San Fran Part III - Raiders

As soon as we knew we were going to San Francisco, we checked to see if the 49ers were in town, but they were away in Detroit.  But the Raiders were home against the Browns that weekend.  Perfect...Darren McFadden and Peyton Hillis!!  We ordered our tickets immediately and were able to get seats on the 9th row behind the Browns' bench.  

Once we got to SF, two other couples (Zac & Charell and Josh & Beth) decided that they wanted to go to the game too.  They ordered tickets on Friday and had to pick them up at a hotel a couple of blocks from the stadium.  No problem, right?  Well, we didn't think so until we got off the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) at the stadium and started walking to the hotel.  It was the WORST place I've ever seen and couldn't believe 6 Arkansans were busting right down the middle of it.  We would have thought it was a deserted area except there was so much stuff everywhere.  Weird stuff all over the road and sidewalks...like a small mattress, three pairs of black dress shoes in a pile, random trash, tires, LOTS of latex gloves, just strange things.  We all had Raiders shirts on (except Charell but at least she was wearing gray) and felt like they might be the only reason we would survive the walk.  Beth basically plastered herself to me and honestly, I was glad she did.  The guys deal with questionable people all the time at work so I think they were less worried than us, but they still thought it was all a little alarming.  I wanted to take pictures of some of the surroundings, but didn't want to waste any time or pull out anything that looked more valuable than a Raiders shirt.

We finally made it to the hotel and realized there was a slightly better route we could have taken to get there but it was still Oakland.  The walk from the hotel to the stadium wasn't quite as bad as the walk to the hotel but still not somewhere I would want to be by myself.  Thank goodness it wasn't a night game!

Brad and I love football and we were excited to see two teams we'd never seen before but were REALLY excited to see two ex-Razorbacks.

Head coach Hue Jackson shaking hands with his players before the game.  

This was before the game started.  By the end, Brad's face was sun burned pretty bad.  The weather was perfect in my opinion.

We didn't see many Browns fans, but I liked this one!

I didn't know Darren McFadden was a captain.

Sebastian Janakowski can kick the crap out of the ball.  Even if he is 100 years old.

Brad Maynard plays for the Brown's now.  I like him because he was with the Chicago Bears for years.  I wish they would have kept him.

Hillis didn't play much.

But McFadden had a pretty good day.

This was the first home game since the Raiders lost their owner, Al Davis who passed away Oct. 8.  Several ex-Raiders were featured on the field at half time as a tribute to him. 

The highlight of the tribute was definitely when our attention was directed to JOHN MADDEN who lit a torch that burned the remainder of the game!!!!

This was definitely my favorite day of the whole trip for me.  The Raiders' fans are awesome and LOVE their team.  If it wasn't in Oakland, I would love to go back.

Next up...Alcatraz.....

Bears v. Seahawks

Today was a big day.  My Chicago Bears played the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs.  We had fruit lunch (the person who gave me the idea called it that, so we do too) and cheered them on to a VICTORY!!

Spatz was so excited that they won today, she just busted out singing the the fight song....

"Chicago Bears, bear down!!"

I know.  We thought it was strange at first too....but she closes her eyes like that every time she sings.

The (not so sweet) Sugar Bowl

The Razorbacks made it to their first ever BCS bowl this year so the excitement level has been high among Hog fans!!  We would have loved to have went to New Orleans for the game, but it would have been difficult for both of us to get off work.
So instead, we had a couple of friends over to watch the game on tv and even brought out the "good stuff" to eat our bbq on!

And we had a special guest......Lucas!  

He kind of looks like he's smiling, doesn't he?  It must have been because it was his one month birthday.

We really wanted to use our new Razorback cookie cutter but after two attempts, we just tossed the cookie dough in the trash!  The dough was too soft for us to transfer to a cookie sheet.  Frustrating.  Any advice??

This face pretty much sums up the way we all felt after the game.  The Hogs lost 31-26.  :(

Just playing with my lens....  Lucas' sweet, tiny hand.

Go Hogs!

My boss asked me last Friday if I wanted their Razorback tickets for the next day.  I was supposed to work at Pottery Barn, but was able to get off so Brad and I went.  I hate to turn down Razorback tickets....especially when they are on the front row right behind the Arkansas bench!  They played Ole Miss and there is always extra excitement with them because that is where Houston Nutt coaches now.

I still like Coach Nutt, but Brad hates him.

The game was sold out and everyone was really excited.

Let's call those HOGS!!

Greg Childs

The first half was great!  The weather was perfect and the Razorbacks were leading 21-3.  But then the rain clouds showed up.

D.J. Williams

It got so bad that they delayed the game for about an hour and made everyone leave the stands due to lightning.  We waited it out and came back only to have the game delayed again.  We just decided to leave.  Not only was it raining but it was a little chilly too.

Tyler Wilson

Tyler Wilson came in the game for Ryan Mallett after the first rain delay.  Evidently, Mallett has injured his shoulder.  

Greg Childs

Even though the weather turned bad, we had a great time and the Hogs won.  It shouldn't mean much to beat Ole Miss but they have actually beat us the last two years, so it was a good win!