Taking My Stand In Dixie

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Eventually sorted myself out and headed towards Beale St

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Artwork I hadn't seen on my last visit

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Third time I had been to Memphis, had never seen it so sparse on a Friday night

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Bit of maintenance needed

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WC Handy statue at Handy Park. Magnificent band playing here, were there 3 years ago and just as good now as then

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Caught up with the parents and the girls at Silky O'Sullivans, something to eat, couple of drinks, some fantastic music, then back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. Couple of pictures on the walk back to the hotel.

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Rain had started to come down so headed back to the hotel

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Lansky Bros store in the hotel had opened by this time

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Quick walk down to Auto Zone Park

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Trying to get a decent shot of the hotel, which probably didn't manage

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Checked out of the hotel, left my bags with the concierge, first a bit of a wander before a 11.00am rendezvous with a juicy bird that had been on my mind since my last visit in 2015.

WC Handy statue in the day time

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WC Handy home and museum, east end of the tourist section of Beale Street and not open today

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Couldn't get the song out of my head after this

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Corvette club had a meeting this morning

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Beale street from the east end

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Inside of Silky O'Sullivans, couple of goats reside where the ramp is located

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Some street art

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Old Dominick Distellery, re-opened May 2017, no time to go in and have a look

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That juicy bird was beckoning from over the road

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Inside looking into the kitchen

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The menu

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Went with 2 wings, 1 breast, fried green tomadas and a piece of chess pie

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Chicken and tomatoes were great, chess pie a bit so-so

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Waddled back to the hotel to pick up the bags, my favourite's star next to the Orpheum

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Corvettes had moved to into position in Beale St, no time to stop though, girls were messaging me telling me to get where I was supposed to be

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Another entrance to the hotel

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Paper towels in the rest room

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Lugged the bags to the car, and I was off

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On the road and an hours drive to Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Birthplace of John Grisham

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Scene of the school mass shooting carried out by the youngest perpetrators and only living mass school shooters currently not in prison

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And site of Arkansas State University

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Home of the Red Wolves

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Mum and the rest of the clan had been to the away game in Tulsa the week prior and had made some friends of fellow player parents. An invite to a tailgate party had ensued which I was also included in.
Firstly though, head to the hotel and check in

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Best Western Plus, it was about 1.15pm and unfortunately the room wasn't available, asked if I could leave my bags.
'Sure, just leave them here'
Here was in the waiting area of the lobby, wasn't too keen but went with it, made sure I grabbed my passport and the bit of cash I had.

Headed up to the university, only about a 5 minute drive. Jonesboro is a farming and college community and apart form the outsized bank buildings the University dominates the town.

Parked the car, then headed to the tailgating area.

Around here, while asking for directions, I somehow ended up facebook messaging old mate's friend of a friend who had traveled to Australia at some point. He was a friendly old fella, so all good. Never received a rely from the friend though.

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Tailgating area wasn't really going off today due to the weather and after a couple of circuits couldn't find my group

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Quick call and the group had adjourned to a bar over the road. So with wet shoes and cold socks over the road I went.
 
Over to the bar I went and the group had a tent set up outside. Group of about 20 - 25 everyone very friendly and welcoming.
Leading up to the trip had been checking the weather in Jonesboro, all early 30's and sunshine until it started to change to stormy and occasional rain a few days out. Temperatures were still predicted in the high 20's/low 30's though. Until today. It was freezing and of course I had only packed 1 jumper and it was no going to be anywhere near enough. Fortunately as did the rest of the Perth contingent, so one of our new friends packed us up in his truck and we drove the few minutes down the road to a uni bookstore and stocked up on warm and wet weather Red Wolves gear. The staff at the store loved our accents and something I heard numerous times on this trip 'Just talk'

Back to the bar, intending to head over to the stadium for the player's walk at 4.00pm, that was until we were given word that due to the weather the walk was cancelled.
The game started at 6 so I thought i'd take the opportunity to drive back to the hotel, check in, shower, put some dry clothes, and more importantly dry socks on, and be back with plenty of time to spare. Walking back to the car, stunning young lady offered to give me a lift in a uni golf cart back to the parking lot, so after picking my jaw up off the floor, gladly accepted, quick word to the lot attendant who said she'd remember I paid because of the accent and away I went.
Arrived at about 4.15, a few other people in the lobby, asked to check in 'sorry room isn't ready'. Few other people walked in, same comment, few saying never again would they come here as same thing happened previously. Grabbed my bags and took new socks out, was going to give it to 4.40 and then get going, as the players came out to warm up at 5 and would be an opportunity to say hello to the young bloke.
4.30 and now 8 people/couples waiting for rooms, was about to go, when I got the word to come to the desk. Room ready. Quick shower, dry socks, wet shoes and off I went.

Met back up with the group in the players families area, rain had stopped by now.
The young bloke, doesn't have the usual shape of a punter

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Warm up kicks and the poor fella next to him who is behind him in the depth chart showed why he is behind him. Kicks drop about 20 yards shorter and a lot less hang time. Discussions with people during the next few days seems he has accepted he's not going to get much of a go and has upped the partying and lowered the commitment to football.

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Recruits and parents on the sidelines

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Opposition, University of Las Vegas Rebels

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Warm ups and the band starting to take their places

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Pre-game entertainment

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Out the team comes and wish they were able to keep those flames going, really warmed things up for a second or two

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Game started and the wind and rain really started to ramp things up. I was sitting with the girls answering their questions on what was going on in the game, the rest of the Perth contingent nowhere to be seen. At quarter time we had had enough and decided to go looking for them. Having the parents of mum and partner in tow turned out to be a bonus, they had been allowed into the handicapped area which happened to be under cover, not a lot of cover form the win however, but was a lot better than being in the rain. quickly jumped on that bandwagon telling the attendant we were with them.

New view

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Grabbed a coffee, bit of a misunderstanding with the accent. After ordering and getting my change back, gave the obligatory 'cheers'. Young girl looked a little confused, then said 'oh, you want cheese in it?' All cleared up, even sans cheese, a very ordinary coffee.
Walking back, tipsy lady begged me for my wet weather pancho that I had purchased earlier, said she'd give me $20 bucks for it. Took it off, said 'all yours, enjoy it' She was happy as larry.

Half time show

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Young fella having a few practice kicks at half time

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Night just got wetter and colder, home team got the win 27 - 20, said my goodbyes to the Perth contingent, they were setting off to Orlando next day and I was planning an early start to play catch up on what I missed out on on Friday.
 
Woke up relatively early at 7.30am. problem was I didn't fall asleep until after 6.00am. A night of staring at the ceiling, staring at the clock, reading, watching TV, trying anything to fall asleep. Weather was wild and woolly, so no way was I doing any long distance driving in those conditions, or in my state.
Went to a Walmart located conveniently near the hotel, seeking a pair of shoes as they only pair I had on the trip were soaked. Also picked up a navigation system for the car. Gave the Perth contingent a call as knew they were meeting the young fella for breakfast and a final goodbye. At the Ihop close to the hotel, so went and spent some time there, and farewelled them again. Planned to catch the young fellas at the team's afternoon training session. Rest of the day was at the hotel drifting in and out of sleep.

3ish, headed up to the indoor training facility.

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Coming in for the end of session prayer
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Post prayer run throughs
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Met with the Director of Football, Head Coach and some other line coaches, as I was going to be doing some PD in their offices over the next few days.
Players heading off to the meeting rooms, was going to spend a bit of time with the young bloke the following afternoon.

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I went and had a bit of a wander around the university campus

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Had a relatively early and innocuous dinner at a Cracker Barrel next to the hotel

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Beef was fine, macoroni cheese fairly tasteless, corn is corn, turnip greens, not for me. Friendly waitress, although in retrospect she did tell me she would bring me cornbread and a biscuit, rather than 2 biscuits. Early back to the hotel and hoping for some sleep.

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I'm enjoying the TR.

Looking up your punter, I see the following "Didn’t allow a touchback all season ... 49 punts ... 24 ... inside 20 ...". That is staggering!
 
I'm enjoying the TR.

Looking up your punter, I see the following "Didn’t allow a touchback all season ... 49 punts ... 24 ... inside 20 ...". That is staggering!

Ray Guy award semi-finalist; 45 of 49 punts unreturned; 2 yards per return attempt - 2nd in the nation
He would hate and does hate getting talked about and talked up, a more humble and grounded person you could not meet. So happy that he's making such a great go of it, he's done everything off his own back to get himself to a college over there. Coaching staff, and some have been around the game for a while, are pretty bullish that he will get an opportunity at the higher level.
The young bloke himself is very realistic about his chances, knowing that punters aren't all that in demand and are well down the food chain and a lot of things would have to go his way. He's focusing extremely hard on ensuring his studies are up at the top level and aiming to be getting a gig at a college somewhere in the strength and conditioning sector, all the while saying he would love it if the opportunity to play higher came about.
 
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Fell asleep at about 2.00am, woke up at 8.45, pretty happy with that. Had spoken to the fellas at the Football department the day before re my lack of sleep, told me not to come in until Tuesday, players had Monday off, not from studies though, when planning and organisation for the upcoming game got into full swing

Another gloomy day

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Into the car and due to a bit of an anomaly in a state border, was able to drive for half an hour or so and cross another one off the list

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I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the town of Cardwell appears on this forum and in a trip report for the first time. If not, my question is Why?
Had read Paul Theroux's Deep South prior to traveling and his descriptions of some run down, bereft of hope towns seemed to fit Cardwell perfectly. It actually felt a bit creepy and I was quite glad when I headed back to Jonesboro.

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At some stage I received a call from the young bloke, he unfortunately had been called up to cover a teammate who couldn't make his community service that afternoon. All scholarship players are required to do X amount of community service per season, however some of the prima donnas in the team, aka wide receivers, find excuses to not pull their weight. Unfortunately for the young bloke he's extremely reliable, and extremely popular at the schools he visits, so he gets called on to do more than his fair share.
So wasn't going to be hanging out with the young bloke, did take him to dinner that night though, I headed to the college to check out their museum

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Quite small, however very interesting, hands on section on anatomy, and informative displays on the more well known wars

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Some not as well known wars
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And wars that are close to home for the people of the south

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Some flora and fauna displays as well as an old town Arkansas display

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Kept wandering after the museum, of course found my way to the PE Department

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Poked my head in here and there, then in the car for the short drive to the stadium
Passed a few of the frat houses

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Basketball Stadium

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Then a closer look at the football stadium

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Up a bit higher than Saturday night
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New admin, weights, changerooms, medical, recreation centre etc being built at the North end, can see the crane and some upright steel beams. All courtesy of a 10 million donation from the head of Centennial Bank

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View from the North end

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Main stand from the outer

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More wandering around the stadium

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View towards the current offices and player facilities

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2 days and the rubbish from Saturday night still hadn't been cleaned up

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Wandered the Greek Village, bringing back memories of Revenge of the Nerds and others of the same genre

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Did you have someone from the football department with you in the stadium, or can anyone enter and wander around?
 
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