• lily’s: last vestige of the trailer bars

    After the last couple of ballgames at the Holmes Center, I decided to eat afterward. Mainly because I didn’t eat beforehand and in my aging…uh….age, I decided to eat. But instead of the fast and in-the-moment decent enough fast food, each time took me right across the street from the Holmes Center. Lily’s Snack Bar…


  • nfl man calls nfl plays, loses college bowl game to rival – birmingham bowl postmortem

    You hoped for something different. Despite all the disadvantages, you hoped for a bowl win. You wanted Vulcan Ass Man to be in the trophy case. Then, the most unique bowl game possible with new potential heroes was lost for the same reasons games were lost in September, October and November. Running the ball? It…


  • Dowell speaks to the board that hired him, FEMA gave ASU some money and other December BOT notes

    Every quarter, the App State Board of Trustees meets, first in committee meetings where everything is actually decided, then in a big board meeting where formalities play out. This happened on Dec. 5-6 at the App State Hickory campus, I think for the first time. Below are my notes from these meetings. Some are more…


  • an argument for storming the field after every home win

    Three times this season, App State Football has won a home game, and in two of those games, fans and/or students, starting at Miller Hill, rush the field. Despite the overdramatic “do not rush the field” warning at the two-minute timeout, it keeps on happening. Oregon State and Marshall, the only FBS home wins this…


  • the earth is purple and there is no god – jmu postmorten

    What happened was always possible, but you’d figure at worst, it would be like 41-14. A game where there were chances, but it just didn’t happen. That’s something to build on. It was way worse than any nightmare. You go from celebrating fighting back versus ODU and Georgia Southern to being laid waste with no…


  • fubar – coastal postmortem

    If there was any doubt before, there shouldn’t be now. Coastal Carolina is a rivalry and App State needs to admit it. On Saturday, under the colorful leaves, one team got hyped while another didn’t. One team, which created an evil boogeyman to combat, overcame a two-touchdown hole, while another, which maybe was treating this…


  • the app state qb debate should be over – georgia state postmortem

    41-20 makes this game seem closer than it was. For the first quarter, it was close and cagey. Georgia State drove, then had a field goal blocked. There was that weird muffed punt that wasn’t due to “active blocking.” Then it was an avalanche. 17-0 at halftime and 31-0 in the third quarter sealed the…


  • winning when you’re staring down losing: oregon state postmortem

    It was going to go wrong, wasn’t it? But it didn’t. Then it went really wrong. But it was unwronged and oh awesome we won, this rules. That was the Oregon State game. Give all FBS Oregon State’s first five games and like 60% of them are starting 0-5. The combined record of those five…


  • miller hill — god’s last gift to appalachian state

    Right now, in 2025, the only way to get from the West Side to the East Side of Kidd Brewer Stadium is around the south side. There sits a man-made hill, cultivated from the mountain earth. Probably no more than 200 feet long and at a decent angle of probably 50 feet from the top…


  • why is there more black and gold in walmart than walker hall? – app state board of trustees september meeting notes

    The App State Board of Trustees held its regular meetings on Sept. 4-5 in the North Endzone Facility. As is normally the case, the committee meetings were more informative than the full meeting, which turns into a “look how great we are” lovefest. I watched all these meetings and took notes. There’s some interesting governance…