I know this is late

[Rudy]

I know this is late, I had to work so much during the break, I did not have a chance to put this in. I have probably left some details out by accident, or because they probably should not be on the board

First of all, if you don't know, for the past 6 years, I have been one of the flag runners in Talons. Until this year, I was pretty much the only one who ran.

Talons arrive in NO Sunday night and we make it out to the TGI Fridays over on Royal. We sit there for a couple of hours and finally make it out around 11:30. My older brother in Talons(alum), my little brother, and I head down to Bourbon St and run into another former Talon. All of us walk around and mingle with fellow greenbloods.

Monday: Myself and my two Talons brothers walk about near the hotel and the French Quarter. We arrive in time to see the infamous, and disgusting, crow eating event. Utterly disgusting!!! Just the smell of the crow being cooked made me want to puke. Well I managed to to get a picture of the event. Soon after, I was encouraged by someone(I can't remember who) to call JayDub and ask if he was going to eat his share. Soon after Justin enters and has his dinner Fellow greenblood and friend Brad Olsen gives us a card informing us of the hospitality suite. One our way back to the hotel we run into some Cincy fans and converse with them. They may have been few in numbers, but they were friendly. We go to the hospitality suite and meet and talk to more UNT fans. Just a side note, did anyone else look out of the window from there. It was a cool site to look down Canal street. It was very uniform in look. All of the street lights were perfectly aligned, and WORKING. All of the street lights chaged in sync. It was quite a sight.

Afterwards, we went down to the coaches show. I enjoyed it this year. The large room, small stage, and rows of chairs was a very nice touch. Even better, Nearly all of the seats were filled. There was a rather large number of fans standing behind and around the seats. After the coaches show, i had to go take a short nap and get some rest before a night of Burbon St. I woke up and my little and I met my big from Talons outside the Marriot. I was greeted with a suprise. A couple of Talon amluni had made it in that day and were going to join us. We cruise up and down cheering with fellow Mean Greeners. I can't believe how much fun I had. Just letting loose. At one point, we were passing someone getting arrested, probably a homeless person. I took one look at him as we crossed the intersection and started singing, Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye

Late that night, one of the alums had one too many shots at Razoos. It took forever, but we managed to get him past the prostitues and the no goods to his hotel. But of course he had to stop and try to make a free phone call from a payphone. And Remember the Lucky Dog stands out on Bourbon. Well, as he put it, "I gotta ride the Lucky Dog!!!" Thankfully we stopped him.

Tuesday, not much happened. Pretty much hung around and went to eat with some other alums. That evening, a group of us Talons walked to the Superdome. It felt nice to be back. I took my field pass and as I walked onto the field, it felt like We Belonged there. It seemed like it was only yesterday that I had been there to watch us play CSU. It just felt good to be back.

It was a huge rush to run the flag in front of the team as they took the field. I have run it at many games, even in front of 80K+ at the Oklahoma game. This had to be bigger. It was a bowl game, on national TV, all eyes were on the game, the team, and the university. I can post my thoughts from the game later, but for now, I can tell you my biggest memories. During the game, one stands out. In the 3rd quarter, I was standing on the sideline while My little carried the flag. I saw Galbreath break a tackle and get into the secondary. I ran to the end of the endzone to watch and cheer for him as he sprinted into the endzone for a touchdown. Then something happened that I had always wanted. Galbreath did not stop running. He ran right up to me and let me celebrate with him. I was so excited that all I could do was hug him and pat him on the helmet. I know it sounds lame, but in 6 years of being on the field, I always wanted to be there just once to celebrate with the team. It finally happened.

When the game ended, we could not carry the flag on the field. I dont get it, but oh well, screw em, we waved the flag in front of the stands. When they brought the stage out, we asked again if we could run the flag on the field, the guy said yes. At this point, I thought let them try to aresst me. Lets see them do it with 10K UNT fans, football players, and athletic staff there. Surely they would defend us. We ran the flag around the stage a couple of times, then parked it behind the stage. We took turns holding the flag while each of us congratulated people.

Here is the really cool part. After Kevin got his MVP Trophy, he came down and I asked if I could hold the MVP Trophy. Not only did he let me, but I got a pic of us together while I held the trophy. After that, I walked up and down the sideline congratulating and thanking the players. As I celebrated with some fans, some complete strangers leaned over and said thank you to me for being so enthusiastic. It was really cool to feel like I was appreciated and we were ALL a family. Afterwards, it was more partying with fellow greenbloods. It was cool to go up and down and chant "UNT" and "Go Mean Green" in the middle of the street.

The only complaint is that there was not enough merchandising. The only place to buy NO Bowl merchandise was at the small store across from the hotel. I do wish that Cincy had been able to bring more people, but its understandable why they couldn't.

All said and done, this had to be one of the best times of my life. Meeting new UNT fans, talking with old ones. Just forgeting all of my problems, and having a great time, and enjoying the new sucess of UNT. Certainly it will continue to get better. As I told the players when I thanked them, I have been waiting for this for 6 years. If this was my final game as a student, there is no better way to go out. In my final game I finally get to celebrate with a player after he scores. UNT is on its way to the top !!! It just seems like a fitting way to graduate.

I cant wait to go back. When is Spring Break??????

[CMJ]

Great stuff Brian...