievable.

Randy, my uncle, said it best once all the hooplah from the funeral died down and it was just us going to get some food for just our family. "We're not the only ones to go through this, and we'll get through it all together." Pretty philosophical coming from a Bama fan, if you ask me. I had dinner with a friend the other night, and I couldn't seem to stop talking about all the good times I had with my grandmother and Billie. No one will ever take that from me, and there were even good memories to come from the last three months.

She brought us all together, and as we have learned the last 19 days, she kept us all together despite all distances and absences. I wish I had more time to talk to her on the phone or just sit with her in the living room watching TV, but I am OK knowing she knew I loved her and that she loved me. Dearly.

When we pieced all the thoughts together and stories from the day of the stroke in November, it was quite clear to me that she knew where she needed to be to move on. She knew when she needed to do this. And she knew that, through all suffering and agony she may have been fighting internally, we needed her smile, her charm and her love to make this time easier.

And, by giving me this silly framed poem, she knew what I needed from her to get on with the process of grieving. I'm not sure where I will put it, but I will never get rid of it.

I love you, grandma, and I think about you all the time. While I'm going to miss you, I do know we'll get to the point that I never have to spend a day without you again just like you don't have to without those you lost that were so dear to you. Try to let Bertha Jo in the door when she gets there too, but it's OK if you give her one of your sly smiles and make her sweat a little bit. I won't hold it against you. Enjoy all your crowns and the jewelry to coincide with them for the rest of time.

A little taste before a real update...

Before I give a full and more appropriate update, I thought I'd give you guys something that hit the cutting room floor at CollegeSportsMatchups.com. Hope you enjoy.

A change of heart rocks college football again

Commentary by Chris Rushing

So much for bigger things than a silly football game, huh?

I had a heart scare back in May that caught me completely off guard. After spending a morning in an ambulance and emergency room bed, I knew that even simple things are nothing to mess with when it comes to your ticker. Apparently, with the decision that Urban Meyer made Friday night when talking to his family, he didn’t think that it was such a good thing to mess with either.

Which makes today’s news even more bizarre to me.

Sure, there were reports last night that he had turned down a leave of absence from Jeremy Foley. That would make sense, after all, to sit out a little while and come back when he was ready. No need for the University of Florida to get into the coaching carousel if at all possible to stay out. Foley had his man in Gainesville five years ago, and if this was a way to keep him on board, then sobeit.

But Meyer did something that Ron Zook had failed to maintain when he took over for Steve Spurrier in 2002. Meyer made it cool to be a Gator again, and he made this job into the best in college football. Foley could have his pick of anyone out there, and I’m not sure anyone was better suited than Meyer, but he could get awfully close on his choice.

Foley is a winner, through and through. He hates, nay, despises losing. NCAA tournament berths aren’t enough for the guy, but you win a couple of national titles, and you gain job security that allows you to make a second-thought on your decision to leave him in the first place.

See: Billy Donovan.

Donovan and Meyer are great friends, which makes the run that UF had from 2006-07 so special in holding both the men’s basketball and football national championships at once. There isn’t a power struggle between neither the two most prominent UF head coaches nor their respective programs.

However, if Meyer thinks he will be able to just step back in 2011 (or sooner) and regain his momentum built over the last five years, he needs to look closely at the last three for Donovan since his brief exit to the NBA.

The Gators haven’t reached the NCAA tournament since the exits of the fab four sophomore/juniors that earned back-to-back Siemens trophies, and Donovan has had difficulties maintaining the success level acquired during his first 11 years at UF. All those 20-win and NCAA tourney seasons are a distant memory, and the latest three-game losing skid for the Gators may show signs of a fourth-straight mediocre season.

I believe the reports coming from various UF assistant coaches that Meyer knew he made a mistake when walking the practice fields Sunday morning for perhaps the final time as the top man in Gator Nation. I’m sure that the regret was overwhelming, and I don’t blame Foley for allowing Meyer to take him up on the leave of absence offer.

All that being said, by promoting Steve Addazio to interim head coach, Foley and Co. are essentially writing off 2010, and that’s not like Foley at all. That’s not the Gator way. To me, that’s the most confusing aspect of this entire saga.

We’ll keep you posted on any more developments in this strange case. Hopefully, your hearts (and mine) can take it.

A quick update...

What a month...That's about all I can really say at this point.

Somehow, with all the chaos that ensued the last weekend of regular season play in the SEC, we ended up with an Outback Bowl berth when all hope for a decent bowl bid seemed lost. I left Jordan-Hare Stadium on Friday, Nov. 27, feeling certain of a Chick-fil-A Bowl appearance barring upset city that Saturday.

Then, State beat Ole Miss. South Carolina waxed Clemson. Tennessee upended Kentucky in overtime. The final nail in the proverbial coffin seemed to come from Georgia's unforeseen triumph over ACC Champion Georgia Tech to put the finishing touches on a terrible day of football for AU fans.

Fast forward to today...We have our plans booked for the Outback Bowl, and I'm looking forward to a New Year's celebration in Ray-Jay and sunny Tampa. You know, I've always said Tampa is a big, big Auburn town. It's always been good to the Tigers, and it will be nice to give something back.

As for the Iron Bowl, the better team won (as I have stated happens 9.9 times out of 10 in our rivalry), but the better team on the field did not. We had plenty of chances, but the fact of the matter was there was not a single sustained drive that resulted in points all afternoon. There were plenty of reasons to feel optimistic, but as I wrote for CSM, that was perhaps the most devastated I've felt leaving JHS. Now, those guys are playing in Pasadena and...well, I fully believe our 2004 team would wax this team of their's.

Neither here nor there, I know.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. We have had some family upheaval over the course of the past three weeks, but we are doing what we have to do. Please keep my mom and my grandmother in your prayers as both are straining themselves to their max limits. It won't be an easy road to full recovery for my grandmother, but I am confident she will make it there. I just hope it doesn't take everything out of my mom in the process.

2009 has been a pretty good year, and it went by incredibly fast. There were a lot of high points (Vegas, Jimmy Buffett, Jeanie's graduating college, a couple of fun weddings, an incredible opportunity in the CollegeSportsMatchups.com job), and some low points, but I will always look back on this year fondly. I don't know why, but I feel much more grown up than a year ago. Funny how that happens, huh?

I'm hoping to put up a wish list for 2010 sometime in the next couple of days on the website, but here are some items that I won't be able to put in the column for objectivity reasons:

1.) Lache Seastrunk and/or Marcus Lattimore signing up on Feb. 3 to wear orange and blue on the Plains. (Those who have listened to me throughout the summer and the season know that I fully expect our coaches to pull off all three running backs. It's gonna happen, but if it doesn't and we "only" get two of the three, it's still an amazing haul.)

2.) Hook 'em Horns. (I know some good folks that are enjoying the heck out of this season, and some of those are going to Pasadena. Good for them, they had a hell of a team. However, Hook 'em because I still despise the University of Alabama, always will.)

3.) Keeping all our current commitments and adding the following: Byran Jones, Jeffrey Whittaker, Ryan White, Cory Lemonier, Eric Mack, and one/two of the RBs (most likely Lattimore). If Coach Hal can go ahead and book his hotel for Glendale next year, why can't I feel like all these cats are a realistic possibility for our staff? (You gotta believe, right, Coach?)

4.) Coach Hal has to cancel his Glendale reservation in early September next fall.

5.) Coach Hal has to cancel his Atlanta reservation in mid-October next fall.

6.) Coach Hal transfers both reservations over to my name by Halloween.

7.) Darvin Adams gains All-SEC first-team status after getting robbed this season.

8.) More improvements from our tailgate.

9.) More folks to cook at our tailgate.

10.) We feel very comfortable leaving Ray-Jay Jan. 1 about the performance that afternoon and the future on both offense and defense for Auburn.

11.) I will finally accept the notion that Gene Chizik may not have been as terrible of a hire as I once thought.

12.) Trooper Taylor keeps doing what he does (on and off the field in the living rooms with the recruits).

Merry Christmas again, folks. Happy New Year and War Eagle. Catch ya in 2010.

***NOTE***

Outback Bowl plans are as follows:

Dec. 30: Arrive in Auburn, stay at camper

Dec. 31: Arrive in Gainesville, stay at Hineszy's, dinner at Ballyhoo's

Jan. 1: Leave Gainesville by 6 a.m. EST; arrive at Raymond James by 9 a.m. EST; Outback Bowl; drive back to Gainesville or Auburn

Jan. 2: PapaJohns.com Bowl (tentative)

If you are going to the game and want to meet up in Tampa at some point on game day, please hit me up. (rushicw@gmail.com)