Afton, Oklahoma pit stop

The Scion we're driving needed some gas and I immediately noticed a tiger tail hanging from the back of a gray mini-van. Of course I had to talk to the group traveling in it. As I walked into the gas station, I noticed the license plate was from Kansas! I could only imagine the challenging life they lead as Kansas Mizzou fans. Inside I found a bunch of Mizzou-clad people near the check out area. I asked where they were from... It turns our they're from Columbia! They rented a car and unluckily ended up with a license plate from Kansas! There was a discussion of swapping out license plates or putting a sign next to the plates that say "this is a rental," but instead they just hope the tiger tail will hide the rental's plates.

I love the togetherness of road trips!!

My MizzouMobile

I've just left Houston for Dallas. I've attached a picture of my ride.
Below but I'm not sure if it'll show up on the blog or not.

I'm going to try to make it in time to go to the pep rally tonight at
the Anatole hotel although I'm actually staying at the Embassy Suites.

The last official Cotton Bowl press conference is done.

This morning Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel and Arkansas interim head coach Reggie Herring met with the media for the final time. The coaches were very complimentary of each others programs. No big bombshells. Coach Herring said to expect running back Darren McFadden to be on the field Tuesday. McFadden was accused by Little Rock TV station KARK of having a Cadillac Escalade purchased for him by a sports agent. Arkansas is continuing their investigation, but the TV station has apologized for the report and it looks like the issue is all but closed.
Check out all of the latest news from Dallas tonight following NFL football.

Oklahoma... Here we are

We just drove into Oklahoma... We really lucked out with good weather for this drive. We just passed a sign that read:

"Do not drive into the smoke."

I don't know what it means but as Randy just said: "Now I don't trust Oklahoma."

It was an odd introduction to the state.

Anyway. We're trying to keep track of the number of obvious Tiger fans on the road. So far we've seen five cars with a big tiger, flag or tiger tail decorating their team spirit. Randy and I are just sporting big NBC peacock feathers on the sides of our car. We also saw at least one group of tiger fans in a restaurant where we stopped for breakfast in Lebanon, MO. Hopefully we'll meet up with more folks along the way.

Obviously Randy has driven this far... I'm sure I'll have to take the wheel sooner or later.

We've had the iPod on random for most of the trip. So far, the best songs we've heard so far were from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Bottle Rockets, Uncle Tupelo, Southern Culture on the Skids and Bobby Bare Jr. and Meatloaf. We're jammin'!

Hitting the road

- Jonathan Coffman

http://jonathancoffman.com/

Mobile post sent by jdcoffman using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Driving down!

As KOMU's New Media Director, I'm fortunate to follow KOMU's Cotton Bowl coverage online for the next three or four days. I also happen to be married to KOMU's Managing Editor, Randy Reeves. You'll find him blogging here every once and a while.

We're driving down to Dallas together: Without the kids! Our daughter's second birthday was yesterday so we stayed in town to celebrate with her. Now she and her 5 year old brother are spending the rest of the Winter break with my parents who came up from Florida to visit. Now we're going to drive as quickly (and legally) as possible. We'd hoped to get out of the house by 6:30am, but we didn't get out of the driveway until 7am.

I have the wireless card and plan to keep you up to date on the drive to Dallas -- So far, Highway 63 is totally clear at this point. I have my cowboy hat on in honor of Texas: I bought it during the Austin City Limits festival a few years ago.

Once we get there, we plan to meet up with an old friend who works at a Dallas TV station who will help us find the perfect place for us to go live tonight on KOMU News at 10.

By the way, if you want to chat while we drive down, feel free to find me on AIM. My username is KOMURoadTrip

Coverage Explosion

Chris Gervino and the sports guys have been having all the fun. But, that's about to change. As I write this the full force of KOMU News is on it's way to Dallas. Starting Sunday night and rolling right up to kick-off, we'll have the Cotton Bowl covered on air and online. Jim Riek and Sarah Hill will join Chris for the KOMU Sports Show Sunday night with a look at the Tigers' week in the Big D.

You won't believe what Megan Murphy has planned for you on Monday morning. She's kicking up her boots and tasting the Texas lifestyle bigtime. She and Lauren Whitney will be live in
Ft. Worth to see how the other half of the Metroplex (they call it that, really) lives. Boots, Bullriders and real Texas cuisine.

As for me, my KOMU news car fires up in the morning. Look for us along I-44, US-69, and US-75. Honk and wave. We have an amazing long weekend planned for you. See you in Dallas, in person or on the air.

Long Drive

Well I am all packed up and ready to leave for Dallas! For the next two to three days I will be driving from Chicago (a suburb of Chicago at least- anyone hear of Arlington Heights?) to Dallas with my boyfriend’s family. I can’t think of a better way to really get to know them than by spending that much time in a car together! Since there has been some snowy weather (we got about 5 inches at home), we decided to leave a day earlier than planned in case the roads are too dangerous and we need to stop somewhere along the way. There is no way we are missing this game! Today we will drive from Chicago to Columbia and then stay the night since we each have our own apartment or house at school. Then on Sunday, weather permitting, we will drive from Columbia to Dallas. From Chicago to Columbia it will take about 6-7 hours and I’ll keep you posted on the rest. I am so excited for this game- GO TIGERS!

Beef Bowl and more

We have all kinds of people who are going to try to contribute to this blog along the way to the Cotton Bowl. Today I got a bunch of pictures from a TV sports producer and Missouri alumn, Linda Ting. She kindly shared picture of the Tigers attending the Beef Bowl where they got to eat a TON of food. She also captured some of the players time with the media. Enjoy!

Talking about this blog

I went on KOMU-TV this evening to talk about this blog. Pretty exciting, eh? If you're curious about what I was talking about, feel free to take a look:

It's almost time!

I can't wait for tomorrow! Megan Murphy (KOMU Today anchor) and I are bringing Jim Riek (KOMU News anchor) along with us in our car and wow- he has no idea what he's gotten himself into. :) I am really excited because I get to join Meg again for our morning show while we are in Dallas, I really can't wait-I've missed the show so much! Be sure to tune in on Monday, we have a HUGE show planned, but I'm not giving anymore away... Stay tuned!

Counting Down the Days

Crews are working around the clock in Dallas and many more of KOMU's staff are planning to start leaving town Saturday and Sunday. The Tigers practiced for the first time yesterday and I hope to get some behind the scenes pictures posted to this blog later today.

And We're Off

KOMU's coverage from the Cotton Bowl begins today as members of the KOMU Sports team make their way to Dallas. I'll be driving about nine hours from my hometown of Jackson, Missouri today to meet up with Chris Gervino, Charlie Hannema and Justin Redeker. The drive down will most likely be a long, boring drive as I make it alone, but I still have all the hot jams from the San Antonio road trip, so I think I'm good to go. Be sure to watch KOMU Sports at six and ten with Chris live from Dallas tonight and every night through the New Year's Day game. Our KOMU team has many great stories and live interviews planned for the trip, so stay tuned. If you can't watch us live, you can always watch us online at komu.com or stay with us on this blog. This trip is sure to be a fun one and I can't wait to help as we countdown to the Cotton Bowl!

--TP

Tigers Getting Ready

The Missouri football team has only three more workouts in Columbia before they get a short break Sunday and Monday, before reporting back Christmas day. The Tigers travel to Dallas December 26, and Chris Gervino will be there with live reports. I will join the team December 29 in Dallas to help with the Sunday night Sports Show.

Testing a fun way to talk

KOMU.com is looking for all sorts of ways to share the excitement of the Cotton Bowl. We found a site called Utterz where you can actually leave a voice message and it gets posted on this blog. Kind of fun.

Mobile post sent by Jen Reeves using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Planning is underway

We just wrapped up a big planning meeting for our Cotton Bowl
coverage. You'll see all kinds of cool stuff online and on the air!