EMU Emus 42, Akron Kangaroos 35

I actually went to the game on Saturday– well, through halftime at least. Based on this story on the AP, it looks like I missed some excitement in the second half. As far as the game goes: I have to say I was kind of confused about at least one play EMU called. After the emus scored a touch down (and at that point, it was EMU 7 and Akron 10), they tried for a trick-play onside kick. Akron picked it up and scored in two plays. What’s up with that coaching?

But beyond the actual “game,” I thought I’d share three of other lasting images of the outting:

First, it was an absolutely beautiful fall day and the stands were as empty as I’ve ever seen them:

Maybe people were thinking it was just too nice outside to sit around a football stadium, but I thought it was the perfect setting for talking with friends, eating stale pretzels and stale popcorn, and half-watching football.

Second, the Zips mascot clearly has an Australian theme:

Now, with a nickname like “The Zips” (talk about something that gives sports team inspiration to score!), I guess you’ve got to do something to get creative with the mascot costume. I mean, what does a Zip look like, anyway? But clearly, this again begs the question of the EMU emus. Wouldn’t you like to see the EMU emu mascot fake wrestling with the Akron kangaroo mascot?

Third, the reason we went to the game was because it was band day, and that was pretty cool. Over 1000 musicians and flag twirlers and whatever else from area high schools were on the field at halftime, playing along with the EMU band. A pretty impressively sized group, I must say. Here’s 43 seconds of kind of lame video of that:

So if nothing else, it’s a good community outreach sort of event.