Well, I didn't like the outcome, but I did have to acknowledge it was a good game.
Yes, I made the long journey from Warsaw up to South Bend (where I met up with a couple of friends), then on over to Ann Arbor, Mich. last Saturday for the Notre Dame/Michigan college football game.And things started so well.
Despite getting to bed at around 3 a.m. that morning, I still had trouble sleeping, just awaiting the buzz of that 7:30 a.m. alarm clock.
Once it sounded, I was up, made coffee, jumped in the shower and headed over to pick up Times-Union compadre Daniel Riordan for the journey to begin.
Following our trip to South Bend, which required another fill up of coffee, we were on the 80/90 toll road, heading for Ann Arbor and the site of our dismay a mere 11 hours from that point.
Listening to University of Michigan radio on the way, we being Notre Dame fans could only laugh. The announcers were so confident, but as Irish fans we were pretty confident, too. No way around that.
Following the three-hour trip, we were in downtown Ann Arbor, and following a right on Main Street, were looking for Michigan Stadium, a.k.a. "The Big House."
Travelling down the street a little way we found a convenient place to park three blocks away from the stadium, in a delightful lady's yard.
We paid $25, which wasn't too bad to park in a location surrounded by Michigan fans. Michigan fans who had attended Michigan Law School. We made sure not to dent any cars.
Anyways, after another hour or so it was time to march into the Big House.
It looked great, and the fans were great - for the most part.
There were the "Get ya a new shirt?" comments, but it is what it is. It's to be expected, and I'd really have it no other way.
Riordan and myself had seats next to each other three rows from the top in the Notre Dame section of the stadium, but regardless, the field was easy to see.
After an hour of baking in the sweet sun, the game got under way and blah, blah, blah we all know what happened. And because no "soda" was sold in the stadium, I too remember what happened.
But of everything that happened on that cursed day, i.e. the holding penalties, the dropped passes and the inability of the Irish defense to stop the Wolverines' spread offense, Charlie Weis' boneheaded playcalling sticks out the most.
I mean, when you're holding a two-point lead with under five minutes to play, AND the defense has three timeouts, the playcalling is easy. RUN THE BALL!!!!
Well, after Notre Dame ran the ball on first down, Michigan did what it was supposed to do - it called a timeout. Great, now you run it again, and Michigan wastes another timeout.
But oh no. Not for a genius like Weis.
Why run the ball when you can chuck it deep. Well, that happened, and an incomplete pass stopped the clock.
Unbelievable.
On third down, it appeared Notre Dame junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen was in the shotgun formation, but there was no way he'd throw the ball, right? Wrong.
He did throw the ball. He threw an "out" pattern to a freshman receiver, that flew about three yards away from him. Agh!
Why?! Why?! Why?!
On fourth down, Notre Dame punted the ball about 20 yards to the Wolverine's 40-yard line, setting up Michigan's drive to the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds to play.
I repeat, with 11 seconds to play!
Something tells me that if Michigan didn't have those two timeouts, it probably wouldn't have had those 11 seconds. But what the heck.
Following the game, all we could do was sit there with the million-mile stare.
As I sat there befuddled, I couldn't help but notice a Michigan fan videotaping me about 20 yards away. But what was I to do? Go running over there ranting and raving? Nope, just sit there.
On the walk out I had a Notre Dame fan complain to me about the Irish defense, while his Michigan friend let me know, 'He needs someone to talk to."
From where we were seated, we needed to walked 180 degrees around the stadium to get to the exit.
Most were kind, but there were some "over rated" chants, which somehow led me to lowering a shoulder into a frat boys chest. Accidental. I think.
Once we did get to the exit, a staff worker turned to say, "Great game." Upon seeing our Notre Dame attire, he responded, "Oh, I'm sorry."
To that, I could only say, "It's okay."
Yes, I was completely down trodden, but I could acknowledge it was a great game.
When another buddy text messaged me, "I'll never be happy again," I felt the same way, but knew it could get worse.
