It is always special to me to go to other stadiums and enjoy a game day from someone else’s perspective. That is exactly what I did this past weekend. Texas A&M had a bye week so I decided to “take my talents” to South Bend for the Notre Dame vs Stanford game. I’m sorry I just used that phrase it was just too easy. I was very excited to see how people from the Midwest tailgate and just enjoy Saturday without having to worry about the Aggie game.

The game was a 7:30 kickoff local time, I kept getting mixed up throughout the trip because of the time change difference, so that gave me the chance to wake up and watch GameDay…whoever made the “Welcome to the Bone Zone” sign with Ken Bone on it, well done sir/ma’am. After that, we headed to Notre Dame’s campus to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree day. Like I mentioned before the game was at night so that gave me the opportunity to walk around the campus and the entire tailgating scene. First, the campus is amazing and so beautiful. It did not disappoint. The trees were just changing color, the buildings all looked great, and the Golden Dome was indeed GOLDEN. It was a cloudy day on Sunday when I was leaving and somehow the dome was still shiny. Touchdown Jesus did not disappoint either. If you ever get a chance to go to the ND campus i highly recommend it. Since it was game day it was even better because it was full of happy people wearing green, navy, and gold. Plus anytime you talk with people from the Midwest who have been drinking it will always be a good time.

When people talk about tailgating in the SEC they usually talk about people with tents in a park, such as The Grove at Ole Miss or Spence Park at A&M, but at Notre Dame they are legit talking about old school tailgating. Let me take it from the top. On Saturday morning at 7:00 AM, a parking lot by the stadium opens up for people to go park their car. These people have to buy tickets to get spots and then rush to get the best spots. After you park they are set and free to comeback whenever they please (But everyone knows the longer someone tailgates the better day it is). I should up to a family tailgate which was in a prime spot. When I was walking to the parking lot the first thing that stood out to me was that every spot had a pole with a flag one it. Majority of them were ND flags but some were funny and I really enjoyed this “theme” that every tailgate wanted to mimic. The flag that was flying at the tailgate I went to was the State of Texas flag with a ND logo instead of the star and its colors were navy and gold (Texas Pride since all of us are from the best state in the US). This parking lot was packed full with cars and fans. Even though ND is having a less than stellar year their fans still show up to support their team and have a good time. They do like to have a good time also, all friendly people with smiles on their faces. I could not of scripted a better day. Eating and drinking with family and friends and just being able to have a great time. Unfortunately, the Irish lost the game but that did not stop anyone from enjoying the game. The stadium was awesome and I can now check that one off the bucket list.

Saturday, I will be traveling to T-Town to watch the Aggies try to pull an amazing upset against the #1 Crimson Tide. This is what football fans love and is one of the reasons why I am so happy we are in the SEC. If a game like this does not get your blood pumping, I’m not sure you are human.

Thanks and Gig’em!