Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to experience a Notre Dame football gameday; I watched them play Purdue. Without a doubt, it is a worthwhile experience for any college football fan. And I say this as a staunch Michigan fan.

The highlights, with pictures:
As with any good football program, tailgaters were out in full force before the game. Many like to raise flags to let you know their loyalties; one of the notable non-football displays belonged to a group of firefighters.

Beanbag toss seems to be some sort of a Notre Dame tailgate tradition; we spotted a number of tailgaters who brought a beanbag toss as a part of their setup.

One of the particularly fun ND traditions is the players’ walk to the stadium. The route is completely lined with people, and the players, all well-dressed in suits, walk through the human tunnel to the stadium; even the mighty Brady Quinn participates. Naturally, there are numerous cameras recording the event.

Those who have seen the movie “Rudy” may recognize the place he lit candles as he petitioned for acceptance to ND; the Grotto is quite a popular place before games.

The ND band also marches across campus to the stadium, and like the players’ walk, it attracts crowds. I love a good college marching band, so that’s fun to see.

Some ND fans are also big fans of Zaccheus, but with a father as the tree.

The team’s entrance into the stadium is fantastic, with the crowd roaring as the players run through a big ND formed by the band.

The Leprechaun is insane. He must be sponsored by every energy drink on the market. He dances and prances the entire game. I can’t imagine the amount of energy he requires for one game. I don’t know how he does it.  But really, if a team has to have a mascot — I am a fan of Michigan’s lack of mascot — he’s as good as there is. Partly because he’s not in some big goofy animal suit or with some giant head (think Ohio State), and partly because he’s fun to watch.

ND’s academic reputation was upheld as the cheerleaders demonstrated their ability to spell. I wonder if Navy’s cheerleaders try to spell anything during games…

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the game with the students. Typically, the student section is the most energetic part of any crowd, and ND’s students are no exception. As usual, they have a number of well-loved chants, cheers and traditions, most of which were simple enough to pick up fairly quickly.

At the end of the game, win or lose, the band and the players gather in the corner of the field and serenade the students. I happen to be very fond of that sort of tradition, though you wouldn’t know it, since, for photographic purposes, I had my back to the scene.  (I really do like that sort of tradition.  That’s why it was a good time for a picture.)

Some students were wearing one of the most amusing shirts I’ve seen. I could get a shot only of the back of the shirt, but you can see both sides and buy it online.

The landmark of ND’s campus is still as landmarky as ever.

Most of my pictures are referenced here, but if you want, you can visit the full gallery.

Non-photographic thoughts:
Notre Dame was wise to build the stadium on campus. It was fun to walk around campus and see the whole place full of fans. Places like Michigan, where the stadium is separated, have a different atmosphere, since it’s spread through city streets. Not an inferior atmosphere; just different.

There are numerous student groups that sell bratwursts and burgers all over campus; they all get the meat from the same place, and it’s all excellent. If you are there for a game, buy food from a student group.

In the arena next to the stadium, they have a variety of activities and gatherings. One notable feature is the 360-degree photograph of the stadium from midfield just before kickoff. It’s actually slightly disorienting to stand in the middle of the picture, but it’s also very cool.

The stadium itself is sparsely adorned both inside and out, and it’s very pleasant. I spotted only one small advertisement in the stadium, and it was for NBC, the network that televises ND football games. However, I was surprised to find that there are no video boards in the stadium. Just old-school scoreboards. I wonder if they will ever add video boards.

Coming from regular experiences in Michigan Stadium, the stadium actually felt a little bit small when I first entered. Given the difference in capacity, that was not a surprise. But by the time I left, it felt plenty big.

Notre Dame’s student ticket policy is a bit … dictatorial, shall we say. Again, my previous experience was with Michigan student tickets. Michigan requires student I.D. to accompany a student ticket, but any student can use any student ticket. Any student ticket can be validated for general use by any student, with the only limitation being the number of tickets one student can validate each week. On the other hand, Notre Dame ties each student ticket to one specific student; the tickets bear that student’s name, and he must show photo I.D. to enter the stadium. Students can transfer a ticket to a non-student, but a student can transfer only so many tickets per year, and there is a hard cap on the total number of student tickets that can be transferred each game. The student must transfer it to a specific person, and that person must show picture I.D. to enter the stadium. Personally, I think the policy is a bit heavy-handed, but as long as they fill the stadium, it won’t change. Plus, it makes me feel much better about Michigan’s student ticket policy. I used to gripe about the relatively new I.D. requirement, but now I’m perfectly happy with Michigan’s policy.

In the middle of the game, it rained. It was good. I like rainy games. Later in the game, a police officer got on the P.A. system and started talking about traffic safety. I was informed that he does this for each game, and he always manages to get a laugh out of the crowd. It seems to be a popular feature of the game. For the Purdue game, he concluded his comments by saying, “Remember, don’t drive like an animal when it’s raining cats and dogs.” That’s quality humor. Seriously.