About this time tomorrow I’ll be flying down the monotonous Interstate-5 in a red prius with a busted driver’s side mirror packed with four Wildcats and one set of crutches (s/o Timmy). En route to the renovated Pauley Pavilion, I expect to be a coffee or four deep and no piss breaks. I’ll be sure to not keep you posted on that.

And we’ll be pumping jams through the Red Dragon’s (that’s what I call my car) stock speakers. After all, this is shaping up to be a road trip of Game Day proportions. I think we have tickets. We might have a hotel room. We could need handicap parking. There’s a chance we pickup a fifth on the return drive. It’s rumored we’re putting in this effort to watch a team with no effort.

But back to the jams.

Who doesn’t love cranking some classics while blasting down the highway carefree until you see even the slightest resemblance of a Crown Vic to which you react by slamming your breaks and passing the next 45 anxiety ridden seconds examining the hell out of your rear view mirror? I love it and here’s a chunk of the playlist:

• “Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta” – Geto Boys
• “Since U Been Gone” – Kelly Clarkson
• “Born to Run” – Bruce Springsteen
• “Caress Me Down” – Sublime
• “Wake Up” – Arcade Fire
• “Lazy Eye” – Silversun Pickups
• “Mr E’s Beautiful Blues” – The Eels
• “When You Were Young” – The Killers
• “Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening” – Aziz Ansari
• “Don’t Slow Down” – Matt & Kim
• “You! Me! Dancing!” – Los Campesinos
• “Take A Walk” – Passion Pit
• “Basket Case” – Green Day
• “Know Your Enemy” – Rage Against the Machine
• “El Scorcho” – Weezer
• “Black or White” – Michael Jackson
• “Without Me” – Eminem
• “Start Me Up” – Rolling Stones
• “On the Road Again” – Canned Heat
• “Roll Me Away” – Bob Seger

I’m missing so many but holy cow are we in for a treat and then there’s a basketball game. It’s well documented how much I love hitting the Pac-12 road and I’ll once again say it’s the best damn road trippin’ conference in America. Sure it’s not always that accessible by vehicle (Boulder would be quite a drive) but I’m taking Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, Tucson, Salt Lake over Norman, Lincoln, Lubboch, Stillwater, or Morgantown.

And this trips a special one to me: I’m oh-for-Pauley. It was one of my first Pac-12 roadies and I’ve never attended a game in that arena in which the Arizona Wildcats have won. Tough. I’ve seen wins at Maples, Haas, Madison Square Garden, The Orleans, The Pond, Wells Fargo, and Cox but I’ve never tasted sweet victory inside Pauley. Could this be the year? Could the Wildcats set aside their fatigue or confusion or whatever it is that’s going on defensively and piece one together if not for me then for their own damn season?

I’d like to see it and I think so too would they.

The stakes are about as high as they can get and the atmosphere, to get fully cliche, will be electric. It doesn’t always get that way in Westwood but I guarantee you this sell out will be packing some punch.

I’ll see you there. I’ll be the one coming down from a music/coffee/gas pedal bender.