October 15 was the best College Football Saturday I've ever not actually seen. I'll explain.
That weekend, Matt Leinart and No. 1 USC squeezed out a win against No. 9 Notre Dame in the final three seconds of the game. Chad Henne connected with Mario Manningham on the final play to lift Michigan over an undefeated No. 8 Penn State team. In a battle of preppy East Coast schools, No. 14 Boston College nearly fell to Wake Forest. No. 12 UCLA won by only three against Washington State. Oregon State upset No. 18 Cal by a three-point margin and No. 23 Badgers stopped Lawrence Maroney and No. 22 Minnesota.
I missed them all, even the heart-pounding finish to the Sun Belt conference game which pitted Arkansas State against La Lafayette. A-State scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to seal a 39-36 victory. Thrilling, I know.
How did I miss all those games? That's what the next 450 words are for. I took a trip with a group I'm in to Ann Arbor, Mich. I knew I'd be missing some quality football, but my spirits soared when a friend of mine at Michigan informed me he had procured a ticket.
I had never been to the Big House before and saw the opportunity as perfect column material. I was more than right.
First, the Big House: Honestly, it was pretty amazing'by far the biggest stadium I've ever been in. The website claims the Wolverines pack in 107,501 rabid fans, but I'm fairly certain that's a low estimate. The student section was a little more docile than your average Badger section but, maybe that's because the first half saw only three points and was played primarily between the 30-yard lines.
Here's what really floored me: my seat section 32, row 15, seat 19 bordered the Penn State fan's section. Pardon me if this sounds cynical, but there would be brawls reminiscent of Nolan Ryan versus Robin Ventura if this were the case in Camp Randall.
Now, I'm not saying there are no devoted Michigan fans. In fact, quite the contrary.
When I think of being a Badger fan, I think of dressing in Cardinal and White, maybe painting my chest with some vulgar saying like 'Puck Furdue' and yes, sometimes, imbibing before the game.
Some college football fans take imbibing to excess, but I like to think I keep the sauce in check. If, however, you define fandom as the number of beers successfully bonged before the game, I met one hell of a Wolverine fan.
When I arrived at the stadium, 15 minutes or so prior to kick off, this fan was already passed out. She had already lost whatever solid food she had before the game and was fast asleep. As Michigan junior Austin Gibbons would later describe the scene, she was in 'a sea of puke.'
The best/worst part is that this girl was such a hardcore Michigan fan that, even in her drunken stupor, she managed to wander over to the Penn State section before she ralphed and dropped down for her midday nap. Now that's just downright moving.
Now, the moral of the story. I left at halftime of one of the greatest games of the weekend. I had to attend a function with the group I came to the great state of Michigan with. As a result, I missed every single game I detailed but then, so did 'drunk girl.' I don't regret a thing. I learned what being a fan is all about and when we play Iowa, I'll be the guy on the stretcher being carried out of the Hawkeyes section drunk as a skunk.
