IU vs. Notre Dame

Doug and I had so much fun in Bloomington today.  It was cold, but we were still able to get out and walk along Kirkwood and downtown.  We stopped at several shops so that I could finish my Christmas shopping.  We bought College Football Championship gear as well including a new shirt for Doug and a sweatshirt for me.  We also made it to the newly discovered record store where I found a Little Drummer Boy Christmas vinyl that I had when I was a child.  Afterward, we stopped at Nick's for lunch before we headed to the Union to see the gingerbread houses and then Kroger to pick up snacks and drinks for tonight's football game.

Back at Brett's apartment, we turned on Game Day at 3 p.m. this afternoon ready for the hype of the Notre Dame game.  Cal had arrived in South Bend this morning.  He and his friends were staying at one of their grandparents' cabins in Michigan that was only an hour away.  The six of them were able to hire a shuttle to take them to and from the game.  They spent most of their pregame time at the bars listening to all of the Notre Dame fans.  Jayce and Cal were excited that they got interviewed by WTHR out of Indianapolis before they went into the game.

Cameron and Cora arrived a little bit later in the day, but more than early enough to walk around the Notre Dame campus.  Earlier in the week, we had heard that parking would be several hundred dollars.  Thankfully, they found a free space at the Century Center and walked to the game.  They had a lot of fun watching Game Day and bought souvenirs before finding their seats.

Brett and Meg had no interest in going to the game, but did pay attention to it tonight.  Brett picked up breadsticks for he, Doug and I after the Monroe County Republican Christmas party and watched the game with us.  Meg and Maddy went to the bars tonight and watched the game while out on the town.

Unfortunately, for our Hoosier family, the game was not what we had expected.  IU got down early and never really recovered.  The Irish had scored a 92-yard touchdown within a few minutes of the game starting and it looked like it had knocked the wind out of the Hoosiers.  I was sad with the 17-27 loss, especially since it was against Notre Dame, but it didn't change the fact that it had been a fantastic season.  Hopefully, the momentum from this year carries over to next and we enjoy another championship run soon.