In between our stops in Quartzsite we made a detour to Tempe to visit my friend Kevin and enjoy a long weekend of sports. The main reason we wanted to be in the Phoenix area was that the BCS National Championship game between Oregon and Auburn was going down in Glendale. Since we had previously tailgated in Eugene on our trip we felt in necessary to see them through to the end (plus we already had Oregon swag).

The timing also worked out that the Sunday before the bowl game my hometown Chiefs made the playoffs for the first in 5 years and Kansas basketball was playing Michigan back to back on CBS. So we left our NuRVer friends early Sunday morning for some quality sports bar time.

When we arrived in Tempe my buddy and his girlfriend, Molly, took us to Four Peaks brewery to imbibe and watch the Chiefs. Unfortunately, the Chiefs played as well as the wait staff served and were blown out by the Ravens. The beer was alright as Maria and I sampled a Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale and their Stout with mixed reviews.

We changed venues for the KU game which had a better result even though Michigan made it a much closer game than it should have been. Kansas won 67-60.

When Monday came around we were able to convince Kevin that he only needed to half day at work and the rest of the day should be spent tailgating with us at the BCS Championship game. We loaded up a cooler full of beer and Jimmy John’s sammys and headed to Glendale.

It was a beautiful day and we were found a good Oregon section to mull around. Some highlights included…

We met other Oregon "fans" that weren't going to the game.

Custom built Duck-mobile decided to park right in front of us.

A little pre-game Four Square action. It was serious.

We tailgated in front of this yellow car and pretended like it was ours. Once the real owners came back Maria still pretended like it was her car.

This tailgating accessory was super cool!! Two solar panels powered 4 12V batteries and a complete sound system. It all slides into place and packs into the plastic trailer underneath, branded with Oregon nonetheless. I want one! KU branded of course!

Once the game was getting ready to start, Kevin, Maria, and I headed over to an outdoor courtyard that was showing the game on a huge screen. While I wish that Oregon could have pulled off the win, it was great game that came down to the final play. What more could you ask for?

Share on Facebook

Even though Maria persistently states that she is not a Chiefs fan we thought it would be fun to hit up a Chiefs game while we are on the West Coast. A month prior, we had considered going to a game when they were playing in Oakland, but the timing didn’t work out and Raider fans have a certain reputation we didn’t want to validate in person.

Turns out we already had plans to head San Diego the weekend that the Chargers were playing KC. Maria found an RV parking pass on Craigslist and we were set. We always like to share to joy, so we assembled a crew of Kansans and headed out to stadium bright and early at 7:45 am.

While I have been to several Chiefs games I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed the RV section at Arrowhead, but Qualcomm stadium definitely had a large section set aside for recreational vehicles.

Some pregame activities included:

Observing the passionate fans

RV Alley Beer Pong

Checked out the VIP Limo at the end of our row. Maybe next year.

Reppin' the Red in enemy territory.

The game itself was a disappointing showing as Kansas City’s starting quarterback was out because of an emergency appendecomy, and his back-up looked utterly clueless. The Charger’s scored first, last and everything in between as the Chiefs were shut out 31-0.

But the party doesn’t end when the game does. The RV section continues until about 4 hours after the teams have left. We couldn’t have left earlier if wanted too, as Stanley was pretty snuggly fit in between our neighbors. So we broke out the washers game and observed more fans like this one…

Charger bolts on elbows and name in Chargers font tattooed on back. Check.

All in all it was beautiful day for football and friends.

Share on Facebook

Ahhh Vegas, what better place to watch some non-conference Jayhawk basketball action. The Las Vegas Invitational is an odd-ball event in that there were eight teams, but competing for two separate tournaments. Kansas was scheduled to play Ohio and Arizona regardless of the outcome of the other games, so we knew there would be at least one good game.

Friday’s game against Ohio found us parking Stanley in an external construction lot at the Orleans where we had some pregame food and drinks before we headed into the Arena. Along with Maria and myself were our friends Mike, Andie, Carlos, Jenn and Jimbo.

The first thing that struck me entering the arena was the pure number of Jayhawk fans that were rolling in. For some reason I thought KU would have this small section section in the corner. I was way off as Kansas blue filled the arena, and I would say it was 95% Jayhawk fans to 5% for Ohio. The crowd definitely made the team feel at home as they got out to an early lead and never looked back.

The second game against Arizona was easily the more anticipated match-up as the last several meetings a between these two programs have created thrilling games that go down to the wire. The great match-up ensured that it would be shown on ESPN and Maria was determined to get on TV. So we put together some “clever” signs and headed in to the arena.

This time the crowd had about a 9 to 1 ratio of Kansas to Arizona fans, which became apparent as any chant the Wildcats tried to start was quickly overcome by an arena shaking KU cheer. The Jayhawks fed off the crowd energy and took an early lead. Arizona wouldn’t go away and kept it interesting in to the final 4 four minutes when two things happened:

The first being Maria’s sign toting efforts were finally paid off and she got some air time

The second being a nervous tension in the crowd as all the fans who bet on the games 9 point spread were jerked back in forth as the the point difference teetered between 8 and 10. Ultimately an uncontested lay-up by Arizona put the difference at 8 causing many Hawks to lose (sorry Mike).

The Orleans was able to keep a lot of the Jayhawk fans at their resort by handing out free drink coupons and the bar tenders even went the extra mile and were all wearing KU gear. After the free drinks were exhausted, Maria corralled a group of friends and convinced them to pile in Stanley and head over to the RIO. This was easily the most people we have had in Stanley. Luckily the Rio was only a mile away.

Overall it was a great way to spend Thanksgiving weekend, and I couldn’t be more Thankful for the opportunities this trip has brought and the good friends that were able to share this experience with us.

Share on Facebook