For those of you who weren't following me on twitter, I drove up from my humble abode to the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. My adventure started by swerving through LA traffic around mid-day, continued through the Grapevine until I got to California's armpit: Bakersfield.
More tales of terror after the jump:
I managed to escape the dullness of Bakersfield and I finished my drive up to Fresno.
For those of you who don't know, Fresno is rich in it's agriculture industry, and is also home to one of the Gallo Winery headquarters. It's downtown area has a little culture but most of it's beauty comes from the Fresno State campus and the farms and vineyards that are scattered on the outskirts of the town.
I made the game in time for the first Bronco touchdown (still trying to enter when the game kicked off). Lets just put things this way, I was on the home side and I got very dirty looks quickly. Well it didn't matter because the Broncos scored quickly once again and by the end of the first quarter, it was 16-0:
I apologize for the quality, these were all taken from my phone
Well it didn't take long into the second quarter when the Bulldogs took the field for the home crowd to start booing after another failed Rouse run. Clearly the fans weren't interested in Pat Hill's antics anymore, and they most (at least in my section) were beginning to appreciate the beatdown Boise was putting on. Hence halftime began at 37-0:
While the band struck up, I got the opportunity to ask a few Fresno fans about what they thought about coming over to the Mountain West. Most were excited to Play Up (you see what I did there?), some were concerned about how they would fare, but there were overall positive vibes. As I asked around, I noticed the first wave of the original 33,871 fans filing out. They wanted to take no part in what was becoming a massacre.
As the game continued and more fans filed out, I couldn't help but feel bad for the players on the field. The people who are SUPPOSED to be there fans, were leaving them, bandwaggoning like no other. Nevertheless, Fresno State kept fighting until they scored: 
While the final score was a complete massacre and not even close, I continue to have high hopes for the Bulldogs. They continue to recruit good talent and hopefully that talent will come together. While it might take a coaching change or other, FSU will be on my list of darkhorse teams to watch every year.
Finally my trip ended with the long drive home...the only part of this experience that I didn't take advantage of (and I hope to soon), is the famous Fresno State Wine:
Until next time, Cheers!
greekpadre