TEMBA Gazette, Running Commentary, December 11, 2009

Given that this is the last TEMBA Gazette before the holiday break and, more importantly, the last one before the national championship game on January 7th, I thought it important to dedicate this commentary to the Longhorns’ drive to the national title.

I booked plane tickets and secured hotel reservations weeks ago, so the final minutes of last weekend’s Big 12 showdown were anything but relaxing. For a moment – a very painful moment as Colt’s final pass wobbled slowly out of bounds – I thought it was over. Done. All the hopes and dreams of the season – as well as all those non-refundable tickets - dead.

Then, like a verbal defibrillator, the season was jolted back to life with the words “please put one second back on the clock.” And, as we all know now, that was all Hunter Lawrence needed to boot the ball inside the left upright and secure the win and a trip back to Pasadena.

I didn’t make the Horns’ last appearance in the national title game. In fact, I was 8,263 miles away. You read that right: 8,263 miles away in Bangkok, Thailand. Worse yet, at precisely the moment Southern Cal was receiving the opening kickoff, I was in a place called Big C – the Thailand equivalent of Wal-Mart.

How did this happen? How did a passionate college football fan who regularly avoids big box retailers at all costs en d up halfway around the world in the produce section of the seventh level of retail hell at precisely the same time as the national championship game?

Allow me to explain. I was actually on a global studies trip with a group of students from the Texas MBA programs at Dallas and Houston. In all honestly, it was a great trip and still ranks as one of my favorites, but it was also extremely hard to focus on the company visits scheduled for that day given that the game was going on at the exact same time.

Earlier in the week, with the help of our guide, we developed a plan to watch the game. We asked the hotel staff to tape the game for us. We vowed to refrain from using mobile devices or making contact with anyone who might even remotely know the outcome of the game. If everything worked – and we were only 50/50 that it would – we would be able to watch the game as if it were live.

We began the day in Bangkok and ended up nearly 90 miles away in Hua Hin at day’s end. Along the way, we visited various companies and cultural sites. In addition to Big C, we visited a traditional market, a manufacturer (where we watched a distressingly long video of a fashion show at roughly the same time the fourth quarter was getting underway) and a clothing retailer. It was, frankly, the longest day of my life. All anyone could think about was the outcome of the game.

When we finally arrived in Hua Hin, we hurriedly checked in to our rooms, secured an ample supply of Singha and made our way to the conference room that had been temporarily converted to a game watching venue, complete with a large projection screen, full bar and appetizers. Not bad. Not bad at all, in fact.

We settled into our seats as a technician attempted to start the recording. The first image to appear was soccer and our collective hearts momentarily sank as we thought the staff had confused football with, well, football. Then, the familiar voice of John Saunders bellowed from the speakers and within seconds the pre-game show was projecting on the screen. With a huge sigh of relief, we applauded the technician and settled in for the game.

For the next few hours, I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the world. We screamed. We hugged. We jumped. We gasped. We high-fived. And, in the end, we celebrated. While the enduring image for most will be of Vince Young sprinting for the game-winning score, equally lasting to me will be the image of Jackson Wise, Texas MBA at Houston alum, hoisting an unsuspecting Thai bartender on his shoulders and carrying him around the room to celebrate Young’s feat. Our celebration lasted well into the night and is something I will always remember. My hope is that in less than a month, we’ll all have that feeling again.

If you’re going to the game, please send me a note. I would love to tailgate with everyone before the game and celebrate afterwards. Just don’t ask me to go to Wal-Mart or carry a bartender around.

Best of luck on exams. See you in January. Hook ‘em Horns!