Outlined against a blue-gray October Sky of Ann Arbor, MI,
in rode the eight horsemen of the apocalypse: Pestilence, Death, Famine, Destruction,
Flatulence, Breath, fungus and Repulsion. Otherwise, this group is known as my
gang from Seneca Valley high school, Class of 81 plus one.
This would be the 6th such year this group or part there of it have assembled for a weekend of college football, tailgating and rehashing old tales that are probably 20% accurate. Newcomer Garth AKA Death for the weekend, was on his inaugural trip with us and received adequate hazing despite his size. He once knocked out a Penn State Linebacker in Ocean City, Maryland with one punch. True Story, I was there and encouraged it. I have known him the longest since we started elementary school together and played on every childhood sports team available to us. Alabama Al, Tennessee Tony, Maryland Mayer and Michigan McCabe, LTC Jonny Quest and Vegas Timmy also mustered for the occasion once again. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame would be visiting the Big House of Michigan for the first time in several years. This has been a historical matchup dating back to when Christ was a Corporal. After varying modes of transportation and arrival times, all eight of us assembled Friday afternoon at The Little House, two blocks from The Big House via a Rent Like A Champion weekend rental. A tight fit for eight grown men, some more grown than others but it made the event even ….shall we say more entertaining.
 |
| The 8 horseman of the apocalypse |
This would be the 6th such year this group or part there of it have assembled for a weekend of college football, tailgating and rehashing old tales that are probably 20% accurate. Newcomer Garth AKA Death for the weekend, was on his inaugural trip with us and received adequate hazing despite his size. He once knocked out a Penn State Linebacker in Ocean City, Maryland with one punch. True Story, I was there and encouraged it. I have known him the longest since we started elementary school together and played on every childhood sports team available to us. Alabama Al, Tennessee Tony, Maryland Mayer and Michigan McCabe, LTC Jonny Quest and Vegas Timmy also mustered for the occasion once again. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame would be visiting the Big House of Michigan for the first time in several years. This has been a historical matchup dating back to when Christ was a Corporal. After varying modes of transportation and arrival times, all eight of us assembled Friday afternoon at The Little House, two blocks from The Big House via a Rent Like A Champion weekend rental. A tight fit for eight grown men, some more grown than others but it made the event even ….shall we say more entertaining.
Friday night, we ritualistically consumed locally purchased
beverages and health food from Toarmina’s Pizza watching the World Series and college
football on TV. This is the first time we never actually made it into the houses
of worship in a college town on a Friday night. Is age catching up with us? After a night of being awoken by the continuous
prostrate parade, as the john was connected to my room, we arose in time for
College Gameday on TV. We were treated to another one of Chef Jonny’s
masterpieces of a breakfast consisting of fully loaded egg pie, SOS, bacon and
potatoes.
 |
| Geezervile USA |
After cleanup, we made the one- mile hike in the rain to our
tailgate for the afternoon. Upon entering the tents, I was greeted by my nephews
Tailgate Nate and ANTIFA Alan and his lovely wife Emily. We would be hosted by Spot
9 Official Tailgate via
Tailgate Connect®, run by the Mortiere family who threw out a polish style spread with the likes that I have never seen before: Pirogis, stuffed cabbage, fresh Kielbasa, meatballs and much more accompanied by a trash can of beer and a bar serving many spirits. The location was just off the south end of the golf course adjacent to the stadium. The torrential rain kept us inside the tents for the most part which were spacious enough but cozy. Toasts were made, shots were poured, anthems were sung, football was watched on TV, and good natured ribbing was directed at me, the lone Notre Dame fan at the tailgate. Mike Keehan from Frostburg along with his son Kevin and brother Pat met up with us at the tailgate. After hours of brewfesting (as we called it back in high school) and stuffing our faces, two of us trekked over to the Big House for the game past the golf course, which doubles as a tailgate lot on game day. The other apocalyptians biebered back to the house to avoid rain drops and probably sip on some hot chocolate and watch Lifetime movies.
Tailgate Connect®, run by the Mortiere family who threw out a polish style spread with the likes that I have never seen before: Pirogis, stuffed cabbage, fresh Kielbasa, meatballs and much more accompanied by a trash can of beer and a bar serving many spirits. The location was just off the south end of the golf course adjacent to the stadium. The torrential rain kept us inside the tents for the most part which were spacious enough but cozy. Toasts were made, shots were poured, anthems were sung, football was watched on TV, and good natured ribbing was directed at me, the lone Notre Dame fan at the tailgate. Mike Keehan from Frostburg along with his son Kevin and brother Pat met up with us at the tailgate. After hours of brewfesting (as we called it back in high school) and stuffing our faces, two of us trekked over to the Big House for the game past the golf course, which doubles as a tailgate lot on game day. The other apocalyptians biebered back to the house to avoid rain drops and probably sip on some hot chocolate and watch Lifetime movies.
 |
| At an ANTIFA gathering with my Nephews and Emily. |
 |
| The Spot 9 Tailgate. Even they believe in horns down. Flag that Tom Herman! |
 |
| The Keehan boys on top, never too young to tailgate baby and the Rockville boys. |
 |
| The Brothers Mortiere holding me upright while doing the horns down! |
The Irish came into the game ranked #8 in the country with
one loss and Michigan had just experienced it’s second loss of the year the
previous weekend at Penn State and was ranked #16. Kickoff was at 7:30 PM
Eastern which gave the fan base ample time to get in the spirt of things. With
Coach Harbaugh of Michigan under fire for not winning big games, it was
imperative that his squad show up on this ridiculously rainy and brisk evening.
On the other side of the field stood coach Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish
with hopes of still making the four-team college football playoff. The Big
House as Michigan Stadium is called, was surprisingly packed despite the inclement
conditions. Michigan and Notre Dame have two of the most storied programs in the
history of college football and quite the rivalry dating back more than a
century. From the opening kickoff until the final whistle, the Fighting Harboogians
of Michigan completely dominated all facets of the game. Michigan QB1 Shea
Patterson and a stable of running backs amassed over 300 yards on the ground.
The Michigan defense limited the Irish to under 200 total yards of offense.
Notre Dame’s MVP of the night goes to their Marching Band who had an
outstanding halftime performance dominating Michigan’s Band. I hate to admit
but a combination of the miserable weather, fatigue and a lackluster Notre Dame
performance drove us to the exits shortly after halftime to return to the cozy
confines of our rental house. Final score: Michigan 45, Notre Dame 14. I will
be working on de-clogging my arteries after this weekend.
 |
| Most excellent Midwest football conditions |
Around the country It was a bad overall day for me as
not only did my beloved Irish get thrashed, Oklahoma was upset by Kansas State
dropping their first game of the year and hurting their playoff chances.
Additionally, Army lost to a resurgent San Jose State. My only saving grace was
my Alma Mater Frostburg State who picked up their seventh win of the season and
secured a spot in the D2 playoffs. LSU
held on to win over Auburn in a rare day game in Death Valley. In my view, LSU deserves
to be #1 at this stage based on the quality of their wins. Wisconsin has been eliminated from playoff
talk by dropping their second game in a row to the Buckeyes of Columbus, OH. In
the ACC, Louisville improved to 5-3 while dropping the Wahoos of UVA to the
same record. I hear the tailgating by the Collision Course Crew was off the
hook as usual. Oregon and Utah remain in the hunt for an outside shot at the
playoff by both notching victories out west against Cal and Washington State. SMU
remains unbeaten by gutting out a hard-fought win over Houston on Thursday
night in Houston to lead the group of five schools. In fact, ESPN College Gameday
will be at Memphis this Saturday when SMU comes to town.
 |
| Brady's Navy Tailgate. Nice "shants" the guy in the black jacket is wearing. |
Ginger - Four-time cancer survivor Casey O’Brien on
the University of Minnesota Gophers football team wins this week’s top honors. During
his Freshman year of high school, Casey was diagnosed with a rare form of bone
cancer. He had multiple recurrences of this awful disease with 14 surgeries along
with chemo, only to beat it each time. After his first bout in high school, he
switched from QB to placekick holder, to minimize the potential for injury
while still being part of a team for a game he loved. Two weekends ago against
Rutgers University, he entered a game for the first time and held for not one
but two successful PATs. His team mobbed him after the first kick. This is a real
life Rudyesque story that will bring a tear to the hardest man’s eyes. He also
visits the same hospital in Minneapolis where he spent over 300 nights for
treatment. But this time his visits are to be an inspiration to young cancer
patients. Damn proud of you for what you overcame and for being so darn badass!
Next Week – The Danville DFT crew will be hosting a
tailgate at San Jose State when the Boise State Broncos come to town this Saturday
11/2 Tailgate starts at 3, game is at 7:30. We will be in Spartan Village, spot
1. I still have 6 tickets for $80 total. Friday night will be the battle of
Danville between our Monte Vista Mustangs squaring off against the San Ramon
Valley Wolverines.
Happy Tailgating!
No comments:
Post a Comment