Tell us your rain-soaked Big House experience this past weekend

It was Fuckin LIT.

It was too wet and cold to get angry, purple faced, and yell at my players.

-Brian Kelly

I was going to post a similar thread... asking how great it was to be there and please share stories.  

I live in CA and don’t attend games.  I could live vicariously through your posts.  

Go Blue!

Let me preface this by saying it was HELL.  I arrived at 3:00. I parked in my usual prepaid spot on Hoover, no trouble parking.  Watched the early games finish and the 3:30's inside a heated RV with a Bloody Mary bar.  A butcher was there and he grilled ribeyes and lobster tails.  There was so much that I had to stop eating because I was running out of room for alcohol. I walked to my second tailgate spot just before the game and had some Skrewball and then some Maker's to feel warm.  I have plenty of rain and cold weather gear so the game was great.  And the rest is history.

What can I say, you asked.

Despite the rain and large number of nd fans (thanks to Michigan season ticket holders who don't like the late starts or the rain or value $ more) this was the loudest most vocal crowd from start to finish.  The constant prodding to the fans via the big screens also definitely helped keep people loud!

It was euphoria fueled by the adrenaline rush and subsequent endorphin release of a masterful football game combined with the body‘s natural mechanisms of thermogenesis in an attempt to keep a healthy homeostasis. Combine this with this shared collective social experience with close friends and a crowd that is over 95% in favor of the same outcome, and you have priceless memories that are nearly impossible to replicate. 
 

I posted earlier last week that I grossly overpaid for the tickets several months ago given unanticipated market forces of a two loss team and a terrible weather forecast. However, even though I could have gotten those tickets much cheaper the day before, my return on my investment was still extremely high. 

I sat section 8, and in row 93. Which is, of course, where the visitors sit. Had a couple Domer college kids there that were pretty annoying, refusing to take their hat off for the flag because, "fuck that". They would refuse to sit down for other Notre Dame fans because, "I don't want to get a wet ass, so why don't we all just stand up?" After a hard no, by the more mature Notre Dame fan and "I didn't pay $150 to stare at the back of your head, so sit your ass down before I get an usher do it for me," the younger fans replied with, "go ahead and have him fucking make me, I don't fucking care." By this time they were already down 10-0 and pretty upset with their ineptitude to score points.

I'm glad we beat them soundly, because I wouldn't be able to stand their cheering, because whenever they got some bullshit penalty to move the ball 5 yards I'd hear, "here comes the Irish."

Overall, they were fine to deal with, outside the younger kids, but by the time is was 31-7, about 80% of them left. By the time the game ended there were only 6 Irish fans in that immediate area.

Good times...

a. The guy in front of me “Eeyore/Negative Ned” and his wife “C’mon boys, hit someone” left in the middle of Q2 with Michigan ahead 17-0  after complaining about the defense, the offense “here we go again” and questioning “why do we always run up the middle”. Not sad to see them go.

b. Rain gear mostly held up. 
 

c. Crowd in the section up and LOUD every defensive play. Unreserved anger for refs.

Question for Board: “The Team” banner roll out seems oddly manufactured tradition. Am I wrong?

 One of the most fun days that I can remember. Tailgated from about 1030 on. Stood the whole game, never had any issues. ND fans were OK for the most part. One person in my tailgate area said that the difference between Michigan and Notre Dame is that Notre Dame can actually beat their rivals. Which is not that hard to do when your rivals are USC and navy. The atmosphere was electric despite the rain. It was an awesome day/night. 

Sat on the 50 on the Michigan side with (and thanks to) a lifelong (and very generous) friend.  I know that the heart of the Victors Club muckety-mucks is hardly party-central, but to me the crowd seemed quieter than prior night games.  For example, last year was much more intense vs Wisky, in my opinion (sat similar section but opposite side of the field for that one).

It was my 9th grade daughter's first game ever, and while she loved it she was surprised it wasn't louder.

I thought overall the rain had something of a deadening effect on the crowd (though, again, the section I was in certainly had something to do with that). Also definitely impacted the pre-game vibe outside the stadium.

While the outcome was awesome (and Domer tears are a wonderful thing), I personally did not perceive it as "lit" compared to other big games.

It was mostly super fun. Me and my brother had rain pants that ripped during the game leading to our early exit to finish watching the game from our car tailgating. We had a few ND fans around us in the stadium and they were completely miserable the entire game. It was glorious. They gave us some looks while we celebrated constantly. 

It was much louder and much more at capacity than i figured it would be.  I couldn't hear Carl Grapentine at all when the Michigan D was on the field. (Sitting in section 20)

I figured there wouldn't be much of a home field advantage with the rain but I was very wrong about that!

I had waterproof layers on but after being outside for 8 hours in the rain, eventually things got wet inside.  Giggity?

Agree with above, at times I could not hear Carl.  
Greatest day of my life (excluding family milestones) thanks to modern weather gear!  First game in 10 years.  

Great game (described elsewhere).  Rain not an issue.  Usual cautious optimism at half time then dam breaks, high fives.  All smiles. Crowd noise was impressive. 
Marching band post game, pregame, practice in rain, Revelli Hall percussion, march to stadium.  (First time for me). 
Morning at Bentley Historical Library, physics lecture, planetarium at NHM.

Full day.  Band chanted, “It’s great,  to be, a Michigan Wolverine!”  I still have a buzz.

I was behind the ND sideline, standing right next to a drunken ND fan high school student who swore like a sailor, was certain that Don Brown "only runs cover 2" (he should have told Brian Kelly, apparently), thought that everybody was jealous of the NBC television contract, and kept shouting "Go Irish" to everybody.  He left at 24-7, IIRC.

The entire section stood the whole game.  The only people who got "down in fronted" were a couple of 6'4", 280 lb fans who insisted upon standing on the bleachers themselves.  The usher had to come down and tell them to "stand on the ground," by which he presumably meant the concrete.  (ND fan thought that was 'soft' and dropped a p-word or two).

If the temperature had been 40, instead of 55, it would have been miserable, despite the events on the field.

The crowd was loud, but it wasn't as loud as UTL I (after Roundtree) or the 2015 MSU game (pre-whatever-that-was-at-the-end).  It felt similar to last year's Wisconsin game.  With better weather, it would have been more energetic.  By the time the game got completely out of hand, people were heading to the exits. (Half of the students bailed at halftime).

The announced attendance was 111,900, so the weather (and this rain-cloud sky-is-falling narrative around the team) definitely inhibited things a bit.

The loudest part was definitely the sustained referee booing after the "pass interference" call.  I honestly think it was borne out of a sense of "here we go again."  Once it become obvious that we weren't, actually, "going again," people mostly relaxed to enjoy the game.

It was loud.  They had the sound system cranked to the max.  They seemed to play more music between plays than usual and kept it on for as long as possible.  Our seats are up high, so we got caught in the blast from both end zones and it was really loud.  At least they fixed the delay lag problem between the north side and south side speakers that used to make it an echo chamber.

The wife and I put on rain gear to walk to the game and some water got into my right shoe before we even got to the stadium.  My gloves were wet, too.  We are fortunate enough to have seats up high with an overhang that protects us from the rain, so no further damage was done during the game.  I was impressed with how the crowd hung in there during the first half when the rain was really coming down.  Stands emptied at half time, but the vast majority came back for the second half.  Truly dedicated Michigan fans.  Given the conditions, the crowd was loud at all the appropriate times.

We had some ND folks up by us.  By the middle of the second quarter they went quiet and pretty much stayed quiet the rest of the game.  They cheered for their first TD gifted to them by the refs.  Several people mentioned they should thank the refs.

It was a glorious evening for Michigan football.

Delightful.  Four us went - 2 fans a aside.  I was much happier than 2 of my peers, one of whom hated how ND got their first score (good on'ya).

I enjoyed standing the entire game and didn't even attempt to sit down.

And my shoes are still soaked.

Miserable weather-wise but was really impressed with how many people came out -I know a lot left after halftime or closer to end. We don't have proper rain/winter gear as in GA there are only 3 different seasons of hotness. Did our best with raincoats and ponchos but was definitely envious of all of the hunting/northerner gear/boots we saw. We got completely soaked but loved every minute of it. Was literally wringing out my gloves in the bathroom and we flew home with still-wet clothes and shoes but we packed trash bags in anticipation of that.

I was thrilled with how loud it was - loudest Michigan game I have been to, even though that is many fewer than most here. I'm always unapologetically loud b/c that's what I'm used to from SEC but everyone around us was standing the whole time (maybe b/c rain?) and also seemed to be getting into it with OH-ing and yelling. I LOVED the sustained booing. The fans around us (121) were nice and jolly. No "down-in-front" and saw various liquors being consumed/passed. I felt like it was the most energetic MI crowd I have seen all year - I hoped it was super loud on TV b/c it felt loud in person.

We drove in from Luzerne and parked at the Salvation Army on State- I had called to see how much parking was since I was pretty sure people parked there from memory. Took an Uber to a fave lunch place,then back to Revel and Roll because we don't know anyone anywhere, weather, and we knew they had TVs and beer. It was actually really fun - lots of games on to watch and it got super crowded as the day went on. Walked with others down the tracks and cut through to stadium - now I know how to do that so cool.

The crowds in the concourse at halftime were insane though. It was difficult to get anywhere or do anything.

I was there with my wife and kids (12 and 8).  Came in from NY for the game and wasn't going to miss it.  

The conditions were hell.  Throughout the first half, the rain was heavy, constant and swirling.  We were dressed in thermal shirts, hoodies, Northface puffy winter jackets and ponchos, and it did little - coats were soaked through and sneakers were completely water logged by the end of the first quarter.  And it was fairly cold because of being so soaked.  

AND IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME.  The crowd was in it from start to finish, my section (24) stood the entire game, and the Big House had an awesome energy to it.  Maybe the rain bonded everyone together, but the crowd was more fun than I remember in any recent game.  

Best part is that I asked my boys if they wanted to leave at the half because they were clearly cold, and they both looked at me like I was insane and refused to leave.  My older son's reasoning (up 17 at the time) was awesome:  "When we go up by 30, I get to see Joe Milton play!"