Spotting Matthew McConaughey at a Texas game is like playing ‘Where’s Waldo?’
Georgia football serves up feast in press box before a November home game.
Lee Corso enjoys a memorable hotdog after final ‘College GameDay’ appearance at Ohio State.
There comes a time in every sportswriter’s life when you realize life on the road is not all it’s cracked up to be.
For me, that time occurred several years ago.
After covering a night game at The Swamp and filing a couple of columns from the press box, I returned to my hotel in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, around 3 a.m.
As I entered the hotel room, I realized I was not alone.
A cockroach juicy enough to feed a family of four was waiting for me inside.
He was quick. I was quicker. RIP.
Anyway, I’m pleased to report I made it through this college football season without spotting any hotel room roaches, although I did smash a roach in an SEC press box after it fell from the ceiling and landed atop my work station.
The speedy critter probably could’ve written a better lede than I did that day, but I didn’t give him the chance. Splat! He didn’t make it to kickoff.
Other than a handful of flight delays, my top life-on-the-road complication occurred in Atlanta, where I got sealed out of my hotel room after the SEC championship game. With the door malfunctioning and my possessions trapped inside, a marvelous off-the-clock maintenance man came to my rescue and crowbarred the door open.
Enough about the lowlights, though. Here are my superlatives from my season’s travels that took me to 15 college football games:
Best game day atmosphere
Kyle Field is a college football mecca. It’s worth visiting on any game day. It’s particularly spectacular on a sunny December morning created for playoff football. As “POWER” played on the sound system and flames shot into the sky from the pyro machines, the Aggies ran out of the tunnel behind the south end zone, and the stadium shook.
As I wrote that day: The scene at Kyle Field set a high bar for heaven to clear.
Best pregame sight
Ohio State pregame beer die.
While creeping along the skinny streets toward Ohio Stadium, I soaked up scenes of tailgaters enjoying morning beverages on a gorgeous Week 1 Saturday in Columbus before Texas visited Ohio State. College football was back, and so were cold ones on game day.
As revelers played beer die games on front lawns, it gave me great hope for the future of our country when I saw several college-age students hoist a die high into the air, before it went splish-splash into a plastic cup. Drink!
I would’ve loved to have stopped and played a game, but duty called.
Best Friday hike
Natchez Trace delivers tranquility.
The day before a game, I try to find a scenic hike or walking trail in or around the city where I’m staying. Getting a few miles in on Friday makes me feel ever so slightly better about the calories I’ll pile up in the press box the next day.
One of my favorites to hit on a fall Friday is the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, just north of Tupelo, Mississippi. I park at the Chickasaw Village Site and set out from there. I logged more than three miles on a September visit this season, the day before covering LSU-Ole Miss.
Best Friday night out
Pool with Captain Picard.
I found myself in Austin on Halloween on a Friday night before covering Vanderbilt-Texas the next day.
I’m not a huge Halloween guy, and I didn’t pack a costume, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Austin in action.
I wanted nothing to do with Sixth Street on Halloween, so after enjoying some enchiladas for dinner at El Alma, just south of the Colorado River, I ventured to Frazier’s Long & Low for a beer, served by a bartender dressed as Poison Ivy. A man dressed as Captain Picard from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ grabbed the barstool next to me and invited me to join him for a game of 8-ball.
We teamed up against another duo. I didn’t let down Captain Picard and sank a few shots. We smoothly cleared our balls off the table without too much trouble, but we failed to pocket the 8-ball, and our opponents stole the victory.
Runner-up finish: A stop at the Blue Canoe in Tupelo is mandatory when covering a Mississippi game. I paid my respects and enjoyed a burger and a brew the night before covering LSU-Ole Miss. As a band’s live music filled the establishment, I watched on TV while Virginia fans stormed the field following a Friday night overtime win against Florida State.
Best press box meal
Georgia serves a feast.
Georgia did it up right for its pregame press box meal before a mid-November game against Texas. The menu that night included roasted turkey with gravy, the best stuffing I’ve ever had, macaroni and cheese and green beans. Facing some tough caloric decisions, I skipped the Hawaiian roll, but I won’t deny grabbing a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert.
Some might say the pregame meal outperformed the game.
Brush with celebrity
Alright, alright, alright.
It’s not unusual to see Matthew McConaughey on the sideline before a Texas game, but I also brushed right past him in a hallway while I motored to the Longhorns’ postgame news conference.
McConaughey was graciously posing for a photo with a young Texas fan celebrating his birthday.
The birthday boy did not ask for a picture with me.
Strange but cool press box sighting
A legend enjoys a dog.
Lee Corso made his final “College GameDay” appearance before Texas-Ohio State, then made a stop at the press box, where I watched him eat a hot dog, including the bun, with a knife and fork. Respect.
As Costanza would say: How do you eat it? With your hands?
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.