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Having taken a few days to cool off, I’m finally ready to talk about the Illinois–Mizzou Braggin’ Rights game. In a few days somewhat reminiscent to the football game between the schools, I had a great time in St. Louis, with the exception of the few hours watching the event that was our reason for coming into town.

I rode into town with Nathan and Hannah on December 22, in an effort to avoid the storm that was to blow through the Midwest. The three of us chatted while I played Doom and got some things electronically in order. Nathan had a haircut appointment at Studio 1, a salon about a half-hour from his house, so Hannah and I decided to do a little last-minute Christmas shopping.

Nathan had to wait a few minutes for us to return from the mall, so he tried to get a beer at a nearby restaurant. After waiting about ten minutes for service, he finally tracked down the manager, who was surprised to hear that this was the second time he had been so ignored.

We then met up with Nick and headed towards the St. Louis Amtrak station. Tom’s train was scheduled to arrive at 12:30 a.m. and we wanted to be nearby to meet him. We ate dinner at the Tin Can Tavern, where I ordered a hot wing pizza, and then walked to Maggie O’Brien’s for drinks.

On game day, we awoke to find Nathan making us a delicious scrambled eggs breakfast. Having feasted, we hung out at his place for most of the afternoon, playing Rock Band and killing time before the game. We eventually made our way downtown, where we checked into the Hilton on Olive. Someone had procured a few beers, so we finished getting ready for the game before heading to Houlihan’s in Union Station. The place was packed with mostly Illini fans, and close to the stadium, so it was perfect.

Shortly before gametime, we made our way to our seats. Being a Champion Club member of the I FUND did me no favors, as we were seated in the second-to-last row of the upper deck. (To be fair, I guess we were pretty much at mid-court.) The Illinois side of the stadium was fairly uniformly orange, but the Mizzou side was not sold out and had a number of invading Illini fans.

The game itself was ugly. Nearby fans were screaming obsenities at the referees, but the Illini did not play well enough for the poor officiating to make that much difference anyway. (I had to physically leave and walk around to contain my disappointment and fury—although those around me may have interpreted it as a simple bathroom and refill break…) The only positive thing I can think of is that in order for a game to really be a rivalry, both teams need to win once in a while… and I guess nine in a row isn’t too bad.

After the game, we returned to the hotel to change and go out. Tom and Nathan had a wrestling match in the room, and luckily no one was (seriously) injured. The brothers Raeber came by and ended up going out with us in the Landing, as did Jeff Throm. We spent most of our time at the Morgan Street Brewery, where we danced, played pool, and wore Santa hats.

The next day, we made our way back home. Nathan had some final Christmas shopping to do, so we stopped in Peoria on the way back, and finally made it home around 6 to celebrate Christmas with our families.