Tailgate in the Park

Early August in Atlanta, can football be far away?
No, and neither is the Atlanta Track Club's Tailgate 5K at Chastain Park.
Last year a sinkhole on a nearby road, which was part of the course, forced the to be a one-miler. This year we got all 3.1 miles of hills.

Tucker Running Club represents!

Mizzou ready  to run!

I met up with some of the Tucker Running Club crew prior to the race. It was a hot, hilly (and slow, for me) race, but always fun.
Now, Go Tigers! MIZ!

Showing my Tiger stripes

I'm a graduate of the University of Missouri, and a proud Mizzou Tiger.
Living in Atlanta, being a fan of Mizzou sports meant catching the occasional Tiger football or basketball game on ESPN or ABC when they aired, always taking a second seat to ACC and SEC games, since Atlanta is home to teams in both of those conferences.
I'd talk about the Big 12 conference and watch co-workers or, worse, Georgia Bulldog fans, roll their eyes at me.
Well, all that changes on July 1, when Mizzou enters the SEC conference.
I have mixed emotions about the change, but then, when I was going to Mizzou, we were still the Big 8 conference. Then we became the Big 12, and now we're an SEC school.
I hate to admit it, but I am going to miss the rivalry with the Kansas Jayhawks. I'll miss the Border Wars.
But what I am going to enjoy is being able to see my team play games, either in person or on TV with more regularity. The last time I saw a Mizzou game in person I was a senior in college and now I'm planning to drive to the OTHER Columbia, Columbia, S.C., this fall to see the Tigers play the Gamecocks.
And I am completely enjoying that Mizzou officials have been courting the Atlanta alumni base.
I've already seen Mizzou head football Gary Pinkel TWICE in the past month in person.
I met him a few weeks ago at the Coaches Caravan, when he and head basketball coach Frank Haith came and talked with about 150 alums. I got to meet Atlanta Falcon Sean Weatherspoon, who is also a Mizzou grad.
I had a nice chat with Frank Haith, even showing him the silly photo my college roomie Patti and I took on our campus tour last summer.

Parking in Frank Haith's space

Coach Haith laughed at my photo and my belief that the Tigers had a stellar basketball season because Patti and I parked in his spot. He said that sign is actually no longer there. It kept getting stolen. D'Oh! Silly college pranksters. ;)
Coach Pinkel was nice, too. When he introduced himself to me and shook my hand he said. "I'm Gary Pinkel." I replied, "Yes, sir, I know who you are. I'm Lisa."
Coach Pinkel was back in Atlanta on June 6 for a "Welcome to the SEC Party" at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Buckhead. What a party! Alumni from Texas A&M, which is also entering the SEC, were there as well. Hundreds of people showed up, and I'm not sure they thought that many would be there.
Both schools had team merchandise shops set up, and I bought these Tiger ears.

Sporting my new Tiger ears

The photo isn't the best. My iPhone is the 3GS and doesn't have a flash, so in low light I get a photo that looks like this.
And later that night, a fellow Tiger pal and friend said Gary Pinkel had tweeted me and my Tiger ears. What?
I joined twitter just to see what she was talking about. And there I was, in all my Tiger ears glory, looking on as Gary Pinkel rallied the faithful. I'm on the right in the background.

I'm famous!

So, I really did show my Tiger stripes this week!

Be True to Your School

Spent a great weekend in Kansas City visiting my college roommate Patti (she goes by Pat now, and I may be the only one who calls her Patti!)
What made this trip so special was Patti and I drove to Columbia, Mo., back to the University of Missouri, where I had not been since graduating in 1985. What memories it brought back!

Back on campus!

The Columns and Jesse Hall

When we stepped onto the Quadrangle, where the Columns and Jesse Hall are located, I was suddenly very emotional. I never expected to return to "Ol' Mizzou" and this was really a gift from Patti -- to agree to drive two hours each way back to campus.
Here we are at the Columns.

Patti and Lisa at The Columns

Funny enough, we met a couple and their two children who were doing exactly what we were doing -- revisiting the campus and enjoying the memories. Thanks to them, we have this photo.
Another beautiful building on campus is Memorial Union, dedicated to the students who fought and died during World War I.

Memorial Union

We had lunch at the new Old Heidelberg, which burned down in 2003 and has since been rebuilt.

At the Old Heidelberg

And where else but Mizzou would you find this gem:

Only a true fan would have this toilet

We had great fun on campus. I got a little fresh with Thomas Jefferson.

Getting fresh with T.J.

Why a statue of Thomas Jefferson at Mizzou? Because the University of Missouri is the first land grant university west of the Mississippi in the Louisiana Purchase. :)
We visited the School of Journalism, where I spent many an hour. We even found an open door and went in. School starts next week, so the campus was pretty empty. We weren't sure the building was open, but it was.

Wise Shall Be the Bearers of Light

This building is on one corner of the buildings that make up the School of Journalism. The edifice reads "Wise Shall Be the Bearers of Light."
To end the day, I stopped by and had a beer with my buddy Beetle Bailey.

Having a beer with Beetle Bailey

And why is there a statue of Beetle Bailey on campus? Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker is a Mizzou grad. And the statue is very near an iconic establishment called The Shack, which burned down in 1988. How The Shack survived serving cheap beer to under aged students all those years, I have no idea. But you went to The Shack, got beer and carved your initials somewhere on the wood booths. Notice the little pen knife in front of Beetle? I am not a beer drinker, but I went to The Shack just once during my four years at Mizzou and my initials were dutifully carved in one of the booths.
We drove by our old dorms and apartment. We lived in two different dorms and then an off-campus apartment during our four years on campus. We were shocked to see a beautiful outdoor pool on campus. We never had that! And we were surprised, a bit, that we got somewhat turned around on campus -- one that I knew better than the back of my hand as I was running from one end of campus to the other. (Why was Hatch Hall on one end of campus and my journalism classes on the other???)
No matter, Mizzou was familiar and new all at once.
While it is true you can't go home again, you certainly can go back to campus, and relive many wonderful memories with a friend who made that time so very special.