One week until graduation

With just one week until I graduate, it’s time to take a look back at one of the more awesome months that I spent at UC: December 2008.

Moment 7: “Coast to Coast”(December 2008)
Imagine waking up on December 1st and dealing with snow. It’s nothing out of the ordinary here in Cincinnati, but in 2008, I was thinking “Mele Kalikimaka,” which is, as Jimmy Buffet sings, Merry Christmas in Hawaiian.

On Tuesday, Dec. 2, I stood shivering my butt off in Nippert Stadium, but the only thing I could think about were the blue skies, sand and 85 degree weather that I would be enjoying one day later. This may have been the roadtrip I was most looking forward to going on in my second season as the endzone video guy at UC.

And it was well worth it.

The view from my hotel balcony as the sun set

We left on Wednesday of that week, and stayed in Hawaii until after the game ended on Saturday night. It was much better to stand in shorts and t-shirts filming practice than worrying about the cold and snow that our friends and families were dealing with in the Queen City.

One morning my mom called me (and due to a five-hour time difference it was 1 p.m. in Cincinnati) and said, “How’s the weather?” Not trying to be a smart aleck (and failing) I replied, “Well I’m standing on the balcony of my room in shorts looking out at the ocean.”

“Adam, I’m going to kill you when you get back,” my mom said, laughing. (She was kidding about the killing, although I’m sure there were times when she wanted to do so, and I don’t blame her!)

We ate at Cheeseburgers in Paradise more than once, and how could we not being in Hawaii for half a week?

I also experienced a personal first in Hawaii: dipping my toes in the ocean. I’d never been to the beach before, and all it took was one time for me to say, “This is pretty awesome.”

On Friday morning we didn’t have to film practice but we got lucky enough to visit Pearl Harbor. And I can describe it in one word: breathtaking

After the game though we had to say goodbye to Hawaii, but it wasn’t all bad. When we landed at 2 p.m. in Cincinnati we had four hours before FOX was live on air to announce where we’d be playing in our bowl game.

The destination: Miami, Florida, and the 75th Orange Bowl.

Seriously, could the month of December be any better than this?

So we went from Jimmy Buffet to Will Smith, but no matter what your musical tastes, I think you’d find it hard to say that you don’t envy my month of December in 2008.

On Christmas Day I embarked on journey to Miami with all the other guys I worked with and equipment folks as well as our student trainers. While the 20 hours on a bus wasn’t exactly my idea of fun, when I got out of the bus in front of the Fontainbleau Hotel (yes, that Fontainbleau Hotel) I was in the city I had always dreamed of visiting.

When we weren’t working on practice my co-workers and I had an opportunity to dip our toes in the Atlantic Ocean. We literally dipped our toes in both oceans in less than a month. I stood in warm sand at the end of the month of December and simply stated, “Isn’t this awesome?”

As a Florida Marlins fan, I have watched the Fish for years on TV from here in Cincinnati, but nothing prepared me for walking on the field at Joe Robbe Stadium, a place that I daydreamed of playing at when I was a kid (and long before I realized I’d never ever make it as a baseball star).

I got to sit in the Marlins dugout. I got to see the outfield wall that the Marlins post their “World Series Champions” banners on during the baseball season. I was giddy. This was pretty flippin’ cool.

In fact, the entire month of December 2008 was pretty flippin’ cool.
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I hope you enjoyed moment number seven. What fun month it was too. Tomorrow I’ll give you moment No. 6 and a little update on something I brought up about six weeks ago. If you’ve missed any of the top ten countdown, check the links below for the run down:
No. 10- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-days-until-graduation.html
No. 9- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/nine-days-until-graduation.html
No. 8- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/eight-days-until-graduation.html