Oh, people.

I have known some Mississippi State sports-related heartache in my time.

There was the field goal that the wind stopped in the ‘83 Egg Bowl. There was the loss to Tennessee in the 1998 SEC Championship football game. There was 4th and goal against LSU last fall. There was the regular season loss (in overtime) to Kentucky’s basketball team about a month ago.

But there has never been a sporting event that just plain ole ripped out my heart out and slung it around and stomped on it and crammed it back into my chest like this past Sunday’s loss to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament Championship Game. Our boys fought so hard and played so well and had all but won when Kentucky tied the game with .1 second on the clock.

POINT ONE. ONE-TENTH OF A SECOND. AND I HOPE THAT I AM EXPRESSING THESE NUMBERS-RELATED TERMS CORRECTLY, FOR THEY ARE CRITICAL TO MY TALE OF BASKETBALL-RELATED WOE.

Because oh my word. Heartbreaking. A tenth of a second. And everything changed.

We ended up losing by a point in overtime, but I tried my best to see the positive. I really did. It was an incredible game – who knows how many lead changes and both teams playing inspired basketball (if you’re into that sort of thing, you know exactly what I mean). The Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with the number two team in the country and gave them all they could handle. And when the game was over, I was definitely disappointed, but I was mainly just proud of our guys. I felt like in the end the game was going to be an incredible motivator for the Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament.

But therein lies the rub.

Late Sunday afternoon the NCAA Selection Committee announced the 64 teams for the tournament. Mississippi State was not on the list. And y’all? I was ticked. I was really, really ticked. I tried not to act ticked because we were hanging out with some sweet friends and I did not want them to be discouraged or dismayed by my Deep, Festering Aggravation with a bunch of basketball-analyzing strangers, but TICKED, WHY YES, I WAS.

Thank you for asking.

The Bulldogs did get invited to the NIT, and while at first I was not terribly excited about this development, the more I’ve thought about it the more I’ve gotten on board with it. It’s sort of like going to a school dance with a date who’s not necessarily your first pick – but eventually your mama’s wisdom starts to sink in and you think, “Well, at least he thought enough of me to ask.”

That’s how I feel about the NIT right now. It might not be what Bulldogs dreamed of, but the NIT asked us and gave us a number one seed. And they appreciate us. And by diggity, I am getting in the car this afternoon and driving to Starkville and going to our first-round game against Jackson State and cheering my bitter head off.

Be warned, NIT officials: I may arrive with boutonnieres. I think Japanese magnolias are lovely this time of year.

And you can still join our NCAA Tournament Challenge group, by the way. Because even though I have some ish-ahs with the selection committee, I will in no way allow my personal basketball tragedy to interfere with my ability to speculate about the next national champion.

That is my promise to you.

So thanks to my Beloved Bulldogs, I’ve spent the better part of 48 hours trying to keep my blood pressure from skyrocketing. It’s SEC tournament time, and the ‘Dogs have fought through a couple of tough match-ups against Florida and Vandy to secure a spot in tomorrow’s Championship Game. Who will we play? Oh, a little team called Kentucky. You may have heard of them. They are kind of good.

And just FYI: today I stood in my kitchen and watched every single second of our game against Vandy on the little bitty TV on the kitchen counter. There were a couple of reasons for this decision: 1) I am crazy and 2) It’s easier to jump up and down if you’re already standing. I’m sure you understand.

Anyway, obviously I’m mighty excited for my Bulldogs, who have been on the bubble of the NCAA tourney for the last few weeks but hopefully secured a spot with today’s win. I’m hoping for a great game tomorrow, especially since we came so close to beating Kentucky when we played them in Starkville about a month ago.

The last couple of days have gotten me totally excited about Selection Sunday and March Madness, so I thought I’d take a cue from something we did last year and set up a group for ESPN’s Tournament Challenge. Once again our group name is BooMama because I am deeply original and never, ever repetitive. The group is public, so you don’t need a password to join – but you will need to set up an account on espn.com if you don’t have one already (and it’s free, by the way).

Whoever wins our bracket will receive a fabulous prize (Kat won last year). Now granted, I have absolutely no idea what this year’s prize will be, but you may rest assured that it will be as fabulous as fabulous can be. Which means that it will probably be an iTunes or Amazon gift card, because that’s about as fabulous a prize as I can come up with right off the top of my head.

I never claimed to be extravagant, y’all. Or even clever, for that matter.

So. You can join the group now, and as soon as the Selection Sunday show is over, you can start making your picks online. Or you can print out your bracket, analyze each team’s stats and players and then make your picks online.

Me? I typically make my picks based on 1) blind conference loyalty 2) which city I like better between the two cities represented or 3) which mascot would win in some sort of toe-to-toe wrestling match. It’s all very scientific.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. And if you join, let me know that in the comments, too, so I’ll know who’s who when I look at the bracket. After all, it’s important to know who’s who if we’re all going to be March Madness BFFs.

Oh, I cannot wait for all the basketball fun.

Happy Brackets, everybody!

There are a whole bunch of reasons why I will remember Thanksgiving ‘09 as CERTIFIED PERFECTION. There was the laid-back, low-key Thanksgiving Day with my little family; there was the household to-do list that I SMACKED DOWN WITH AUTHORITY last Wednesday and Thursday; there was the quick trip to Memphis for a BEAUTIFUL surprise party that my sister-in-law Janie threw for my brother’s birthday; and last but not least, there was the Mississippi State/Ole Miss game, also known as the Egg Bowl.

And oh, this year’s Egg Bowl was EVER-so-enjoyable.

Since the game started at 11:20 Saturday morning – and since we were in Memphis for Friday night’s surprise party – David, Alex, Sister, Barry and I woke up around FIVE FIFTEEN IN THE A.M. and hit the road about 6 (after a Starbucks pit stop, of course). I could lie and tell you that I was VERY rested, but I was actually sort of beside myself with tired. And since Ole Miss was coming off a huge win against LSU, I silently wondered if we were driving all the way to Starkville just to watch our Bulldogs get pummeled by the Rebels.

(I’ve been to several Bulldog-pummeling Egg Bowls in my time, mind you, so I know firsthand that there are certainly better ways to spend a Saturday than getting manhandled by your in-state rival. Like sticking needles in your eyeballs, for example. Or maybe even participating in some sort of rutabaga-eating contest where your goal is to set a rutabaga-eating record. WHICH COULD TOTALLY HAPPEN.)

We stopped about 20 minutes outside of Starkville so that David could get some gas and we could grab some Cokes, and as I walked back out to the car, I spied several red-and-blue-clad Rebel fans climbing out of their game day transportation.

I laughed because it’s such an understated way to travel to a college football game, don’t you think? I mean, a stretch Hummer limo doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb in rural Mississippi AT ALL. Blends right in, really.

When we got to campus we found parking spaces pretty quickly, and while I’m not positive, I’m pretty sure that a certain six year-old was beside himself with excitement.

Bless him.

We made it to The Junction just in time for the Dawg Walk, and Alex was extra excited because he had an especially good view of the players walking up to the stadium.

I won’t tell you how many times I wondered if Alex’s enthusiastic cowbell ringing during the Dawg Walk was going to send his daddy to the emergency room with a slight concussion – or at the very least a ruptured ear drum. But they did just fine.

It was hard to gauge the pre-game mood of the players and fans because it was only 9:30 in the morning – a little early by tailgating standards – but it was still so fun to be on my favorite college campus in the whole wide world.

I mean, I’ve never actually been on any college campuses outside of the United States, mind you. But I imagine that even if I had been, Mississippi State would still be my favorite, the end.

After Dawg Walk we visited with my sweet friend Daphne and her family for a few minutes.

Alex absolutely adores Daphne – which is understandable since David and I do, too – but I think at least part of his fondness for her is based on the fact that Daph always offers him a pre-game snack. Never underestimate the power of Little Debbies and Cheetos, my friends.

We went in the stadium about 45 minutes before kick-off so that we’d have plenty of time to get settled in our seats, watch warm-ups and make sure that our cowbells were functioning properly. You can imagine my distress when I pulled my cowbell out of my bag, tried to ring it and realized that STARKVILLE, WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

Clearly it was a critical cowbell malfunction. And while I don’t know if you have ever had to deal with a cowbell clanger getting all tangled up in a crocheted cap, I can assure you that there is no easy fix. In this instance it took Sister, me and a short season of prayer to remedy the situation. It was touch and go there for awhile, but we managed to get everything in proper working order right before the Bulldogs ran out of the tunnel.

IT WAS AN EGG BOWL COWBELL MIRACLE.

The first half flew by, and at the end of halftime, the day’s excitement – and the 5:15 wake-up call – finally caught up with Alex. Which is why he spent the entire third quarter just like this.

It was probably the loudest, rowdiest quarter of football I’ve ever experienced, and the child didn’t move a muscle. Even with cowbells ringing on all sides. WIPED OUT.

He woke up for the fourth quarter, though, and he cheered like crazy when the Bulldogs won. Especially because THEY GOT A TROPHY, MAMA! A REALLY BIG TROPHY!

Trophies are right up there with Little Debbies and Cheetos, apparently.

When the post-game celebration was over and we were about to leave the stadium, I snapped a picture of Alex and Sister.

And as soon as I saw it, it reminded me of this picture from a State basketball game back in 2004.

Blest be the ties that bind.

All in all, it was a great day at a great school watching a great game in a great rivalry with great friends and great family.

And the final score? Well, that was pretty great, too.

41-27.

Go ‘Dogs.

I am well aware that I probably enjoy watching sports a little bit more (AHEM) than your average girl. I have no idea why that is, but oh, I DO LOVE ME A LIVE SPORTING EVENT, especially if my Bulldogs are playing. In fact, if you gave me a choice between spending the day being pampered at some sort of spa or spending the day watching the Bulldogs play, I would choose the Bulldogs every single time.

I know. I’m weird. I can’t help it.

So last week, when all the hype surrounding the Mississippi State/Florida game started to build, I COULD NOT STAND IT. I thought it would be oh-so-fun to be in Starkville when the Gators rolled into town. And even though David had some other stuff planned for the weekend and couldn’t make the trip, he gave me his blessing to take the little guy on a road trip. Honestly, I had no expectations of being able to find tickets for the game since it was a sell-out, but I figured just being on campus would make for a mighty fine Saturday. Plus, our men’s basketball team was having an open scrimmage at noon, so, you know, YES, PLEASE.

As it turned out, my friend Daphne called me Thursday night and said they had two extra tickets, and I was TICKLED MAROON, I tell you. I told Daph later if I’d known when we met our freshman year that she’d be calling me two decades later to offer me tickets to the State/ Florida game, I would’ve bought her a big, new bottle of Paul Mitchell Freeze & Shine right then and there. I might have even offered to distress her blue jeans with some straight-up bleach in the dorm’s laundry room while I let her borrow my “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack cassette.

Anyway, early Saturday morning the little man and I hopped in the car and drove to Starkville. It was cloudy and gray outside – not to mention that the interstate was already pretty congested at 8 AM because of all the people driving to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama/Tennessee game – but I’ll have you know that as soon as we hit Highway 82 right outside of Tuscaloosa, the traffic all but disappeared, and the sky started to clear.

By the time we rolled into Starkville the sky was almost turquoise, and we parked in our favorite gameday parking lot and started walking to the coliseum. Alex was so excited that he couldn’t decide what he wanted to do first, but as soon as he saw all of the RVs in the coliseum parking lot, he became absolutely certain that he wanted to go in an RV and look around. In fact, when he spied a Florida fan who was sitting outside his RV in a lounge chair, he very loudly said that MAYBE THAT GUY WILL LET US INSIDE HIS RV, but I assured him that the Florida fans probably weren’t in the mood to give Bulldog fans MID-MORNING TOURS OF THEIR RECREATIONAL VEHICLES.

But do y’all know what was waiting on us when we walked up to the edge of the coliseum? Three RVs that were on display by a local RV dealer. IT WAS AN RV OPEN HOUSE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Honestly, I felt in that very moment that the Lord had given us His gameday favor. Because I don’t think I have to tell you that there was a six year-old who bounded up the steps into that very first RV and thought he had entered some sort of magical wonderland where all the appliances were his size. He also had a total a-ha moment when he realized that if he owned an RV, he could stretch out on the couch and watch a big ole television WHILE SOMEONE DROVE HIM AROUND, and it made me laugh so hard. Honestly, I think that RV may have helped him to solidify some Life Goals.

We walked in the coliseum about an hour before the scrimmage was scheduled to start, and since there was really no one in the building except for the women’s basketball team down on the court, Alex decided he wanted to explore.

10,000 empty seats + many, many stairs = NON-STOP ENTERTAINMENT.

My friend Lea Margaret and her little boy got to the coliseum right at the end of the women’s practice, and Alex and Mac were deee-lighted to see one another.

It was so sweet to watch them together – because the last time they saw each other they looked like this.

It’s been a few years.

The boys had big fun watching the men’s basketball team – at least until they both decided that they were very hungry and very thirsty and really, really wanted to go to the bookstore. But no way was I going to leave The Hump without snapping the young’un’s picture on the basketball court.

I FEEL A SENSE OF COMPLETENESS NOW.

The afternoon was sort of a wonderful blur of maroon and cowbells and old friends and blue skies and mums. OH, YES. MUMS. Everywhere with the mums.

I loved the mums.

We were mighty excited to see our friends Todd and New Marti, who were in Mississippi for the game and a baby shower. And as you can tell by the pictures, Alex likes them just a little bit.

We also ran into my great friend from high school (and freshman year roommate), Amanda, who looks EXACTLY THE SAME, MY WORD, HOW DOES SHE DO IT?

Thankfully we have both left acid-washed jeans and ginormous hair bows far, far behind.

Alex and I claimed our spots for the Dawg Walk, and once we were settled, he staged an elaborate Larry Boy re-enactment with some pom-poms.

I can’t say that I understood what he was doing, but hey. He was happy. That was all that mattered.

When the team finally made the walk into the stadium, my little guy rang his cowbell like a champ. After all, IT’S HIS HERITAGE, PEOPLE. Brings a tear to mine eye.

And I’ll bet you that 12 or 14 people showed up for the Dawg Walk.

SWEET MERCY it was crowded. But OH, it was fun.

We spent the rest of our pre-game time tailgating with Daphne and her family. This was the point in the afternoon when Alex really started to get revved up about the game, and he told Daph that she really, really needed to put up a sign that said “NO GATORS ALLOWED” on the tailgating tent. Then he started singing a version of the fight song that ended with him screaming, “GO STATE! HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!”

Apparently that’s the lesser-known, Baptist version of the fight song.

We walked in the stadium about 45 minutes before the game started, and OH, IT WAS LIVELY. Alex told me that it was the best day of his life in the whole wide world, and then he said, “That team from Florida is nothing but a bunch of…BABY WORMY GATORS BLAH BLAH, Mama.”

I think we all know that if Tim Tebow had heard that level of smack talk, he would have run off the field in fear.

The ‘Dogs played a whale of a game even though they didn’t win (this play will go down as one of my very favorite Bulldog football moments ever). And after the game, we hung out by the field for a few minutes so that we could see our friend Bo, who’s #44 for the Bulldogs.

Alex waited so patiently – he was NOT leaving that campus until he got to see Bo.

And finally, he did.

It was just the sweetest. Bo gave Alex his gloves and a sweatband from the game, and you want to talk about a little boy who could not quit smiling, NEVER YOU MIND THAT IT WAS 10:30 IN THE PM?

Thrilled to pieces, he was.

As we walked away from the field we ran into even more old friends, laughed with them for a few minutes (Mart, I won’t forget to tell the flat-iron story) and very slowly made our way back to our car. It was a long day – twelve hours of on-campus fun – and we were ready to get to Daphne’s mama’s house so we could get some much-needed rest. But oh my goodness, it was THE BEST day. So full of sweet friends and tradition and nostalgia and laughter. More happy than my heart could contain.

Not to mention that I had the very best travel buddy in the whole wide world.

Go ‘Dogs.

Last week was one of those really fun, cuckoo weeks that no sane person would plan, so I guess it stands to reason that I’m the one who planned it because HEY! IT’S ME! WHO SOMETIMES STRUGGLES WITH THE SANITY! But between coming home from Memphis and then taking Martha back to Mississippi and then church stuff and soccer stuff and work stuff and “writing” stuff, I limped across Friday’s finish line and flopped into my chair and watched so much TV on the DVR Friday night that I should probably be ashamed only I’m not, I’M NOT AT ALL ASHAMED, IT BROUGHT ME UNTOLD VOLUMES OF JOY.

(SIDENOTE that I have to add right now or I’ll forget: tonight at church I remembered something that I’ve been meaning to link to for the last few weeks. For the last couple of months our pastor has been teaching from the book of James, and you can listen or watch online if you’re interested. It has been such a good series. Quite frankly my toes will never be the same.)

I have no idea where I was going before the sidenote. Wait a minute. Now I remember.

Saturday morning we had a soccer game, and you must believe me when I tell you that it was 45 degrees outside and not a single soul at the soccer field was happier about that than I was. I love (LOVE. LURVE. LOOOOOVE.) the first cold snap every year, and I’m always tempted to wear flip flops for the first couple of days of it just so my feet can get super cold and then I can have a small, private Happy Moment when I officially put away the flip flops and pull out the Uggs.

I know. I’m weird. WHY DO YOU LOOK SURPRISED?

After we got home from the soccer game we watched our beloved Bulldogs play MTSU (we won! we won!) on TV. Apparently MTSU’s football stadium is called “The Skillet,” and I cannot even tell you how that nickname intrigues me. Do they call it that because it’s the place where they “fry” their opponents in the manner of some crispy bacon? Because you have to know that I’m fully on board with any sort of bacon / football analogy. Are any of you MTSU fans? Can you explain? Does their stadium smell faintly of charred pork products? I need to know these things.

Anyway, the success of our rushing game against the Blue Raiders has prompted me to make a bold prediction: I think we’re going to beat Florida this Saturday. I really do. I feel it deep down in my bones. Of course, my “deep-down-bones” feelings are basically worthless, but I think we can do it, never you mind that guy named Tim Tebow and the fact that the Gators are the defending national champions. I just feel like I need to make my prediction known so that next weekend if Florida beats us 102-4 we can all meet here and then y’all can ridicule me publicly. It’ll be fun.

Also. I still haven’t written a post about my trip to Memphis last weekend, but condensing the weekend into a blog post is like trying to cram a king-sized comforter into a lunchbox. Or something like that. I’m not really that strong with similes.

But I will say this: I’ll be john brown (my Papaw Davis used to say that all the time) if, almost four years into this blog thing, the internet doesn’t continue to surprise me. I’ll be the first person to tell you that I think we need to be so careful that we don’t call this online world our “community” at the expense of plugging into our local churches and neighborhoods and investing in the lives of people we can see and touch and hear, but there is something so fun and energizing about having time to hang out with people who also love this little bloggy world. There were lots of blog friends in Memphis at Living Proof Live, and every once in awhile I’d look around and see three or four of them just TALKING LIKE CRAZY to one another, and it made me smile. A lot.

I think the internet may be here to stay, y’all. JUST LIKE THE EMAIL.

Martha had a great time in Memphis and SO enjoyed hearing Beth Moore teach. I didn’t know how she was going to respond to the whole event thing because, honestly, Martha hasn’t been in contemporary worship settings very often, and I know that our worship comfort zones are a little different. But she really did love the music, and on the way back to Mississippi last Monday she asked me if Travis had recorded any tapes that she could buy. I told her that I’d see what I could round up.

So all that to say: I’ll be working on that Memphis post. Just as soon as I finish catching up with the DVR. And staring lovingly at my comfy slippers because HEY, IT’S COLD AGAIN, I DON’T KNOW IF I MENTIONED THAT.

Hope y’all have a great Monday!