Da Big House

108,421 – 5,000 = 103,421… 103,421 University of Michigan fans in the Big House last Saturday. I gotta tell you, these Michigan fans take football very seriously, and I would have to say after the Fiesta Bowl this would be the best college football experience I’ve had. I give the Michigan fans an A+, they were so cool to us, and everyone was welcoming; even after we had won, they were still polite to us. We ran into this guy a few hours after who lost a bet over the game so he had to wear all denim. He came up and talked to us about our upcoming season and he treated us like a best friend. The beer in hand helped, but still it was nice to get pleasant drunk rather than a bad one.

Just rewinding the beginning of the trip, Nick and I flew into Chi town and stayed at the Hyatt in downtown, which was right on Michigan Avenue. I took Nick for some Chicago deep dish forgetting that he hated cheese, but he was a trooper and enjoyed the experience. The next day we went to the top of the John Hancock building where we could see all the way across the lake. They had an audio tour of David Schwimmer (friends) who mentioned all the highlights at the top (hence the reason why I am wearing the headphones in the pic). We then went to a Cubs game at Wrigley field which was a great experience; the stadium opened in 1912 and has not been touched since. It felt like watching a real baseball team, even the score board numbers were moved by hand. The experience was really cool.

The drive to Ann Arbor was a part I wish I could erase. There was construction every 10 miles, so it made the drive go longer and longer, by the time we got to the hotel it was past midnight. The next morning we went to the tailgating party and there were over 2,000 fans there, which is a lot for having a game over a thousand miles away. We had a very impressive 5,000 fan turnout, but the number of Michigan fans was intimidating. When we had our season opener against UCLA a few years ago, the Rose Bowl held a good 90,000 and the place was not even a fourth of the way full, at Michigan the place was packed. I have never seen so many people so dedicated with so many traditions as this field. Nick said wait till we play Notre Dame in a few years, but I wanted to revel in the moment. I’m glad we won, but even if we hadn’t I still would have been really glad I went to that game for the experience. Going home was hard because I started to miss the fam, I wish Clint and Co. could have come, but I’m sure we’ll get everyone to go next year to Eugene.