The whole purpose of our Chicago trip was to go to this football game. Playing in Chicago was a bonus! I expected BYU to be destroyed (ND was ranked #5 at time I believe), but I couldn't pass up a chance to go see the Cougs play at Notre Dame. It did not disappoint! I almost became a Notre Dame fan while I was there it was so great (just kidding...kind of). We headed to South Bend early Saturday morning so that we could take in all the game day excitement on campus. I was overjoyed at my first glimpse of the golden dome!
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| There's James King for all those wondering when he would appear! |
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| Inside the golden dome in case you ever wondered what it looks like! |
We arrived on campus around 10am with a full sleight of activities leading up to the 3:30pm kickoff. I was so surprised to see how many people were out and about on campus getting ready for the game this early. People were setting up their barbecues and tailgating gear. The bookstore was a total zoo with people lined up to buy Notre Dame apparel. Game day is really an all day event here. We all started taking notes on things we need to include in a letter to President Samuelson/Tom Holmoe on how to improve the game day experience in Provo. There was just an excitement in the air...hard to explain. The people were SO nice. Everyone would say, "Welcome to Notre Dame! We are so glad you are here!" We were served a large slice of humble pie on how to treat fans of the visiting team. Not that we treat opposing fans poorly (unless they are deserving Utes possibly), but we all decided to make it a personal crusade to be more friendly and welcoming. Note to Holmoe - tutor incoming freshmen on proper sportsmanship and how not to be rude butt faces...and possibly offer free tutoring for all us non student fans on how to not be rude butt faces!
We tried to get to South Bend in time to attend morning mass, but we couldn't find it. Bummer! That would have been rad! After exploring campus a little, we went to the bookstore. Some of us bought ND gear...I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess I will always bleed Cougar blue! The next order of business was to eat of course! We were definitely due for a baked good.
Then we headed outside for the bagpipes concert. Love bagpipes!
Then we hit all the important campus landmarks on our way to a men's soccer game.
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| First down Moses - note to Holmoe - we need a first down Brigham statue ASAP! |
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| Touchdown Jesus!! Or TDJ as I nicknamed him! |
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| T was so happy to be taking in some soccer! |
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| We even got to meet the little Irish mascot man at the soccer game. He was so nice! |
Then we grabbed some brats before heading to the stadium. Campus was crazy by now. The marching band was playing and marching through campus. There were people everywhere. The lines for the bathrooms were absurd!
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| These were literally the last brats to be found. They had run out of ketchup and mustard. Dry brats...yummm! |
Then it was off to find our seats in the stadium. Prior to getting to our seats, Olivia and I shared a soft pretzel that was life-altering (more food!). They had the fresh dough right there and were baking them onsite. Note to Holmoe - we need to improve our soft pretzel efforts! None of this warmed up from Costco crap! Our seats were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! So we might have been on the back row, but that meant we had a back rest and we were on the correct side of the stadium to have a view of the golden dome and TDJ!
Everything (minus Riley Nelson) was spectacular! The band was awesome, the sportsmanship and crowd involvement was top shelf, and it was all around exciting even though we lost. There were a lot of BYU fans there too which made it fun! Note to Holmoe - fire all band members and start from scratch...there is room for vast improvement here!
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| We were leading the game for a good portion of it! |
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| T kept bringing in angels (Angels in the Outfield style). It didn't work. :( |
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| I walked down the ramp after the game next to LaVell...see him right behind me with his sweet wife? What a legend! |
Getting out of South Bend proved to be quite the chore. Traffic was horrible! But it gave James and I plenty of time to reminisce on all our funny BYU days. I was in tears a few time laughing so hard. Come to find out Tricia and I were in the same ward one year at the Riv. Who knew? Neither of us were really involved in the ward that year, so we didn't know each other. Our friendship could have begun so much earlier. Sad day!
I've never been more happy about losing a football game (blast! It would have been soooo awesome to win though! Dang it!!). The Cougs always do that to me. Give me a little glimmer of hope that they might just do something awesome, and then they choke and fail...every. single. time. Thanks Notre Dame for a great experience! I would recommend it to anyone. I might even recommend that I return someday! One funny note...a few ND dudes after the game kept calling James "Jimmer". To Notre Dame fans, all young adult male BYU fans are Jimmer apparently. Pretty sure they were trying to make fun of us, but I'll take that as a compliment any day!
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| Just had to document this huge spaceship chair that was in our hotel room. The room was really small, and this chair was beyond obnoxious and didn't fit under the desk. We put it by the door at night so we could actually move around. Fire hazard...yes! |
Hurray for another successful trip for us! We know how to do vacations well! And P.S. we did watch Rudy in preparation for this day. Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!
