My Love for the SEC

I honestly think I was raised in the wrong region of the country.  Having two major cities at my disposal can be very exciting, but it's sometimes over the top how much I love Southern culture.

Aside from everything else the culture has to offer, their love and passion for college football is second to none.  When I was starting to think about college at 16/17 years old, I wanted to go to The University of Tennessee.  I wanted big time college football so of course an SEC school would not disappoint in that department.  I didn't want to go to Penn State at all, even though it had that football program I was looking for and then it some how ended up in my top 2 choices by senior year.  I wanted SEC.  I've always wanted to be south of the mason dixon.  (I'll get there one day, hopefully soon!)

My mom didn't like that at all.  She said Tennessee was too far away, so forget about Georgia or Alabama.  Knoxville was probably the closest SEC school, which is about a 10 hour drive from the Philadelphia area and The University of South Carolina is about the same distance.  Her concern was that it wasn't a day trip to come home- meaning it wouldn't be logical to come home for the weekend unless I flew.  Some other circumstances also had persuasion in my decision come senior year.  Since then I've bought a Tennessee sweatshirt, drove by it in the middle of the night on a road trip to Nashville and that's the closest I ever got!

Don't get me wrong, I have never once regretted my decision to attend Rutgers University.  It was the perfect fit for me and I loved every minute of it.  I had been to 99% of Rutgers homes games since 6th grade and had also traveled to Miami, Annapolis, West Point, Syracuse, and Houston (for the Texas Bowl in 2006) to cheer on the Scarlet Knights.  How could I not go to the school who's team I had become a die-hard fan off- being there through the good and the bad.  It became a no brainer!

That being said, sometimes I still wonder what it would have been like to attend an SEC school.  To be part of an entire culture that has the same passion that I do.  To have those burning rivals, and depending on which school you're a fan of, the same determination to beat that one team as the rest of the conference does.  To consistently be viewed as one of the best.  I wonder what that's like.

Rutgers is my favorite team.  There's no doubt I'm a die-hard fan of the Scarlet Knights and I always will be.  But the SEC is my favorite conference.  They're all winners in my book and it's hard for me to pick one team to root for.  Maybe one day I'll work for or attend grad school at one of those schools and be able to religiously root for one team, but for now, I love them all!

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What's your favorite College Football team?  What's your favorite conference?

College Football, According to Karra

Let's face it, Fall is quickly creeping up on us.  And Fall to me means FOOTBALL, specifically College Football.  College Football is one of my favorite things and Fall is my favorite time of year because of it.  I love it and everything that comes with it- games, rivalries, traditions, tailgates, family & friends, the list goes on.... 

In attempt to gain experience and exposure with my writing, since this is a path I would like to see my career take, I will be sharing articles I write pertaining to sports.  I plan to post once a week leading up to the season as well as throughout.  

Some topics I plan to post about in the coming weeks:

 The Best Game of Opening Weekend (Game to Watch: Week 1)

Heisman Trophy Prospects

National Championship Prospects

Who to Look Out For

If there's a topic you would like me to write about, please let me know.  

As always, feedback is welcome and in fact, encouraged! 

Country Music Summer Anthems

As promised, I bring to you, my favorite Country Music Summer Anthems!!!

Perfect for a day on the boat, at the beach, tailgating a concert or driving around with the windows down! :)

I know there are tons of other songs that qualify to be on this playlist (like pretty much every Kenny Chesney song), this is just my list of favorites!

What are your favorite summer anthems?

Happy 4th of July!!!

29th XTU Anniversary Show

 I am still on cloud 9!!!! Yesterday was such an incredible day!

As most of you know, I've been working for Philadelphia's Country Radio Station for a year and a half.  Every year the station throws a listener appreciation concert which is called the Anniversary Show and is well known to most people in the tri-state area.  The concert is FREE to everyone.  Yup, Free!  You can't buy tickets to this concert, you have to win them!  We hold events, called tickets run and x-stops, for months prior to the show with tons of opportunities for our listeners to win tickets.  

Yesterday was the 29th XTU Anniversary Show!  The show has been going on for 29 years.  That's incredible in itself!  Every year the show has a new headliner, no repeats!  This year Brad Paisley was the headliner with Chris Young, Lee Brice, The Henningsens, Tyler Farr, and Chris Stapleton.  

We run the show.  All station employees work the event to make sure listeners, clients, artists, etc. are taken care of and having a wonderful time.  We work all day.  We set up, we break down, we do it all but we have so much fun doing it!  Even a little rain couldn't stop us!  One of my duties was to take pictures all day!  I got to take pictures of our listeners' meet and greets with the artists and got my photo taken with Lee Brice and Chris Young too! :)

My favorite part of the show is when the entire staff goes out on stage and gets introduced to the crowd by one of the artists and then the whole arena sings "Happy Birthday" to us!!  This year Lee Brice was on stage with us and it was so awesome!!  It's unlike anything I've ever been a part of.

After our duties for the day are done we get to hang back stage and eat a catered dinner together- relax and hang out.  This is great because artists will literally come back and hang with us too!  Chris Young and Lee Brice were back there for a little bit as well as Tyler Farr and Chris Stapleton.  

How could the day get any better, right?  Well Brad Paisley invited the entire staff to come up on stage with him during his encore of Alcohol!  You read that correctly!!! We all brought our drinks, and one for Brad, of course, on stage and sang with him!!! I was literally less than 2 feet away from him as he was performing.  It. was. unreal.  I could see my sister, who I had given Pit Passes to, from stage.  Unreal isn't even the best word to describe it!  We all had so much fun.  I wish I could post some of the videos my co-workers took while on stage!  I'll honestly never forget it!

NO ZOOM ON THESE PICS, FOLKS!! NO ZOOM!

 Lee Brice and Tyler Farr hung out with us as we were all waiting to go on stage together for the encore!!! They're both awesome guys.

I got home at 2 a.m. and got up this morning at 7 to get ready for work.  I'm exhausted today, but it was beyond worth it!!!!!  People ask why I work 2 jobs, 6 or 7 days a week and this is why!!!! This night and all of the other perks that come along with working so closely with something you're passionate about makes all of the long hours, occasional slow gigs, sometimes needy listeners, crappy pay, minimal social life and every other mishap worth it (-trust me, it's not all luxurious)!!!!  It was truly an amazing show and experience.  I am so blessed to have been a part of it and love my XTU Family!!  I can't wait for next year! :)