Tales from South Bend

Having been a Utah and BYU fan all my life (yes I was a BYU fan as a poorly informed youth) I was completely unprepared for the experience of Notre Dame Football. It was nothing short of awesome. Taking into consideration the record of the team this year I can only imagine what things are like during a BCS year.

We started yesterday by walking up to the stadium parking lot at 10 AM. The walk took about 30 minutes and less than a quarter of the way there the neighborhoods were charging $10 for parking. That price increased as we got closer to the stadium. When we arrived at the Notre Dame campus we were shocked by the sheer number of tailgaters (apparently what we saw was less than 1/3 of last year’s festivities). We socialized with the residents and attending physicians at the St Joe’s tailgate party. Melissa tells me the food was good, having eaten out the 6 previous meals I was very full and not hungry.

After a while we walked across campus to watch the band play on the steps of a building that has some kind of significance unknown to me. We then walked through the basilica and Melissa became my tour guide. She enlightened me as to the differences between fired glass and pieced stain glass as well as elaborating on the symbolism of the various aspects within the cathedral. From there things got interesting. Before each game the Notre Dame marching band walks across campus through a throng of fans on a 12 foot sidewalk. We followed the band to the stadium and entered at the D entrance.

For those of you who don’t know, the shots of Rudy outside the stadium were filmed just before the stadium renovation, however, not wanting Knute to roll over in his grave the golden Domers built the newer portion around the existing structure so the original exterior wall is still standing and very visible when one enters the ticket gates. That wall is now adorned with plaques of the various coaches, national championships and heisman trophy winners. As you can imagine I became the tour guide when we entered the stadium.

When we did finally get through the tunnel to the stadium I felt like Rudy’s dad when he said: “This is the most beautiful site these eyes have beheld” (or something like that). It was really cool. The stadium slowly filled up and it got colder and colder. You all know (or should know) the results of the game so I won’t go into that. After sitting through the game (and the rest of the day) I am sure of two things; Rudy is the greatest sports movie ever, and Rudy wouldn’t be such an inspirational story in this day because I’m pretty sure he could start for the Irish this year.

If we are lucky enough to match at one of the South Bend programs and come back here for the next 3 years I will surely cement my status as a Notre Dame fan and hopefully take a vow to attend every ND-BYU game within the next 40 years (be it in Provo or South Bend) wearing the Irish blue and gold.

The rest of the week pales in comparison to the game, but it was really great as well. I guess I hadn’t realized how much I like the residents and faculty in South Bend because it was really neat to see them again at the interviews and at dinner later that night, and it’s always nice to know that people like you.

I had a very good interview with the Directors of both programs. I must have felt very comfortable because during one of the interviews I actually brought up the topic of my grades and board scores (the weakest portion of my application by far). I think he was somewhat surprised at how open and honest the interview was. I hope that is a good thing, guess we’ll find out in March.