Notre Dame vs. Michigan

This week was obviously not a good week for Notre Dame football as the Irish were pounded at home by the Michigan Wolverines 47-21. Even though Notre Dame played horrible though, I had a great time and a fun weekend.

Since this was the biggest home game for Notre Dame this season, my brothers-in-law and I decided to go up early for the pep rally Friday night. It was awesome. I worked as an usher and got to stand on the field in the north side endzone. Joel and Jordan had great seats at the field level right behind me. We had a front row view of the band, the team, Coach Weis, and of course the real treat of the night...special guest Jerome Bettis. That's right...I was standing about 10-15 feet away from "The Bus" when he came running out of the tunnel. Not only that, for a few minutes during the pep rally I stood next to the top high school recruit in the country (who is coming to ND next year)...quarterback Jimmy Clausen. As I said, the pep rally was a great experience for all of us. Afterwards, Joel and Jordan even got to come down on the field with me. And the best part was it was all FREE!! Unfortunately, not knowing what to expect, I didn't bring my camera in...so no pictures.

After the pep rally we went to the South Bend Chocolate Company store to pick up a gift for my beautiful wife Natalie. We then hung around at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend. They have a big artificial grass football field there so we grabbed 5 other guys and played 4 on 4 two hand touch football. There was a live band playing that night, so we had a really great time.

This is us at the Hall of Fame after playing football.

We stayed the night with some family who live in Culver, IN. Thanks Steve and Jeanne! In the morning we headed back to ND for the bring game hype. Some of the pictures I took are included below.

Drew, Jason, and Uncle Dave walking on the field before the game.

Me with the field behind me.

The four ushers in the tunnel before the game.

Me next to the goal post.

The Bookstore (Very Big and Very Busy).

The famous Golden Dome.

The Grotto.

The Sandwich.

Bagpipers.

Touchdown Jesus.

Since Joel and Jordan didn't have tickets, they watched it in the Joyce Center (again for free). They said it worked out great and that they had a lot of fun. Below you can see some picture from my spot for the game.

In this picture you will see Jerome Bettis during a pregame interview (right in front of me). If you look at the lower left hand corner of the picture you will see an usher facing me adjusting his sunglasses...that's my uncle Dave (he has the best spot in the whole stadium)!

The view from my spot.

Another picture of the view from my spot.

Again, even though ND lost, it was great weekend. I had a lot of fun ushering, and especially spending time with Joel, Jordan, Steve, Dave, Jason, and Drew. Thanks guys.

For complete picture album click link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54979519@N00/sets/72157594290423692/

GO IRISH!