Back from the game and rested....my report:
Just a great, great experience. Lots of fun. Who knew a 24 to 27 degree tailgater could be so fun?
IU fans - mostly obnoxious, mostly drunk, all delusional ahead of the game. I have been going to ND games since the 70's, and the worst visitors of all time that I witnessed were Purdue fans. They still hold the record, but these guys made the top 5 list for sure.
IU fans - their confidence was easily broken. At 14-0 many were going to get warm. Most started to leave by the middle of the third quarter.
IU fans - it's amazing that someone can wear vertical candy striper pants and simultaneously feel superior, but somehow they pulled it off.
ND fans dominated the stadium - they were excited and having fun.
I think green pom poms, or green wrist glow bands (like the OSU game) were better than the towels, but the towels are a great souvenir, so I am all in.
Cold wasn't bad though there was a fair amount of snow under the seats ahead of us, so out toes were surrounded by snow/slush all game.
Cignetti is a self absorbed dick, and i don't need to google him to figure that out. Preener. Made play calls not focused on winning so much as keeping the score respectable for rewriting history later for his own benefit. Talks like Tarzan, coaches like Jane.
Marcus Freeman - glad we locked him in - his price would be a lot higher this week than last week btw.
Jerimyah has a sore knee, but more impactful was that he had a bad flu - he slowed down on the long run because "I was gassed, and I could see on the scoreboard that those guys weren't going to catch me, so i slowed down. I slowed down".
Xavier Watts played pissed off. Definitely the BEST safety in Notre Dame history (Hamilton is the most gifted but got hurt and left early too so not the production. Many other greats at Safety, but not this productive).
Please let Mills be ok.
Go Irish!
Replies to: Back from the game and rested....my report:
Unanimous AA in my mind...great recap. Team was great, Fans were great.
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Great post - thanks! Agree on IU fans. Let’s beat Georgia now.
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IU is still just a basketball school
My son is an IU grad but he's probably been to more ND football games than IU football games. Nonetheless, he was a hearty IU supporter along with my grandson who has been wearing the IU socks I got him for every game. The good news for us is that his mom (she's Canadian so doesn't understand) washed the socks which as we all know is the kiss of death for any team on a run.
Lots of family trash talk working up to the game and one-sided excuses/explanations after the game.
IU was happy to be in the picture as any team would but I suspect, and I think Cignetti is a good fit for IU, that this year may be a one-off for a while since they managed to duck the traditional BIG power teams and/or caught a few on a down year. I'd bet they don't win 8 games for 3 years.
There were several IU fans at out 'gater
They were happy to be there, extremely nice to us....maybe it was the free burgers and beer?
excellent post.
made me cold (weather and i.u. fans) and hot (tailgate and game report) at the same time. not easy to do.
Thanks, Baron
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Xavier is a Beast on the field and wonderful
young man off it.