It’s Division One Football! It’s the Big 12! It Ain’t Intramurals!

Hello and welcome on my inaugural post here at the KCCGD. Thanks to Colorado coach Dan Hawkins for reminding us way back in February what college football means to me and everyone here in the good ‘ole Midwest. Football on the weekends were always a big part of my life growing up in Kansas City and hopefully through everyone here at the site, we can make your outings just a little more special. Now on to the first stop:

Stumbling into the Brooksider, the first thing I noticed was just how bright it was in there. Okay, okay. Usually when I’m there, it’s for the nightlife and the beautiful people that soak it up. Saturday afternoon, however, was for football and football only. And the beautiful people.

Rumor has it, the Brooksider is a staple for Missouri fans and their sports watching needs. So needless to say I was less than shocked when an MU alumni banner draped under the biggest HD television screen in the joint. All 71 inches of it. On top of that, there was pretty much a TV for every conceivable angle a head can turn. My neck is still sore.

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Typically I start my day out for football right at the first whistle and plant myself until the last second of the day ticks off. Saturday was different, however, as I found myself sweating away at the gym for most of the first games. Hey, I need to be in watching shape. As luck would have it, I made to the Brooksider just in time for Appalachian State to pull of the biggest upset in NCAA history as they kicked a field goal, gave up a bomb, and then blocked a game winning kick by MICHIGAN of all teams in THE BIG HOUSE. There will probably be no better way to start out football Saturday than that.

A good workout and a good upset makes this Yeti hungry. So after sitting back down with the Krizzou, we flagged the waitress down. This coming after the waitress nearly lopped my head off for bringing coffee in from the ‘outside.’ Now I’m pretty sure I wasn’t carrying any disease and I’m almost certain that hot coffee is pure and sterile. Even with whiskey in it. I can understand brining in a bottle beer or a stacked bottle of Crown Royal can be bad for business but coffee? That’s just redonkulous.

After sweet talking my way into a house cup to hold my coffee, Krizzou and I ordered our food. Well actually, Krizzou pretty much ordered as I was trying to avoid staring straight down our waitresses massive cleavage. I can say that the ladies working the Brooksider are unfairly gorgeous. Maybe when the road lengthens on our citywide tour, we can find some competition. For now, It’s gonna be hard to beat.

We opted for the mac and cheese wedges and the plate of nachos. Our waitress, Boobra I’ll call her, had the bright idea of dumping chili, beef, and chicken on the nachos as we couldn’t decide on the Nach or the Queso. I expected the nachos to be the best of the two, but like the App State/Michigan game earlier the wedges came out on top. They were damn delicious. Nice try though, Boobra.

On to the games. KU didn’t play as there was even less than usual interest in watching KU football because they were playing the cupcake Central Michigan State. The first game of the day for us was Missouri vs. Illinois.

The Brooksider was packed to the brim with yellow and was super loud throughout the whole game. It ended up being the shootout as everyone predicted. There were turnovers, passing, and defeatist excuses ready to be dished out but in the end Missouri came out on top. If I were Missouri fan, I’d be worried about how quick it was for Pinkle to give up on the run. That just won’t cut it in conference play. Good job regardless.

There was a lul in play waiting for KState to come on after the game. Here’s a quick recap: Lori showed up, Boobra was replaced by Almost Playboy, the bar cleared out, and some lady sat down to talk to us for a bit. Except I think she was making fun of us. Not sure. Moving on.

So the big time game of the night for the Big 12 was KState manning up and going on the road against #18 Auburn. Now I didn’t expect much out of the game. I was only hoping for Ron Prince and company to keep things close. Coming away from the game I can say the Wildcats should’ve won. The defense looked tough, Freeman was making less mistakes, and they led most of the game.

The big question for the season was the Offensive line. And when you have to line up against stud Quentin Groves, that answer would come quick. The line held tough most of the night, but with about 2 minutes to go, Groves blindsided Freeman which he promptly fumbled and Auburn promptly ran back for the kill 23 -13. This after Freeman converted on 4th down.

The loss was tough, but there is way more upside with how KState performed versus how Missouri got by earlier in the day. Nobody expected KState to match Auburn. KState almost beat them and on a national stage. Missouri looked tough as usual, but the holes are there waiting to be exploited. The stage is set for another Offense versus Defense struggle in Manhattan this year.

Kickoff Saturday made its mark and starting out at the Brooksider ended up a great choice to spend it. The action was hot, the waitresses were hot, my coffee was hot, the nachos were hot, and the Joe’s Buy the Slice that Lori, Krizzou, and I capped off the night with was actually kinda lukewarm. See you next time!

-Purple Yeti