Cherry and I said goodbye to Harris after a great Thanksgiving visit. Harris can let you in his "Goodbye Club" if you learn the three quarter side arm open/close hand wave - and do not forget the smile.
Harris has a lot to smile about after his Texas Longhorns said goodbye to A&M with a 27-25 come from behind victory as Juatin Tucker's kick sailed through the uprights as time ran out. The Aggies head off to the SEC with the score branded in their memories much like their 13 -0 branding of the first Bevo. Harris is 1-0 versus A&M as the Horns improved to 76-37-5 in the 118 game rivalry.
Harris also had a special Thanksgiving dinner spanning four generations. He and Gramps chaired the ends of the table ten feet and 85 years apart. His mom and dad and Aunt Kacie, Uncle Jason, Granny, Cherry and I feasted on Cajun spiced fried turkey, crawfish stuffing, sweet potatoes, and three different pies. Harris had his own yummy sweet potatoes and a little of the spicey turkey while keeping an eye on Gramps.
Cherry and I left for the airport a little after the Taruns headed back to Austin. Powderhorn was fully decorated for Christmas inside and out so we knew that chore was done. By the time we arrived at the airport the clouds had burst and we had a steady rain as we waited to board. The forecast for Cincy was steady rain everyday so we canceled our plans to buy tickets to the Browns and Bengals. Shipley is out for the season and Colt is QB'ing the Browns but we can watch with Charlie and stay dry. Oh no, not on TV, must be blacked out. Not surprising that a town with a population of 300,000 cannot fill a stadium for teams with poor records.
When we arrived at the Westin downtown we thought the hotel was full of Cleveland fans following their team to a state rivalry game. At the bar we learned otherwise. These excited fans were from Atlanta and elsewhere. They were in town for the WBO Junior Lightweight World Championship:
Adrien Broner stops Vicente Rodriguez
Associated Press | November 26, 2011
CINCINNATI -- Hometown fighter Adrien Broner won the vacant WBO junior lightweight title Saturday night, stopping Argentina's Vicente Rodriguez in the third round at U.S. Bank Arena.
The 22-year-old Broner improved to 22-0 with his 18th knockout, flooring Rodriguez with a left hook following a right uppercut. Rodriguez dropped to 34-3-1.
We met a young man at the bar named Chris Seelbach. Chris and a bunch of local politicians were invited to the fight. Chris is 32 years old and newly elected to Cincinnati City Council. He is 100% German heritage and proud of it. He lives in Over-The-Rhine, is an endorsed Democrat, and is the first openly gay candidate for city council. Chris is keeping his CFO job at Seidewitz Group, a marketing and media consulting group that helps elect democrats. Chris and three other democrats, including a 26 year old, swept into office over the collective bargaining rights for city employees issue that brought heavy democrat and union turnout to the polls. Chris supports fixed rail and other changes that will make Cincinnati a better place to live for young professionals. We discussed the local strengths and weaknesses of Cincinnati over a couple of Hudepohl brews. It is going to be tough to revitalize the local economy. Good luck to Chris and his friends.
Cincinnati is dark and dreary, but we enjoyed seeing Charlie. This year he introduced us to Terry's Turf Club. Jim, with his bright tie, was in charge of packing everyone into shared tables. The burgers had options like burgundy wine sauce with mushrooms and truffles which I added to English cheddar with carmelized onions. Messy but delicious and washed down with Bell's White Winter Ale. As Charlie said there are only two things to do in the Midwest - grow food and eat it.
