So, after a crazy night out on Friday, I went to bed at around 4am or so but got up early the next morning at 7:30am or so. Tried to stay in bed for a little longer but couldn't contain the excitement and got out. Drove out to a pharmacy to grab some hand warmers for the game later in the day.
Got back and grabbed a bagel before heading over to Simon's place (across the road) to pre-game. Actually, that was my first (and last) pre-game ever. In the freezing cold, we played beer pong (damn and we narrowly lost), flip cups, tossed a couple of balls, and basically just drank a ton of beer. It was good fun though.
I walked to the stadium with my housemates, as well as Ted and Jianwei. The stadium was packed by the time we reached. It was a miserably cold day and everyone was really fired up for the game. In the first quarter, we did decently, moving the ball somewhat and getting ahead with a field goal. However, it wasn't meant to be and our offense stalled drive after drive, going three and out almost on all our drives. We didn't even manage to put together a decent scoring drive. The defense played hard and battled it out against a potent OSU offense, but still, the offense ultimately cost us our game.
As I stood there, shivering while the heavens emptied cold rain down on the Michigan Stadium, the student section stood and watched as our team got torn apart. Time and again, we prayed and yelled. For the defense to make just another stop, to give our offense a chance to put together a miracle turnaround. That turnaround never came. Cold, drenched and miserable, we stood, silent and kicking the puddles on the benches, and staring in disbelief at the disaster out on the field. The seniors who lost the chance to win it. Coach Carr who will (later in the day) annouce to his players that he will be retiring after the last bowl game. A lump came to my throat and I didn't know what to make of the loss. As we filed out of the stadium in silence, with the OSU fans chanting O-H-I-O and celebrating on the field, my heart achced, and the coldness hit.
I may not agree with the coaching style Coach Carr uses since it's pretty draconian by modern college football standards, but the fact is, he is Michigan Football. A Michigan Man true and true. He loves his players, loves the game, loves Michigan, runs a clean program and plays a straight, gentleman's game. Never a word of abuse or talking down another team, never a single investigation for any malpractices. He visits children at Mott's Children's Hospital and actively tries to make the community a better place. He will definitely be someone whom I respect and remember for all the lessons which he has taught his players and the students of Michigan; not just by his actions on the field and his love of the program, but with his actions off the field as well. A true Michigan Man.
You may ask, why bother so much about Michigan Football? Well, I don't profess to be an expert at it. Nor am I affected in any way or benefitting from it. But it IS the Michigan Experience. The Big House, the fans, the tailgate parties, the pregames, the maize-outs; this is Michigan. I admit, when we lost the first two games of the season, I was pissed off. I pretty much lost faith in the program. Coach Carr didn't. He led the team out of the shadows into 8 straight wins. The team taught us what it meant by "Those who stay will be Champions", how to stay the course even when you're down at the bottom and never to give up hope. That is, something I'll remember and definitely an important life lesson which I have learnt from the team. Thank you team. Thank you Coach Carr.
Walking back from the game, I dropped by the business school to dry up a little and warm up. When I saw myself in the mirror, I was pretty shocked. Eyes were blood-shot and face was red, and I felt pretty feverish and cold. The effects of standing for 4 plus hours straight in the rain finally hit. Or maybe, just the lack of sleep and beer. I headed home and took a short rest before heading out again.
Dinner with Michelle, Roy, Ming and Jianwei at Chili's. Pretty good meal before we came back on campus to attend the event which I suggested: The Men's Glee Club concert at Hill Auditorium. That was my first time in the auditorium and it was really majestic and beautiful. The acoustics were really good and needless to say, the performance was stellar. I wanted to go watch it because my classmate (Michael Cromwell aka Crombomb) was the president of the club and I really enjoyed the performance which he put up when he was in the Friars (a selected subset of the club who formed the best acapella group on campus) last year. Great performance that helped brighten up the day a ton. Really glad I went.
Had a pretty early night and slept in on Sunday. Had a reunion with most of my Joshua Tree trip-mates at Pizza House (the chicken ranch chipati was totally awful) but company was good. Meeting in the b-school for my finance homework and did a good dinner with Anny and Ariel at Yotsuba. Good times.
A mixed and somewhat awesome weekend. Lots of new experiences and had good company throughout. Coach Lloyd Carr will be announcing his retirement tomorrow on a press conference at 10am tomorrow. No doubt, a loss to the program and the proud Michigan football tradition. Go Blue.
Got back and grabbed a bagel before heading over to Simon's place (across the road) to pre-game. Actually, that was my first (and last) pre-game ever. In the freezing cold, we played beer pong (damn and we narrowly lost), flip cups, tossed a couple of balls, and basically just drank a ton of beer. It was good fun though.
I walked to the stadium with my housemates, as well as Ted and Jianwei. The stadium was packed by the time we reached. It was a miserably cold day and everyone was really fired up for the game. In the first quarter, we did decently, moving the ball somewhat and getting ahead with a field goal. However, it wasn't meant to be and our offense stalled drive after drive, going three and out almost on all our drives. We didn't even manage to put together a decent scoring drive. The defense played hard and battled it out against a potent OSU offense, but still, the offense ultimately cost us our game.
As I stood there, shivering while the heavens emptied cold rain down on the Michigan Stadium, the student section stood and watched as our team got torn apart. Time and again, we prayed and yelled. For the defense to make just another stop, to give our offense a chance to put together a miracle turnaround. That turnaround never came. Cold, drenched and miserable, we stood, silent and kicking the puddles on the benches, and staring in disbelief at the disaster out on the field. The seniors who lost the chance to win it. Coach Carr who will (later in the day) annouce to his players that he will be retiring after the last bowl game. A lump came to my throat and I didn't know what to make of the loss. As we filed out of the stadium in silence, with the OSU fans chanting O-H-I-O and celebrating on the field, my heart achced, and the coldness hit.
I may not agree with the coaching style Coach Carr uses since it's pretty draconian by modern college football standards, but the fact is, he is Michigan Football. A Michigan Man true and true. He loves his players, loves the game, loves Michigan, runs a clean program and plays a straight, gentleman's game. Never a word of abuse or talking down another team, never a single investigation for any malpractices. He visits children at Mott's Children's Hospital and actively tries to make the community a better place. He will definitely be someone whom I respect and remember for all the lessons which he has taught his players and the students of Michigan; not just by his actions on the field and his love of the program, but with his actions off the field as well. A true Michigan Man.
You may ask, why bother so much about Michigan Football? Well, I don't profess to be an expert at it. Nor am I affected in any way or benefitting from it. But it IS the Michigan Experience. The Big House, the fans, the tailgate parties, the pregames, the maize-outs; this is Michigan. I admit, when we lost the first two games of the season, I was pissed off. I pretty much lost faith in the program. Coach Carr didn't. He led the team out of the shadows into 8 straight wins. The team taught us what it meant by "Those who stay will be Champions", how to stay the course even when you're down at the bottom and never to give up hope. That is, something I'll remember and definitely an important life lesson which I have learnt from the team. Thank you team. Thank you Coach Carr.
Walking back from the game, I dropped by the business school to dry up a little and warm up. When I saw myself in the mirror, I was pretty shocked. Eyes were blood-shot and face was red, and I felt pretty feverish and cold. The effects of standing for 4 plus hours straight in the rain finally hit. Or maybe, just the lack of sleep and beer. I headed home and took a short rest before heading out again.
Dinner with Michelle, Roy, Ming and Jianwei at Chili's. Pretty good meal before we came back on campus to attend the event which I suggested: The Men's Glee Club concert at Hill Auditorium. That was my first time in the auditorium and it was really majestic and beautiful. The acoustics were really good and needless to say, the performance was stellar. I wanted to go watch it because my classmate (Michael Cromwell aka Crombomb) was the president of the club and I really enjoyed the performance which he put up when he was in the Friars (a selected subset of the club who formed the best acapella group on campus) last year. Great performance that helped brighten up the day a ton. Really glad I went.
Had a pretty early night and slept in on Sunday. Had a reunion with most of my Joshua Tree trip-mates at Pizza House (the chicken ranch chipati was totally awful) but company was good. Meeting in the b-school for my finance homework and did a good dinner with Anny and Ariel at Yotsuba. Good times.
A mixed and somewhat awesome weekend. Lots of new experiences and had good company throughout. Coach Lloyd Carr will be announcing his retirement tomorrow on a press conference at 10am tomorrow. No doubt, a loss to the program and the proud Michigan football tradition. Go Blue.
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