God Bless Appalachian State

As we mentally prepare for tomorrow's game with Appalachian State (and by that I mean, write this blog entry), I cannot help but give a little sigh of relief for the blessing that is Appalachian State University. Without them, and their win over Michigan last year in the Big House, our embarrassing upset loss to (just whisper it--gardner-webb) would have been even more of a nationally profiled defeat. Luckily, Appalachian State stepped in and did some heavy lifting so that their win was the number-one upset of the year, relegating us to at least number two. For that, I think we owe them a debt of gratitude. Perhaps I will take them some lethal blue jello shots as a tasty little pregame treat. Yum!

I know two people who went to Appalachian State. One was a girl I worked with briefly at Harolds. She was cra-zy. She got in a girl fight, hit her head, and had to have an MRI, revealing severe sinus damage. None of us can quite remember the terms of her departure from Harolds, other than it was met with great relief.

The other is my adorable friend Brooke. She sat down for an interview with me over steaming hot bowls of Spaghettios and dirty martinis with bleu cheese-stuffed olives. I learned that students call Appalachian State either App, App State, or ASU. Don't call it something stupid like "Appy State." They'll look at you funny, much like I looked at my co-worker, Bruce, when he saw Transy students crossing Broadway and told us he was delayed because of all the Trannys.

Brooke told me the App State mascot is Yosef, a pretty gruff-looking mountain man. I want to meet him. She says their biggest rival is Western Carolina and that they don't really think about UK that often. That kind of hurt my feelings (not really, Brooke), but maybe they won't be all that excited about the game.

I learned a cheer. Here it is:

Hi-Hi-y-ike-us.

Nobody like us.

We are the mountaineers, mountaineers, mountaineers.

Always a-winnin'

Always a-grinnin'

Always a-feelin' fine.

You bet-Hey!

This goes real fast like "Rammer Jammer" or "Hotty Toddy"

Brooke told me she never went to a basketball game at App St., which kind of tells me a little bit about the program, as she is quite the socialite! However, their campus sounds very cool, and Boone, NC is rumored to be a great town.

So, there you have it, everything you never needed to know about Appalachian State. May they enjoy their visit to Kentucky, but not too much.