Part III: “The Roses in this Stadium are once again Crimson”

This is part III in my recaps of our trip to the National Championship Game in Pasadena, California. 

Part I:  “California, Here We Come!”

Part II:  “Remember the Rose Bowl…”

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Once we arrived in our seats, we spent some time just enjoying the atmosphere and soaking in the excitement (and of course, taking pictures :))

Yep, we had awesome seats! :)

 

The ESPN people were over to our right.

What a gorgeous sight! :)

      One more picture before the game started!

As we watched the highlights from our fabulous season on the jumbotron, it definitely brought tears to my eyes…we were really here!

Before we knew it, it was time for the pre-game festivities.

Audra McDonald, who plays Naomi on one of my favorite shows, Private Practice, sang America the Beautiful

and Josh Groban with Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers (one of my favorite bands!)  played the National Anthem. 

Then, we enjoyed an awesome flyover.  Needless to say, when the paratrooper came over our section with an Alabama flag, the crowd went wild!

Then, it was game time!  We were so excited!

Since, I don’t want to bore you with a long recap of the game, I’ll let you watch some highlights from the Athletic Department:)

This makes me cry even watching this now…especially seeing the guys singing Yea Alabama! in the locker room…LOVE!!

I took a TON of pictures during the game, but since this post would never load if I shared them all, I’ll show you a few of my favs and provide you a link to my Picasa album at the bottom if you would like to see them all!

Half-time

 

13 National Championships!!!

 

Us during the awards presentation.  Sorry I look rough…it had been a long day!

 

LOVE!

 

Me in the aftermath.  This was the first time I had sat down since before the game started (you just don’t sit in the student section ;))

 

Going out on top!

Although the game itself wasn’t as exciting as I hoped (I think we all felt Florida was a bigger hurdle and after McCoy got hurt, it took a lot of the momentum out of the game) it was exciting to have the opportunity to witness it.  It melted my heart to see my former recruits, and the guys I watched pretty much grow up holding up that Coaches’ Trophy! :)

Highlights of the game:

• Getting to watch various ABC stars come on the jumbo tron during commercial breaks and saying “Roll Tide” :)
• Get “I hate you” responses from my friends with all my status updates :)
• Getting to watch “my boys” become National Champions
• Getting to sing “Rammer Jammer” to the Longhorns
• Singing extra loudly on my new favorite verse in “Yea Alabama” (“Remember the Rose Bowl, we’ll win then!”)

Oh and…

• Being there to witness Alabama bringing home their 13th National Championship – the first since 1992.

We had planned on going to the Alumni after party, but it was 25 dollars to go inside this club and then we still had to order dinner.  We were tired, hungry, and I was in agonizing pain…remember those shin splints I mentioned earlier?  Well after walking around all day, standing up during the entire game, and then walking back up to Old Towne Pasadena they were hurting so badly I was literally sick.  So, we passed on the after party and decided to head back to the hotel.

Here we are worn out on the ride back to LA (on a train full of Texas fans nonetheless!)  We look about as good as we felt ;)

After we got back to the hotel, we were too exhausted to go find food so we celebrated with Ham and Cheese sandwiches and chips from the “Marketplace” downstairs (Thanks for having this Marriott…we would have died without it!) while watching game highlights on ESPN.  Perfect end to the evening!

Next up, the final part in our California adventure (and believe me…the last day was definitely an adventure!), but before I go, I want to leave you with another highlight video from the athletic department, appropriately set to one of the greatest sports songs of all time:  “We Are the Champions”. 

Note:  It includes highlights from both the SEC game and the National Championship game.  The beginning voiceover is from Coach Saban from his introductory press conference 3 years ago.  The end is the best part…and inspired my title for this post :)

 

To see more pictures from our California Adventure click here:

1/6/10 - 1/9/10 - National Championship Game