Long weekend. Jamie and I ended up going to Little Rock to the State game. Left town around 1:15 - of course the plan was to leave at noon. Got to The Peabody in Little Rock just short of 6:00 p.m. Team arrived shortly after us, so I visited with some of the players and coaches before heading to dinner.

We stayed at this same Peabody when the Dawgs played in the NCAA tournament here two years ago. The hotel itself is okay, but Little Rock has done a really nice job with its downtown. A little like a mini-Memphis downtown revitalization. There is a neat, hole-in-the wall restaurant called the Flying Fish. Had a bucket of PBR's and a fried oyster sandwich. After eating and drinking all of that we needed the stroll back to the hotel and to find the bed.

I got an early start Saturday with a 4-5 mile run. With soccer, I haven't run a lot lately. It was nice to run along the Arkansas River and through downtown Little Rock. Nice time to relax. After the run it was time to suit up and head over to War Memorial Stadium for an 11:21 a.m. kickoff (those odd times crack me up. 11:21. that "21" is funny to me). Dawgs showed some life early and then came out in the second half and went 95+ yards to get within a touchdown. Unfortunately mistakes and the lack of attention to detail cost us. That coupled with the fact that Ryan Mallette is really, really good. At the end of the day it was Arkansas 42, Mississippi State 21.

Time to load up and make the return drive to Starkville.

Sunday brought church and Total FC soccer in Tupelo. I thought we played well enough to win on Sunday, but we just couldn't get the shots to fall. We had at least 6 corner kicks and we usually score off a corner when we have that many, but not today. We left with a 4-4 tie. On a positive note, I drove and carried AJ (Jamaica), Desire' (Ivory Coast), Alco (Spain), and Tundy (Nigeria) with me. I felt like an ambassador to the United Nations. They are really good guys. A few of them will be here alone over Thanksgiving. Jamie and I are thinking about inviting them over to our house for Thanksgiving. I hate to think of them spending it alone.