GET HYPED IT IS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME DAY -- Morning Dispatch from San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, TX — MGN HQ relocated to the midwest this year. We have been back to Texas a few times, but let me tell you the marginal Taco Cabana value has increased in importance given my time away. Said differently: I miss tacos.

I ate four tacos yesterday in a very short amount of time upon arriving. I almost didn’t notice the fog, drizzle, and relative cold around the city. Given I am midwesterner now, I don’t think it is cold unless the temperature says teens. I mean I left my home when it was 26 degrees and I was wearing a polo shirt. I am become winter.

MGN has family in San Antonio and that has afforded your favorite blogger a spot five minutes to the Sky Bar BBQ spot for the alumni tailgate and just ten minutes walk to the Alamodome. We are ready.

I have spoken with a few UTSA fans, as they encountered me with my Mean Green polo (one of three I have for this trip. I am prepared) and we got to talking. Let me tell you this: They are not super confident. The casual fan does not necessarily know all the details, the breakdowns, the tiny details. They think “Hey we can win” or “UNT is good, I don’t know” and that is fine. That puts a little fear into their hearts and maybe that nervous energy travels down to the players.

MGN will be covering the game from the press box, but bought tickets for family and friends. They will be up in the visitor section. The latest screen grab suggests there will be near 40,000 people at the game. There will surely be more around the tailgate — especially if the rain subsides. As of this morning and this writing, it is raining. While I believe football should be played out-of-doors on grass, this kind of day in November is exactly why people have built domed stadiums. The Alamodome will be 72-degrees and the turf field will be (relatively) impeccable 1. While last November a cold rainy day played into North Texas’s hands, this turf situation might help out the Mean Green just a little bit. The cold and rain in Denton didn’t help too much vs Rice, and we know NT’s pass game performed ably last time out.

I’ll leave you to your breakfast with this, from last year’s preview of the rivalry game in Denton:

Heart: Folks it isn’t about what you did last week, or what you will do next week. It is about right now. It is about this moment. You will be old and a ‘used to was’ or a ‘former this’ or ‘former that’ and you will remember these moments. You will not regret losing, and you definitely won’t regret winning, but you will regret not giving it every ounce of your being to the effort. It starts with preparation. It continues with practice. It ends with the performance on game day. Did we give ourselves the absolute best chance at victory? Do you want to be an old man and know you cheated yourself out of a chance? Making history doesn’t happen on Saturday. It happens right now, in this moment, in this breath and the choice we make to be a part of something great, or just another thing. We have an opportunity to make our mark. Some parts of winning and losing we cannot control. But we can control our effort and our intensity and compete for every inch of the field so hard that the opposition feels it next week.

I believe.