We had a really fun time despite the painfulness of the game itself at various moments. Got to see my Ni21, a junior in the ND chorale, all too briefly, but I loved seeing her soaking up the whole Notre Dame experience. Unfortunately we got there too late to avail ourselves of the various barbecues on campus before they ran out of stuff like buns (hot dogs in a cup, anyone?).
Everyone at ND was super friendly and helpful. We took pics of Ne24, a diehard hockey fan, sitting next to the penalty box at the hockey arena. Our seats were in the sw upper bowl on the 10, and though the tron was loud at times, I was glad when it drowned out the Pitt band (to be fair, they were much better than USC’s band during Ty’s loss to them at ND). Two older guys behind us were giving running commentary the entire game. Though they were seated most of the game, they didn’t object when I stood for big plays.
The best part for me was something that happened at game end. I thought a lot about my late brother, ND’80, during the game. When he was a kid, he would collect half dollars and had a big glass jar full of them in his room. During the fourth quarter, I asked him to help us root on his Irish...silly, I know.
After we sang the alma mater with my nephew and bro ND’71, I reached into my left jeans pocket and pulled out, much to my surprise, a half dollar. I don’t remember receiving it, but it must have been given to me as change on a stop on 31 or at the stadium. Probably coincidence, but it made me happy to think our late brother was with us on a gorgeous fall day at ND.