Athens To Athens

"They got a message from the action man: I'm happy, hope you're happy too..."

I know it  sounds like a David Bowie song, but it describes my recent itinerary. The action man's been on the road for 8 days now, trying to keep things straight.

Last Monday, Athens OH; This Monday Athens GA. It's a little anticlimactic to be here at the University of Georgia without covering a football team that is now, actively, involved in a for real national championship chase. So even though the Georgia bandwagon is full I saw the actual empty vehicle in my hotel parking lot.

It doesn't mean there isn't some drama. The first basketball broadcast of the season almost always comes with unknowns, headaches, and stress. You just have to do what's in front of you. November is the craziest month of the year with football and basketball crossover.

The first order of business: Have a good breakfast.

The Five Star Day Cafe is one of the best in the country. Backtime recommends the Veggie Benedict, a twist on the traditional breakfast dish, subbing out the Canadian bacon and Hollandaise for fried green tomatoes and country gravy. Only in Athens...Georgia.

Today's Odyssey Is Brought To You By The Letter O

The wakeup call in the Athens (OH) came at 6:30 AM. But instead of heading directly to the airport I grabbed some free Hampton Inn breakfast, went back to the room, flipped on Morning Joe and took apart 80 pages of West Virginia game notes.

I packed up, jumped into the Sonata around 9 AM and hit the road for Columbus. It was a nice day for a drive. I made a few calls, which took me a few minutes off course. But I pulled up at the Columbus airport rental car return at 10:45, just in time to hook up with the conference call with the West Virginia coaches at 11:00.

In the daylight I could see the posters that tickets were still available for the 2013 NHL All-Star Game in Columbus. Tickets are still available for the January 26-27 weekend.

If you're planning a vacation to see relatives in Ohio (every single person I know has one), Nate Silver is projecting an 89% chance there will be plenty of hotel rooms that weekend.

The West Virginia call got moved back to 11:30 so I went through security, found some workspace and listened in, before boarding my first flight to Detroit Metro.

I got a powernap, did some Oklahoma State prep work, and devoured a pastrami sandwich at the Irish Pub in Detroit's B Terminal. My flight to OKC was delayed about 30 minutes, but I settled into my first class seat, finished up on the Cowboys, and actually cracked open my book before we landed.

While I had status on the plane, I had none at the rental car counter. I waited about 20 minutes for a generic Malibu, and got stuck major rush hour traffic in downtown Oklahoma City. It was good timing that I could talk to the kids for a few minutes before my cell phone ran out of juice. The 70 minute drive was more like an hour forty-five.

So this long day's journey that started in Athens Ohio wound up at my Stillwater hotel at around 7:45 CT. The glamorous life of a national TV producer: out-of-the-way college towns, rental cars and long drives, commuter jets and delays, traffic jams and low cell phone batteries.

It's not too different from the adventure West Virginia fans will take to get here. At least I'm getting paid to do this. Welcome to the Big 12!

But like most stops in the Big 12, Stillwater is pretty OK once you get there. See you out tonight at Eskimo Joe's!

Republicans and the Five Stages of Grief

We bounced around Downtown Athens Ohio last night, first at Stephen's On Court, then hit the early stages of an election party at The Pigskin. MSNBC and CBS local were on the big screens, and Ball State/Toledo was nowhere to be found.

It was early and the action was slow, so I got to texting some of my conservative friends, simply asking (needling) "which stage of grief are you in?"

1. Denial and Isolation

The first response told me not to gloat yet, that you can't believe the polls. I can imagine him now in front of Fox News in his sweatsuit shaking his Magic 8-Ball until he gets the right result.

Nate Silver told us all along exactly what was going to happen, but like on climate change and evolution, deniers will just deny.

2. Anger

"I feel bad for this country, having four more years of your boy!" The truth is this friend's life (or mine) isn't truly affected by whomever was elected. And he recognized that projecting his sympathies for the country (he even mentioned the 53% - ouch!).

Donald Trump was obviously the bellweather for anger, calling the election a "sham" and calling for "revolution." He actually hit Stages 1 & 2 there, but he'd get to all 5 quickly enough if you kept an open mic in front of his piehole.

3. Bargaining

"At least I still live in a red state" was one I heard more than once, as I live in one too. Or "at least we still have the house." That's good, all of us are still bargaining with the same Executive/Legislative split, who have been unable to bargain with each other the last two years.

4. Depression

Surprisingly, I haven't seen a lot of this one yet. It was more evident during the coverage when Obama's campaign staff was appearing on every network with a bounce in their step, and nobody in the Romney camp was to be found.

It's hard not to be depressed when you work for months or years on something and then it's over. The silver lining for these retread political operatives is that we live in the land of opportunity (yes, it still is) and they're only a few months away from another election cycle and their next gig.

5. Acceptance

This one is the hardest to grasp. Mitch McConnell's #1 goal was to make Obama a one-term President, so now what? Making sure a GOP gets elected next time? That would breed the same obstructionism we've seen for the last two years. So you have to wonder whether this defeat will ever be accepted and anything will be changed. And one day I guess I'll have to accept that.

Yesterday, I predicted that 11 PM would be the hour this would be decided. Unfortunately I nodded off at about 11:05, and popped my eyes open at 11:25 to see that Obama had won. It was called at 11:12, when Iowa and Ohio were put into the winner's column. Naturally, Karl Rove didn't accept it.

What State Am I In?

I landed in Ohio last night, and it was just after Gov. Romney left town so there was no air or ground traffic in the way. I got in a Hyundai Sonata rental (there were 25 Chevys in the National lot and none of them had XM - shame on the American auto industry!) and cruised out of Columbus.

Every news network was repeating the mantra "it all comes down to Ohio." Yet when I woke up this morning in Athens, Nate Silver had no longer listed the Buckeye State as "competitive." He had Ohio as a 91% probability of going to the President. Maybe I should have brought my lawn sign here and plopped it in front of my hotel room.

It was a crisp and beautiful 38-degree autumn morning in remote Athens, 80 minutes outside the state capital and 40 minutes from the West Virginia border. It warmed up during the day, and we're going to have some nice football weather for Frank Solich's 100th game with Bobcats, as they take on Bowling Green Wednesday night.

Athens is a nice progressive slice in one of the reddest portions of Ohio. But don't let the country quaintness fool you, the sorority girls are capable of some serious mayhem.

Headed out somewhere in the Court Street/Union Street area tonight, but sure to be back in the room to keep an eye on Election Day coverage.

The key plot point of the night is 11 PM eastern, which is 8 PM pacific, which is when the west coast polls close. It was the hour when the 2008 election was called for Obama. Every minute past then means that there is still some level of uncertainty, which increases Romney's chances.

But there's no way I'm staying up all night for results. I got a job to do tomorrow, and I want to keep it. I don't trust either candidate to create one for me.