Big screen, big letdown after BCS loss

AUSTIN (KXAN) - When the BCS hit the big screen, Longhorn fans felt they had the next best seats away from the actual game in Pasadena Thursday night. By the end of the evening, many in the cinematic setting wondered if it was worth the trip out in the unusually brisk Texas weather.

Shelly Wright showed up at 5 p.m. when doors opened with her entire family to toast her team’s chance at the national championship and celebrate her 39th birthday.

“It is my birthday," Wright said, as she headed up the stairs to one of the theaters. "39, and what better way to end my 30s than if we have a victory today."

The Drafthouse Downtown, also known as the Ritz, packed 268 fans in two auditoriums. Two other Alamo locations in Austin held similar crowds. Throughout the game, walls at the old movieplex on 6th Street were rattling as fans stomped nervously.

“Everybody’s going to be screaming. It’s going to be crazy,” said Wright’s son, Garrett, who shares a first name with the backup freshman quarterback who had to take over in the first quarter.

With starting quarterback Colt McCoy out with an injury, Texas fans grew rowdier with each play. At one point, a man in one of the theaters allegedly threw a bottle into the crowd, according to other fans there. He stormed downstairs and out the front doors, with a Drafthouse server trailing and screaming, “You still have a big tab to pay, sir.”

An Austin police officer arrived but quickly left. Drafthouse employees would not comment on the matter.

Even with some surprise moves from replacement Garrett Gilbert, fans watching the biggest game-airing screen in Austin began to trail off in the middle of the fourth quarter.

“I was pumped for months,” said Mike Kovner. “Okay, maybe like a month and a half. But I was still pumped for months, because I felt like we were going to go to the championship. After that I felt we were going to win it. Are you kidding me?”

Muttering coulda’s, shoulda’s, and woulda’s as they left, some fans were in tears. Others searched for bright points on the way out.

“Yeah, we actually had tickets to the game but ended up selling them,” said Ashley Rawls, “so at least we didn’t waste a $1,000 to lose. It was great watching it in there, too.”

Wright and her family were some of the last to leave, holding onto any final possibility of a win. This was not the 39th birthday she had in mind.

“It didn’t turn out the way I planned it,” she said, “however, seeing Gilbert, he is going to be the future of the Longhorns.”

At 37-21, Alabama defeated Texas. Wright went home a little older, yet hopeful for what the future could hold.

“Because they couldn’t truly stop our defense,” she said, “I think we’re going to be okay.”