I remember watching the game on television.. at the end of the 1st quarter, my young son on the way to bed said .. "sorry Dad ..."
peter | Email | Homepage | 12.31.06 - 5:22 pm | #

And I remember a night, could it really be 33 years ago?), and I was a freshman sitting in the end zone at the old Sugar Bowl with hundreds of my fellow students and many of my roommates from ND, watching the Irish defeat Alabama! What a game! And afterwards, being threatened with a pummelling by a couple of disappointed and highly intoxicated 'Bama fans, to which we replied "Rooolll Tide, Roll". And I remember watching another "Bama fan slapping his wife walking back to the parking lot. I remember getting on a bus to get back to the French Quarter, the bus driver went out of his way to get us back in time for New Years. Yeah, I remember!
Kevin | Email | Homepage | 12.31.06 - 5:25 pm | #

Jay -
You remember too much, you couldn't have been drunk.

I'm not going this year, but I hope to remember an old fashioned ass-kicking come January 3 while watching from the comfort of my living room.

Go Notre Dame.
Subway Alunmi | Email | Homepage | 12.31.06 - 6:07 pm | #

Sub - heh.

Keep in mind I just condensed probably 24 hours into one paragraph. It's all I could remember.
Jay | Email | Homepage | 12.31.06 - 6:13 pm | #

Wasn't it 15 years ago?
Capuchin | Email | Homepage | 12.31.06 - 6:51 pm | #

"hand grenades" . . . I remember someone once told me that each 20oz glass of a "hand grenade" had 4 shots of everclear in it.

Hence the young woman I was with from Lyons and her cute friend from Miami of Ohio made a bad decision even though I warned them that it was NOT a good idea to drink two of those "hand grenades" in one night . . .

Ahh youth . . .
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 12.31.06 - 10:31 pm | #

Jay,

Glad you brought up that Fla. game. This year's bowl really feels to me like a replay of that one waiting to happen. The LSU guys have reason to be confident, but they're overly full of themselves right now.

In addition to that Fla. game, I've been watching a bunch of Holtz-era games lately. Say what you will about his current gig, the man could draw up a game plan.

I hope to be saying the same thing about Charlie in 15 years as I watch a recording of this year's Sugar Bowl game on my 700 inch nuclear googleaphonic TV.

Happy New Year to you and your boys at BGS, Jay. Thanks for all the hard work.

Hal
Hal | Email | Homepage | 12.31.06 - 11:25 pm | #

atepesm, care to elaborate?

Feel free to make stuff up.
Catz | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 12:20 am | #

You guys make me feel like a baby. 15 years ago i was 12. and i vividly remember that game. I remember going to my friends house for a sleepover (he was a Purdue fan) so i layered as many Notre Dame clothes as I owned: boxers, socks, shorts, pants, shirts, sweatshirt, etc. I got there at halftime.


God that was an amazing game.
DayBreakBoys | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 2:38 am | #

I'll be at the game this time around. I'm about as excited for this one as I was against USC last year. Never been to New Orleans, but I'm sure in every way it's more fun than Tempe.
Joe | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 4:34 am | #

No one cares about your gay drinking stories.

GO IRISH!!!
Shut Up | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 9:11 am | #

That was a great game when ND beat FL. You always had the feeling with Holtz on the sideline that he was going to put the team in the best position to win the game. I love how he had three players on the line and dropped everyone else back into coverage. Spurrier was so determined to beat the Irish through the air that he continued to pass instead of run. And how about Bettis scoring three touchdowns within the span of a few minutes in the 4th quarter. One of the best games I can remember.

If the Irish play a perfect game,they've got a good chance of winning. Anything less and it will be like the Michigan and USC games.

Also, I wanted to say I'm a little relieved to see that my Detroit Lions won yesterday. They've taken themselves out of the top spot in the draft and now Quinn will probably not have to play for them (unless Oakland doesn't take him). I'm a Lions fan, but I would be worried if he had to play behind that offensive line. If you thought the ND O-Line was less than stellar this year, the Lions are much worse. I want to see Quinn have a great career and I don't think that would happen in a Lions uniform. Until the Lions or Matt Millen show me they know what's going on, I hope they stay away from the ND players.

Anyway, sorry to go on the Lions rant.

Go Irish!!
Beat LSU!!
Chuck | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 9:16 am | #

Chuck, I also dread the thought of Brady having to buddy up with Randy Moss.
Southside | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 9:59 am | #

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Moss either. It's tough to determine which is the worst-case scenario. Playing for the Lions or playing with Moss. If the Lions took Quinn, I would hope that they would sit him like the bengals did with Palmer his first year while Kitna started. Then, the Lions could let him get a year of experience watching the game on the sideline while they improve their O-Line.
Chuck | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 10:08 am | #

Poll:
Who you rooting for today - Michigan or USC?
Matt | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 10:23 am | #

"Shut up", I care about my gay drinking stories! Not much gay in this one though.
Jay | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 10:39 am | #

catz,

obviously the hammered girl from Lyons started mashing with Jay at midnight. Leaving atepesm to drown out his sorrows drinking watered down hurricanes in the firey fountain.

It's all in the police report.

Duh
anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 11:02 am | #

Jay

Nice SPLHCB reference...
c-stone | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 12:23 pm | #

Lou was perhaps the best at getting an underdog team up for a bowl game, with his Arkansas squad's upset of Oklahoma defining, possibly to this day, what "bowl upset" means.

It'd be great to see something similar in the 'Big Easy.' As long as we don't find ourselves being apologetic come halftime, or sooner ("if it wasn't for the fumble," "they got a huge break on that pass intereference call" et al) we have a shot here.

It's not looking for a signature win now; too late, this crew's core is Irish history in a few days. It is time for a Notre Dame moment. The audience will, pre-game, be built up around the comeback of New Orleans, LSU's travails, etc, etc, ... all nice stuff. We have to step up and make that audience think of us as "they may be lots tougher, lots sooner" when they click off their TV sets. Along with racking up another Nielsen record breaker, it'd be nice to rack up the 'w'.

Go Irish
Bill H | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 1:42 pm | #

Nope, there was no mashing.

Only hair holding and vomiting in the streets later that evening.

I actually got in trouble when I used their camera to take a picture of the debacle. "How dare I do that!"

I had to laugh at them. Nothing like seeing pretentious people getting served their comeuppance.

I hate stupid people and I'm horrible at kissing ass.

Needless to say. The ride back to South Bend was a little heated.
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 7:02 pm | #

Thanks for the memories, Jay. Happy New Year and thanks for your truly excellent work.

What a trip. My first and only plunge into the French Quarter was just as you remember. But I also recall trying to get through the crowds late in the afternoon of New Year's Eve to the university-sponsored Mass for the Solemnity. It was like living a scene right out of The Pilgrim's Progress: A.L. and I were physically lifted off of the alcohol-soaked street by drunk strangers and sucked into a bar for one more cocktail on our way. And later that night, which got so, so very ugly, just as the clock struck midnight and I kissed my then-beau, who should appear among the mass of humanity on Bourbon Street? None other than (drumroll . . .) my Gator ex-boyfriend!

The rest is history. Despite all odds and predictions:
--Florida did not win that Sugar Bowl.
--One Gator did eventually win my hand (which explains why I am pulling for FLA on Jan 8).
--I like the underdog every time.

GO IRISH!
AnnexLyonite | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 10:04 pm | #

Chuck and Southside,

I agree. The absolute best thing that could happen to Brady Quinn is to have a team with a lower top-ten pick trade up to get Brady. Then, the Lions could draft Troy Smith. How great would it be to see him running for his life on every play, hahaha!
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.01.07 - 11:34 pm | #

I worry that Charlie doesnt have what it takes to fire an underdog up. He has the makings of a brilliant coach, but his arrogance gets in his way. I think he could take a few lessons from Ara and Lou. I think he needs to be a little bit less like Parcells and Belichick, a little more like Charlie and add some Lou and Ara. Even Gerry, remember how he upset LSU in 84. I dont want to read how "we laid an egg" on Thursday morning. That will be 4 eggs in 4 big games. College football is more about emotion, not every player is going to the NFL. You need the Mike Kovaleskis, it is time for someone to step up and be a leader on the defense, it obviously wont be Zibby, he is too worried about his next fight. We need to play with more emotion, like USC last year.
Doug | Email | Homepage | 01.02.07 - 7:08 am | #