A Bittersweet Win

Well, Saturday was the day I'd been waiting for all season... Furman vs. The Citadel. I drove up on Saturday morning in time to tailgate with friends for a while before meeting my parents (diehard Citadel fans) for lunch at the Citadel alumni tailgate. My purple "FU" shirt didn't go over too well, but they were all gracious hosts... and the barbeque was delicious! When I went into the game, I found out that one of my best friends had made a suprise trip to the game during her fall break. She's in grad school in St. Louis, so she doesn't make her way back here often. It was a wondeful surprise!

I knew going into this week that if both teams brought their "A-game" it was going to be anyone's game. This has been especially true in recent years, making for some pretty exciting football. I could tell early on that the bulldogs had not brought their A-game, and the paladins definitely had. Furman had built up a pretty sizeable lead by the 4th quarter, and although they made quite an effort, The Citadel just never caught up. Of course, I was thrilled for a Furman win, especially after last year's crazy game that ended up in a loss for the paladins. However, it really was pretty bittersweet. Because I'm a few years out of Furman and I tutored athletes at The Citadel for a while, I know more Citadel players than Furman players these days. Seeing such disappointment on the bulldog players' faces almost made me wish the game had turned out differently. I always enjoy some good banter/smack talk with Citadel players in the weeks before the game, and I was excited to finally have my bragging rights back... but I can't even bring myself to gloat this time.

Furman moved up to #18 (or #19, depending on which poll you see), and The Citadel is out of the top 25 on all polls. Regardless, the bulldogs have a great team with the potential to finish the season stong, and I look forward to the remaining home games and seeing how the season turns out. Next week Furman is at Appalachian (fresh after an upset... lord help us!), and The Citadel will travel to Samford. I'm taking the weekend off from football, but I do have some top secret plans that should be a lot of fun... more on that next week!