First trip to Notre Dame on Saturday.

This is true. And when they're done at the chapel, the fans make a tunnel for the players to walk through. I remember when we were there in '96 or so, everybody walked through the tunnel to the locker room and high-fived, waved at fans. Except Lou Holtz, who was driven through.

I know he had a driver, but I can't remember if Holtz was in a car or some sort of enclosed golf cart. (Had a few pre-game beverages before the game, good Catholic that I am!)

 

Indeed it is. If you find yourself standing at one of their urinals, look straight up and you will see the initials of George Gipp carved into the ceiling. Very cool.

 

So Holtz had his own popemobile?

 

I'd love to see a game in South Bend, the first one preferably being against USC.

Looking forward to your report.

 

I'm quite jealous.

I went there in the summer of 2003 just to see the stadium while on a road-trip (six MLB games in eight days) and it looked like such a great place to watch a game.

My buddy and I tried to sneak into the stadium and when that failed, we tried to get a couple players who were leaving the building after a workout to let us down to the field for a quick picture, but they would bite. "Man, Coach Ty would whup our asses if he found we did that," was what one of them said.

I had a chance to get USC tickets two years later, but couldn't get anyone to join me. Shoulda just gone by myself. That turned out to be the Reggie Bush game.

 

YankeeFan, it was not the Michigan game. It was the LSU game, the 1981 opener for ND. The one with the lights against Michigan was, I think, in 1982.

 

Not to dampen your expectations, but the game itself is a little bit of a wine-and-cheese crowd. The students are great. Probably more than 90 percent of them come every Saturday and dress in the same-colored T-shirt, etc., etc. But the other 70,000 curmudgeons get pissed when people stand for a big play.

 

How did the trip go?

 

Wrong.
The Pope has his own Holtzmobile.

 

A fantastic trip! Although, I was surprised that Nevada just didn't show. Really surprised.

Ideal day (77 degrees). We were on the 45 yard line, press box side, row 58, so we had a "back" on our bleacher since it was the row under the cameras.

Perfect game day experience -- the fans were friendly - even the drunks -- the ushers said, "Welcome To Notre Dame" and look you in the eye. It was like, in many ways, stepping back in time for 3 1/2 hours.

Very much a wine-and-cheese crowd as we landed high-dollar "booster" seats. Definitely Landed Gentry vibe. There was a Belushi-style Bluto, drunk and wearing a green #10 jersey, with someone who I presumed to be his dad screaming in front of me. I was surprised a dad would be okay with a drunk 24-year-old son dropping f-bombs all throughout the intros and first quarter.

After watching the old couple next to Belushi roll their eyes but do nothing (they were like Judge Smails and his wife), I finally tapped Bluto on the shoulder and said, "could you watch the f-bombs, buddy? I have a 7-year-old with me." I looked the dad in the eyes and could tell he was embarrassed.

At least the f-bombs stopped.

Otherwise, we had a great day walking the campus. A friend of mine offered us a guided tour of everything on the UND campus so that helped. Took pictures in front of the Heismans, the national trophies.

However, when I left the leafy campus and headed south through downtown South Bend, on our way out of town, it looked like the hollowed-out downtowns of Rockford or Toledo. Pretty depressing. I imagine the town/gown relationship is a bit...strained in South Bend.

Total tally in one day: 650 miles traveled (rented a Focus for $18 a day!). Best part, the Focus had SIRIUS sat radio so my son and I listened to 10 different football games for the drive back. Side note: found it interesting that I had a hard time translating what many of the SEC & Oklahoma announcers were saying because of their drawls.

A true weekend to remember. My son & I have an informal "deal" where he picks a college each year and we try to make a game there -- ideal for bonding. His request for 2010: San Diego State.

 

Glad you had a great day. Thanks for telling us about it.

 

It's definitely a working downtown. Mostly alive during the day, empty at night except for Fiddler's Hearth, Oyster Bar and, of course, the guys putting out the sports section at the SB Trib.