In 2003, then-Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware came to Chattanooga to root on his beloved Blue Hens as they routed Colgate 40-0 in the NCAA Division I football championship game at Finley Stadium.
Tonight, Vice President Biden, a 1965 Delaware graduate, is expected in Frisco, Texas, where No. 3 seed Delaware is facing No. 5 Eastern Washington for the 2010 national title at Pizza Hut Park.
Finley Stadium executive director Merrill Eckstein remembers well Biden’s visit in 2003, but he doesn’t recall him making the trip in 2007, when Appalachian State thumped the Blue Hens 49-21.
Eckstein had a short conversation with the senator as he escorted him to the Delaware sideline to do a TV interview on a cold and snowy night in Chattanooga.
“We’re trooping along there across the plaza and that snow was blowing and coming down sideways, it’s about 33 degrees, and he says ‘My God, son, I thought we went south for this game,'” Eckstein recalled with a laugh.