Number One

Hello, cyber friends - how are you this morning? We're wet here in Central Texas but, except for the massive flooding a little farther south, we needed the rain. Perhaps our garage door will decide to close on its own once the soil has a little moisture? :-)

I'll continue with our little foray into Bear Country last Saturday. To be fair, our football fun began on Friday evening at the Midway High School game. It was Friday Night Lights at its finest, y'all, and tickled me to no end. We got the "W"  and I learned that there is rhinestone jewelry to coordinate with the school t-shirt. Clearly it was a beautiful evening.

My man actually watched the game (instead of perusing jewelry) and had already scouted the team before we arrived. He promptly announced that he really wanted to "see Beau Blackshear play" and I looked at him all crooked because I had no idea who Beau was although I do remember from several years back that "Bo Knows."

Anyway, turns out that Beau is a nose tackle or guard or something on the defense and he's a Baylor commit - so three cheers for Mr. Blackshear, friends!

That's him in the red shirt on the sidelines at the game. On a side note, we also saw Beau on Monday morning as we enjoyed breakfast burritos at a local restaurant, Leal's. And although it does look as though we're stalking him since we show up everywhere he is, I can assure you that we are not.

Anyway, we enjoyed the newest Baylor tradition - March of the Bears - a great deal and it was fun to see the players a bit overwhelmed (in a good way) at the number of fans welcoming them to the stadium. 

As a former BUGWB'er (color guard) I always have to take a pic of the band and can I just say repenting over my coveting of their snazzy new polos was in order as my eyes were green for approximately 6.34 minutes.

Of course, there was so much excitement going on that I couldn't dwell on that because next thing I knew, Judge Ken Starr was leading the Baylor Line out onto the field. He jogged the entire way, friends, and this girl who does not run unless being chased was quite impressed.

Then it was time for the Class of 2014 to take the field and they most definitely did not disappoint. 

There are quite a few of them. You know, since they're the largest freshman class at Baylor EVER!

They raised their Bear paws while I took random photos and welcomed the team to the field. We also had the pleasure of hearing the debut of David Crowder's newest song, "Rise Up," which was inspired by the Baylor Bears. You know he's a BU alum, right? :-)

The song was amazing as was the return of Taylor's favorite football player - Robert Griffin III.

He was taken from us much too soon last season after suffering an ACL tear during a game played against a team from Louisiana. That entire scenario was almost more than my little heart could bear but he has shown amazing heart and love for the Lord during his recovery. I could learn a lot from him about how to handle adversity, to be quite honest.

There was a fair amount of scoring (by the home team) in this game so we got to yell, cheer and jump around quite a bit.

It was de-lightful.

The men's 2010 Elite Eight basketball team received their NCAA rings and that was an awesome moment. They had a phenomenal run last year and made us all very proud. Of course, that run also raised my blood pressure by approximately 72 points but it was worth it.

During the fourth quarter (when the game was well in hand and the younger players were getting a shot at Sam Houston State) I looked on the sideline and audibly gasped. Why, you ask?

Well, I spotted the guy above in the black shirt. That would be second overall pick from the 2009 NFL draft - Jason Smith!!!

He was back to cheer the team to victory and allow random women in their early 30s to take photos for their blog.

Then I looked down in our section and spotted Mamadou Diene - a former basketball phenom for the Bears. It was like I had won the lottery, friends, without even wasting a dollar.

Then something beautiful happened, y'all. I glanced at the sidelines once again and realized what I was actually witnessing was a trifecta of Baylor Legends because the fella in the gray shirt and white shorts is none other than J.D. Walton.

Walton may well go down in history as being the best center to ever play at Baylor. He's one of the newest members of the Denver Broncos and I've heard a rumor that he may be starting as the original starter seems to have torn up his knee.

And as if my heart needed anymore excitement before threatening to explode, I looked over and saw the cutest Bear ear model ever. She makes my heart sing...

It was a wonderful evening and, quite frankly, I believe that temps in the mid-80s for the season opener is God's way of letting us know that He's shining on our season and that we will not experience heartbreak comparable to last season's.

See that? That would be Judge Starr leading everyone in singing "That Good Ol' Baylor Line." Oh yes, friends, I believe there is some excitement brewing both on and off of the field for my alma mater and I could not be more excited to witness it.

Amen.