Mounds of Trouble

West Virginia 24, Texas 20

Nov. 12, 2016 • DKR

I never buy Mounds or Almond Joy. Why would I waste a caloric splurge on anything with toenails, I mean COCONUT, in it? Disgusting! With West Virginia next on the schedule, though, I made an exception.

We Texans are quick to point out that the Mountaineers’ home state’s “mountains” aren’t so mountainous. The highest point in Texas is nearly 4,000 feet higher than West Virginia’s tallest mountain! To rub it in, instead of finding mountains, I spelled Texas with mere Mounds.

Almost as disgusting as coconut? Losing our first home game to the #11 Mountaineers.

Much sweeter? Having Katie surprise her brother when we picked him up for the game. 🙂 She drove in from Lubbock Friday night, and we left at early:30 to get Ryan and head to the stadium.

Why I don’t care for 11 a.m. kickoffs

Aren’t they cute?

I made them pose with their dad’s books. They were thrilled.

Hook ’Em dressed in camo for the armed services tribute.

Big fan of the flyover!

UT System Chancellor William McRaven honored.

Lifetime Longhorn Olympians were honored.

Then the LHB did its armed services medley, one of my faves.

Coast Guard

Army

Navy

Marines

Air Force

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A Plain Ol’ Good Time

Texas 45, Texas Tech 37

Nov. 5, 2016 • Lubbock

After a couple of unpleasant fan experiences in Lubbock, I thought my days in Jones AT&T Stadium were over. Then my Katie Bug ended up at Lubbock Christian, and suddenly, I was all for an excuse to see a game on the South Plains!

The rainy/cool “football weather,” a rare but big win on the road, and time with my girl made for a fantastic day!

Just Bearly

Texas 35, Baylor 34

Oct. 29, 2016 • DKR

Another season, another “Who’da thunk it?” win over Baylor! The Bears came to Austin undefeated. The Horns, battered and bruised from four road losses, were heavy underdogs to #8-ranked Baylor.

Guess this is why they play the game!

Nobody expected D’Onta Foreman to gain 250 yards on the ground. Nobody thought the Horns’ D could force the Baylor offense to turnover the ball or settle for field goals. And after the way this season has gone, nobody felt super confident about that 39-yard field goal attempt with less than a minute to play.

But D’Onta is a beast, the defense was strong, and the kick was good. Horns win!

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The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Kansas State 24, Texas 21

Oct. 22, 2016 • Manhattan, Kansas

Early in the season, I was walking through IKEA and spied a box of alphabet cookies. The outside of the box had only K cookies on it (probably because the Swedish brand name for the “biscuits” is Kex), so I grabbed it. What could be more perfect than to spell Texas with a bunch of K’s for K State, I thought.

I brought that box home and hid it in the pantry, making sure it didn’t get mistaken for an up-for-grabs snack. The day of the K State game, I pulled out the cookies and got ready to spell Texas with a bunch of K’s.

Except all the cookies weren’t K’s. Well, duh—of course they weren’t! I thought it was a little odd that a whole box of cookies would be a bunch of one letter, but it’s IKEA, right? Ugh. So dumb. Once I got over my chagrin, I made quick work of picking out the letters I needed. Easiest spelling ever, even if the connection to K State was completely lost.

Speaking of lost, my Horns lost this one, too. Blech.

The Eyes Have It

Texas 27, Iowa State 6

Oct. 15, 2016 • DKR

After a three-game losing streak, all eyes were on Eye-owa State. Now that the Horns were finally back home, could they get back to their winning ways?

It had been more than a month since we’d won a game, so this victory was sweet! What made it extra special: It was my grand nephew’s first Texas game AND the Alumni Band performance, too!

 

Too Late

ou 45, Texas 40

Oct. 8, 2016 • Cotton Bowl, Dallas

If only… But we shoulda… Then we coulda… Aw, crap. After going back and forth, we got down by 15. We almost came back, but no.

Budweiser Clydesdales

The Bud dalmatian

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Obligatory Big Tex selfie

Cookie Fries

Butter sculpture

Lego tribute to Dallas PD

Shoe contest

Shoe contest

Shoe contest

You don’t say (take 1)

You don’t say (take 2)

Postgame medicine

 

And ou still sucks.

 

 

 

Still Salty

Oklahoma State 49, Texas 31

Oct. 1, 2016 • Stillwater, Oklahoma

With apologies to all the good and fair referees out there, the officiating at last year’s Okie State game in Austin was a travesty. I even broke my own rule about not blaming a loss on bad calls. When this rematch rolled around, I was still salty about that loss. I was in Lubbock for LCU Parent Weekend for this game, so salt packets from our hotel breakfast bar filled the bill.

Good news: This loss was all on our play and not bad calls. Oh, wait. That’s the bad news, too. Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unbearable

Cal 50, Texas 43

Sept. 17, 2016 • Berkeley, California

And just like that, our season comes crashing to a halt. The Haribo Gold-Bears were good luck last time we beat Cal, but this season, not even the chewy sweetness could overtake the bitter taste of this loss.

 

 

 

 

A Brief History of Hook ’Ems

When Harley Clark, the creator of the “Hook ’Em, Horns” hand sign, died in October 2014, I posted a Facebook album in tribute.

To archive those photos (plus a few more favorites), I’m posting them here, too. Presenting, a brief history of “hook ’ems” in our family photos.

My UT graduation, May 1990

Our wedding, June 1994

Football picnic, 1999

At home, 1998

Football picnic at Memaw’s apartment, 2001

Meeting Coach Mack Brown, 2001

In DKR with Katie, 2003

At home, 2004

Big XII championship pregame at Reliant, 2005

Section 1 crew, 2005

Heading home after the Best Day Ever, Jan. 5, 2006

Best Day Ever, Jan. 4, 2006

At Dana and Kelley’s the night before the Best Day Ever, Jan. 3, 2006

Best Day Ever, Jan. 4, 2006

Best Day Ever, Jan. 4, 2006

DKR, 2008

DKR, 2008

DKR, 2008

With the Davey O’Brien trophy, 2009

Pregaming before the 2009 Fiesta Bowl

Tailgate, 2009

With Bevo XIV at the tailgate, 2010

With Bevo XIV at the Fort Worth University Co-op, 2012

Texas-ou, 2012

Spring game with the Laughlins, 2012

Tower of Terror at Disney Hollywood Studios, 2012

At Austin’s Donut Taco Palace, 2013

Reppin’ the colors in my classroom, 2014

With the NCAA men’s basketball trophy, 2014

At Ryan’s UT orientation, 2015

Halftime with LHB and LHAB, 2015

Soaking wet at the K State game, 2015

Celebrating an improbable win over ou, 2015

With Ryan at his first Texas-ou game, 2015

Space Mountain at Disneyland, 2015

Splash Mountain at Disneyland, 2015

Splash Mountain at Disneyland, 2015

Tower of Terror at California Adventure, 2015

Tower of Terror at California Adventure, 2015

At Kerbey Lane with Ryan, 2015

Splash Mountain at Disneyland, 2016

Miner Problem

Texas 41, UTEP 7

Sept. 10, 2016 • DKR

 

In June 2016 I spent a week on the UT El Paso campus for a humanities institute. The school’s use of the Miner motif was everywhere, from the miner hat pendant lights in the food court to the giant pick at the campus entrance. When the Miners arrived on MY turf, their rallying cry, “pick ’em,” came to mind. That’s why this week we spelled Texas with toothpicks!

Coming off the Horns’ huge win over Notre Dame in our opener, we were on top of the world. Texas football was BACK, baby! Early in the first quarter of this one, though, which was supposed to be a gimme, we got that sinking feeling. Uh-oh.

Leading by “only” 20-7 at halftime, the Horns went on to outscore the Miners 21-0 in the second half. But even then, we knew: In spite of the previous week’s high, this season was on its way to some lows.

 DKR highlights:

• Skydivers!
• Tribute to the “Precursors,” the first group of African-American undergrads at UT 60 years ago
• Young Texas Exes honorees, including NBA superstar Kevin Durant