When we looked for our retirement spot, my wife and I were meticulous. We researched cities and towns across the United States. It did not have to be a college town, but it was a strong consideration. With our annual travel schedule, we saw a lot of them. Eventually, we narrowed it down to an obtuse triangle of cities in Virginia. Oddly enough our end destination of Williamsburg was just outside that perimeter.
We love our spot. Williamsburg is both a college town (William & Mary) and a tourist destination. However, neither attraction is strong enough to make the area seem crowded or too busy. The ocean is close, and the mountains aren’t much further. We would be hard pressed to find a better spot, save for one glaring issue: our three small regional airports.
As it was reinforced to me again a couple of weeks ago, regional airports are the redheaded stepchildren of travel. There is almost never a direct flight to your destination, and even then, it seems even your plane can be commandeered to fulfil the needs of larger destinations at the whim of an aggressive flight fulfilment algorithm. I may not be able prove that American Airlines literally took our seats and gave them to another flight, but deep in my heart I know they did. They certainly have in the past. Such “optimizations” have often left us with either waiting another day or two for our replacement flight or simply driving ourselves.
What’s this got to do with college football?
When it comes to the planning logistics of visiting stadiums, it turns out quite a bit. As I look at my schedule of misfit programs, I am rife with visiting small airports with multiple connections. Accordingly, I find myself resolving to raise my driving time limits to eight, even ten hours of driving. This is nearly double my previous four-and-a-half-hour limit of the past.
Driving that much eats up a lot of the weekend, but it does make tailgating easier. Of course, it is often hard to find someone willing to join me for the likes of Georgia Southern or Middle Tennessee State so the tailgating benefit becomes diminished. With that in mind, here is the tentative list of stadiums we will visit this year. Not all of them check the box, and some are still in flux. However, if you live close to Statesboro, Georgia or Murfreesboro, Tennessee, let me know because I would rather not go it alone.
- Wagner at Kansas (#122)
- North Dakota at Kansas State (#123)
- St. Francis at Buffalo: TBD (Bonus)
- Jax State at Georgia Southern (#124)
- Marshal at Middle Tennessee State (#125)
- Northwestern at Penn State: (Bonus – Pick one of three)
- Nebraska at Maryland (Bonus – Pick one of three)
- UNC Charlotte at Army (Bonus – Pick one of three)
- Akron at Ball State (#126)
- Cal at Virginia Tech: (Bonus)
- Kentucky at Auburn (#127)
- Texas A&M at Missouri (#128)
So that’s the list and it is a fluid one. It is mostly tied down, but, as always, there could be an audible.
The July SI Wall Calendar
The most notable covers were those a highlighting a 3-issue topic featuring money in sports from 1987 which asks the question is “money ruining sports?” There’s a lot to unpack there, but I won’t. I have flights to book, Airbnb’s to reserve and tailgate lots to research.
That’s all I got. Enjoy the heat.
