Game Day

It was another early morning wake up call, but definitely worth it.  We met Parce at Pizza Express at 5:45 this morning so that we could be at the tailgate fields for their 6 a.m. opening time.  There were ten cars already parked when we arrived, but we got an excellent spot right next to the Alumni Hall.  Parce, Doug, Gena and I spent the next half hour setting up the tailgate spot and soon were enjoying the dark, chilly morning.

Cameron was the first one to arrive.  He was there just before 8 a.m. Jackie and her family arrived about a half hour later.  Pam followed an hour later, and Cal and Maggie were there before 10:30 a.m.  Maggie hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night, so she took advantage of a quiet house this morning to take a nap.  We were all very excited about ESPN Game Day being at today's game.  It had been 31 years since they had hosted their show at Memorial Stadium.  The hype was huge and the lines to get in to see them in person were long. We had an awesome time visiting with everyone and talked a lot about our years of tailgating together and the amazing run of this year's IU football team.  Pam wasn't as sold on Coach Cignetti as the rest of us, but we definitely had become big fans of him.  Doug's brats were a big hit as well as the desserts that Gena brought.  Maggie made caramel apple shots that were delicious.  The only issues of the morning had to do with the small generator which thankfully we were able to solve quickly as the van had a plug that we could use.  The benefit to that was staying warm sitting on the top of the running car.  The other issue involved a lot of drunk students using the wall around Alumni hall as a urinal.  Once I found out from Maggie and Cal that it was a lot worse out in the middle of the fields, I stopped complaining about it.  

Doug and I hadn't planned on going into the game as tickets were well over $100 at the beginning of the week.  At 5:30 this morning, I found two seats together in a prime spot for only $55.  Doug and I were both excited about going to the game and I was glad that we wouldn't have to use the port-a-potties in the tailgate area.  IU had to play its backup quarterback today and everyone was a little worried about it.  The first half was a little rough, but thanks to a pick six and another interception, we were up 17-7 at the half.  The third quarter was tense for a while as we threw an interception right away that resulted in a touchdown for Washington.  After that, however, we changed to a running game and ended up with the 31-17 win.  The sellout crowd was incredibly excited, and the rally towels were a lot of fun to use during the biggest plays of the game.  Even the drunks throwing up down the row from us didn't dampen the mood.  

After the game, we stopped by Cal's tailgate to see him, Maggie and their friends.  We then hung out with our crowd for another hour or so before packing up for the day.  It took a while to unpack the van at Brett's, but we got everything put away before Cal called for us to come get him at Brother's.  We picked up he and Maggie on the way to Cameron's, and then bought breadsticks for everyone.  Brett was back from his fun weekend with Karen shortly after we arrived.  We spent the rest of the evening catching up with one another, playing Ticket to Ride and watching more football.  It was so much fun hanging out with everyone and an awesome way to celebrate IU's 8-0 season.