CSU vs. UNC Football Game

There was a lot going on around town last weekend, but in my house, it was game on. The game in question was football, specifically the first meeting between my alma mater (CSU Rams) and my husband’s alma mater (UNC Bears) since 1986.

Holy cow, 25 years. To put things in perspective, The Oprah Winfrey Show had its worldwide debut on September 8 of that year. Of course, she went on to talk to innumerable (not really; I’m just too lazy to look it up) guests about the entire catalogue of discussable subjects, which helped her build an empire that dwarfs the GDP of Iceland (or not; again, too lazy). Top Gun was the summer’s big movie, and we were all groovin’ to Bananarama’s Venus. Gas was $.89 a gallon. Shawn White was born, hopefully in exciting X-games fashion, though the winter X-games themselves wouldn’t come along until 1997.



(Yeah, I get it. I’m kind of old.)

So, this football game brought with it a certain amount of nostalgic excitement. To make things more interesting, my husband and I cooked up a little wager. If CSU won, he would owe me a Friday guest post. If UNC won, I would wear his Bears shirt to the CSU homecoming parade. Because CSU was favored by 21, I gave my husband 14 points. (Had I known then that CSU had won 16 of the 17 meetings between the two schools, I would have given him my condolences, as well. Doh!)




















It was a beautiful day for football and CSU’s 30th Ag Day Celebration, and many fans were decked out in their pumpkin orange Aggie shirts. It was also my first opportunity to see the improvements outside Hughes Stadium, the first “significant upgrades” in 43 years. They really look great and make walking through the parking lot feel much less like a trek across the New Mexico desert. (For whom is the stadium named and why? Find out here .)



In an interesting bit of trivia, the game was also an alumni-coach matchup. Coach Fairchild graduated from CSU in 1981, and Coach Collins graduated from UNC in 1995. To add to the fun, a good friend made it possible for my family to have pre-game field access. We hung out there for a while, feeling all important and official as we watched players and cheerleaders warming up and the stands filling with fans. As game time neared, my boys were thrilled to be able to stand in the cloud of super-cool-special-effect-sports-fog (I have no idea what it’s really called) and cheer on the Rams as they came running out of the tunnel.

In non-rivalry situations, I do root for the Bears and hope they do well in the Big Sky Conference. But on Saturday, I was all in for the Rams. And they prevailed, with a final score of 33-14. That means I’m not wearing blue at the homecoming parade. Woo hoo! The margin of victory was smaller than the last contest 25 years ago, which CSU won 46-14, but I’ll certainly take it.

Oh, and my husband’s guest post? It’s coming soon.