What a great weekend...of course ND 17-BYU 14 made this trip even sweeter when I had the under{39}...
Chapter 1..... Chicago
The weekend started out with me meeting my buddy at Midway in Chicago on thur nite.....we stayed at a Marriot in Nappiertown......ate at a great place that nite and then off to downtown Chicago on friday..went on the Architecture River Cruise on the river....one of the best 90 minute tours I've ever been on..I'm sure there are some of you that have gone on it...the greatest skycrappers anyone will ever see....I'm a New York City boy and we couldn't " tie our left sneaker" compared to Chicago's tall buildings.....there are about 45 skycrappers you can see by the river and another 30-40 a few blocks off the river....then went to a pizza place and had for the 1st time Chicago deep pan pizza....never been to an Uno's{ we have a few in NY} but this wasn't Uno's...now NYC makes the best pizza in the world except for maybe Rome...but damn...this pizza was unreal....NYC wins by an extra point because I'm at an away game....had to dig in to find the crust...out standing......
Then walked to Millennium Park.....what a park....went to " the bean" or Cloud Gate.....hard to explain this sculpture...someone from Chicago can do a better job....its a huge bean like shape stainless steel structure with a mirror like image...you walk under it,next to it and it gives you the greatest reflections...watched people put there 2 hands up to it..you see your image of it..it looks like your holding someone up in the reflection but its you...hard to explain...but unreal....went down to the lake...there is a beach and freak'in waves pounding the surf....its a lake...I know Lake Michigan is a lake but 3-4 foot waves pounding the shore...I thought I was in Ocean City,New Jersey....anyway had to get back to the hotel..leaving for South bend early in the AM...
Chapter 2 South Bend { pre-game}
It's about a 2 and half hour drive to South Bend.....game is at 3.30 so we arrive about 11.00am..typical college day parking,etc,.. walk to the quad and see a lot of people walking out of a building,,its Knute Rockne museum...pretty cool with movies on the Four Horseman,etc... walk around campus,thousands of people all over...we go over to see the bag pipes at the golden dome..it starts in a half hour but their playing already...the ND guide had the wrong time...then go over to the library to see the glee club perform..its just ending...they started early...the program is off by an hour....finally we realized some where between Chicago and the Indiana we passed back into the eastern time zone...holy molly....we were so stupid that maybe if we kept walking around and saw nobody and heard the roar of the crowd the game started already....we went to Hesburgh library and took pictures of of Touch Down Jesus...sat in there for an hour to rest....walked over to the Grotto of our lady of lourdes..lite about 4 candles for my parents,sister,and grand parents{ and a quick pray for "the under today and La tech to beat Idaho by 30 or more"...the candles worked so I have to thank our " lady of lourdes".....right behind the grotto was the Crosby and Columbia Hall.....Now Bro Robert who I have know since i was 8 yrs old is retiring next week and after being in NY the past 40 yrs. he is the one who got is the tickets....we missed him by a week....he will be at Columbia hall...but I see a brother or priest sitting by himself on the front porch of the hall... he is watching 1,000 of people walking in front of him right in front of the Basilca and dome.. I walked up to him and say'' I 'm good friends with Bro Robert..he' s coming out here next week..do you know him'? he laughs and tells me he knows Brother very well even though he hasn't seen him in 25 yrs..." we are looking forward to have him at ND since Brother graduated from ND] Bro graduated in 1948} This priest tells me there is a huge welcoming for Bro on Nov 1st when he arrives..there are 6 of his classmates that graduated in 1948 and became Holy Cross brothers that are still alive..they are all 82 or 83 yrs old...and are living here now...I ask this person what his name is ...Father Tom O.....
....about 10 minutes before the game I call Brother Robert on my cell.....I tell him we just saw the players march from the chapel to the football field...{ 5 deep fans watch the players march from one side of the campus to the stadium....pretty neat..all in white shirts and ties} I tell brother Robert we met father Tom O..he starts laughing...he tells me he is the Provincial Leader of all the priests and brothers at ND...Bro says you just met my new boss.......watched the ND band march into the stadium...
Chapter 3 The Game
Arrive in the stadium...looks small despite holding 85,000....Texas stadium holds over 100,000 but seems so much bigger...have great seats at the 35 yd line..sitting with all the priest,brothers,clergy from Chicago...a lot of parish priests from all over....have a blast with them...tell them I have the under...one tells me he took the -13....they all talked about the Stanford game the week before...cold, wet, etc...two brothers think Stanford really won..the rest disagree...
BYU in their whites...game was somewhat anti climatic...BYU scores on a TD...this is the new thing now with cell phones and text messages....BYU scores a TD..its under review...refs allow it..then about 25,000 fans watching the game at home text some of the 85,000 here. They are all saying it wasn't a TD....never in my life would i imagine something like that...you at home can see it better of course and ND has no TV scoreboard.....even 2 brothers sitting next to us get texs plus my buddy gets one from his wife....welcome to the new era....
The game was OK... ND moved the ball vs BYU defense..Riddick ran for 60-70 yd TD...BYU wasn't very impressive...in the 4th qrt BYU should of won the game...A WR was open twice and the QB never saw him..once he was pressured and the other time he was in la-la land...on the plane back I was sitting next to some BYU fans and that's all they talked about...not sure if TV announcers picked that up...
ND is over rated...their defense is pretty good but BYU should of won that game...ND offense is terrible.. I know they beat Stanford,Mich,Mich St and Purdue...Rees is terrible...he has no "touch" what so ever...he had passes with WR's open and he's over throwing them by 4 yds over their head...he hit 2 spectators,2 side coaches or players and two band members..and their was little wind...58 degress and sunny...Golson is still out because of the concussion but is expected to start next week vs Oklahoma... Now he can't throw at all.... Father John sitting next to me said that Rees is the much better passer....Golson likes to run...so i said what about next week vs Oklahoma.....father laughed and said " we are in trouble if we play like we did today"....so I asked father" what about if you play like you did vs Stanford"? He said " we are still in trouble" lol
ND hung on to win 17-14...a win is a win but many fans weren't happy..they played bad yet won....it was a great day as we left the stadium...the fans and students were so respectful to the BYU fans...ND has a lot of class.....we beat the traffic out and headed back to Illinois....went back to central time.....
Got back to the hotel and went right to a computer....La Tech beating Idaho 70-28 with minutes left....thank you Our lady of Lourdes....
Chapter 4.... Oklahoma and Father John and Our lady of Lourdes
At the airport Sunday morning I was thinking about OU vs ND this week..the line has to be OU -13 or -14..at least two td favorites....last nite it opened at -9 or -10....I'll come back later in the week and explain how ND is going to get their butts killed next week in Norman....they have no offense.....no QB even if Golson comes back..and if he starts where is he going to run...The OU linebackers are faster then the ND Rb's. the ND rb's are good but not break aways.....defense is ND's strength...but they haven't seen an OU offense like this...this ain't Purdue,Mich,Mich St or even Stanford...their playing at night....ND is not the 5th ranked team in the country...their undefeated but other then Stanford which many say won the game they haven't blown out teams...they did beat up Miami but the Canes are very young despite giving FSU a game last week...It's great that ND is having a great season and being 6-0 is awesome......Kelley is a good coach..but they will have trouble with OU this weekend and USC next weekend...many fans thought ND was over looking BYU thinking about OU...maybe they were and played lack luster..we have seen that many times in games.....but I asked Father John what do you think about ND's chances vs Oklahoma.... he said " ND has no chance" I asked him what about if I go right after this game and lite a candle at the grotto for OU to win....his response was " if you go right after this game and lite one of those candles....and it stays lite for a week ND will win"....the problem is those candles go out after about an hour".... and by the way....I'm from Stillwater,Oklahoma... not a Sooner fan but an Okie...." and then he said " if you bet against ND and OU wins 10% of your winnings better go to your church next Sunday".... I said" Father that is a deal"
So with Father john on my side, and no Lady of Lourdes....OU wins this by 2 or 3 td's
Oklahoma -10 ********
Had such a great time...loved chicago....all these priest and brothers are so real and down to earth...with everything that is going on in the catholic church its nice to see this side of people...mea cupla if i offended anyone..excuse the spelling and poor sentence structures....
Chapter 1..... Chicago
The weekend started out with me meeting my buddy at Midway in Chicago on thur nite.....we stayed at a Marriot in Nappiertown......ate at a great place that nite and then off to downtown Chicago on friday..went on the Architecture River Cruise on the river....one of the best 90 minute tours I've ever been on..I'm sure there are some of you that have gone on it...the greatest skycrappers anyone will ever see....I'm a New York City boy and we couldn't " tie our left sneaker" compared to Chicago's tall buildings.....there are about 45 skycrappers you can see by the river and another 30-40 a few blocks off the river....then went to a pizza place and had for the 1st time Chicago deep pan pizza....never been to an Uno's{ we have a few in NY} but this wasn't Uno's...now NYC makes the best pizza in the world except for maybe Rome...but damn...this pizza was unreal....NYC wins by an extra point because I'm at an away game....had to dig in to find the crust...out standing......
Then walked to Millennium Park.....what a park....went to " the bean" or Cloud Gate.....hard to explain this sculpture...someone from Chicago can do a better job....its a huge bean like shape stainless steel structure with a mirror like image...you walk under it,next to it and it gives you the greatest reflections...watched people put there 2 hands up to it..you see your image of it..it looks like your holding someone up in the reflection but its you...hard to explain...but unreal....went down to the lake...there is a beach and freak'in waves pounding the surf....its a lake...I know Lake Michigan is a lake but 3-4 foot waves pounding the shore...I thought I was in Ocean City,New Jersey....anyway had to get back to the hotel..leaving for South bend early in the AM...
Chapter 2 South Bend { pre-game}
It's about a 2 and half hour drive to South Bend.....game is at 3.30 so we arrive about 11.00am..typical college day parking,etc,.. walk to the quad and see a lot of people walking out of a building,,its Knute Rockne museum...pretty cool with movies on the Four Horseman,etc... walk around campus,thousands of people all over...we go over to see the bag pipes at the golden dome..it starts in a half hour but their playing already...the ND guide had the wrong time...then go over to the library to see the glee club perform..its just ending...they started early...the program is off by an hour....finally we realized some where between Chicago and the Indiana we passed back into the eastern time zone...holy molly....we were so stupid that maybe if we kept walking around and saw nobody and heard the roar of the crowd the game started already....we went to Hesburgh library and took pictures of of Touch Down Jesus...sat in there for an hour to rest....walked over to the Grotto of our lady of lourdes..lite about 4 candles for my parents,sister,and grand parents{ and a quick pray for "the under today and La tech to beat Idaho by 30 or more"...the candles worked so I have to thank our " lady of lourdes".....right behind the grotto was the Crosby and Columbia Hall.....Now Bro Robert who I have know since i was 8 yrs old is retiring next week and after being in NY the past 40 yrs. he is the one who got is the tickets....we missed him by a week....he will be at Columbia hall...but I see a brother or priest sitting by himself on the front porch of the hall... he is watching 1,000 of people walking in front of him right in front of the Basilca and dome.. I walked up to him and say'' I 'm good friends with Bro Robert..he' s coming out here next week..do you know him'? he laughs and tells me he knows Brother very well even though he hasn't seen him in 25 yrs..." we are looking forward to have him at ND since Brother graduated from ND] Bro graduated in 1948} This priest tells me there is a huge welcoming for Bro on Nov 1st when he arrives..there are 6 of his classmates that graduated in 1948 and became Holy Cross brothers that are still alive..they are all 82 or 83 yrs old...and are living here now...I ask this person what his name is ...Father Tom O.....
....about 10 minutes before the game I call Brother Robert on my cell.....I tell him we just saw the players march from the chapel to the football field...{ 5 deep fans watch the players march from one side of the campus to the stadium....pretty neat..all in white shirts and ties} I tell brother Robert we met father Tom O..he starts laughing...he tells me he is the Provincial Leader of all the priests and brothers at ND...Bro says you just met my new boss.......watched the ND band march into the stadium...
Chapter 3 The Game
Arrive in the stadium...looks small despite holding 85,000....Texas stadium holds over 100,000 but seems so much bigger...have great seats at the 35 yd line..sitting with all the priest,brothers,clergy from Chicago...a lot of parish priests from all over....have a blast with them...tell them I have the under...one tells me he took the -13....they all talked about the Stanford game the week before...cold, wet, etc...two brothers think Stanford really won..the rest disagree...
BYU in their whites...game was somewhat anti climatic...BYU scores on a TD...this is the new thing now with cell phones and text messages....BYU scores a TD..its under review...refs allow it..then about 25,000 fans watching the game at home text some of the 85,000 here. They are all saying it wasn't a TD....never in my life would i imagine something like that...you at home can see it better of course and ND has no TV scoreboard.....even 2 brothers sitting next to us get texs plus my buddy gets one from his wife....welcome to the new era....
The game was OK... ND moved the ball vs BYU defense..Riddick ran for 60-70 yd TD...BYU wasn't very impressive...in the 4th qrt BYU should of won the game...A WR was open twice and the QB never saw him..once he was pressured and the other time he was in la-la land...on the plane back I was sitting next to some BYU fans and that's all they talked about...not sure if TV announcers picked that up...
ND is over rated...their defense is pretty good but BYU should of won that game...ND offense is terrible.. I know they beat Stanford,Mich,Mich St and Purdue...Rees is terrible...he has no "touch" what so ever...he had passes with WR's open and he's over throwing them by 4 yds over their head...he hit 2 spectators,2 side coaches or players and two band members..and their was little wind...58 degress and sunny...Golson is still out because of the concussion but is expected to start next week vs Oklahoma... Now he can't throw at all.... Father John sitting next to me said that Rees is the much better passer....Golson likes to run...so i said what about next week vs Oklahoma.....father laughed and said " we are in trouble if we play like we did today"....so I asked father" what about if you play like you did vs Stanford"? He said " we are still in trouble" lol
ND hung on to win 17-14...a win is a win but many fans weren't happy..they played bad yet won....it was a great day as we left the stadium...the fans and students were so respectful to the BYU fans...ND has a lot of class.....we beat the traffic out and headed back to Illinois....went back to central time.....
Got back to the hotel and went right to a computer....La Tech beating Idaho 70-28 with minutes left....thank you Our lady of Lourdes....
Chapter 4.... Oklahoma and Father John and Our lady of Lourdes
At the airport Sunday morning I was thinking about OU vs ND this week..the line has to be OU -13 or -14..at least two td favorites....last nite it opened at -9 or -10....I'll come back later in the week and explain how ND is going to get their butts killed next week in Norman....they have no offense.....no QB even if Golson comes back..and if he starts where is he going to run...The OU linebackers are faster then the ND Rb's. the ND rb's are good but not break aways.....defense is ND's strength...but they haven't seen an OU offense like this...this ain't Purdue,Mich,Mich St or even Stanford...their playing at night....ND is not the 5th ranked team in the country...their undefeated but other then Stanford which many say won the game they haven't blown out teams...they did beat up Miami but the Canes are very young despite giving FSU a game last week...It's great that ND is having a great season and being 6-0 is awesome......Kelley is a good coach..but they will have trouble with OU this weekend and USC next weekend...many fans thought ND was over looking BYU thinking about OU...maybe they were and played lack luster..we have seen that many times in games.....but I asked Father John what do you think about ND's chances vs Oklahoma.... he said " ND has no chance" I asked him what about if I go right after this game and lite a candle at the grotto for OU to win....his response was " if you go right after this game and lite one of those candles....and it stays lite for a week ND will win"....the problem is those candles go out after about an hour".... and by the way....I'm from Stillwater,Oklahoma... not a Sooner fan but an Okie...." and then he said " if you bet against ND and OU wins 10% of your winnings better go to your church next Sunday".... I said" Father that is a deal"
So with Father john on my side, and no Lady of Lourdes....OU wins this by 2 or 3 td's
Oklahoma -10 ********
Had such a great time...loved chicago....all these priest and brothers are so real and down to earth...with everything that is going on in the catholic church its nice to see this side of people...mea cupla if i offended anyone..excuse the spelling and poor sentence structures....
