Magical night at the Big House
I'm sure you don't need anything extra to pump you up for the Mich/ND game this Saturday, but the link above is a pretty good read from ESPN. Here are a couple quotes:
Brandon: One of the moving parts was the whole Michigan Football Legend ceremony and taking number 21 and putting a patch on it. Junior was going to run out of the locker room with the patch, and we're going to do the video to honor Desmond. I'm standing there and we're playing the video, and I look over at Desmond and there are tears running down his face. I walked to the sideline and the sun was setting and the lights were on and things were starting to twinkle in the stadium and every seat in that stadium was full.
Robinson: I was shocked. I was like, 'We just drove the ball with 30 seconds left.' That's when I jumped into Taylor [Lewan]'s hands and was like, 'Oh my God, this is crazy! This is one of the biggest games, craziest games I've ever played!'
September 19th, 2012 at 1:31 PM ^
I love that picture of Denard and Taylor. Totally embodies the miraculous ending to that game.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:53 PM ^
Denard is about 9,000 feet above the earth in that picture.
Just finished reading the linked article by Michael Rothstein. What an utterly fantastic column. I'm not so sure that we have always done exactly right by young Mr. Rothstein but really, is there a better daily reporter in college football? (I am excepting the lovely and talented Angelique Chengelis because I don't rate Rothstein on the "lovely" scale.)
September 19th, 2012 at 2:19 PM ^
... as, "somewhere on his body," I am going to skip entirely their appraisals of reporters and reporters' questions.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:20 PM ^
He has been so much better on ESPN than he was for AnnArbor.com. Granted, it helps that he can be more esoteric for his audience at WolverineNation, but someone should show his new writing and old writing side-by-side to A2.com as an example for how colorless their style is and how it crushes creativity.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:58 PM ^
Too bad their "jerseys has wings" seems to cheapen the image a bit . . .
September 19th, 2012 at 2:05 PM ^
Not really
September 19th, 2012 at 1:48 PM ^
So Dave Brandon has a heart and isn't just a soulless capitalist?
Probably just a disguise. Diversionary tactic to implement some other plan. Remember how he so graciously "allowed" the band to go to Dallas, before dropping the new uniforms on our heads?
With some many new patches, we're going to look like a NASCAR pretty darn soon.
Very great picture of Denard Robinson and Lewan.
~Herm
September 19th, 2012 at 1:51 PM ^
I've always wanted to use the word Curmedgeon in a post on MGoBlog.
Thanks.
September 19th, 2012 at 5:21 PM ^
Do you mean Curmudgeon? If so, that is a great beer!
September 20th, 2012 at 8:28 AM ^
And I pride myself on spelling excellence...
September 19th, 2012 at 1:57 PM ^
I love you, Herm.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:01 PM ^
I still want to thank you for allowing me the visceral feel of negging grandpa without actually having to do so
September 19th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 4:01 PM ^
But all I hear is rubble ...rubble ...rubble. We get it... you hate Dave. Point made, let's move on.
September 19th, 2012 at 4:14 PM ^
Hey, watch it pal. When Herm was your age, people respected their elders. Also, when Herm was your age, these fangled talking pictures (or talkies as we called them) were all the rage. A nickel would get you into a double feature and another nickel would get you some popcorn and saltwater taffy. Those were the days.
September 19th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^
I had no idea... is his middle name Methuselah?
September 19th, 2012 at 5:01 PM ^
C'mon now. I said I love Herm above because he's a great contributor (not because I necessarily agree with his views). Its great to have some blue-blooders here to provide some perspective to all the young bucks. We should all be so lucky to have grandparents that even know what the internets are, let alone post in discussion boards!
September 19th, 2012 at 9:16 PM ^
September 20th, 2012 at 10:51 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 1:49 PM ^
Another quote from the article, from a one Jordan Kovacs:
"A noon game, the stands are empty until the game starts. Let's be real."
Kovacs, being fooled by nobody since 1990.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:41 PM ^
The Athletic Department should let us drink in the Big House then. Seriously, there isn't all that much of a reason to show up 30-45 minutes early, there isn't much to watch and chances are you'll start to get hungover sometime during the game. It wouldn't help me, but it might convince some older students to get to the game and pound some brewskis while watching warmups.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:57 PM ^
Oh, another way for Dave Brandon to monetize the program. Why don't we leave the utter madness of State Street outside the stadium. Try driving down that street before the game, even early in the morning. People are drinking and yelling and blaring music; we already have enough of that in the stadium. If you want to drink and "watch" the game, why don't you just go to a bar? I've seen students taken out on stretchers, likely from alcohol.
September 19th, 2012 at 5:05 PM ^
Probably not an AD call since alcohol is not allowed during any college football games, IIRC. There was a big discussion about whether alcohol would be served at the CU-Colorado State game when it was moved to Mile High a few years back (since they serve alcohol at the Broncos game) and it was ruled out. Plus, get high on the environment. Maybe wait to drink heavily until AFTER the game? Just a thought.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:50 PM ^
Everything about that night was spectacular. The longggg tailgate, the weather was perfect, the Big House finally lit for football, and do remember football is a 60 minute game (I was still nervous with :02 left on the clock !). The fact that almost NO ONE left the stadium for at least 30 minutes after the game. Then on Monday ... finding yourself on FanCam.
Truly incredible venue, tremendous victory ... and made believers out of the Team, the Coaches and the fans. If you haven't seen the Roadtrip show for the game IT IS MUST SEE ... here's the link -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3mLnIJTAaQ
Go Blue!
September 19th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
and watch them whenever I get some spare "oh well, guess I'll watch something on my iPad" time. I was at the game and walked around (although didn't participate in) all the pandemonium on campus before kickoff. Thanks to the OP for sharing the article, it's fun to also get some more in-depth quotes from the participants (especially ND's). Another nice read from Rittenberg today ... http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/59060/notre-dames-nightmare-denard-robinson
September 19th, 2012 at 3:40 PM ^
That Road Trip episode is solid; it is permanently saved on our Tivo.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:52 PM ^
I remember seeing a picture of Desmond with tears in his eyes. I can't remember if it was on the scoreboard or online somewhere the day after. At any rate, the atmosphere on State St. in mid- to late-afternoon prior to the game was electric. I don't know if I ever remember the fans being so alive. There was something in the air, and you could feel it.
When we sat there as the band came out of the tunnel, followed by the skydivers and their live video feed, it was enough to make any man well up.
The victory was icing on the cake. I feel so blessed to have been there for that whole experience.
Go Blue!
September 19th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^
I was visiting my brother that game, it was a great first time to party at Michigan. I got so drunk I had to sleep for an hour before the game started. But I was awake for the entire game in the student section. Really awesome experience.
September 20th, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 1:52 PM ^
half expecting it to be about Lloyd Brady's conception.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:05 PM ^
I miss him.
[Edit: Neg me, but at least use the right moderation choice - "redundant" doesn't make any sense in response to my comment. "Overrated" is probably what you're looking for here.]
September 19th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^
Past 2 weeks he's shown up on the scoreboards. The guy's got connections
September 19th, 2012 at 1:57 PM ^
the vincent smith TD in the 4th quarter one of the Universtiy suites just picked up and left... since i had nothing to do (work wise) until the game was over i went into the suite to watch the end of the game. next to the suite i was in is the adidas suite and they had a few former players in there that day, when smith scored that TD i looked to my left to what the former players were doing and john wangler was sitting right next to glass, and he and i fist pounded through the glass... /coolstorybro
when roy caught the winning TD people were running down the hall way for the 5th floor suites everyone was high fiving each other... it was such a great night...
September 19th, 2012 at 1:59 PM ^
Don't miss:
- banter between Desmond and Woodson pre-game
- comments from Chief Marketing Officer Hunter Lochmann!
- Al says it was better than the SEC
- Mattison takes responsibility
- Kelly throws his coaches under the bus
- wrong formation!
September 19th, 2012 at 2:18 PM ^
Robinson: Coach Borges, once I got to the sideline [after the touchdown], was like, 'What formation? You're supposed to be in the gun.' I'm like, 'Coach, I'm sorry, but we got a touchdown.'
September 19th, 2012 at 2:05 PM ^
This.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:08 PM ^
I get chills just reading this and remembering. What a nice way to fill in the details on what happened that night behind the scenes and on the field.
I'll be going to the ND game this Saturday. While I would love to have the same result, and crush ND's soul, it is significantly different being in South Bend rather than in Michigan Stadium. I can only imagine how wonderful it was to be at the game when our team won last year. While every win is a good win, I think I would especially enjoy attending a win by Michigan in Columbus or East Lansing. If the season goes well, I do hope to also go to the game in Columbus.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^
You're going to miss Tom Hammond's play-by-play!
I'll DVR it for you.
In the meantime...
September 19th, 2012 at 4:03 PM ^
Don't want to look but can't....stop....staring.
Tom Hammond may be a gorgon.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:31 PM ^
"Also the Stanford one, I remember 'The Play' very, very well. And so you have those thoughts in mind." - Jack Swarbrick, remembering UTL
At least on the Gallon reception, I am pretty sure that the Notre Dame band would have fared just as well in coverage as the backfield on that play, the resulting "illegal participation" call notwithstanding, of course. Is there a play that uses the brass section to defend against the pass?
In all seriousness, that was one of the best game experiences I have ever had, not to mention one of the best complete gameday experiences. I don't think I'll ever forget that game or how it ended.
Thanks for sharing this.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:50 PM ^
At least on the Gallon reception, I am pretty sure that the Notre Dame band would have fared just as well in coverage as the backfield on that play, the resulting "illegal participation" call notwithstanding, of course. Is there a play that uses the brass section to defend against the pass?
Here, at YouTube, is the Notre Dame band in what appears to be a two-deep zone at the end of Denard Robinson's long run (00:30 mark of the video). It is a bit of a loose two-deep scheme. Mostly pushing and trashtalking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_xePqfTAi8
September 19th, 2012 at 2:37 PM ^
That piece brought back memories of what might have been my single best moment of Michigan football, and there have been many. As so many others have said, that night was electric and the high after that game was something that literally took a couple of days to wear off. The emotional roller coaster of those last few exchanges were unreal.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have been there for that game.
September 19th, 2012 at 3:14 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 3:41 PM ^
+1 When I'm on my death bed I can look back at that night and smile knowing I was apart of it all.
September 19th, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^
I cannot add anymore except that it was the fastest drive home from AA ever, and i'm pretty sure my dad and I did not stop talking about the game until I dropped him off. Best. Memory. Ever.
September 19th, 2012 at 3:48 PM ^
For the first half, we were pretty low in the bowl and were sitting behind the Notre Dame band, which sucked. We were in the midst of a bunch of Med School alumni (it was their reunion weekend), most of them pretty elderly. My short 12-yr-old son couldn't see for crap, and so he kept hopping up on the bench whenever the crowd stood. But you know how packed everything is there; inevitably he'd step on someone's scarf or bump someone's knee, and I was certain he was beginning to annoy the dour-looking old alum he was next to. I was doing the nervous-mom thing every time he climbed up there, but then the old guy reached over to steady him and said, "He's just fine. Stand up there and look. You'll remember this night for the rest of your life."
How propethic THAT was.
September 19th, 2012 at 3:57 PM ^
In anticipation of this weekend's game, I was watching highlights of UTL '11. I can't believe this is the first time I noticed this. Forgive me if people have pointed this out before. I guess Charlie just wanted to be back in the Big House so badly he'd do it even if it meant running security during the game.
He makes his appearance at about 11:02, as they're getting closer in on everyone mobbing Tree. You can't really miss him, he looks elated.
September 19th, 2012 at 4:11 PM ^
Great recap - brings it all back. I like that they got both sides to participate. Interesting that we actually lined up wrong on Smith's TD. That probably happens a lot in last-minute situations.
September 19th, 2012 at 10:09 PM ^
It was, like, sparkles.