It felt like football weather for my entire trip to Houston these past few days.
As close as Houston is to the southern tip of the nation, and for all the reports during the summer about how hot it gets, I saw nothing of that warmth from Monday through yesterday.
I was there for XFL practice games, and it felt just like an October day at a Big Ten football stadium or Wabash tailgating.
It was not much above freezing Tuesday morning when we piled in the cars and headed for the stadium at the University of Houston, where the games were played. It is also the stadium that the Houston XFL team will be calling home when the season starts.
So, having looked ahead over the weekend at what Houston had in store, I packed long sleeved shirts, a warm undershirt, gloves and a stocking hat...
After arriving Monday, a quick trip out to the production trucks told me that layers were as important as stat pencils Tuesday.
By the time we were done with two games at around 6:30 Tuesday night, it was back to chilly, and it felt a lot like it felt around Crawfordsville the last couple weeks.
Yesterday morning it even did what we have seen the past couple weeks.
It rained. Rained like crazy.
Made for short delays getting out on my first flight, but not quite enough to make the connection in Dallas impossible.
And, unlike the last time I flew through the Big D, my flight was not canceled, so I got back in time to hop in the car and drive to Greencastle for the Wabash-DePauw basketball game last night.
Getting to Houston was a bit of an adventure tho.
It all started with a 6 a.m. departure, which of course means getting up about 3:15 in the morning to get ready and to drive to the airport.
It was cold enough on Monday that the plane needed to be de-iced, and at that early hour, not all the de-icing crews were on the job, so we had to sit in line and get delayed about 30 minutes.
And of course, I had a 60 minute window to catch my flight to Houston.
No problem, until I walked off the plane in the B concourse to find that the train system taking people from the B to the A or the C or the D or the E concourse wasn’t running.
Oh, it wasn’t down all over – it was just not running to the A concourse where my plane was soon leaving from.
I know lots of you have flown to or through the Dallas airport, and when they say things are just a little bigger in Texas, they took that motto to heart when they built that airport.
It is about the size of Delaware.
The trams make things workable in such a huge place. When they don’t run, you walk. A long way.
I got all my cardio in for the day heading to my second flight.
But I made it, and except for a packed plane and getting hit by about 25 bags and purses after I sat down, I was fine.
I guess I had packed planes on all four legs actually. Lots of folks flying about.
This next weekend is the last lull before the XFL season starts, and there will be plenty of action when it does.
Turns out I’m not going to do just a Saturday game, but one on Sunday as well.
And not doubleheaders like two games in one place Tuesday.
It starts with a Saturday afternoon game in Houston and follows with a Sunday game in New York.
Some of the weekend XFL games are bookended by Pacers games. There is the occasional college game. And Jared would sure like me to cover a high school game or two.
It will be interesting.
Stay tuned.
Safe travels.
Jeff Nelson works in national television. His column appears each Thursday in the Journal Review.
