ND Gameday

Submitted by ijohnb on

Ten years ago I would have been so asleep right now, I may have been just falling asleep, or at least passing out into a state of unproductive unconsciousness.  Given that those glory days have been replaced by a 3 year old tugging at my blanket and demanding "peeenotbutte-n-julli" at 6 AM, I though I would write a quick post before embarking on the 3 hour journey until College Gameday comes on the air.

Game day at Notre Dame is awesome.  I am not here to compare Ann Arbor to South Bend, or judge the ND rivalry against Michigan's other annual(ish) rivalries, but just to say that Michigan at ND is one of the best spectacles in sports.  There is something about when coverage is picked up at ND stadium for this game.  The stadium is packed, the two best fight songs in college football are piping from all angles, players are so jacked for this one.  As it is always a 3:30 game, you know that at some point mid third quarter, the twilight glow will emerge, no it won't get to completely dark, but dark enough that it is has a night game feel for the second half.

Out of all of Michigan's rivalries, which it seems is virtually every game on their schedule, M at ND has a particular feel, maybe it is because college football is so fresh at this point, and Michigan is embarking in hostile grounds to make an early season statement.  I don't know, but this one is always special.

Happy Michigan at Notre Dame Day.  Hope you got better sleep than I did.

MGoBoard
Football

Carcajous

September 11th, 2010 at 7:30 AM ^

I think it is because it is always early and often the first big test for both teams.  I remember when I was in school at UM, it drove us crazy that ND was our first game but their second game (no fair!  They get a chance to iron out the bugs).  

Joined: 07/05/2009

MGoPoints: 2274

ijohnb

September 11th, 2010 at 7:34 AM ^

is memorable for one reason or another.  And whether they admit it or not, most college football fans without a rooting interest in the same timeslot will find their way to NBC today as their primary channel, even with the competition at the timeslot today.  This is just an awesome game.

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 69986

MgoBLUEfromDC

September 11th, 2010 at 8:30 AM ^

I know exactly what you guys mean, like my cat was just crying cause she wanted some food and I was like "no kitty, go back to bed" but in the end she prevailed in waking me...

I am so jacked for this game, however I have to try to push it aside while I go to class for 6 hours!  Honestly, who schedules class for 6 hours on a saturday, and more importantly, why did I sign up?  Stupid part-time MS degree.  At least I am up a couple hours before class so I can read some MGoThreads to get me in the right state of mind for the day.  All I'll hear from the prof today is "Smith in the backfield with Robinson... zone read Robinison keeps it.... gets a good block to the outside... he has a crease... thats six".  Unless there is not enough time to say all of that, then it would be "Robinison keeps it... thats six"

Joined: 07/28/2010

MGoPoints: 254

icefins26

September 11th, 2010 at 9:22 AM ^

...our 6 month old chocolate lab has a fucking urinary tract infection.  Yeah, talk about a wild Friday night last night and so far a morning of taking her outside every 5 minutes.  The good news is, I let the wife sleep in so I can go out to the bar at 11:30 for football all day.

Joined: 02/01/2009

MGoPoints: 13108

M-Wolverine

September 11th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^

The first feelings of Fall coming around....walking around their campus, from parking, to the Stadium....damn, I'm wishing I went this year now.

But truly, it's a special place to play football.  Can't think of any other game we play regularly that has the same feel (other than our place).  Spartan Stadium just looks so laughably bad. Ohio State has a feel to it in late gray November (thank God I'm not saying "early October"), but there's that feeling of dread and evil about it too.  Kinda like Mos Eisley Spaceport.

I guess the only other place I get that feeling of magic is the Rose Bowl. Maybe the most beautiful place to play football in the Country.  There's a special feeling there as the sun sets behind the mountains, and you're about to play a big game.

Joined: 10/04/2009

MGoPoints: 42190

OneFootIn

September 11th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^

I played rugby at Michigan back in the late 80s. We often played the same team as the football team. One of our most memorable trips was to South Bend. After our match we piled into some ND bar so packed with fans from both teams you could hardly move. Despite the rivalry it was such a great game that the whole place seemed to be collectively on another level. UM lost that one on the last second field goal, but to me that was what being a college football fan is all about. Had trouble ever since hating ND, unlike MSU and East Lansing. No trouble wanting to bash their heads in, just sayin...

Joined: 11/11/2009

MGoPoints: 655