Georgia vs TCU: The story of a hat
October 1, 2016. A group of college friends descended upon Ft. Worth, Texas to watch our school, The University of Oklahoma play the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. It was a warm sunny day in Texas. Game time was at 3 pm. In our group, everyone was wearing a baseball cap, except for the one person who was a Melanoma survivor, ME!
I figured I could buy one at a stand outside the stadium. Nope, there wasn't one. No biggie, there had to be a place to buy some swag inside. Again, surprisingly no. At this point, I was more than a little concerned. I didn't want to get sunburned but there weren't a lot of options. We stopped at a food stand where there was a high school girl wearing a TCU ball cap. I surprised her by asking if I could buy her hat. She laughed, but when I told her why she agreed. I gave her $20 and walked away with a hot dog, Coke and a TCU hat.
It turned out that the new/used hat wasn't needed because the sun never reached our section of the stadium. Go figure, right? Still, better safe than sorry, especially with any kind of skin cancer.
It’s now six years since that day in Fr. Worth. Surprisingly, I still have the hat. I've tried to give it away to a couple of writing colleagues who did graduate work at TCU, but I haven't seen either in a few years. I probably should have tossed it long ago, but I keep it as a joke and also for memories of that day.
Now, finally, having the hat has come in handy. TCU football is having its best season since 1938. That year, led by Heisman Trophy Davey O’Brien, the Frogs won the national championship. It was their second title in three years.
Tonight they try to reenact those golden days of the 1930s. TCU takes on Georgia for the national championship. They're huge underdogs to a team trying for back-to-back titles, but they've been underdogs all year. No one thought they would compete in the Big 12 conference and they did. No one thought they would beat Michigan in the playoff semi-finals, and yet they did. Maybe they can pull off one more upset and get the trifecta.
When the game starts, I’ll be wearing the hat again. Solidarity with the Frogs and hopefully, it’ll give the Frogs some luck. It did for the team I was cheering for on the day I bought it. The final score that day was Oklahoma 52-TCU 46. Maybe tonight it will bring TCU that same luck. Truely, a hat trick.