Nervous Anticipation

People don't have to know me well to know that I'm obsessed with my home state. Like most Texans, I am prideful almost to the point of arrogance of where I'm from. I proudly show off my 3 x 5 foot Texas flag in my room, and my "y'all" and occasional Texas drawl are constant reminders to friends and strangers alike that I am as Texan as they come. Yes, my family owns a ranch, rides horses and drives SUVs. And one would think that I also grew up bleeding orange with Longhorns all over the house... that's where they're wrong. I was lucky enough to be born into a family of Horned Frogs who bled purple instead. And growing up 10 minutes from the TCU campus, I much preferred watching legendary players like LT (LaDainian Tomlinson for those who don't know of him) break records in good ol' Fort Worth rather than people like Vince Young down in Austin. Longhorn fans bugged me, in fact. They always have and they probably always will. There's just something about that burnt orange and white. What's so great about it? Sure, you have some national titles under your belt and your school is named The University of Texas, but does that really make you that much better than everyone else? Despite my annoyance for all things UT, I learned to keep my mouth shut. Some of my closest friends now call themselves Longhorns, so I just sit back and let them bask in their glory. And that's exactly what they do.

"Hook 'em Horns"..."Texas is number 1!"..."Number 1 feels good"... All are common thoughts this week of my Longhorn friends (according to their Facebook statuses).

So... that brings me to this weekend. The Tigers have the potential to make it an incredible game. Both teams are very talented, and I think this is Chase's opportunity to show UT what they missed out on (but lucky for us they did). I would like more than anything to watch all of my friends down in Austin have to put their foot in their mouth after there's been so much hype about their #1 position. 

Unfortunately, I won't be going home to watch the big game; I'll be cheering on the Tigers from St. Louis (an opportunity to see America's Team up close and personal prevents me from going back to the Lone Star state). But the anticipation just keeps building as we get closer to gameday. I have full faith that the Tigers are capable, but the real question is will they prove their capabilities? My fingers are crossed, and I'm sure those of every other Mizzou fan are crossed, too. Tigers, take the game by the horns and get what you deserve: a win.