Best New Year's Eve Ever

I spent this past New Year's Eve in Tampa, Florida at the Outback Bowl with my dad, brother, girlfriend and sister and her boyfriend. To bad the game didn't go as well as the night before. We spent the early part of the day at channel side. Having lunch, a few beers and good conversation. There was a cruise ship getting ready to depart. It's amazing how something so big can still float. My dad especially loved that part. He has been after us for years to take a family cruise. Maybe next year. That night we took the trolley to Ybor city for the Outback Bowl Parade. The parade wasn't anything special both it was a good atmosphere with the fans from both teams present. The best part was after the Tennessee band went through. They were the last element in the parade and after they went by all the Tennessee fans flooded the street and followed them to the pep rally. Singing Rocky Top all the way. It was cool to be apart of that. Working in TV you get used to covering things like that but not getting a chance to take part in it. At the pep rally the UT and Penn State bands played and the cheerleaders danced on stage. Each band had an announcer to introduce each song. Retired anchor Bill Williams of WBIR channel 10 in Knoxville did the honors for Tennessee.

We stayed at the pep rally for about a half hour then found a bar to ring in the new year. This place was cool the dj played almost exclusively old school R & B with a little rock ,rap and Spanish music mixed in every once in awhile. Through the night he would play each teams fight song and challenge the fans to out do each other. I have to say the Tennessee fans won that battle all night long. The place was full of Vols fans. We did shots with a group of them and rang in the new year. If not for the early kick off the next day we probably would have stayed out all night. Great time great memories. Here are a few pictures from the trip. Go Vols in 2007!