BACK FROM JACKSONVILLE!

It's been a while since the last post but I am now back in the saddle after a few days in Jacksonville and Savannah enjoying some time off. The Gator Bowl was a lot of fun despite my disappointment in the final outcome of the game. My hotel room at the Hyatt overlooked the St. Johns River and was very close to Jacksonville Landing where there was a live band playing after the game and all kinds of festivities in addition to shops, restaurants and bars/clubs. I got to see quite a few of the Clemson players out and about, including Cullen Harper who I photographed riding a mechanical bull.

I also took some photos of a car that pulled up in front of the Hyatt after the game. You may have seen it on the live television broadcast when they showed it in the parking lot at the stadium. The owner is obviously a diehard Clemson Tigers fan but I could not believe all stuff all over it. If you look closely at some of the hundreds of tiger paws on the car, you will see where many Tiger football team members have signed inside of them. Even the interior of the car was customized in orange. I am not sure if this will be a collectors item you'll see at Barrett Jackson anytime soon but it was great entertainment.

The weather, except maybe for some cool winds on the morning of the game, was great. There were Clemson Tigers fans and orange everywhere but a lot of Nebraska fans, too. Every Nebraska fan that I encountered and/or spoke to was extremely nice and were very good sports before, during and after the game. I think they were just happy to be there and supported their football team by chanting "Go big red" a lot. The Jacksonville Jaguars stadium is first class with everything you would expect in an NFL stadium- comfortable seats, cup holders, escalators, a jumbotron on each end of the field, Outback Steakhouse takeout and so on. The one deficiency that I noticed about it was that the concourses are not very wide and therefore the crowds do not flow through well at all. However, the overall experience was fantastic and I would definitely go back again.

I'm looking forward to watching the game again in HD on the wide screen with DVR remote in-hand to get a little better perspective on things than the one I had from my seat. I know the game has been covered seven ways to Sunday by now but I will post a wrap-up of my own tomorrow. I will also be covering how the former Tigers playing in the NFL did in the first round of the playoffs.