Game day is finally here! My husband Jim and I arrived at the Notre Dame campus early. We wanted to tour the campus.
As we were walking to the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, we met two fellow Trojan fans. They had just moved to South Bend. Teresa Drake told Trojan Candy that she graduated from USC in 1987 in Chemical Engineering. Herman Joln attended the Naval Academy at Annapolis and had been stationed at Notre Dame before. They were meeting other Trojans for a tailgate, but let me take their picture. FIGHT ON, Teresa! FIGHT ON, Herman!
We found the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, but it was closed. However, I spoke with a guard and asked him if he would take some pictures for me. Ron, the guard, must have felt sorry for me and my sad face....he took my camera and went inside. In a few minutes, he came back and told me that he took a few pictures for me. Sadness turned to elation! Thank you, Ron! He is a great photographer.
As we stepped out the front door of the "Golden Dome," we saw that a crowd had already gathered outside to await the Bagpipe Concert. Unfortunately, there was no space for Jim and me facing the building, so we stood on the steps. I was able to take this video of the Bagpipe Troupe walking to their location at the bottom of the steps.
During the concert, Trojan Candy spotted a familiar face in the crowd. After the concert Jim and I walked over to find him. It was USC football announcer Pete Arbogast (8/4/2011). Luckily, we found him and his wife Jenny. They posed for this picture. Trojan Candy told Pete that he was lucky to be able to sit in the warm Press Box. FIGHT ON, Pete!
Just after we said good-by to Pete and Jenny, we saw another familiar face walking towards us. Dan Weber (3/24/2010) greeted us with a big smile. Dan writes for USCfootball.com and will cover the game.
We talked about the cardinal and gold flowers that were recently planted throughout the campus. Nice touch by Notre Dame. Dan gets to sit in the Press Box too. Trojan Candy was so envious!
Our campus touring was over. It was getting colder and colder. Fortunately, it was time for Jim and me to walk over to the Edmund P. Joyce Field House for the Associates picnic dinner. On the way we saw two more friends. Dorothy Kim and Sunny Sheperd smiled for this picture.
Trojan Candy would have liked to somehow prevent the enormous Notre Dame Band from blaring and sometimes just making noise when our offense had the ball. Sometimes, they were still blasting away when we hiked the ball. What poor sportsmanship!
That's all Trojan Candy is going to write about the game. Notre Dame won the 1st and 4th quarters. We won the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
Our Spirit of Troy plays Conquest after the game ends. FIGHT ON, my beloved Trojans!
Trojan Candy has to tell you about one more friend. On my stopover in Minneapolis on my plane trip back to L.A., a football friend came over to see me. It was USC football alumnus Anthony Neyer (10/28/2011). Anthony was a quarterback. He was on the same flight. It was so nice to see Anthony again! FIGHT ON, Anthony!