My Champions

Yes, it is true. My Auburn Tigers are National Champions. I may not can finish this post without crying. I have cried so many times over the weekend. I cried in the airport when the terminal was like a sea of orange. I cried on the airplane when the flight attendant led the crowd in "War Eagle". I cried when Felix and I left the hotel room on Monday morning, because I knew when we came back into that room, we would know the result. I cried when the team took the field. I cried when Michael Dyer scored the "not so good" winning touchdown. I cried when Wes Byrum kicked the "good" winning field goal. I cried when Gene kissed the crystal ball, and said "This one's for you. War Eagle!". And lastly, I cry ever single time I see a recap on ESPN. It's too good to be true. I don't have to even explain to you all by now how special Auburn is to me. If you've just started reading and need to be caught, then contact me. I'll send you a dissertation.

We arrived in Scottsdale, AZ on Sunday and met some friends for lunch. How nice it was to sit out in 70 degree weather while eating lunch and soaking up some vitamin D.

We stayed at a really nice resort in Scottsdale called FireSky. We had some friends over to our place that night to roast smores and have drinks by the fire.

We had to be in Glendale on Monday by noon to pick up our tickets. We got there just in time to meet a bunch of friends at Yard House. It was such an amazing atmosphere. It felt like being in Auburn. We saw a ton of people we knew. We socialized, sang the fight song, and did cheers while we waited for our table to be ready. The Deckers scoped out the perfect table for us, and it was a home run!

After a fantastic lunch at Yard House, we headed out to tour the sights. The crowd was amazing. There was WAY more orange than green. As usual, our fans were dressed so nice and classy. I can't say the same thing about the Oregon fans. They were all about wearing "team gear." They made Florida fans look like debutantes. I had one lady ask me "Where do you all find such nice clothes?" I wanted to say "the mall", but I just kind of shrugged it off! However, put the clothing aside, they were very nice fans in my opinion. They shook our hands, hugged our necks, and told us we played a fabulous game. Back to the atmosphere, it was ALL AUBURN. Under Armour did such a fantastic job representing us at the game. I hardly saw any signs for Oregon. Everywhere you turned it was ORANGE and BLUE!

We decided to make our way over to the Tiger Walk before heading into the stadium. There wasn't much to it because the bowl officials would not let team get off the bus for security reasons. We couldn't see them, but they could see us. We cheered our Tigers through and headed to the dome.

As we entered the dome, I could not contain my excitement. It was true. It was MY team's name on that field. We got settled into our seats, took some pics, and I got nestled in with my game day toddy. It was GAME TIME BABY!!!

It was a LONG HARD fight, but we did it! I did not snap any pics during the game for fear of breaking my camera or missing a play. But, I immediately pulled it out for the post-game celebrations. It was such an emotional win for the Auburn family. We have waited a long time for this, and our dream came true. I am so proud of our coaches, our team, and our fans for all the hard work and support over the past year. I hope this is just the beginning for our school. This was truly a trip of a lifetime and it is better than ever to say "It's GREAT to be an Auburn Tiger!!!!" WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!