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On The Road With The Soul in Georgia

By Dont-Have-A-Cow-Man Part 1. Pre-game show

Because we had nothing better to do, 5-O and I decided to drive down to Atlanta for the SOUL game this weekend. Note the key word here is DRIVE (as opposed to Fly). Mapquest said it would take 12 hours and 57 minutes and we pulled into the Hotel in exactly 12 hours and 57 minutes. We probably could have made it much quicker but "Grandma Cow" as 5-O affectionately referred to me regarding my driving would not go faster than 75 mph. I am happy to report we did not get any tickets driving down. It was a long drive but having 5-O as a co-pilot made the trip seem like it much shorter. The strange thing is that no matter who I told from the SOUL about the drive - as soon as I mentioned I was with 5-O, they felt pity for me and said the 13 hour trip must have seemed like it was 24 hours long.

The hotel was in a great location. It was walking distance to the Philips Arena (read: We could stumble home from the game). It was also located adjacent to the Olympic Park which was the site of the tragic 1996 bombing which killed 1 person and injured several others. It was a bit eerie to see the exact location of the explosion. There is now a very beautiful fountain there. Overall, the park is spectacular, especially when it is all lit up and night. We checked in and in 5-O fashion, headed straight to the bar. No surprises there. Well, there is one surprise - we did not stop at any gentlemens clubs on the way down. We had a bite to eat and just kind of chilled out. I think we both felt a bit lonely having none of the SOULMATES there. We bumped into Rob M and Connell M which was cool for me since I had never met Connell before. Both were super cordial and talked a lot about the preparation for the game. It was obvious, the team did their homework and were ready for the Force. Both seemed very confident we would win. Back at the bar, I watched in astonishment as a total stranger felt obligated to show 5-O her nipples even though her husband was close by (to prove it was cold out). I thought it was an anomaly but the same thing happened the next day with a different woman. He still wont tell me how he gets them to do that. Back in the room, 5-O was treated to a symphony of beautiful music from the room next door. Apparently the headboard of the bed was right up against the wall by his bed. Fortunately for 5-O (and unfortunately for the girl) the banging only lasted a few minutes.

Saturday morning was more of the same bumping into the guys here and there. So there I am sitting having breakfast and who is at the next table over? Eddie Moten and Reggie Doster. I know Reps would have had a field day but I said hello and told Reggie how much I liked the play he made in New York when he caught the shuttle pass from Connell for a TD. I asked Eddie if knew how proud his brother was of him and that he posts on the SOUL message board occasionally.

Being in Atlanta and expecting good weather, I had planned on spending the day at the pool. The forecast called for sunshine in the morning, followed by clouds, followed by rain. I knew I had to get out early and I did. The sun was shining bright and I was ready to go. (5-O passed on the pool). I packed up my cooler and headed out. I laid down on my chair and within 5 minutes (no exageration) it began to cloud up. I had to nix that idea. It is a good thing too because 5 minutes after it began to get cloudy, the skies opened up. To rub salt on the wound, I called home and found out it was 75 and sunny.

It is almost game time. The guys really seem confident. They seem well rested, well prepared and focused. I think they want this win and they want it bad. If my feelings are correct, we will dominate the Force and capitalize on their mistakes. Even though the game is supposedly almost sold out, we were able to get tickets a few rows up from the SOUL bench. A special thanks goes out to the guy in the Force ticket office who helped make the possible.

Right here, right now, I am making a bold prediction.

I predict the Georgia Force Cheerleaders will pale in comparison to the SOULMATES (in both looks and talent). We miss you ladies. Wish you were here.

But more importantly, I also predict a SOUL victory

Time to Win!

Part 2: Time To Win!

I am happy to report both of my predictions were accurate. It certainly makes writing Part 2 much easier. It is Sunday morning about 10:00 in the morning and we are driving home (Do not worry, 5-O is driving). We left Atlanta about a half hour ago and should get into Philadelphia somewhere around 10:30 tonight. My only request to 5-O today is that we stop in South Carolina so I can pick up some fireworks. I have never been down south and always wanted to do that. It is going to be a long day but the big win makes the ride a bit easier. I am going to write Part 2 in sections to make it easier to read. But to do this right we have to go back to Saturday afternoon. The game and the victory are still ahead of us. (Imagine dreamy music and the screen fades back in time.)

Thunderbuckets:
The Force Fan website made such a big deal about these things and made it sound like every single fan in the place was going to have one of these. I assumed the place would be so loud the SOUL players would not even be able to hear themselves talking. I bumped into Coach Munsey in the lobby and asked him if he had heard anything about these Thunder Buckets and wanted to warn him in case it was a distraction to the team. He thanked me for the warning and agreed to buy us a drink if this little tip helped the SOUL win the game. Well, let's be honest here. The SOUL won the game but I doubt if my little warning had anything to do with it since there were probably less than 8,000 actual fans in the place and there were maybe 3 or 4 "thunder buckets" total in the entire stadium (including mine). However, after the game a lot of the guys on the team told me they heard me banging on my bucket whenever Georgia had the ball. In fact, after the game, a few of the guys were calling it the Lucky Bucket.

Hoovermania: Can you believe we met Hoovermania? Here's how it happened. We are at the hotel just chilling out. Actually, 5-O is chilling out. I am already showered, dressed and ready to head over to the arena even though the game is a few hours away. Of course, I have no trouble occupying myself. I decide I have to make myself my very own Thunder Bucket (see above). Why? I don't know. Why not? So I walk over to corner deli (5-O comes with and gets a sandwich) and convince the guy behind the counter to give me (actually, he sells me) a big 5-gallon pickle bucket. I am halfway there. Now all I need is something to bang on it with. To make a long story short, there I am walking around the lobby with my two "drumsticks" which were more like 2 by 2's and looked like large nun-chucks. As I am walking through the lobby on my way back to the room I see these kids wearing SOUL stuff and give them a high five and say hi. Heck, I am in Atlanta and I am excited to see other SOUL fans. I figured they were here with their parents and asked them where mommy and daddy were. They point to a chair and I go over to say Hi to their dad. We chat for a while about the SOUL and it isn't long before the topic of conversations turns to the SOUL message board and he asks me if I ever read it or post on it. I tell him I am Don't-Have-A-Cow-Man and he smiles and asks me to guess who he is. I had no idea so I made a few guesses (all wrong) and I ask him to tell me. He looks at the 2 by 2's I am holding and says he can't tell me or I might whack him with the sticks. So now I am really curious. Finally, he fesses up. Who is it? None other than our friend HOOVERMANIA. I was shocked. He told me him and Bret have been friends forever and he loves coming on the board to bust on us. The Hoovermania mystery is finally solved. I went to the room and brought 5-O down to meet him. Now if only I would have remembered to ask him why he only posts in capital letters.

The Tailgaters:
I think the No-Gaters would be a more appropriate name.

At the invitation of a few Force Fans from the Arena Football website, I dragged 5-O over to the Philips Arena a little early to check out the Tailgaters. All we could find was a tent or two with a few people playing cards. Hey, Force Fans, you call that a tailgate?

I suppose that is partially due to the fact that the Arena is located in Downtown Atlanta and there isn't really the parking availability that we have at the Center but there is a parking lot that is designated "Tailgating" so I would have thought there would be more going on.

The Philips Arena: This was probably one of the most impressive arenas I have ever been too.
The seats were big and padded and very comfortable.

Each seat had its own cup holder and there were loads of suites in the place.

The concourse was probably 2 or 3 times wider than the center and there were multiple restaurants and each one served something different.

Furthermore, the restaurants were side by side the entire way around the concourse. It was not like every concession stand served the same thing and they are spread out one every three sections like the Center.

In addition, the concourse is filled with tables so you can sit down and eat while still watching the game on the hundreds of TV's that are located there.

There were also several large screens that allowed you to text whatever message you wanted to a number from your cell phone and moments later, it appeared on the big screen for everyone to see.

At one point during the game, the text messages were appearing on the scoreboard in the arena as well.

I sent "Go SOUL. Time to win!" and about a minute later it appeared on the screen. We wondered if they censored the messages before they appeared on the screen. 5-O tested the theory.





His message never appeared.

The Fans:
Everyone said the place would be empty but when we were trying to buy our tickets, only singles were available so I thought this game would be different. Here I thought the place would be filled with loud, screaming, Thunder Bucket banging fans. Boy was I wrong. The place was almost half empty and I didn't hear more than 3 or 4 buckets in the entire arena. However, I will say this. There may not have been a packed house, but the fans that did show up really rocked the house. They were real fans. They were loud and proud and at least the few I talked to seemed to not only know their own team but also many of the SOUL players. They were overall very cool and I especially want to give props to the Force fan sitting behind me who went above and beyond the call of duty. At one point during the game the sky opened up and these little tiny stuffed Chick-Fil-A cows started falling from the ceiling with little parachutes. I was able to grab one (for my son) and if any of you have 2 kids you know you can't go home with one of anything so I tried for another. I almost got it but the guy sitting behind me reached out and got it. I told him my dilemma and he was quick to give it to me. I thought that was amazing especially since I was a SOUL fan (you know, the enemy) and I appreciate it. In fact, most of the Force fans were pretty cool. They even took their loss graciously (except for the few that were cursing out their team and a few of their own specific players).

SOUL FANS:
There were nowhere as many SOUL fans at the game as there were at the New York game but I was surprised at how many did show up. Some were from Atlanta or nearby but there were also quite a few that drove down like we did. There was one couple sitting a few rows behind us with their 2 young kids. After the game, I spoke to them for a few minutes. The mom told me they had left their house 4:30 am the morning of the game and had only arrived a few hours before the game had started. She then went on to tell me how Mike Brown had totally made her day and the entire trip worthwhile for her and her entire family. She told me that Mike Brown was her sons' favorite player and right before the game, Mike went up to her son and said hello and gave him a big hug. Mom went on to explain how Mike made it a point to tell the young fan how happy he was that he made the trip to cheer the SOUL on. I thought that was so cool. It made me even more proud to be a SOUL fan.

Our Seats:
We had great seats that were not only 2 rows behind the SOUL bench but they were also at the end of the row up against the tunnel. They were perfect. The TV camera spent a lot of time on the guy a few seats away from us (some guy named Jaworski) but for some reason, 5-O and I didn't seem to command as much airtime.

The Game:
We won. Holy Cow! We are going to the playoffs. We even spotted our opponents the obligatory SOUL 13 point lead just to make it interesting and still won. There isn't really much more that needs to be said. It was a beautiful thing to watch in person and I am so glad we made the trip.

After the game - Back at the hotel:
There were a lot of happy people back at the hotel after the game. The guys started trickling downstairs about 10:45. 5-O knows most of these guys but I had only met a few of the guys so for me this was a real treat to get to meet the guys in person. I was so excited and I wanted to get a picture with as many as I could and since 5-O had a camera, I designated him my photographer. I felt kind of funny running around asking everyone if they would pose for a "victory picture" but each and every person I asked was so cool about it. Not only were they more than happy to take a picture with me, they went out of their way to thank 5-O and I for making the trip. They really made us feel special. I would like to personally thank Cecil Caldwell, Sean Scott, Mike Brown, Dan Koons, Wes Ours, Mike Mabry, Donny Klein, J.J. McKelvey, Chad Dukes, Raheem Orr, Ernest Allen, Dwayne Missouri, Todd France, Jaws and Coach Munsey for not only letting me take pictures with them but for making us feel like we were part of the win. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic day.

The Message Board:
I learned something on this trip about the message board. For every person that posts on it, there are probably a hundred who read it but don't post. You can be sure at least some of the players read it, as well as their wives, girlfriends, moms and dads. If the coach, Jaws and JBJ don't read it, you can be sure someone in their family does. There were several times when a total stranger would come up to me and tell me they heard I was "Don't-Have-A-Cow-Man" from the message board and they wanted to meet me. A few of them were fellow posters but most were just people that read the board but didn't post. Wildflower, BamaSoul, and Hoovermania were just a few of the folks we met. But the thing that blew me away the most was when I walked up to Ernest Allen and we started talking. Once he found out I was DHACM, he stood up, grabbed my hand and said how great it was to meet me. Apparently his wife reads the board all the time and she told him if he ever met me to say "Hello" from her. He actually made me feel like I was the celebrity rather than the other way around. Well, Mrs. Allen, if you read this, thank you for the kind words and I want you to know, I am a big fan of #91, Ernest Allen.

Go SOUL.

Editors note: Cow did get his fireworks