The Big Schlep

So our beloved Canes were playing a game in the new FAU stadium in Boca...seemed like a natural to go up there, tailgate, enjoy the game. Dr. Eric and Dana scored some tickets from FAU -- turned out it was the biggest thing in Palm Beach County, well, ever...Over 30,000 people attended -- largest crowd for any sporting event in PB's history, and the tickets got expensive. Well...Mirta and I flew up to Boca in my little Caddy, and met at Eric's house. Barry and his wife and remaining if Florida boy were running behind, so we decided to leave. Norman, our usual tailgate man, had decided to pre game it at a local Italian place. Norman made the right choice. It took nearly two hours to crawl from the West Boca house to the stadium! I've been to plenty of 100K games in Knoxville, Gainesville, etc... and this was the WORST. The Palm Beach County sherrif's deputies looked truly clueless -- no one knew where to direct anyone, and when they did, they circled us around the stadium, past empty lots. It was clownish. Miami Dade is used to hosting Super Bowls, tennis championships, Art Basel, and many other huge events. Apparently South Palm Beach isn't -- those morons can't handle a small football crowd... Eric was seething -- he planned the tailgate, and no one could get to it. Barry was stuck in his car over TWO hours...we actually saw him passing as we approached the stadium, and Mirta ran to him...Donna and Josh jumped out, looking like they had just driven in from Gainesville, instead of Pembroke Pines. We all longed for the crowd handling abilities of Joe Robbie Stadium, and the Orange Bowl...this will be our last trip to the FAU campus, we all agreed. The stadium was essentially a top of the line high school job. The concessions were out of drinks and food before the game started. I went up to a young, supervisor looking AD guy in a FAU shirt, and vented to him that I had seen college football all over the country, and that the FAU experience was by far the worst. He smiled, and listened, and said "Look, I went to UF, and this place was the only job I could get. You're right -- it's bush league, and always will be." I appreciated his honesty. The Canes were so clearly superior to the Owls, but didn't play that way. We ended up winning by 24 points, and yet all of us felt crappy -- our coaching is on a par with Palm Beach County's crowd control -- no one knows what the hell they're doing. We host Nebraska next week, and all of us expect to get walloped. The only good news is we're all tired of Al Golden -- he recruits well, but coaches poorly. After another mediocre season, he'll get fired, and maybe the Canes can rise again. Barry and his crew left in the third quarter, and Eric and his in the 4th. Since the crowd was thinning, Mirta and I figured we'd stay until the bitter end. We did, and sure enough, it was STILL a hassle to leave -- they had blocked off lanes for no reason, and the remaining few hundred cars had to squeeze into a single exit onto Glades Road. It was really as though Boca was saying "Stay the hell away from us." I take the hint. I plan to.