Tiger Cheers!

A couple of Mizzou students, Shauna Fredrickson and Caitlin Garing, found all kinds of different Tiger cheers and put this together for your enjoyment:

This video is courtesy of MyMissourian

HOORAY Road Trip Bloggers

Tyler and Charlie just went live on KOMU News at 10 -- Congrats guys. You look and sound exhausted. Hopefully they'll get a shower and enjoy the excitement out on the Riverwalk tonight.

Update from the crew

I just had a chat with Charlie Hannema - The entire team of road trippers are in San Antonio and made it to the live location: The Riverwalk.

Here's the scoop. Apparently they are dealing with a classic case of "Road Trip Fatigue." While Charlie and Tyler go live during KOMU News at 10, Vanessa and Caroline went to the hotel to charge up the computer and take a shower. Why is that important? Well, Charlie made a point in telling me that they are all kind of stinky. The previous night's (or morning's) sleep in a frat house didn't give them a chance for a shower. That may make for an interesting live interview tonight.

Charlie tells me that the computer's battery ran out, his phone is almost out of battery power and he thinks his car may be in the same boat. BUT they are there after feeling very lost in the San Antonio dark.

Hopefully the crew will be able to get back online tonight so everyone can chat with them and get a few more peeks into their day.

Darn batteries

I just text messaged the road trip crew -- They disappeared because the darn computer battery wouldn't charge -- even though I gave them a car charger. RATS!

They're on their way to the KOMU live location in San Antonio to use some power there! Plus, you'll have a chance to see our team live during KOMU News at 10.

Backseat Blogging

Hey everyone, now that the boys have forfeited their blogging positions to get a little rest, it's my turn to blog!
I've been enjoying the ultimate road trip from the backseat, taking in the landscapes of Oklahoma and Texas. Riding as a backseat passenger isn't so bad with a full Internet connection. Our blog posts and having the ability to chat with all of you has kept us busy and entertained. Have we explained to you exactly how we're able to blog from the backseat of a car?
Here's how it works: We're using Charlie's new MacBook with a wireless Internet card. The wireless card has a CD software which we installed and now we can pick up an Internet connection from anywhere, yes even the middle of nowhere Texas. We're also fully equipped with a Nikon still photo digital camera, which KOMU's Caroline Gable has been using to capture our favorite moments, and a Panasonic digital video recorder. Jen Reeves, who is hanging back at the station, has been very helpful getting us all set up and showing us how to use this amazing technology. Blogging definitely beats those backseat rides in the old family minivan!
Looks like Jen thought we were disconnected for a while in rural Marlin, Texas, but we were actually stopping to dig up a little Missouri Tiger history and taste the finest BBQ Marlin has to offer. Check our next blog for a full explanation of what we did and saw... and ate in Marlin.
Right now we're about 3 hours from San Antonio, we'll have more updates for you soon.
-Vanessa

The Team Is On Its Way

Here are pictures of the team leaving from the Columbia Airport:

Road Trip Update

The wireless card that's keeping our blog team online isn't working really well in rural Texas. At the last update, they werre in Marlin, TX.

Behind the Scenes: The Alamo

Our morning crew had a great opportunity to broadcast live from The Alamo... It included history lessons, burritos and mariachi music!

Behind the Scenes: Riverwalk

Managing Editor Randy Reeves caught these moments (and scenic views) from their live location yesterday on San Antonio's Riverwalk.

Waiting for the team

Check out all kinds of extra KOMU video from the Pep Rally HERE. We also have a couple of crews waiting to see the team leave for San Antonio from the airport. I'll post some pictures really soon. I also just got a bunch of photos from our San Antonio crew from last night's newscasts and this morning's AMAZING morning show from The Alamo.

We just got a call here in the KOMU newsroom where a viewer called us from the road. He wanted to let us know that he saw one of our station vehicles on the way to San Antonio... And made sure we knew they were driving responsibly! That's a call you don't usually hear!

I may not be able to be in San Antonio, but we're having fun covering the Missouri excitement from here.

A Short Stay in the Big D

As I mentioned last night, the road trip crew stayed the night on the campus of SMU. We arrived at roughly 2:30 am, but the Sigma Chi house was still hopping. The boys were just coming in from a night in the city, so we certainly came at a great hour to get the feel of the house. The guys at Sigma Chi were more hospitable than we could have asked for. Sure, the hallways were a little messy, but it’s college. A special shout-out to Christmas decorator extraordinaire, Wes Gable, who cleaned up and let us take over his room for the night. Thanks again, buddy. Our night was, in the words of Caroline Gable, “Frat-tastic.”

--TP

Tiger Fans Big Story in USA Today

It’s safe to say the Missouri Tigers have flown under the radar most of the season. Before last week, none of the so-called college football “experts” thought Mizzou had a chance to play for the national title. The experts and Vegas odds-makers favoring the Sooners in the Big 12 Championship hasn’t deterred Tiger fans. The USA Today highlighted YOU today…yes, YOU Tiger fans! The author asked running back Tony Temple what the school’s identity was. Is MU a basketball school, football school or has the lack of championships in either sport left it as a journalism school? Here is Tony’s response:

"When we came here, we knew Missouri was known as a basketball school, but we're trying to change that. Our school is known for Brad, Sheryl and journalism. But, it might be a football school one day."

I’d have to say that day has arrived. Look around Columbia and see the school spirit, look at how fans traveled to KC and how many fans will be in San Antonio. I have a hunch there will be even more in New Orleans…but we’ll have to see.

--TP

Ultimate Road Trip Playlist - Lauren Whitney

Now with four hours of sleep under our belts, we're ready for the remaining 250 miles of road between Dallas and San Antonio. We had an interesting night at SMU to say the least...more on that later. For now, we're grabbing some coffee and grub before hitting the road. Let's crank up some tunes from Lauren Whitney's playlist.

Country Grammar - Nelly
Fight Tigers! - Marching Mizzou
Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake

This trio of tunes is getting us jacked up this morning. GO TIGERS!

--TP

Long Day, Short Night

24 hours after we hit the ground in San Antonio and we really haven't slowed down. We had a great time on the Riverwalk last night. But, this morning: WOW! We broadcast a huge chunk of KOMU News Today from the front lawn of the Alamo. Yes, that Alamo. But, it gets better. Thanks to the intrepid work of Megan Murphy, we had the best fajita chef in the city show up to cook his signature dish. And... he brought an 11-piece Mariachi band to set the tempo for one of the better cooking segments in KOMU history.  we're back at the Alamo at noon and then we're headed to the dome for tonight's 5:00 and 6:00 newscasts. Look for us back on the Riverwalk tonight.

Whew!

That’s pretty much says it all. An eleven-hour journey from Columbia to Dallas has finally come to a close. Caroline, our road trip photographer, has some connections in the Big D, as her brother, Wes, is a sophomore at SMU. Tonight, we’ll crash at the Sigma Chi fraternity house on campus. A college road trip would not be complete without experiencing another campus…even at 3:00 in the morning. Thanks for staying up with us tonight! We’ll be back on the road bright and early tomorrow as we finish the drive to San Antonio. On tap for tomorrow: more road trip playlists from KOMU anchors, a Texas high school football experience and the River Walk. Please continue to send us your questions, predictions and thoughts about the Big 12 Championship. Feel free to comment after any of our posts or chat with us by using the AIM widget at the top of the page. We love hearing from you! Goodnight (morning) and GO TIGERS! Only 51 hours to kickoff!

--TP

Ultimate Road Trip Playlist - Eric Blumberg

We just crossed into the great state of Texas! Dallas is approaching slowly but surely. We heard the Cowboys scored a big victory tonight over the Packers, so we expect Texans to be in a good mood tonight.

As we cross into Texas, we change our tunes to Dallas native Eric Blumberg’s favorites. Here were his suggestions for the trip.

Guns ‘N Roses
50 Cent
Sports Talk Radio

As is typical with Eric, he is very specific about what he likes. Sports talk radio? Yeah, at 1:00 in the morning, two guys yelling at each other about the BCS is really going to keep us from driving off a bridge. Who’s the kid here, are you kidding me?

--TP

Fun in Norman

How could we pass up a stop in Norman, Oklahoma? We pulled over in Norman to preview the OU offense vs. the MU defense…and to have a little fun. Anyone remember Rhett Bomar? We do. Take a look.

A Change at the Top

Finally, Charlie has taken the wheel. The first 472 miles would have been painful had it not been for great food, great friends and most importantly, hot jams. I think everyone in the car had a chance to grab some shut-eye in the car, except for me of course. But hey, I’m so pumped for the game, I could drive the whole way! The Grand Am is officially past the halfway point on this epic trek to San Antonio. And, for the first time on the trip, we passed another car with a tiger tail hanging out of the trunk! We can’t wait to be reunited with Tiger fans in the Lone Star State. It’s nearly one in the morning and we have a couple of hours to go yet. With plenty of Red Bull in hand, we should be fine.

--TP

Joke-lahoma

Hello from Oklahoma City! We have knocked out 450 miles, with hundreds still to go. We are about to stop in Norman to take a look around at this late hour. One cool thing to point out about Oklahoma City is that two or three of their skyscrapers downtown have huge lit-up crosses on them--similar to the "Go Sox" deal near Fenway Park. I tell you this, because it's probably the first cool thing we've seen in Oklahoma.

Enjoy some jokes below. If you laugh three times, we'll call it a success. By the way, use the chat box at the top of the page to give us some feedback. Were our jokes funny? Do you have a better one? Let us hear it!

A Blogging Slideshow

Our crew uploaded a bunch of pictures from their trip so far. Here's a look: