GAME DAY: Notre Dame at Washington

We woke up to another perfect Fall day and prepared ourselves for the game. Our first stop would be University Avenue to have some breakfast, buy souvenirs and tour the University of Washington campus. 

Hmmm...

After a good night's sleep and finally calming down about the Rio Mesa freshman football team, I saw this sign on a church near the UW Bookstore's parking lot. I took it as an omen for our staff's approach to this week's football practices.

A little tea, a little latte and life becomes good again at a small, independent, off campus coffee bar!

Entering the UW campus

The campus is just so wonderful a place to go for a walk on another crisp October day.

I stayed up in Seattle for Summer Session in 1968 and took a Speech class in this building.

The Henry Suzzalo Library

Easily the most beautiful building at the UW.

The Study Room

This was my favorite place inside Suzzalo to study when I went to school here...

O.K., I didn't study all that often but when I did, this was THE place!

Ornate Woodwork in the Study Room

EVERY bookshelf along the walls of the Study Room has AWESOME woodwork like this.

"LUX SIT"

That's Latin for "Let There Be Light" and it is the motto of the UW. This lamp is just outside the library with the old Administration Building in the background. 

The Quad

The center of the original campus, the Miller Building, that houses the Education Department, is on the right. Laurie worked as a secretary in this building and I took several classes in it.

"Educational Foundations, how may I help you?"

More of the Quad's Fall Colors

I wonder how old all those walkway bricks on the Quad are?

Denny Hall

The oldest building on campus, I took a psychology class here as a Sophomore.

My Road-mates pause to reflect by Denny Hall 

WOW!

Mallory Johnson in her "Witches of Eastwick" hat

Sophie Johnson

Tour Guide and Halloween Decorator Par Excellence!

Susie Johnson in front of Villa Johnson

The Johnsons live about a 5 minute stroll from Husky Stadium, so we tailgated at their home before walking to see all the pre-game activities surrounding the game.

Tailgate Husky Style

Husky Vespa

As the new Head Coach of the Catania Elephants, should I be demanding something like this in Catania colors in my contract?

Tailgating ALWAYS equals great food.

The Murphy's meet an ally in Cathy

Cathy lives in South Bend, Indiana, the home of the Fighting Irish.

Besides the usual tailgating, the Huskies also do sailgating as dozens of very large boats tie up to the docks on the Lake Washington side of Husky Stadium. We met Cathy as we walked on the docks to take a close up look at this unique UW tradition. She was very funny and outgoing so naturally we took an instant liking to her. Because of his bonding, I decided not to torpedo her boat as I originally planned.

Another ND fan but this time on a UW fan's boat

Unlike European soccer (calcio in Italy), one of the best things about college football is mixing with the fans of your opponent's team before, during and after the game in friendly, non-violent, non-life threatening banter. 

Commodore Tim Murphy and Debi next to a very cool boat

flying both ND and UW colors.

For some, "Leatherheads", was not just a movie

A die-hard, literally, Irish fan being wheeled into the stadium.

Approaching Husky Stadium from the north side through the Irish crowd

The Husky IS a noble dog INDEED!!!

The view from our seats

Note that the game is still tied granted the game has not started yet but we still had hope!

Our son, Andy, and his fiancee, Jenn

They flew up from Las Vegas this morning and we had a GREAT time with them!

A patriotic moment before the opening kickoff

We are still tied 0-0 at this point!

One of the Huskies NINE punts on the day

The Irish did not punt even once in the game.

Dueling Ear Rings

Laurie's "UW DAWG PAW" ear ring on the left, countered by Debi's traditional interlocking ND on the right. I called this contest a draw.

The Start of the Fourth Quarter???

In former days of glory, nobody left Husky Stadium until the final gun sounded. Now as we entered the game's final stanza down 27-0, the stands were empty. The impending loss was too much to bear for many UW fans as it would drop us to 0-7 on the season and meant that for the fourth straight season the Huskies would have a losing season. The final outcome was a 33-7 Notre Dame victory.

How bad was it? The UW had a grand total of 55 yards in offense in the first 54 minutes of the game before we were able to move the ball against DEEP ND back-up players (I think Rudy actually got a few snaps at the end). A dismal first half saw the Huskies gain a grand total of 38 yards, three first downs and go 1 for 9 passing for five yards.

In a nutshell, we just aren't very good this decade.

"Hail to the Victors..."?

Tim and Debi were gracious winners thank goodness!

Post Game Irish Bonding with a nattily dressed, complete stranger

With Mark Johnson back at his home to dissect the Huskies' problems and how we would fix them magically

As usual, the kids mistook me for Santa Claus and thought it would be a GREAT time to give me their Christmas Wish List!

The current and future Contreras Clan looking good in purple!

11:00 p.m., Post Game, Hungry...

Beth's Cafe is just the answer you're looking for!

The World Famous Beth's Cafe 12 Egg, Cheese, Ham and Mushroom Omelet served on a mountain of Hash Brown Potatoes

Would this be enough for the four of us?

Beth Cafe's walls are covered with customer's artwork

The also have some great "Thought of the Day" material on display.

WE TRIED!

We came close but we just couldn't finish this really delicious "snack".

All in all, we had a fantastic Saturday seeing the beauty of college football up close, being with friends and eating lots of great food. If the game had just been a little more competitive it would have been perfect.

We are already working on the four of us flying to Notre Dame for the October 3rd rematch in 2009... it should be another great weekend!!!