Sports Columnist

We are Troy State!

That’s the chant that will be heard in places like Lincoln, Neb., and Starkville, Miss., College Park, Md., and Miami, Fla., as the Troy State Trojans hit the football field this fall against some of NCAA Division 1-A’s most elite programs.

Yes! Troy State’s football program is going big time.

All of this, of course, is old news to most football fans in our area but today I want to refresh your memory about what’s happening.

On Labor Day weekend Troy State kicks off its football season in Lincoln against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. There’s no question in my mind that during the weeks of Aug. 27 through game day on Sept. 1, Troy, Alabama and TSU will receive more national exposure then it ever has in its existence. That to me is big! To pay for this kind of national exposure would cost millions and millions of dollars and we’re getting it free plus $475,000 to boot.

We’ll do this very same thing again on Aug. 31, 2002.

Right now we have two planes and a chartered bus if you want to travel with the Trojans. Call 670-3318 for more information.

Game time in Lincoln is 6 p.m.

On Sept. 8, Troy State travels to Murphreesboro, Tenn., for a 6 p.m. kickoff with Middle Tennessee State. Only 20 minutes from Nashville, this should be a great trip.

On Sept.15, TSU’s home opener against powerful Appalachian State starts also at 6 p.m. Of course this will be a payback game after the Mountaineers knocked the Trojans out of the 1-AA playoffs last December in Troy.

Sept. 22 Nicholls State comes to town for a 6 p.m. kickoff. The Colonels of the Southland Football League will give Trojan fans two weeks of tailgating in a row.

After an open date on Sept. 29, a trip to the sunny shores of Miami beach is in store for Trojan fans. After a nice stroll down "South Beach", it’s on to the Orange Bowl for a bout with the Miami Hurricanes. The ‘Canes, as well as Nebraska, are preseason top five in the nation picks.

The next week Trojan fans can take a four and a half hour drive to Starkville to play in the "Dog House" against Mississippi State at 1:30 p.m. The house of "Who Let Them Dogs Out?" and former Troy State players and coaches Jim Thompkins and David "Fletcher" Wilson. The Bulldogs, with that tenacious defense of Joe Lee Dunn, will be another tough test for the Trojans.

Trojan fans will have another two weeks of tailgating and fun on Oct. 20 when TSU plays Cal-State Northridge. It will be the first time ever that a California team has played in Troy.

Oct. 27 is the biggest day of the year for the City of Troy. It’s Homecoming at Troy State and Troy State Appreciation Day. TSU’s opponent that autumn afternoon will be Southern Utah. Yes, you are right; no team from Utah has ever played a game in the State of Alabama.

Kickoff for both the Southern Utah and Cal-State games is 2 p.m.

After two weeks of sleeping in our own beds before a Saturday football game, we’re off to our nation’s capitol to play Maryland at nearby College Park. This should be a great trip for the Trojans. Go up early and enjoy the historical sites in Washington and Virginia. Game time on Nov. 3 had not been announced.

On Nov. 10, a trip to Monroe, La., to play Louisiana-Monroe. Monroe is a beautiful city near the Mississippi River and this should be another great trip. Kickoff is 2 p.m.

The last game of the year brings those Jacksonville Gamecocks to Troy. Jax State is expected to be much better and should be awfully fired up to beat the Trojans for the first time in seven years. In fact, a Larry Blakeney coached Trojan team has never lost to the Gamecocks.

It looks to be an exciting year for Trojan football. I hope you’ll take a road trip with us and let’s show the nation how proud we are to be Troy State Trojans. Season tickets for TSU home football games is the best buy in town.

Where you may pay $30 for an Alabama or Auburn game you can buy reserved season tickets (five games) at Troy State for only $50 a book. General admission season books are only $40 and a Family Pack, which includes four reserved seats in the East Stands is only $100.

I repeat: $100!

We’re still looking at 98 more days before our Trojans tee it up, but it will be here sooner then you think.

It’s time for all of Troy and Pike County to stand up for Troy State football.

Buy your tickets soon!

Go Trojans!