My Notre Dame Game Day Experience

I still remember watching my first football game on TV. We got to watch American channels because we had cable which was acquired illegally. We payed the cable man/neighbor to hook us up by using our neighbor's connection. That was awesome because of the cartoon channels. Anyways. It was the Super Bowl game with the Packers and Patriots. I was like 8 or 9, and I remember waking up really early, and my dad was watching football (which at the time I had no idea what the hell it was). Just imagine a kid 8 or 9 years old in the Philippines waking up in the morning and watching a game so foreign. We moved to Guam which is a U.S. territory about 1 or 2 years later where football is basically shown every time, but not until I was a freshman in the University where I watched a football game from start to finish. Long and behold, it was the USC at Notre Dame game of 2005 or what many people call the "Bush Push" game. That was amazing and ever since I have been a fan.

We have a motto here on Guam. It states "Where America's Day Begins". And ND games are actually shown very early, like around 5 o'clock in the morning. Sunday (instead of Saturday) might I add also. So it has that weird feeling because everyone is still asleep except for the hardcore fans. It gets really tough when you only have a 2 hour sleep and still tired from last night. You can go to sports bar, friend's house, or restaurants to watch the game, but you'll be lucky if the football game you're going to be watching is an ND game. So it's actually better to just watch it at your home.

It gets very cool also especially when it's raining. So you can imagine that there's not much tailgating going on, but the food is still awesome because it's breakfast food. The game is shown on NBC which is fantastic because it's live (if it's on other channel it's tape delayed). It gets really zen like when you're watching the game. Open all the windows and you'll feel and smell the fresh morning air. Not much noise, just the announcers talking. Just got a new flat HD TV so I'm taking it up a notch this season. Also love that noise when an O-Line crashes with the D-Line.

Half time comes. If it's a blow out whether ND is doing the blowing up or the one getting blown out, I go for my morning run to Ypao beach or around a mall knowing that the game has already been decided. If it's not and the game is close, I don't go for the run.

It's around 6:30 a.m. The sun is rising but still very cold and windy. Not much car. Other people also exercising especially around the mall. Lots of old people. Sometimes I encounter a runner/walker with his dog which I really really hate because dogs hate/bark at me. I don't know why they bring their dogs. No ones going to attack them or anything. And I just imagine the dogs hating that too especially when their owner is a runner.

You get to the beach and you see old people doing Tai Chi which is quite impressive for old people. They just move very gracefully. If I don't stop, I usually reach the beach when the sun is still rising. It's quite amazing. Not a lot of people and tourists. Just a few people exercising also.

You can see the Two lover's point (picture above is exactly the scene I see every morning) and the tall hotels. Sound of waves crashing is fantastic. The sound is a lot like when an O-Line crashes with the D-Line in a more graceful manner. I reach the life guard tower which is vacant at this hour and just sit down and take it all in. Still sweating, dead tired and taking deep breathes. Very surreal point. A point of with mix feelings. Hot from the run and cold from the morning sea air filters the body. You try to enjoy the view but still dead tired. You try to think of the future, present and past in your life but still I'm thinking that it's only the half way point and I still have to run back home with dead legs. It's quite a feeling I tell you, Pain and happiness both at the same time when you're in the life guard's tower.

When it's raining, it's a very different experience. Dead cold. Dead cold. The cold rain mix with your hot sweat is quite a feeling. Dead cold feeling that is. Not fun when it rains. It's even more scarier when dark clouds are in the sky and not raining. That is so because you know that it's going to rain, and you can feel the cold air more. Scary because it's really dark and usually no people in the beach. But the funny thing is that it energizes you. It makes you run faster, stamina gets stronger, and rest time is much faster. I don't get to enjoy the view in the beach when it's raining. I just want to get home and finish the run.

I get back home at around 7:40. The sun is well in its place by now. Game is finished or with just a few minutes. Take a shower and go back to sleep. Wake up in time for lunch and see the highlights of the other game unless when ND looses the game. I just hate watching highlights of the other games when ND looses because they usually mock ND. Sometimes ND plays in California against Stanford or USC, and they show that at around 11 a.m. or 10 even. Then enjoy the rest of my Sunday. The next thing I know, it's the weekday, going and studying for school. Can't wait for the next Sunday to come.

There you go. That's pretty much my pregame activities on Sundays (Saturdays in the US). I'm pretty sure you guys' game experience is quite different from me and the people in the Pacific. I've never been to the US mainland, but I'm pretty sure it's pretty sweet also. I've seen the tailgate parties and atmosphere on TV. I love the food I see especially the barbecue in the southern states. I've also seen the boat tailgating parties. ND has an excellent pregame pageantry also. I love the march of the student athletes, the Grotto is holy sweet. I like the Irish guards and heard that lots of people go to the bookstore to but ND swags. I'll definitely be there one day with lots of sweaters and shirts on me.

Go Irish!!!