Why I've suddenly become a Miller Lite fan: Friday night at Corby's, Pete and I were hanging out on the patio. Two Miller Lite girls came out, decked out in the appropriate company gear and referee shirts. Each had a case, and they began handing out free beer. One got to the last beer in her case and decided "this one's mine." After settling down, she spotted me standing there in my "I Love My Notre Dame Women's Basketball" shirt. "Hey," she said, "that's a great shirt!" She then attempted to read it: "I love... women's basketball!" After a pause, she reached for her ref's whistle, gave it a tweet, and gave me a thumbs up. Now, had I been smart, I would have asked for a picture. Had I been drunk, I probably would have awkwardly hit on her. Since I was neither, I simply smiled and returned the thumbs up.
Happy birthday, Pete and Sarah: At Corby's we held a birthday get-together for Pete and Sarah Paulson. After a while, Pete and Sarah decided to start a camera phone war against each other. (Pete, I'm still waiting for those pictures so I can post them....) Not to be left out, I pulled out my "cell phone," aka my hand, and "dialed": beep boop boop boop boop beep beep! Yes, this did become a vastly overused joke for me over the rest of the week.
"We love you Sam Sanchez!": After leaving Corby's (and after I attempted to buy Sarah as much booze as possible), Pete and I decided to head to The Backer. When we got there, we were in line behind Sam Sanchez and Dave Cieslak. As soon as Sam, Dave, Pete, and I got to the front of the line, they stopped letting people in. As we waited, a group of about five college girls spotted Sam as they left. "Hey, it's Sam Sanchez! We love you Sam Sanchez!" Sam turned to me and asked, "Were those girls talking to you?" "No man," I replied, "they were calling your name."
Quote of the Week: Pete and I never actually made it inside The Backer on Friday, unless you consider the foyer "inside The Backer." But, other members of the ND Club of Philly did. I was at the ND Club of Philly's BND tailgate the next morning when one of the guys admitted that Friday night was his first trip to The Backer. To that, another tailgater replied, "I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't been to The Backer."
A Gameday Tradition: At the tailgate, I was able to participate in one of the club's gameday traditions. At the top of every hour, everyone must take a new beer, and someone must say a toast. Even if you're just one sip into a new beer, you have to take a new one. If you open your beer before the end of the toast, you have to take a new one. Pete had explained this to me beforehand, but unfortunately I'm very absentminded. I had opened a new beer and taken one sip out of it when the announcement was made that it was 10 minutes to the top of the hour. Excellent timing on my part.
Jeers to the Leprechaun Legion wannabes: In the front row of the student section sat a group of guys in pink t-shirts. (Hmm, I wonder if they showed up early to get on TV?) This group of geniuses decided to start the wave while ND held a commanding 28-21 lead. Seated above the freshmen section, I loudly booed the wave as it passed.
Fans coming out of the woodwork: Over the past few weeks, I've discovered that I have a few more regular readers than I originally thought. For instance, Dave's brother Michael is a somewhat-regular reader, while Dave Cieslak once came across the site in a Google search. This past weekend, I found out that Yonto's grandma is also a reader. Here's how our conversation went:
"Do you still have that site out on the, you know..."
"My website? Yes, I do."
"Oh! I go to it every once in a while, but I can never understand it."
"Yeah, that's probably my fault."
So, Mrs. Yonto, if you're reading this, hello, thanks, and hopefully I can being less confusing in the future.
Words of wisdom from Coach Yonto: After the game, I was fortunate enough to be invited to dinner at a family friend of the Yontos. There, in addition to my above discussion with Grandma Yonto, I also got to listen to Coach Yonto's advice to Nick on coaching basketball. (In case you haven't been following, here's how Nick's first game as a middle school coach went.) Here's what Coach Yonto had to say: "How hard can it be to coach basketball? You pull five guys off the street and tell them to put the ball in the bucket!" Sage words from the man who invented a defensive package that shut down the vaunted Texas wishbone multiple times in the '70s.
Other people I saw, but haven't mentioned yet:
Jason Elbert - Saw him at Corby's and again at bone circle. He's so old school, he knew me when I was still John.
Marcus Barlow - At Corby's, of course, and again at bone circle.
Klondike - Made a surprise appearance before Concert on the Steps along with Brittany's dad. Did anyone have any idea that he was coming?
F-Bomb & Brother - Ran into these two before Friday marchout (well, F-Bomb probably ran into me first). It was interesting to finally meet the man behind the football head.
Werner & Monk - Made an appearance at bone circle.
Jess Beguin - She was at all the normal pregame band things with Nick, and also went to dinner afterwards. And, if you're reading this, Jess, thanks for the smooth ride to Jim and Carol's.
Jon Byrer - Had fun sitting next to you at the game, even if you did use your cell phone once or twice. Glad you were able to use the ticket.
Paul Epstein and Dave Couling - Thanks for once again giving up your couch.
Dick Vitale - Once again, he was hanging out in the crowd waiting for the players to leave mass. He truly is a fan like the rest of us.
I'm sure I forgot something, so be sure to check the message board for more weekend goodness.
