Game Day

It was such an exciting week around here with everyone talking about USC coming to play. Sam always gets so pumped up for the games, especially the big ones, and he almost always has me convinced that we are going to win. As a realist I knew that our chances were slim but I also believe that on any given day any team can beat another. We headed to Lincoln on Friday night (after dropping the kids off at the grandparents in Fremont. Thanks Jerry and Helen!). We picked up Rhonda and then headed for her company's tailgate party. On Saturday morning we set the alarms early and headed down to the stadium for the gameday broadcast. (Yes! for those of you wondering I did get my Lamar's fix.) We had gone back in 2001 when they were here for the Notre Dame game and remembered how fun it was so decided to go again. We weren't alone as I guess they are saying there were about 15,000 people this time around. Not the record but like the 2nd most people ever or something like that. People were pumped and primed and there were lots of signs. I have posted pictures here if you want to take a look at some of them. I tried to type in captions on most. Anyway, some of the signs were funny and some were pretty R rated as you can imagine due to the name of USC's mascot. We didn't take a sign but we did take some newspapers and were prepared to take part in the "let's ignore Herbstreit by reading our papers when he talks" protest but it didn't really materialize. At the beginning and during breaks the guys did talk to the crowd a little bit. Fowler said they were excited to be here and that it was a great turn out. I think Corso also said something similar at one point. They did a story on the USC kicker who died last year and the crowd was quiet and respectful for the most part and when it was done everyone clapped. When they went to commercial Fowler thanked the crowd for their response and Corso clapped his hands to us. Herbstreit didn't say much but there were lots of signs slamming him for the way he acted during the debate last year of which college football team is the greatest of all time. During the broadcast Fowler acknowledged that and said wow these people really hold a grudge. At the end of the broadcast, Fowler said, "OK people, you have a long day ahead of you. Pace yourselves." Anyway, it was a blast to go and be a part of it.

We got to the stadium right when the gates opened. You could just tell everyone was excited. It was fun to "star" watch on the sidelines. We saw Will Ferrel, Larry the cable guy, Keanu Reeves, Rush Limbaugh, and the guy who is from NE who was on Survivor. When the tunnel walk and game started it was SO loud and so much fun. After we scored to tie it at 7 everyone was jumping around and giving each other high fives. That was one fun game for about 22 minutes. I guess you know how it all turned out. Anyone want our tickets to Ball State??

Just kidding!