Northwestern’s going bowling for a third straight season — this time off to Dallas for the TicketCity Bowl. Follow North by Northwestern writer and Northwestern defensive end Jake Gregus as he and our Wildcats football team attempt to win their eighth game of the season and first postseason game since 1949 here on NBN’s TicketCity Bowl Blog.
There’s nothing that says “Happy New Year!” better than seeing your favorite college football team walk off the field after winning a bowl game on New Year’s Day.
In my case, I hope to be the one doing the walking.
This bowl game is special not only because it is an opportunity for our team to win for the first time since 1949, but because we are in Texas (where football is LIFE) and we will be playing at the Cotton Bowl, which is one of the most historic venues in all of sports. We get the chance to show everyone in Texas how we play football in the Big Ten. It will be a rare sight for the people of Dallas because we are only the second Big Ten team ever to play in Cotton Bowl stadium. For us and the fans, the real party begins at 11 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2011 deep in the heart of Texas.
Since this is the first time I have ever been to Texas, I’ve noticed many interesting aspects of the state and culture that seemed so foreign to me. Here are some reasons why I’ve been lead to say that Texas should still be its own country:
Football — As I mentioned before, in Texas football is LIFE. Our bowl game was originally created just to make sure there would be football in the Cotton Bowl stadium after the actual Cotton Bowl game was moved to Cowboys Stadium. When we drove past Cowboys Stadium in Irving, Texas, on our way to practice the other day, it had to be the biggest domed stadium I have ever seen. In addition to Cowboys Stadium, we passed the largest middle school football stadium I have ever seen. At first I thought it was a high school, but apparently middle school football in Texas requires full bleachers, a press box, and stadium lights. High school stadiums look like small college football arenas. In Mesquite, Texas, we practiced at Mesquite High School, home of the Mesquite Skeeters. Even with a name like that, their stadium was no joke, complete with a Big Ten-sized press box and stadium seats instead of bleachers along the home side of the 50-yardline. If it’s not already considered a religion in Texas, football comes pretty close.
History -– In addition to being a boom town for oil and business, Dallas is best known for the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Sometimes when we drive to practice and various events, we pass through the place where Kennedy was shot. I got chills the first time we drove through the “grassy knoll” and the book depository. In addition to the knoll, there are various memorials and historical sites throughout Dallas and Ft. Worth, such as the Kennedy memorial, the Old Courthouse, and landmarks signifying various stops along the Chisholm Trail were interesting to visit. Besides Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas has the Alamo and many other famous historical sites, making it a very unique state.
Culture -– If you don’t own a cowboy hat, a pair of boots, and an oversized belt buckle, you might look as out of place as Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future III. In Texas, leather is the norm and a good flannel shirt is a must-have for any cowboy’s wardrobe. As I walked the streets of the Stockyards in Ft. Worth, I noticed that horses were being ridden next to cars, and everybody except for me was wearing either boots or a cowboy hat.
In addition, good barbecue is a staple of a Texas diet. Every day for lunch, my teammates and I eat some form of barbecue or Tex-Mex after practice. The ribs are fall-off-the-bone, the brisket is juicy and tender, and the jalapenos are as spicy as they can get. After eating Texas barbecue, I don’t know if I can go back to the copycats of the Midwest.
While our trip has been fun, the purpose of our visit is to win a bowl game. As I write these words, I realize that we are less than 24 hours away from the kickoff in a game that we will remember for the rest of our lives. For our seniors, it is their last college football game, and for most of them probably their last football game ever. I know if I were them, I would want nothing less than to go out in style and ring in the New Year with a win over Texas Tech in the TicketCity Bowl to kick off 2011.