If you’re fairly new to www.collegefootball fan.com, you probably know we are up to 459 games attended and climbing, but in September 2006 we headed out to San Diego State to add the Aztecs in a home game against UTEP, teams # 106 and # 107, to add to The Goal! To add to our experience, we got to add a new friend to our great adventure. We got to attend the game with Mr. San Diego State, Tom Ables, and have held a long distance friendship through our web site and football travels since we visited Tom again in late 2010 when my son Eric and I stopped by his office (he’s still running his own business) to meet up with him when we ventured out to the Holiday Bowl. Tom’s annals dwarf mine. As of the end of last season, he’s up to 744 games all played by his Aztecs! He’s still going strong. His goal is to attend 1,000 Aztec games. In September 26, 2015, we hope to meet up with him when he makes the trip to see his Aztecs come out to Beaver Stadium to play Penn State! Around that time, we’ll be closing in our 500th game, but we’ll still be trailing Tom by about 260.
My brother Chris and I meet Tom Ables, Mr. San Diego State, at the UTEP game in 2006.
Tom has dedicated his college football seasons since 1946 watching his beloved Aztecs. He’s missed only two since (a business meeting interfered with one and a trip to Hawaii was not affordable). His new book “Go Aztecs!” celebrates the first 731 games over 67 years he’s attended supporting his alma mater after his stint in the Navy during WWII when he became the student sports editor the school newspaper, the weekly “Aztec”. Tom’s book regales in his school’s greatest games, upsets, greatest season, record holders, road trips, and everything else you’d ever want to know about Aztec football. He especially enjoys telling tales about his and “every SDSU fan’s favorite head coach” of all time – Don Coryell.
I never followed The Aztecs closely living on the east coast, but I always remembered the late Saturday games of the early ‘90s when Marshall Faulk starred in those late night WAC shoot-outs. I love reading his stories and accounts of coaches and players who made it from State into the pros. Such players were WR Haven Moses, DB Hermann Edwards, DE Fred Dryer, DB Willie Buchanon, and QB Brian Sipe. Coaches include Joe Gibbs and John Madden. It’s a fun book that focuses on Tom’s favorite team, but it’s a fun read that brings back a lot of memories about the NFL growing up as a kid as well as about the Aztecs.
Click here to find out more about Tom’s book and to place an order. It’s a simple, quick, fun read for Aztec fans, of course, and also for football fans who relate to the history of the game from the ‘60s to the present. Also, check out our book “Tales from the Tailgate” which includes our visit to Qualcom Stadium with Tom when we saw his Aztecs play for the first time.
Find Tom’s book on amazon.com.