UM/ND Under the Lights in South Bend.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120315/SPORTS0201/203150513/Under-Lights-Part-2-U-M-Notre-Dame-night-game?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Saw that. Don't know how I feel about it.

I am IN!!!

It will be awesome!

Especially the walk back to the car as VICTORS!!!

Admin wrote:

Saw that. Don't know how I feel about it.

I like early season late games. I don't like late season late games. So I'm happy about this.

They're bitter little trolls aren't they...

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

They're bitter little trolls aren't they...

From my experience they are proud and fairly intelligent.

You get a few ND fans that act like assholes but you get that in a lot of places. The key is the percentage of assholes/not.

I would opine that ND has less of the asshole fan and maybe more of the arrogant fan. (Hmmmm sound familiar? lol)

I agree with your statement, sort of, StJoe. However, my calling rudy an evil lil'troll is more reflective on the leprechaun mascot than their average fan. Yes, the rudy fans who constantly claim superiority because they are Catholic, do more with less, are God's team, etc. are incredibly annoying.

I honestly don't hate Notre Dame (that is a distinction reserved for sparty and suckeye), rather I just don't care for them much.

Chanting "Just like Football" Saturday night at the hockey game was a good feeling though.

But honestly, the visiting ND fans behind us this year got my friend as mad as I've ever seen him.

They were chanting "It SUCKS to be a Michigan Wolverine!"

I really thought I was going to have to hold him back except he would have had to climb over 8 rows of people. I thought he was going to.

Then when we were coming back we were chanting the Seven Nation Army chant, only to have them score and start the chant right back at us!!!!

It made the victory all the sweeter. I actually saw a tear in the corner of my friend's eye.

Like you said, every fan base has their fair-share of asshole fans. You've never seen me at a hockey game back-in-the-day but I'm sure that you can imagine. I'm very reserved at Football games though.

LOL...I recall one day back during my last year at Michigan and I was at a Michigan-Purdue baseball game on a Friday afternoon. Maybe it was because it was a nice day outside, the first of the year, but I really heckled the Purdue catcher a lot that day. He was #2 for Purdue and his first name was Spencer. Anyway all game he was hitting right-handed against our starter who was left-handed. That was until we brought in a right-handed reliever, he then turned around and was hitting left-handed. Baseball games are not very loud plus the stands are right there basically on the field so everyone can hear everything that is said. Well, when Spencer came up to the plate for the first-time right-handed I said, rather loudly in my best-imitation gay-lisp voice, "Ohhh Spencer. Wow, you're a switch-hitter? I thought that was just in the bed-room." That comment evoked a mixture of laughter as well as a groan from the crowd. Spencer, who had just stepped into the batter's box had to call time-out so he could regain his composure. You could tell that it really got under his skin but he was laughing at the same time. Anyway, about ten minutes later some guy from UM Game operations came over to me and asked me to cut it out or else I'd be asked to leave. I sat there quietly for the rest of the game but everytime an opportunity to say something came up everyone in the stands would turn around and look at me as if asking, "Well, where is it?"

The game ended and as I was leaving the Stadium I yelled, "Bye Spencer" and waived. He turned around a waived back. Then I actually bumped into a few Purdue players about 45 minutes later down on State St. and we started talking. I then asked them about Spencer and what kind of a guy he was. They all said that he was a great guy and I replied that I was glad because I was the guy heckling him from the stands and hope that he didn't take any offense. They told me that he loved it, and that Spencer would like to meet me. I said, that was OK and that I really didn't need to meet the guy. But then they looked over their shoulder and said, "Hey Spencer, remember that guy who was heckling you all game? This is him!" I was kinda stunned and tried to figure-out the odds of me and my buddy taking on about 8 Purdue baseball players. I assumed that those weren't very good odds and started to leave when Spencer got over to me and shook my hand and said, "Thank you. I haven't had that much fun during a baseball game in a long time. At first I was annoyed and wanted to kick your ass but then after the switch-hitter crack I couldn't help but laugh. Thanks a lot man, but why did you stop?" I told him about the UM Game operations guy, said "Good luck the rest of the weekend" and left.

***OK, sorry for hi-jacking the thread, now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

I don't like it. Despite Notre Dame's struggles, that stadium is still like the twighlight zone where flukey things happen to screw you over at the worst possible time. Having it at night just reminds me of our previous night games there that still hurt so many years later.

Night games at Notre Dame always mean trouble and heartbreak. We're 0-3 in them.

1982: We played flat all evening against a mediocre ND team coached by Gerry Faust. Only exciting thing that happened was a 72 yard punt return for a TD by Anthony Carter. LOST 23-17.

1988: ND's national championship squad. We kept their offense out of the end zone all night but they got 4 field goals from Reggie Hoe and their only touchdown on a Ricky Waters 81 yard punt return. There were 3 different lead changes in the 4th quarter. Mike Gillette's game winning field goal is just wide right in the final seconds. LOST 19-17.

1990: We blow a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Elvis Grbac throws an interception in the end zone that would have put us up 31-14. On a 3rd and long, ND gets a lucky bounce that ricocheted off Rocket Ismail and into the hands of Lake Dawson who ran about 50 something yards to set up a touchdown. This is also the game where the ref measured for a Michigan first down using an index card. Only in South Bend. ND scores the game winning touchdown with a minute remaining. LOST 28-24.

I feel like I have to wash my hands after typing that.

WH, what's past has passed. Not to say klugey things that have bit us there in the past, at night, can't happen this year as well. But those things aren't guaranteed to happen, simply because it's a night game at S.B.

The talent disparity (as in, on both sides of the ball, special teams, and most of all, coaching) this coming season favors us to the degree I'm confident in a fourth straight victory over them. Particulary with their lack of Michael Floyd this year, and a still-unsettled QB situation. Nothing else they have returning pops out to scare you, and for all his press clippings, Screamin' Brian has yet to live up to them in terms of his on-the-field product...so I can't believe he'll develop some 2011 bench warmer, or hotshot incoming frosh, into a saviour for them.

All that said/typed, I suffer from weeping and GA-NASH-ing of teeth when I recall those last two games you described above. Particularly the first, in 1988. My kid brother was an Irish fan at the time, married as he was to a lifelong South Bend resident. After Mike Gillette's long field goal fell short, I angrily turned off the TV and headed upstairs (around midnight)...only to have the damned phone ring, and then to hear his mocking voice: "Umm, you weren't GOING TO BED just yet, were 'ya?"

(I somehow managed to contain myself and remain civil towards him on that call...)