Six days until graduation

The time is now unbelievably upon us. In less than one week I’ll be able to call myself a graduate of the University of Cincinnati. Until then, I continue the graduation countdown with some moments of unbelievable pride in my school.

Moment 6: “BCS Mania”(December/January 2009 and 2010)

Yesterday I told you of the month of December in 2008, which ended on New Year’s Eve, where I found myself standing on the field that the Florida Marlins, by the strength of Edgar Renteria’s 11th inning hit, won the 1997 World Series on.

From way up in right field, this was my view of the Orange Bowl

I always say that Carrie Underwood was right, “Crazy Dreams do come true.”

Well, that 2008 season led the Cincinnati Bearcats to their first ever BCS Bowl game, a place usually reserved for the biggest names in the sport. I watched the 2006 Orange Bowl that pitted Bobby Bowden and Florida State against Joe Paterno and Penn State just a few years earlier. Cincinnati was not a team that should ever be in a BCS bowl game, but some guy named Brian Kelly was a wizard, and he made it happen.

The Bearcats take the field in Miami. It was certainly an awesome feeling.

Standing in Joe Robbe Stadium that evening was an almost surreal experience. Before we left the hotel that afternoon for the game, myself and my co-workers discussed how we had come to the top of the college football food chain, so to speak, and reached one of the pinnacles of the game.

My how we were wrong.

One year later we found ourselves sitting in the video office with a perfect 12-0 record watching as Colt McCoy scrambled to his right and threw the ball out of bounds in the Big XII title game. No time remained on the clock. We were headed to play in the National Title game.

And then, as you all know, it was deemed that time had not run out, and Texas hit a game-winning field goal to go to the title game, where they lost to Alabama.

Well, we were close at least.

Back to Miami, where although the matchup between Virginia Tech and the UC Bearcats seemed like it would be a close game, nothing ever really clicked for us beyond the first drive. Tony Pike threw four interceptions and we lost 20-7.

Even though we lost, it’s one game that I’ll never forget.

In New Orleans 365 days later things couldn’t have been more different. Kelly had gone to Notre Dame and interim head coach Jeff Quinn was named head man at Buffalo, but he was still around coaching the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl.

That Sugar Bowl will forever be known as the final game for Tim Tebow. And Tebow made the most of it, throwing for 482 yards and three touchdowns. One reporter noted that the game was over by halftime, “30 minutes in which Tebow had already rung up the best statistical outing of his four-year college career.”

Tebow warms up before the Sugar Bowl where he absolutely lit up the UC secondary, leading then-UC defensive coordinator Bob Diaco to cry for mercy at halftime

That game may not have been fun to watch as a UC fan, but I enjoyed watching the team my brother has rooted for his entire life. It was pretty cool to see Albert and Alberta—the Gator mascots—and to hear the Florida band play their “Jaws” theme.

My brother Tony is still jealous when he sees photos like this one

Co-worker Joe Stanek even told me, “Your brother would love this I bet.”

He would have, no doubt, but I loved those two experiences even more. UC’s football program had truly reached the pinnacle of college football, and it was exciting to be wrapped up in those experiences. While we didn’t win either game, it was almost surreal to be at those games. I noted numerous times to friends and family that, “The endzones are painted just like you see them on TV!”

Yeah, I’m a dork. And I love it.

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That was moment No. 6 in the countdown, and tomorrow we check in to the beginning of the top five rundown in the most impactful and important moments in my undergraduate career.

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

No. 7- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-week-until-graduation.html

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