Texas Christian University

January 2007. The TCU area of Fort Worth was much greener than I ever imagined it would be. Large stately lawns in front of every hall, marble steps leading to their entrances, a kind of UVA feel. The bookstore was gutted for renovations, leaving a raggedy trailer as its stand-in. The low ceiling threatened visiting basketball recruits to this religious affiliated - probably Jesuit - school. This travel mug was the only affordable trinket. It is top heavy, the handle is too small to fit the proper amount of stabilizing fingers, and nothing about the removable lid says durable. Its saving grace, of course, is the blinding purple. Not too many schools have the utter gall to make purple its primary color. But then again not too many schools willingly name their sports teams 'The Horned Toads'.

"They musta turned him into a h-horny toad!"

New Mexico State University

January 2007. Pistol Pete, who stole your weaponry? Pity the rugged rancher who is limited to a short range, if ultimately more useful, length of rope! Oh, what's this? They were under a haystack of pro-cartoon-firearm complaints the whole time! Well then, back to business as usual.
When NMSU brought their logo into the 21st century, they also took away their mascot's pair of six shooters. It wasn't long before they were restored. I am all for tradition over rampant political correctness - kids couldn't get a working gun that looks like that if they tried - but in this case, the lasso logo was better balanced. Pete looks kind of awkward now, like he is falling forward (perhaps he drew too late?) and will be goin' down shootin'.
The rocks glass is great, the first in this set. The weight and handfeel is top notch and the curved-in rim makes it unique although the printed design is nothing special. Las Cruces looked so sad when I passed through, covered in mist and fog. Don't get me wrong, the school looked put together but if Las Cruces was a face, it sincerely needed a shave. Is that part of its charm? I'm no New Mexican and will probably be only a tenth of one on my manliest days.

University of Arizona

Jan 2007. It was a brilliant bright day in Tucson, not to be confused with Towson and certainly not with Duck Son (duck to duck lecture pictured below). I like this mini-pilsner, don't you? 'Twould make a good size for a kid's beer. Bud Light Jr., I can't believe they haven't pulled this out of their bag of tricks yet. Wait till they get desperate (what, you mean more desperate than to sell to InBev?) then the rollout of ads featuring Dale Jr, Griffey Jr, and, by then, Kobe Jr will begin. Some may say that is precisely what Joose and Sparks are already doing and a bunch of states aren't diggin' it.

Liberty University

29 Dec 2006. Liberty is in Lynchburg in what may be fairly termed the middle of nowhere, Virginia. But for the middle of nowhere it has about thirty-seven colleges and universities, maybe more by the time you read this. And for the M.O.N. it's hard to get around. It is even difficult just to drive straight through and not end up headed toward Appomattox Court House. Nothing wrong with the historical site of Lee's surrender but how often in your life are you gunning to see it, ya reenacting weirdo? LU is some kind of evangelical Christian school - probably Jesuit - and I find it chuckleworthy that locals call their indoor arena the Jesus Dome.
Just like when Northeastern joined the CAA and added red to the school color repertoire, I was more excited than necessary to find a big red tumbler from the Big South. My thoughts now turn to Clifford the Big Red Dog. I imagine a small gas powered tractor, not unlike the ones on golf driving ranges, retrofitted with a shovel implement to clean up after his messes. And just who manufactures these huge custom shovels? Somewhere in small town USA, an entire mini-economy is dependent on giant dog waste.

Youngstown State University

25 Nov 2006. Another football away game. Youngstown, Ohio, is not the abject hellhole that biased observers or athletic opponents make it out to be. It could use help though being part of the rust belt in a struggling economy. The shotglass is tiered to make it fun to hold but has nothing to indicate it has one of the oddest mascots in all of college sports: the penguin. Youngstown is not THAT cold so there is sure to be a reasonable explanation why they wanted to be represented by a fat, slow, proud, delicious bird.

Appalachian State University

9 Sept 2006. Our football team was making a trip down to Boone, North Carolina. It was about a six hour car ride. Well, it was supposed to be, but it ended up being a six hour bus ride. Unfortunately my two tripmates bailed and I had to scramble to find a way down to what was sure to be a classic gridiron battle. Fortunately I quickly learned of a student bus trip that had one seat left. Unfortunately App State won, and the timing of the itinerary did not afford time to hustle into the bookstore. Fortunately I met my main squeeze on the bus ride and her friend brought one for me on our next meeting. They could not have picked a better cup. The bright yellow and polygonal design makes it stand out and on the reverse is the 2006 football schedule, helping future drinkware carbon-daters. The "Go For 2" is referring to ASU football gunning for their second consecutive national championship in division I-AA (now called FCS). They certainly did go for it. A third time the following season as well. Three national titles later, they finally got knocked off by Richmond in December 2008.

Be sure to see why Appalachian State is Hot, Hot, Hot!