Tripping on High School Musical

Some of you are aware that I had this great pipe-dream for several years of driving my family “out west” to see America the Beautiful. This past summer, it became a reality. During the last two weeks of July, we drove from Spartanburg, S.C. to the Grand Canyon (via Colorado Springs) and back. 4500 miles of driving with my wife, our 4 children, our oldest daughter’s dog and me (the dog was the only one who never asked “how much longer?”)

Fortunately, my vehicle has a DVD player in it, and as I drove, I listened to countless movies. One that seemed to resonate with my children was “High School Musical”. Now I have to tell you. I had never heard of this movie. Nor did I know that its sequel was only a few weeks away. But boy, did my kids know about it! Heck, even our 11 year old son knew all the words to the songs!

Our youngest daughter couldn’t wait to get to Albuquerque, New Mexico, because this was the setting for the movie. We drove through the Painted Desert and not-so-painted desert to finally arrive at Albuquerque. It was as though, out of the midst of nowhere on some foreign (desert)ed planet, the city just appeared. And although we never actually SAW the high school that the movie was based on (actually the movie was shot in Utah or somewhere), at least the kids got the “feel” of New Mexico.

We passed the University of New Mexico while we were there, and I thought at the time it was the school Auburn would play on September 22. Of course I was wrong, because it was New Mexico STATE that Auburn would play. And up until this week, it didn’t seem to matter much to me, because it was a given….at least in my mind….that this week was a guaranteed win (New Mexico….New Mexico State…who cares??)

But just like Albuquerque, New Mexico, surprised us with beauty and civilization where we thought there was none, I am concerned that New Mexico State….and yes, I do now know who they are because Auburn can’t take ANYONE for granted….will jump up and surprise us.

The Aggies are 2-1 with victories over Southeastern Louisiana and UTEP. Their wide receiver, Chris Wilson, was named the WAC player of the week this past week by catching 8 passes for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns (one an 82 yard reception and one a 59 yard reception) against UTEP. You might remember UTEP….this is where Coach Mike “It’s Rollin’ Baby” Price ended up.

So my advice to our beloved Tigers comes from a song in “High School Musical”:
Just keep ya head in the game!Just keep ya head in the game!

War Eagle…

WJLaneSr