The cannon being prepared for yesterday's 23-15 victory over the FIU Golden Panthers.
My seat location in Section 123 no longer allows me to hear it or see it directly (only on the TV screen) when it fires after a score. In its old location on the hill next to section 101, it was right in my sightline and a big part of my Stadium experience. I miss seeing the flash and smoke rings. I also loved the way that on a still night when the cannon was firing with regularity, there would be a pall of smoke hanging over the open end of the Stadium. Now the smoke goes out through a hole in the fence above the new seats, so the best view may be from just on the other side of the Raritan River, where the Stadium, on a busy night for the Rutgers offense, may look like an approaching Pirate ship.
But the important thing is that it fires regularly. It could have fired a few more times last night without the imposition of will in the second half by the Foot Locker employees who had been grabbed to referee the game (does anyone know what conference they were from?? Like I said, my guess is Foot Locker). And it was disappointing to watch the defense let their shutout of FIU disappear in the fourth quarter, but the main thing is the win. A dubya is a dubya. Florida International will shock someone someday soon. I'm just glad it wasn't my Knights.
