Notre Dame Football Saturday
I am a football fan. I have been a football fan since before I was born. My mother says that I used to run up and down the hall in our house when I was 2, shouting "BYU, Touchdown!" I will never forget going to my first BYU game in the Fall of 1996 when they upset Texas A&M. It was an amazing experience and I still get chills thinking about it. I never missed a game for the next 11 years (minus the mission). But I have to say, I never really experienced a real football Saturday until I came to Notre Dame. Being in South Bend during a home football weekend is like nothing I have ever seen. I am going to attempt to recreate the opening game of the 2008 season.
Wednesday thru Friday
No joke, on Wednesday the campus starts getting ready for the big Saturday. Tents are being set up around campus to sell your favorite Notre Dame gear. On Thursday, a few dozen outhouses are placed around the campus to accomodate the gallons of alcohol (and soda) that will be consumed over the next 72 hours. The outhouses stay on campus for the entire season. By Friday, the campus is abuzz with traffic. Everywhere you look, people are walking around with bookstore bags filled with ND merchandise. The sky is filled with private jets arriving with faithful alumni. You would think the game was starting in a few hours with how busy everything is. But we've only just begun...
Saturday - 9:30AM
I wake up and look out our front window and notice that cars are already beginning to arrive to tailgate. Right in front of our apartment is the road that leads to the general parking area. Apparently, it accommodates over 12,000 vehicles. They start arriving as early as possible as to take advantage of every possible hour to tailgate. Just so you know, the game doesn't start until 3:30pm... It's still 6 hours to kickoff.
9:45AM
Christina and I head out to start the day. We volunteered to help out at the concession stand sponsored by our apartment complex. As we leave, I realize that airplanes are arriving now about every 5 minutes. If this were Chicago, that wouldn't be strange... but this is South Bend. The airport has two terminals - It's tiny!
We quickly arrive to the concession stand to begin our 10:00am shift. It is already busy as people are cooking brats, burgers and more. Remember, it is only 10:00am in the morning.
The reason for the concession stand is obviously to make money for the apartment complex. But with many other such stands on campus, there is some competition. So a couple of the kids did what they could to advertise for us. Here is one that actually happens to be in our ward too.
I don't know if you can tell or not, but he duct taped the signs to himself so that he could use his hands for other stuff. A few of the boys went around chanting, "Buy a burger, buy a brat. Buy a hot dog, buy a lot." It was hilarious.
11:04AM
The campus is filling with people. With kickoff 4 and a half hours away, everyone wants to make sure they don't miss a thing. At this point, a group of ND bagpipers marches by. I guess they march through campus on gameday. It was pretty cool.
11:45AM
Christina and I decide we aren't being much help at the concession stand, so we decide to walk around campus. Here are a few of the pictures of what is going on around campus.
In the picture above, this is the main quad on campus. You can't see it very well, but it is packed with people. Again, the game doesn't start for a few more hours.
These two pictures above are of the parking lot right by the stadium. It is jam packed with cars. The air is filled with the smell of the grill... absolutely amazing. In the second picture you can see one of the most popular tailgating games around. It is kind of like horseshoes. The two little squares on the ground have the ND logo on them. You throw bean bags from one to the other and see who can get closest to the hole on top. I guess you have to see it to understand, but EVERYONE is playing wherever you look.
1:15PM
After walking around for awhile, we decide it is time to go to the MBA Alumni Tailgate party. This one is special cause it is free for students, alumni and their families AND there's no alcohol. So it is a very family friendly atmosphere. It gets really packed with people as you will see in the pictures.
Luckily, we got there early enough to avoid the line like this. Usually the food is amazing. And I bet you will never guess what they have - Yup! Burgers, Brats and Hot Dogs. Plus they have chicken, cookies, soda, and more. It is fantastic.
Here's Christina's plate. She opted for the chicken since brats are not her favorite piece of meat.
We have a great time and really enjoy getting the chance to spend time with friends from the program.
2:00PM
After finishing our meal and realizing that it's almost game time (90 minutes away!) we decide to head to the stadium.
As I am sure you can imagine, it is starting to get even busier around the stadium. We happen to be some of the first people inside, so we get to see the team warming up and spend some time right by the field. It's a beautiful field.
One of the unique things about the stadium is how nice and welcoming everyone is. As you can see, they have ushers everywhere to welcome you to Notre Dame and offer help. We were visiting with one of the ushers and he told us that there are more than 1,000 ushers to help with all the game day festivities. Some of the ushers travel to South Bend each weekend to help out. The farthest couple comes from Spokane, Washington... Talk about your die hard Irish fans!
2:53PM
As the football team comes out on the field for the final warm up, the already arrived fans go crazy. Everyone is ready for some football!
3:09PM
The stands are starting to really fill up. Excitement is growing as the kickoff is minutes away.
3:31PM
Just about ready for kickoff and we are ready to go!
The flyover is always an exciting part. It is incredibly loud since they are really close to the ground!
As we get ready for kickoff, there are those who are quite nervous. No one wants a repeat of last year's 3-8 debacle. So I am confident that many prayers were offered, lots of candles lit at the basilica and of course, the ever important "prayer shirt."
3:37PM
It's go time! The 2008 Irish football season has officially begun.
One of the cool things that happens after each Irish score are the push-ups. It is amazing to look around the stadium and see people bobbing up and down. I tell you these fans are amazing. Also, the students don't sit down at all during the game except for at half time. They stand during commercial breaks, time-outs, breaks, and everything. Even last year, when the team hadn't won a home game, the students remained faithful and never sat once. I was really impressed.
6:36PM
With the 3rd quarter ending, Christina has had her fill of football for the day. So she decides to head home with another girl from our ward. (I was so impressed though, because the next week, she stayed for the entire game... and it was pouring rain for the entire second half. What a trooper!!!)
7:23PM
Notre Dame pulls out a pretty lucky victory against a very weak San Diego State team. But hey, a win is a win, right? It was actually the first home victory I had seen, so that was nice.
I head home to wind down from a very eventful day. It sure is nice to start a new football season. I am praying that our little baby can feel the excitement of it all while still in the womb. I am trying to train him/her early so that he/she will understand the importance of football to our culture. It really is one of the greatest times of the year!
8:45PM
I sure am glad that I live close to campus. Cause I don't want to ever have to deal with driving home after a game.
Wednesday thru Friday
No joke, on Wednesday the campus starts getting ready for the big Saturday. Tents are being set up around campus to sell your favorite Notre Dame gear. On Thursday, a few dozen outhouses are placed around the campus to accomodate the gallons of alcohol (and soda) that will be consumed over the next 72 hours. The outhouses stay on campus for the entire season. By Friday, the campus is abuzz with traffic. Everywhere you look, people are walking around with bookstore bags filled with ND merchandise. The sky is filled with private jets arriving with faithful alumni. You would think the game was starting in a few hours with how busy everything is. But we've only just begun...
Saturday - 9:30AM
I wake up and look out our front window and notice that cars are already beginning to arrive to tailgate. Right in front of our apartment is the road that leads to the general parking area. Apparently, it accommodates over 12,000 vehicles. They start arriving as early as possible as to take advantage of every possible hour to tailgate. Just so you know, the game doesn't start until 3:30pm... It's still 6 hours to kickoff.
9:45AMChristina and I head out to start the day. We volunteered to help out at the concession stand sponsored by our apartment complex. As we leave, I realize that airplanes are arriving now about every 5 minutes. If this were Chicago, that wouldn't be strange... but this is South Bend. The airport has two terminals - It's tiny!
We quickly arrive to the concession stand to begin our 10:00am shift. It is already busy as people are cooking brats, burgers and more. Remember, it is only 10:00am in the morning.
The reason for the concession stand is obviously to make money for the apartment complex. But with many other such stands on campus, there is some competition. So a couple of the kids did what they could to advertise for us. Here is one that actually happens to be in our ward too.
I don't know if you can tell or not, but he duct taped the signs to himself so that he could use his hands for other stuff. A few of the boys went around chanting, "Buy a burger, buy a brat. Buy a hot dog, buy a lot." It was hilarious.11:04AM
The campus is filling with people. With kickoff 4 and a half hours away, everyone wants to make sure they don't miss a thing. At this point, a group of ND bagpipers marches by. I guess they march through campus on gameday. It was pretty cool.
11:45AM
Christina and I decide we aren't being much help at the concession stand, so we decide to walk around campus. Here are a few of the pictures of what is going on around campus.
In the picture above, this is the main quad on campus. You can't see it very well, but it is packed with people. Again, the game doesn't start for a few more hours.
These two pictures above are of the parking lot right by the stadium. It is jam packed with cars. The air is filled with the smell of the grill... absolutely amazing. In the second picture you can see one of the most popular tailgating games around. It is kind of like horseshoes. The two little squares on the ground have the ND logo on them. You throw bean bags from one to the other and see who can get closest to the hole on top. I guess you have to see it to understand, but EVERYONE is playing wherever you look.1:15PM
After walking around for awhile, we decide it is time to go to the MBA Alumni Tailgate party. This one is special cause it is free for students, alumni and their families AND there's no alcohol. So it is a very family friendly atmosphere. It gets really packed with people as you will see in the pictures.
Luckily, we got there early enough to avoid the line like this. Usually the food is amazing. And I bet you will never guess what they have - Yup! Burgers, Brats and Hot Dogs. Plus they have chicken, cookies, soda, and more. It is fantastic.
Here's Christina's plate. She opted for the chicken since brats are not her favorite piece of meat.
We have a great time and really enjoy getting the chance to spend time with friends from the program.2:00PM
After finishing our meal and realizing that it's almost game time (90 minutes away!) we decide to head to the stadium.
As I am sure you can imagine, it is starting to get even busier around the stadium. We happen to be some of the first people inside, so we get to see the team warming up and spend some time right by the field. It's a beautiful field.
One of the unique things about the stadium is how nice and welcoming everyone is. As you can see, they have ushers everywhere to welcome you to Notre Dame and offer help. We were visiting with one of the ushers and he told us that there are more than 1,000 ushers to help with all the game day festivities. Some of the ushers travel to South Bend each weekend to help out. The farthest couple comes from Spokane, Washington... Talk about your die hard Irish fans!2:53PM
As the football team comes out on the field for the final warm up, the already arrived fans go crazy. Everyone is ready for some football!
3:09PMThe stands are starting to really fill up. Excitement is growing as the kickoff is minutes away.
3:31PMJust about ready for kickoff and we are ready to go!
The flyover is always an exciting part. It is incredibly loud since they are really close to the ground!
As we get ready for kickoff, there are those who are quite nervous. No one wants a repeat of last year's 3-8 debacle. So I am confident that many prayers were offered, lots of candles lit at the basilica and of course, the ever important "prayer shirt."3:37PM
It's go time! The 2008 Irish football season has officially begun.
One of the cool things that happens after each Irish score are the push-ups. It is amazing to look around the stadium and see people bobbing up and down. I tell you these fans are amazing. Also, the students don't sit down at all during the game except for at half time. They stand during commercial breaks, time-outs, breaks, and everything. Even last year, when the team hadn't won a home game, the students remained faithful and never sat once. I was really impressed.
6:36PM
With the 3rd quarter ending, Christina has had her fill of football for the day. So she decides to head home with another girl from our ward. (I was so impressed though, because the next week, she stayed for the entire game... and it was pouring rain for the entire second half. What a trooper!!!)
7:23PM
Notre Dame pulls out a pretty lucky victory against a very weak San Diego State team. But hey, a win is a win, right? It was actually the first home victory I had seen, so that was nice.
I head home to wind down from a very eventful day. It sure is nice to start a new football season. I am praying that our little baby can feel the excitement of it all while still in the womb. I am trying to train him/her early so that he/she will understand the importance of football to our culture. It really is one of the greatest times of the year!8:45PM
I sure am glad that I live close to campus. Cause I don't want to ever have to deal with driving home after a game.
Comments
Ryan