1)Raindrops keep falling on my helmet
On Saturday, Michigan played Central Michigan at the Big House, and the game made history. Rather, the skies made history. In the middle of the first half, a thunderstorm caused the officials to halt the game and send the teams to the locker rooms. Believe it or not, according to the University of Michigan, a weather delay has never before happened in over 75 seasons of football at Michigan Stadium.
Really, as thunderstorms go, the electrical side of it wasn’t very severe. The rain was heavy, but the lightning wasn’t too bad. But college rules are similar to Michigan high school rules: a lightning strike in the area requires officials to suspend the game, and the game cannot resume until 30 minutes after the last lightning strike. Fortunately, the storm passed quickly, and the delay lasted only about an hour.
However, when the heavy rain hit, it became abundantly clear that a true emergency at the stadium would result in complete chaos. The stadium announcer told the crowd to seek shelter, and most complied (probably because they wanted to get out of the rain, not because they were concerned about lightning) … at least, they tried to comply. But with so many people trying to leave at once, the exits were the equivalent of the city streets during the getaway scene in The Italian Job when they’re changing all the traffic lights to cause problems. The stadium has enough trouble with normal traffic in and out; with everyone trying to leave at once, it was even worse.
It was bad enough that I saw two choices: I could sit in my seat and get wet, or I could stand in line to leave and get wet. If I stood in line, my seat would also get wet; if I stayed, at least I’d have a dry place to sit after the storm. So I stayed.
Some thought I might have been one player short of an offensive line as I watched a thunderstorm … from the top row of the stadium … wearing a metal helmet. But my helmet was keeping my head dry, and around the rim of the stadium there were a number of flagpoles to distract the lightning. In the end, the lightning looked the other way, and I just got wet. But my clothes dried by the end of the game, so that wasn’t a big problem.
However, even with all the excitement and history of the day, Michigan still failed to cover the spread. Amazing.
2)So close!
I am always hoping to have a perfect football weekend, during which the teams I follow (Chelsea [freshmen, JV, varsity], Michigan, Detroit) go 5-0. This weekend was within a couple plays of happening. Chelsea went 3-0 against Tecumseh and Michigan beat Central, and the Lions and Seahawks were tied at 6 with time winding down in the fourth quarter. But the Lions couldn’t make one more stop, and as time expired, Seattle hit a field goal to win the game 9-6.
Ah, well. There are six more weeks to try for a perfect football weekend.
(But this coming weekend does not look good, since Adrian is always a struggle for all three Chelsea teams, Michigan plays Notre Dame in South Bend, and Detroit has to play the Bears — coming off a shutout of Green Bay at Lambeau — in Chicago.)
