BleacherBull

After going to my second bowl game to see the Bulls, I made a new year's resolution to step up and be a better fan and donor than I have been in the past. I ordered season tickets for the first time, along with a Bulls Club donation. However, lately I've been feeling a bit guilty about not supporting the Herd of Thunder in a similar manner. After all, their enthusiam and hard work were a big part of the overall bowl experience for me and I think they merit more support than they have received to date. So, I will now issue a challenge to other BullsPen.com members in a thinly veiled attempt to garner additional monetary support for their fine musical organization. Specifically, I will match all of your new donations to HOT, between now and the end of the month, up to a maximum of one thousand dollars collectively. Please attach your serious pledges to this thread so I'll know how much to forward to them in February (or sooner if your collective total reaches my 1K limit). See the link at the top of this Board and follow their instructions to make your actual donation. Go Bulls! Go HOT! P.S. Please start another thread if you want to discuss things like their past or future musical selections, your reasons for not contributing at this time, or the relative attractiveness of flag team members. Thanks very much!

Whatever happened to that 40,000-seat domed stadium to be funded by a wealthy benefactor? I guess I haven't been paying enough attention to FAU.

Thanks Brett . . . that was some speedy reporting. You must have hidden behind the screen in the exam room. Go Chris! Go Bulls!

Are we the only school to have fought three major gnat species this millennium (black, scarlet, and golden)? Maybe there are others that need exterminating. : An interesting nickname link: http://www.ncaa.org/hall_of_champions/global/nicknames/nickname_list.htm I was surprised by the fairly large number of schools having different nicknames for their male and female teams.

Get to Monticello, FL via either Highway 19 or I-75 N to 1-10 W. Then go N thru Thomasville, Camilla, Albany, Dawson, and Columbus, GA to Opelika, AL via 19, 520, and 280 (it's a straight shot, though the road numbers change). Go W on 1-85 for about 5 miles and you're in Auburn. The total trip takes about 7.5 hours (430 miles from Orlando or 450 from Tampa).

Atlanta is NE of Auburn, B'ham is NW. B'ham to Auburn is 111 miles by the most direct route, which is US280.

to just stand around the first 15 sec of each possession. It's pretty bad when the game announcers start to chuckle about your own futility. But, here's to hoping we pluck the birds on Wed.

The website for Wooly's Hampton Inn is www.hamptoncolumbus.com. What they don't tell you is that a guest was murdered in their parking lot about a month ago in a drive-by isolated incident (they've already caught the young perps). Don't worry though. It's still in a good area. There is also a Holiday Inn Express (under construction nearing completion), a fairly new AmeriSuites (Hyatt chain), and several restaurants within walking distance. This cluster of businesses is known as Northlake Crossing.

I graduated from USF in 1975, and then from Auburn in 1979 and 1981. I have lived and worked in Columbus GA since 1981. Thus, I am probably one of the best posters on this board to answer all your traveling questions for this particular game. BTW, I expect it to be a classic defensive, field position type game where TOs, penalties, and 2-3 big plays have a major role in deciding the ultimate outcome. RTB's choice of the Hilton Garden Inn is a good one. It's on the North side of town in a corporate park environment, within an easy 45-minute drive of Pat Dye field at Jordan-Hare stadium . Though there are zero dining or entertainment options within walking distance, there are lots of options in the Bradley Park Drive area, which is a short drive (1 mile) away. Don't miss eating at Chef Lee's Peking Palace (rated as one of the top 10 chinese restaurants in the nation) if you stay there. Most visiting SEC teams fly their charters into either Columbus or Montgomery and bus over to Auburn. I think the Gators use Columbus. You can fly to Europe cheaper than you can fly to either Columbus, Montgomery, or Auburn from Tampa. So I suggest you drive and stay in Columbus. Flying to Atlanta is an option and I wouldn't be surprised if our Alumni chapter there puts together a bus package to the game. But seriously, getting through the Atlanta airport from Tampa will take you about 5 hours in the TSA world we live in today. Then you will face a two hour drive from Atlanta. The alternative is to just drive the 7 hours to Columbus (420 miles). You do the math. Keep in mind the following: 1. Columbus is EST and Auburn is CST. 2. There are many Auburn grads in Columbus, and they probably outnumber the UGA, Bama, and GT fans combined. 3. My favorite teams are the Bulls, the Tigers, and whoever is playing the Red Elephants (in that order). 4. Auburn has an excellent package of info for visiting teams on their official athletics website (tailgating, parking, etc,). I don't have the link right now, but you can Google around for the 2006 version, which I expect they will update this Summer. 5. As long as you are minimally civil, expect AU fans to be cordial and friendly (this ain't Morgantown or Gainesville or Tampa for that matter-it's just a different culture). Most of the people who get arrested at Auburn games are drunk, old farts-not students). Believe it or not, many AU students will treat the game as a "date", and will dress up for the occasion (especially the Greeks). When I moved from Tampa to Auburn in 1975, it was like I entered a time warp and the year was 1965 (and that's both good and bad). That's enough for now . . . I could go on and on, and probably will as September 15th draws near.

Thanks UABinBHM for all your suggestions over the last two weeks.  I dined at Dreamland, Milo's, and the Fish Market while I was there.  Never thought I would get a sunburn in December.  8-)

Go to www.finebaum.com, see link near bottom of page. Sorry if previously posted.