Nine Days to Go

We are nine days away from convening for the Reunion next Friday morning. So far, 140 classmates have signed up, and let's try to get closer to our goal of 200 through pre-registration. With gas prices plummeting, no one within 250 miles has any excuse for not making the drive down to Nashville in pleasant autumn weather.

Let's have a big shoutout for new Chancellor Zeppos, who was able to convince the Board of Trust to spend $15 million annually to eliminate loan debt for all undergraduates. The financial burdens which going to private school create for many people have forced many students into difficult situations for the past two plus decades, and undoubtedly, many good students who wanted to go to Vanderbilt during that era and were admitted, did not go because of the cost.

Last March, while attending the Dores' NCAA hoops game against Siena in Tampa, I met the brother of a recent graduate who grew up in Westport, CT. His brother graduated from VU in 2004, and owed $100K, and went to work in finance in NYC to pay off the debt. I am not sure that attending the University of Paris in the 13th century, which had what many scholars consider the most accomplished faculty in human history, would be worth going into a $100k hole.

Well, we regret to report that the Dores finally lost a football game in 2008, to a Mississippi State team desperate for a victory, which stymied Vanderbilt with a new defensive approach, and won 17-14 at Starkville. Vanderbilt hurt themselves by committing ten penalties, and only gained 110 yards of offense, but were still in the game due to good special teams play and a solid defensive effort.

This weekend, Vanderbilt travels to Athens, Georgia, to play the Georgia Bulldogs "between the hedges", where Chris Perry and I were privileged to travel 34 years ago, where the Dores lost a heartbreaker 38-31, as Matt Robinson drove Georgia the length of the field with time running out. Vanderbilt fell behind 31-14 in that one, and a former Bulldog player in his 40s with a butch cut and a harsh manner made patronizing remarks as the Dawgs went in front.

When Vanderbilt tied the game at 31 with two minutes left, we summoned full teenage vocal power and shouted into the guy's ears, and he turned as scarlet as a Georgia home jersey, angry over his Dawgs letting Vanderbilt back into the game. After Georgia won, he complimented us on Vanderbilt effort.

You can watch the Georgia game this Saturday 12:30 PM Eastern online with "yahoo.com" (click on college sports broadcasts), or if your broadband provider is in contract with ESPN, you can see it on a bigger online screen on ESPN 360.com.

Tickets are still available through the Reunion website for the Duke game on Saturday of Reunion weekend, although the Reunion bloc tickets are sold out. I will get more details on that subject and blog later this week.