Great football experiences.

[Cat Grad]

Because I've got to get up and moving in four hours, I thought those of you who drive ridiculous distances as I do just to watch the Cats would like to consider what someone raised in Montana's Gallatin Valley has had an opportunity to experience.

I was a kid when I watched the GA-TECH game in a mud bowl on Turkey Weekend because I already had my elk, but I knew I had to experience the SEC, even if it just seemed like a dream to a high school kid.

God, I love MSU and this game!! And FTG for what it's worth.

9/07/2007 12:48:00 PM
Five Best Cities For Watching Football

Athens is just one of the stops near Atlanta where you can see quality football.
Photo by AP
By Lang Whitaker, SI.com

Take off your baseball caps and break out your football jerseys, people. The majority of us has seen our favorite baseball team eliminated from contention by now, and we find it time to turn our attention to the sport where the players are supposed to be unnaturally strong and huge. But where to watch? What city in our fine country provides the most variety for football fans? Here's our list of the top five cities in America for football watching:

1. Atlanta: It's not only because it's my hometown. The ATL has the doggone Falcons, a resurgent Georgia Tech and more high school football than Buzz Bissinger would know what to do with. Plus, within driving distance, the following worthwhile teams ply their trades: the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Universities of Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, South Carolina and Wake Forest. You can also drive up to Duke, although I'm not sure why anyone would want to see its football team play.

2. Dallas: Texas is the state that spawned Friday Night Lights and the nationally ranked TCU Horned Frogs play in Fort Worth, but the Cowboys remain religion in the Lone Star State. With Dallas as your hub, Austin and the Longhorns are just a few hours down the interstate, Lubbock and Texas Tech are a few hundred miles west and Houston and the Texans are to the southeast, with Texas A&M along the way.

3. New York: While high school football in the tristate area is still not an obsession like it is in many other parts of the country, the area does boast two NFL teams and a Rutgers team in the Top 25. Also, Penn State is about four hours to the west, but I do not recommend that drive to anyone except the adventurous.

4. Chicago: The Bears are here, and the Colts are just a few hours down I-65. Notre Dame and Michigan are each within driving distance, if you enjoy watching struggling college programs. If you prefer to stay closer to Chicago ... hey, Stewart Mandel, remember when Northwestern used to be good?

5. Las Vegas: I know, the only real team located here is UNLV (at least since the Las Vegas Outlaws closed up shop). But at any sports book in Vegas on any given Sunday (or Saturday), every TV in the joint is tuned to football. Plus, if you know what you're doing, you might be able to make a little scratch while you watch the games. Allegedly, of course.

What's the best city for watching football in America? Let us know below.

Lang Whitaker is the executive editor of SLAM magazine and writes daily at SLAMonline.com

[AtlCat]

Because I've got to get up and moving in four hours, I thought those of you who drive ridiculous distances as I do just to watch the Cats would like to consider what someone raised in Montana's Gallatin Valley has had an opportunity to experience.

I was a kid when I watched the GA-TECH game in a mud bowl on Turkey Weekend because I already had my elk, but I knew I had to experience the SEC, even if it just seemed like a dream to a high school kid.

God, I love MSU and this game!! And FTG for what it's worth.

9/07/2007 12:48:00 PM
Five Best Cities For Watching Football

Athens is just one of the stops near Atlanta where you can see quality football.
Photo by AP
By Lang Whitaker, SI.com

Take off your baseball caps and break out your football jerseys, people. The majority of us has seen our favorite baseball team eliminated from contention by now, and we find it time to turn our attention to the sport where the players are supposed to be unnaturally strong and huge. But where to watch? What city in our fine country provides the most variety for football fans? Here's our list of the top five cities in America for football watching:

1. Atlanta: It's not only because it's my hometown. The ATL has the doggone Falcons, a resurgent Georgia Tech and more high school football than Buzz Bissinger would know what to do with. Plus, within driving distance, the following worthwhile teams ply their trades: the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Universities of Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, South Carolina and Wake Forest. You can also drive up to Duke, although I'm not sure why anyone would want to see its football team play.

2. Dallas: Texas is the state that spawned Friday Night Lights and the nationally ranked TCU Horned Frogs play in Fort Worth, but the Cowboys remain religion in the Lone Star State. With Dallas as your hub, Austin and the Longhorns are just a few hours down the interstate, Lubbock and Texas Tech are a few hundred miles west and Houston and the Texans are to the southeast, with Texas A&M along the way.

3. New York: While high school football in the tristate area is still not an obsession like it is in many other parts of the country, the area does boast two NFL teams and a Rutgers team in the Top 25. Also, Penn State is about four hours to the west, but I do not recommend that drive to anyone except the adventurous.

4. Chicago: The Bears are here, and the Colts are just a few hours down I-65. Notre Dame and Michigan are each within driving distance, if you enjoy watching struggling college programs. If you prefer to stay closer to Chicago ... hey, Stewart Mandel, remember when Northwestern used to be good?

5. Las Vegas: I know, the only real team located here is UNLV (at least since the Las Vegas Outlaws closed up shop). But at any sports book in Vegas on any given Sunday (or Saturday), every TV in the joint is tuned to football. Plus, if you know what you're doing, you might be able to make a little scratch while you watch the games. Allegedly, of course.

What's the best city for watching football in America? Let us know below.

Lang Whitaker is the executive editor of SLAM magazine and writes daily at SLAMonline.com

Hey Cat Grad,

Were you born and raised here in Atlanta? Will you be at Montana's Bar and Grill in Alpahretta for Cat/griz? Just wondering. It's rare to find MSU alum here in Atlanta.

[Cat Grad]

Because I've got to get up and moving in four hours, I thought those of you who drive ridiculous distances as I do just to watch the Cats would like to consider what someone raised in Montana's Gallatin Valley has had an opportunity to experience.

I was a kid when I watched the GA-TECH game in a mud bowl on Turkey Weekend because I already had my elk, but I knew I had to experience the SEC, even if it just seemed like a dream to a high school kid.

God, I love MSU and this game!! And FTG for what it's worth.

9/07/2007 12:48:00 PM
Five Best Cities For Watching Football

Athens is just one of the stops near Atlanta where you can see quality football.
Photo by AP
By Lang Whitaker, SI.com

Take off your baseball caps and break out your football jerseys, people. The majority of us has seen our favorite baseball team eliminated from contention by now, and we find it time to turn our attention to the sport where the players are supposed to be unnaturally strong and huge. But where to watch? What city in our fine country provides the most variety for football fans? Here's our list of the top five cities in America for football watching:

1. Atlanta: It's not only because it's my hometown. The ATL has the doggone Falcons, a resurgent Georgia Tech and more high school football than Buzz Bissinger would know what to do with. Plus, within driving distance, the following worthwhile teams ply their trades: the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Universities of Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, South Carolina and Wake Forest. You can also drive up to Duke, although I'm not sure why anyone would want to see its football team play.

2. Dallas: Texas is the state that spawned Friday Night Lights and the nationally ranked TCU Horned Frogs play in Fort Worth, but the Cowboys remain religion in the Lone Star State. With Dallas as your hub, Austin and the Longhorns are just a few hours down the interstate, Lubbock and Texas Tech are a few hundred miles west and Houston and the Texans are to the southeast, with Texas A&M along the way.

3. New York: While high school football in the tristate area is still not an obsession like it is in many other parts of the country, the area does boast two NFL teams and a Rutgers team in the Top 25. Also, Penn State is about four hours to the west, but I do not recommend that drive to anyone except the adventurous.

4. Chicago: The Bears are here, and the Colts are just a few hours down I-65. Notre Dame and Michigan are each within driving distance, if you enjoy watching struggling college programs. If you prefer to stay closer to Chicago ... hey, Stewart Mandel, remember when Northwestern used to be good?

5. Las Vegas: I know, the only real team located here is UNLV (at least since the Las Vegas Outlaws closed up shop). But at any sports book in Vegas on any given Sunday (or Saturday), every TV in the joint is tuned to football. Plus, if you know what you're doing, you might be able to make a little scratch while you watch the games. Allegedly, of course.

What's the best city for watching football in America? Let us know below.

Lang Whitaker is the executive editor of SLAM magazine and writes daily at SLAMonline.com

Hey Cat Grad,

Were you born and raised here in Atlanta? Will you be at Montana's Bar and Grill in Alpahretta for Cat/griz? Just wondering. It's rare to find MSU alum here in Atlanta.

No, I was born in Glasgow and me mum and dad migrated to Belgrade Uncle Sugar took me to Georgia (Ft. Benning and Stewart) and I returned to teach and coach many, many years all over the state of Georgia.

If you wish to hang out with MSU grads, take I-85 to Columbus, 1-20 to Savannah or for a real blast, head for Destin. Ft. Benning has their rec area there and you'll meet up with many like minded Cats drinking beer, pissed at the same things you are and cooking beef instead of pig meat like everybody else in the South does.

Enjoy your time there, and we'll see you on the shores of Flathead Lake next summer, pizzing on some millionaires lawn and listening to them bitch because they don't have as much money as the multibillionaires hanging out in Bozo and Big Sky.

If you go diving in Lanier, make sure you take plenty of knives.

[Cat in NC]

This is actually a really good concept, and I'll throw my adopted hometown into the mix. Here's what I can think of if you want see good football within a day's drive (5 hours) of the Queen City.

High School - Home of the Independence Patriots. Up until last week, Independence had won 109 straight games (the second longest streak ever, I believe, to the 150+ of Concord-De La Salle in Los Angeles). Unfortunately, the Patriots lost in an invitational event in Ohio last week, snapping the streak.

College - As a whole, NC college football sucks and the only in-state teams worth driving to watch are Appalachian and Wake Forest (unless you want to drive 90 minutes to laugh at Dook as they get stomped by a DIII school). However, a list of teams worth watching (that I can remember) that you can drive to on a Friday night, get a hotel room, and be ready to tailgate - Clemson, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Furman, Wofford. If it's a long weekend and you feel like an 8-hour roadtrip, you can also add Alabama, Auburn, West Virginia, Louisville, Florida, FSU, Georgia Southern and probably a dozen others I'm forgetting.

NFL - Of course, the Panthers are here. One can also drive a couple of hours down the road to watch the Falcons.

God, I love football season!

[AtlCat]

Because I've got to get up and moving in four hours, I thought those of you who drive ridiculous distances as I do just to watch the Cats would like to consider what someone raised in Montana's Gallatin Valley has had an opportunity to experience.

I was a kid when I watched the GA-TECH game in a mud bowl on Turkey Weekend because I already had my elk, but I knew I had to experience the SEC, even if it just seemed like a dream to a high school kid.

God, I love MSU and this game!! And FTG for what it's worth.

9/07/2007 12:48:00 PM
Five Best Cities For Watching Football

Athens is just one of the stops near Atlanta where you can see quality football.
Photo by AP
By Lang Whitaker, SI.com

Take off your baseball caps and break out your football jerseys, people. The majority of us has seen our favorite baseball team eliminated from contention by now, and we find it time to turn our attention to the sport where the players are supposed to be unnaturally strong and huge. But where to watch? What city in our fine country provides the most variety for football fans? Here's our list of the top five cities in America for football watching:

1. Atlanta: It's not only because it's my hometown. The ATL has the doggone Falcons, a resurgent Georgia Tech and more high school football than Buzz Bissinger would know what to do with. Plus, within driving distance, the following worthwhile teams ply their trades: the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Universities of Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, South Carolina and Wake Forest. You can also drive up to Duke, although I'm not sure why anyone would want to see its football team play.

2. Dallas: Texas is the state that spawned Friday Night Lights and the nationally ranked TCU Horned Frogs play in Fort Worth, but the Cowboys remain religion in the Lone Star State. With Dallas as your hub, Austin and the Longhorns are just a few hours down the interstate, Lubbock and Texas Tech are a few hundred miles west and Houston and the Texans are to the southeast, with Texas A&M along the way.

3. New York: While high school football in the tristate area is still not an obsession like it is in many other parts of the country, the area does boast two NFL teams and a Rutgers team in the Top 25. Also, Penn State is about four hours to the west, but I do not recommend that drive to anyone except the adventurous.

4. Chicago: The Bears are here, and the Colts are just a few hours down I-65. Notre Dame and Michigan are each within driving distance, if you enjoy watching struggling college programs. If you prefer to stay closer to Chicago ... hey, Stewart Mandel, remember when Northwestern used to be good?

5. Las Vegas: I know, the only real team located here is UNLV (at least since the Las Vegas Outlaws closed up shop). But at any sports book in Vegas on any given Sunday (or Saturday), every TV in the joint is tuned to football. Plus, if you know what you're doing, you might be able to make a little scratch while you watch the games. Allegedly, of course.

What's the best city for watching football in America? Let us know below.

Lang Whitaker is the executive editor of SLAM magazine and writes daily at SLAMonline.com

Hey Cat Grad,

Were you born and raised here in Atlanta? Will you be at Montana's Bar and Grill in Alpahretta for Cat/griz? Just wondering. It's rare to find MSU alum here in Atlanta.

No, I was born in Glasgow and me mum and dad migrated to Belgrade Uncle Sugar took me to Georgia (Ft. Benning and Stewart) and I returned to teach and coach many, many years all over the state of Georgia.

If you wish to hang out with MSU grads, take I-85 to Columbus, 1-20 to Savannah or for a real blast, head for Destin. Ft. Benning has their rec area there and you'll meet up with many like minded Cats drinking beer, pissed at the same things you are and cooking beef instead of pig meat like everybody else in the South does.

Enjoy your time there, and we'll see you on the shores of Flathead Lake next summer, pizzing on some millionaires lawn and listening to them bitch because they don't have as much money as the multibillionaires hanging out in Bozo and Big Sky.

If you go diving in Lanier, make sure you take plenty of knives.

I am very familiar with and love Savannah. I've had many a drunk time in and around that area. My father was born and raised on St. Simon's so I've always called coastal Georgia home. I didn't realize there were so many Cat alumni in this area.

[Cat Grad]

Because I've got to get up and moving in four hours, I thought those of you who drive ridiculous distances as I do just to watch the Cats would like to consider what someone raised in Montana's Gallatin Valley has had an opportunity to experience.

I was a kid when I watched the GA-TECH game in a mud bowl on Turkey Weekend because I already had my elk, but I knew I had to experience the SEC, even if it just seemed like a dream to a high school kid.

God, I love MSU and this game!! And FTG for what it's worth.

9/07/2007 12:48:00 PM
Five Best Cities For Watching Football

Athens is just one of the stops near Atlanta where you can see quality football.
Photo by AP
By Lang Whitaker, SI.com

Take off your baseball caps and break out your football jerseys, people. The majority of us has seen our favorite baseball team eliminated from contention by now, and we find it time to turn our attention to the sport where the players are supposed to be unnaturally strong and huge. But where to watch? What city in our fine country provides the most variety for football fans? Here's our list of the top five cities in America for football watching:

1. Atlanta: It's not only because it's my hometown. The ATL has the doggone Falcons, a resurgent Georgia Tech and more high school football than Buzz Bissinger would know what to do with. Plus, within driving distance, the following worthwhile teams ply their trades: the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Universities of Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, South Carolina and Wake Forest. You can also drive up to Duke, although I'm not sure why anyone would want to see its football team play.

2. Dallas: Texas is the state that spawned Friday Night Lights and the nationally ranked TCU Horned Frogs play in Fort Worth, but the Cowboys remain religion in the Lone Star State. With Dallas as your hub, Austin and the Longhorns are just a few hours down the interstate, Lubbock and Texas Tech are a few hundred miles west and Houston and the Texans are to the southeast, with Texas A&M along the way.

3. New York: While high school football in the tristate area is still not an obsession like it is in many other parts of the country, the area does boast two NFL teams and a Rutgers team in the Top 25. Also, Penn State is about four hours to the west, but I do not recommend that drive to anyone except the adventurous.

4. Chicago: The Bears are here, and the Colts are just a few hours down I-65. Notre Dame and Michigan are each within driving distance, if you enjoy watching struggling college programs. If you prefer to stay closer to Chicago ... hey, Stewart Mandel, remember when Northwestern used to be good?

5. Las Vegas: I know, the only real team located here is UNLV (at least since the Las Vegas Outlaws closed up shop). But at any sports book in Vegas on any given Sunday (or Saturday), every TV in the joint is tuned to football. Plus, if you know what you're doing, you might be able to make a little scratch while you watch the games. Allegedly, of course.

What's the best city for watching football in America? Let us know below.

Lang Whitaker is the executive editor of SLAM magazine and writes daily at SLAMonline.com

Hey Cat Grad,

Were you born and raised here in Atlanta? Will you be at Montana's Bar and Grill in Alpahretta for Cat/griz? Just wondering. It's rare to find MSU alum here in Atlanta.

No, I was born in Glasgow and me mum and dad migrated to Belgrade Uncle Sugar took me to Georgia (Ft. Benning and Stewart) and I returned to teach and coach many, many years all over the state of Georgia.

If you wish to hang out with MSU grads, take I-85 to Columbus, 1-20 to Savannah or for a real blast, head for Destin. Ft. Benning has their rec area there and you'll meet up with many like minded Cats drinking beer, pissed at the same things you are and cooking beef instead of pig meat like everybody else in the South does.

Enjoy your time there, and we'll see you on the shores of Flathead Lake next summer, pizzing on some millionaires lawn and listening to them bitch because they don't have as much money as the multibillionaires hanging out in Bozo and Big Sky.

If you go diving in Lanier, make sure you take plenty of knives.

I am very familiar with and love Savannah. I've had many a drunk time in and around that area. My father was born and raised on St. Simon's so I've always called coastal Georgia home. I didn't realize there were so many Cat alumni in this area.

There are many. I'm certain you're aware the Four Georgians all returned to Cherokee County (where my wife's family is actually from) and here great grandparents are buried in Livingston.

Her grandmother's 100th birthday party was on the ranch John Bozeman grew up on in Meriwether County in the old Story/Brooks home.

Have you ever made the trip to Madison where the old Great Falls Central graduate started his first Applebee's? There's a long article about him in the Journal-Constitution archives; something to the effect that he graduated from Tech with less than a 2.0, couldn't get a job, so he started that neighborhood chain.

Keep your fingers crossed; we've got a Macon/Warner Robbins kid on the team who is also somewhat of a history buff and should he do well, we'll have many more headed our way.

[PapaG]

College - Folsom Field for KSU-CU. Three TDs over 80 yards in that game and CU wins on a 4th down stop.

Pro - LAST WEEKEND! Front row (literally), Black Hole, versus the Lions. I was on TV quite a bit. NFL players are HUGE from 5 yards away. The only bad thing was the Raiders lost, but that was expected.