The Marks Post: A new Return to Normalcy

For the third year in a row, I took a football road trip for Thanksgiving weekend. Two years ago was when I stayed in Monroe for Oberlin’s playoff game at Oak Grove, and last year was when I stayed in Natchez for Kinder’s playoff game at Ferriday.
This year’s version began last Friday in big Moreauville for Oakdale’s playoff game against Avoyelles in the rain. It rained pretty much the whole way there and during the game, much like in Oak Grove. I was better prepared for the elements this time, however, because I had a rain suit. And it gave me an opportunity to break in my new rain boots I bought earlier that day at the old Cary’s Sporting Goods. On the drive back, I stopped in Bunkie and got me a water moccasin that tasted like a hand grenade from New Orleans.
The next morning, I took off for College Station because I was credentialed for the LSU game at Texas A&M. I had been to College Station a few times before. The first was when Jake Deville and I went in 2013. It was the first LSU game there since A&M joined the SEC. It was an 11 a.m. kickoff, and our seats were in the end zone upper deck. It was so steep getting up there to our seats. I told Jake, “If I die, at least I’ll be close to Heaven.” The other time to College Station was the following spring when Jake and I went for the LSU baseball series. It rained the whole weekend we were there.
On the way there Saturday, my friend Jason Bergeron in Houston called me and said he had a ticket for the game, so I said I would pick him up on the way. He is the same friend I went to San Antonio with to watch the wrestling.
Much like the day before, it rained pretty much the whole trip. One good thing about the drive is the construction on I-10 in Beaumont is finally finished.
After we got to College Station, we pregamed for a bit with people from Texas A&M before I went up to the press box. The first person I saw up there was LSU’s sideline reporter Gordy Rush. We talked for a while before he went down to the field.
In the “What did Tony eat” segment of this column, the press box had sandwiches, bags of Zapp’s potato chips, and a cookie. Being it was Thanksgiving weekend, I got me a turkey sandwich.
After I finished eating, I realized it almost felt like I was sitting in a funeral home because nobody was really talking loud. It was kind of subdued up there. I could hear people’s conversations around me. Some old guys sitting beneath me were talking about bourbon and pod casts. One intern was taking her job too seriously. She kept asking the guy next to her for synonyms and different suggestions. Being the smart alec that I am I almost started suggesting synonyms. And she typed weird. In all honesty, she probably would think I type weird because I type only with my index fingers.
Sitting next to me were Jacques Doucet and Steve Schneider from WAFB in Baton Rouge. During the game, news broke all of Denver’s quarterbacks tested positive for Covid. I heard Jacques tell Steve that he texted Matt Mauck about playing quarterback for the Broncos against the Saints.
The game itself was terrible. It started raining again during the game, so I guess that didn’t help things. The game was so bad LSU even got flagged for disconcerting signals. That’s what I get from women. (insert rim shot)
I met up with Jason after the game, and we hung out for a bit around the North Gate area before going check into the hotel at the Ramada Inn.
After we left the next morning, I realized I had a free preview of satellite radio. We listened to the 90s station and shared stories of growing up during that time. On the way home, the GPS on my phone took us some back way to Houston from College Station. I told Jason,
“If we hear banjos, I’m turning around.” We didn’t hear any bangos, but we saw a pack of dogs going down the road. I kept waiting to pass a Sac-O-Suds store like the one in My Cousin Vinny.
I dropped Jason off and found a Mass at noon in Crosby. I got down there, and it ended up being a Spanish Mass. The keyboard was one of those that played different instruments, and the people at Mass started clapping during the opening song. Everything was in Spanish, but the priest gave the homily in English after doing so in Spanish. His English wasn’t much better than his Spanish, but after Communion he spoke well about the two people who went receive Holy Communion when it was obvious they didn’t know what they were doing.
Before Mass let out, some woman got up and was talking about some fundraiser coming up. I know it was about a fundraiser because she spoke in the Spanish version of “franglais.”
The people started clapping again during the closing song. If I had any rhythm, I probably would have started clapping with them.
In another “What did Tony eat segment,” I was going to stop at Whataburger in Liberty, but I saw a sign that said the inside of Chicken Buffet was open. I turned around in the Whataburger parking lot and went to the buffet.
After lunch, I put the satellite radio the Classic Country station, and that was the most relaxing drive home I probably ever took.
Neither the Oakdale game or LSU game was real inspiring, and it rained pretty much the whole time for both. But, with that being said, for this one weekend on the football road trip things felt back to normal. I guess really it was normal as things could be during this time of uncertainty. What wasn’t normal was there were three US Flags and three Texas State Flags flying outside the Texas Welcome Center on I-10. Where were the usual Six Flags over Texas? I guess it’s because they can’t fly the Confederate Flag anymore. That’s for another column, I guess. Until then, when’s the next road trip?