Lee always does well with my birthday and Christmas presents, and this year was no exception. In addition to some very cool and very me presents (like my Twilight/Vampire Baseball shirt and two Harry Potter-related books), he also wrapped up a pair of these:

Oh yes. Tickets to UGA’s bowl game. I was ECSTATIC. It has been years since we’ve actually seen the dawgs play in person, and these days it seems impossible to find an affordable pair of tickets to a game at Sanford Stadium. We were in Miami the few days before and after the bowl game, so Erin and Alva graciously agreed to take care of our sweet girl while we made the day trip to Orlando for the game.

We both wore our jerseys – I was Matthew Stafford and he was Knowshon Moreno (in the black-out jersey). I realized how out of practice I was at this whole gameday business because I left my face tattoos and our stadium seats at home. We lost our car flag a few years ago when a window was inadvertently rolled down on the highway, and it was never replaced. But what we lacked in paraphenalia, we made up for in spirit.

I screamed like a Banshee. I made a fool of myself. I actually teared up a little when the band formed the arch on the field and started playing fight songs. I know – I know – it’s crazy. I’m crazy. But I just love that school and I love that team and I had missed them so.

I’m so glad we won, although even if we hadn’t I think I still would’ve walked out of that stadium a happy dawg for having watching my team play in person. It was a little disorienting seeing live play after so many years of televised games. I kept looking for that yellow “first down” marker, and longed for the instant replays that help me figure out what the heck just happened. But I wouldn’t trade it for the chance to roar with the crowd and do the “Go Dawgs, Sic ’em!” cheer amid a sea of red and black. Can’t wait to do it again some day.