To say I have been looking forward to this coming weekend would be quite an understatement.

As my friends will attest (I think they are tired of hearing me talk about it) I have quite literally been counting down the hours until 8pm on Saturday night.

As much as I wish it was, writing this column is not my full time job. Like most of you I have more than one source of income with one being a 40-plus hours a week chore.  My “chore” has been more hectic than usual as of late and a break from reality could not have come at a better time.

Thursday afternoon, my wife and I will drive through Hurricane Earl to Myrtle Beach International Airport and hope the weather will permit an hour and twenty minute flight to Atlanta.

Upon arrival we will quickly check into our hotel and try to find a sports bar that carries the Big Ten Network.  My wife is a Buckeye and Ohio State opens the season Thursday night against Marshall. I fear finding the Big Ten Network in ACC/SEC country is going to prove difficult.

We have friends coming to meet us on Friday and we will spend most of the day just enjoying Atlanta. I am intent on getting a good night’s sleep because Saturday is game day and I have a lot of tailgating to do before my Tar Heels and LSU kickoff at 8 p.m.

Despite all of the current controversy, I am expecting a good game and look forward to watching football in a venue such as the Georgia Dome. It should be a blast!

As with all big sporting events, the hours after the game will be spent trying to get me and my group back to our hotel. We had better get another good night of rest because Sunday brings NASCAR.

Our friends decided that since the circuit was going to be in Atlanta the same weekend as the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff that we might as well take in a night race while we are there.

I have only been to one race, the Nationwide Series race last year in Charlotte.  It was raining or drizzling the entire time and I still had fun. I expect a night race in better weather with more horsepower should improve my experience even more.

Unfortunately, the fun can’t last forever and we will have to fly back Monday morning to prepare for the return of reality. I’ll worry about that when the time comes, however. As for right now, its 3 days 10 hours and 39 minutes until kickoff. Go Heels!

David Friedman is a long-time contributor to the Roanoke-Chowan News Herald. A Bertie High School
graduate, he and his wife currently reside in Wilmington. David can be reached via e-mail at
dave@gate811.net.