The day life began: A first-timer at the Red River Showdown

The alarm on my phone was set for 6 a.m.

But I was wide awake at 4:50 a.m., and I couldn’t turn off my brain long enough to go back to sleep.

I sat on the side of the bed, thankful that my wife encouraged me to join her in drinking a full gatorade and tossing back a few Advil before going to sleep when we returned to our hotel room just four hours earlier.

My eyes burned a little bit, my head slightly fuzzy, but you don’t come to Dallas for your first ever Red River Showdown to sit inside all evening and get to bed early the night before the game.

Eventually, sure. But not the night before your first ever trip to the Cotton Bowl for a bucket list football game.

Friday night actually began around…