EP60 - Football at Notre Dame

[00:00:01] Hi, everyone, this is Dawn Klem, and you are on my podcast, Milkweed and Monarchs. [00:00:07] It's October in Michigan, and what that means is it's football season back here. [00:00:16] I mean, it's football season everywhere in the United States, but in Michigan particularly, we take our football very, very seriously. [00:00:28] I had lived away from Michigan for about 20 years, 22 years to be exact, and I really didn't think that much about Michigan. I was in the middle of raising my daughters, working full time, going to graduate school, all the things that go along with life. [00:00:46] And I had really gotten out of the habit of watching football. [00:00:52] There aren't local teams around there. There's not really a lot of even high school football teams in Maine, where I was. They do have college football in Massachusetts when we live there, but really nothing great, so to speak of. I know Boston College plays football, but I never really think about them as a contender and in football. [00:01:19] But when I was growing up in Hillsdale, I. Our high school team actually won the football state championship for Conference B. [00:01:34] And it was at a time when I was a cheerleader, I was on junior varsity. [00:01:39] So there were. We went to every single game and we were putting posters up continuously all over town, not just in the high school. I mean, everybody in the town of Hillsdale was so fired up about our high school going all the way for a state championship. [00:02:03] It was one of the best memories that I have growing up there because the community rallied around the football team and it was really, really exciting. My parents went to every single home game. They didn't have a son playing. And like I said, I was on junior varsity, but they were so excited about the football team. [00:02:26] My mom was raised in a very sports minded family. She had two brothers and their brothers. [00:02:35] I know her younger brother played at actively on the basketball team and they watched a lot of basketball down there, but she was really into every sport. [00:02:49] And that is how we, my brother and I, got indoctrinated into sports. [00:02:55] We would go for family holidays down there and Thanksgiving was always the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions playing, playing. The Lions always lost back then, by the way, but that was a big deal. And all of us kids would be in the kitchen helping them get the food ready. And my mom would be in the living room with all her brothers and the husbands of the other of her sisters watching the football game. Okay, so she was an avid sports person, no doubt. [00:03:32] So my brother and I were indoctrinated into sports at a very early age. [00:03:39] And if you've been listening to my podcast, you know that the town I was from, Hillsdale, had its own football team. And my brother and I spent many, many days, hours watching their football team practice at the field house. [00:03:55] So when we were in high school and our team was going all the way to the championships, everybody was excited. [00:04:05] So then we always had college teams that we rooted for. Now, my mom was from Ohio, so her whole entire family rooted for Ohio State. [00:04:17] I'm from Michigan and all my cousins were born and raised here. [00:04:22] And so we all rooted for U of M. It was really a time before Michigan State had become the, the contender in football because they've come on to their own now and they're, they're just as good as the other two most of the time. [00:04:44] So really we just focused in on U of M. [00:04:49] We. When Ohio State was getting ready to play U of M, the phone would start ringing at our house though, and it would be all of her siblings calling to commiserate with my mom or to razz my dad to bad U of M's going down this year, that kind of thing. [00:05:09] So we watched all the games, we rooted for them loudly. We had competition in the family, we would have bets. It was just a great way to be raised. [00:05:22] And I really didn't know how much I missed it until I moved back here. [00:05:28] It was great to be back and back into the thick of things, but now Michigan State was added in with the rivals and they take football so seriously back here. Let me just tell you a quick story. [00:05:46] I went for a job interview in a small hospital in western Michigan, and there were two physicians that came into the interview, which is kind of interesting. Usually it's just a nursing interview and physicians aren't there, but for some reason, this time they had come into the interview and one of the questions the physician asked me, one of the physicians asked me is if I was a Michigan State fan or I was a U of M fan. So when I told them that I was a U of M fan, ah, I practically got booed out of the, the interview. They were not happy that I was a U of M fan. Well, Michigan State has a medical school now too. [00:06:31] And so a lot of the physicians that work in this hospital had graduated from Michigan State. [00:06:38] So as you can see, it's a big rivalry in the state and it's just a lot of good fun, fun to poke fun at each other and, you know, try to get each other riled up, especially if one team is having a better season than the other team. [00:06:56] So coming back here Brought that all back up again. And it was a change for my husband. My husband was raised in Vermont. There's no professional teams there. I don't even think they care about football. [00:07:11] He's like football. You know, he didn't really start getting into football at all until the New England Patriots. Then he started watching football. His brother liked football. So we would watch the football games together. And then all of us were, you know, on board for the New England Patriots for a long time. [00:07:32] So. But as far as college sports, basketball, baseball, never had really much to say about it. Wasn't even interested at all. So it was a big change for him to come back here and hear all of us. [00:07:48] I started right back up, like I hadn't even lived away. It was so funny. Very, very funny. [00:07:55] Well, one of the greatest things that ever happened to us regarding sports was that Craig's cousin had gone to college at Notre Dame. [00:08:06] And Notre Dame was always considered such a great mecca of football, too. [00:08:12] Lou Holtz was their coach for many years, and he was revered by everyone in the Midwest. I mean, he was a God as far as all of us were concerned. Him and Bo Schembechler, who was U of M's coach, those two practically walked on water. Okay, so his cousin had graduated from you. [00:08:38] The University of Notre Dame. [00:08:41] His aunt is a devout Catholic, so she was over the moon that her husband, her son, had gone to Notre Dame to college. [00:08:51] Then my daughter went to St. Mary's College, which is the sister college to Notre Dame in Indiana. [00:09:01] So they were thrilled that Georgie was going to the sister college. They just thought that was the greatest thing. [00:09:09] So then Craig's uncle decided, oh, I gotta make this a family event. [00:09:16] So he got tickets to a Notre Dame game for the family. He had his oldest brother, Craig's other uncle, and his wife, their son and daughter, who are right around our age. And then their grant, his granddaughter, come from New York back here to go to a game. And then they also invited Craig, myself and my two daughters to come. [00:09:48] So they bought tickets for all of us to come. And that was spectacular. Okay. We were so excited about going to the game. [00:09:57] But what made it even more spectacular is that Notre Dame was going to be playing Michigan State. [00:10:06] And I was like, oh, my gosh, who am I going to root for? [00:10:10] I don't know. I had to really think about that. [00:10:14] So, anyway, it just so happened, of course, that day that my oldest daughter was taking her ACT test. So we got there. We were a little late getting there, but we were still there early enough that we could do some tailgating. And Craig's cousin had tons of friends there and his wife, they had all gone to college there. So it was a big deal. Everybody was so excited for the game, and you just felt like you were back in. In your youth again. It was just spectacular. [00:10:48] So they got the tickets, but we couldn't all sit together. That was the one problem. [00:10:56] So he. Uncle David, Craig's uncle, came and said to us, I have these two tickets for you guys, but you're not going to be able to sit together, but you'll be close to each other. Would that be okay with you? Because I really want to sit next to my brother. And I got these two seats for my brother and myself. And of course, Craig and I are like, yes, of horse. We didn't think anything of it. We were just so happy to be going to the game. We were out of our mind that we were going to Notre Dame Stadium. [00:11:28] That's how big of a deal it was. My mom was so excited about the whole thing, too. She was like, oh, this is a once in a lifetime experience. [00:11:38] And she couldn't wait to hear from me after the game. [00:11:41] My daughters, in the meantime, decided not to go, and they were going to follow back up with us after the game and maybe we would all go out to dinner or something. So I worked out fine. They didn't care. We were the ones that cared. [00:11:55] So we get into the stadium, and I'm two seats in front of Craig, and he's off kind of to the kitty corner of me. [00:12:06] And we had been talking the whole time. Who do you. Who do you want to root for? Who do you want? He goes, well, you know, we're in Notre Dame. My cousin graduated from Notre Dame. You've never really been a big Michigan State fan. You've always been a U of M fan. Why don't we just go ahead and root for the home team since we're here? [00:12:27] And I go, yeah, yeah, why don't we? That sounds good. We're sitting in Notre Dame seats. Let's. Let's just root for Notre Dame. I'm. I'm okay with that. [00:12:38] So that's how we started out the game. We started out rooting for Notre Dame until about five minutes into the game when it became very clear to me and to Craig both that they were not going to call any penalties against Notre Dame. [00:12:58] I mean, there was an obvious. It couldn't have been more obvious pass interference on a Michigan State player. And they never did a thing. There was no ruling on it. [00:13:14] And up until then, anytime there was a good play for Notre Dame, I'd be standing up, clapping, cheering for Notre Dame. Yay. Go Notre Dame. You know, fitting right in with the crowd. [00:13:25] After that pass interference, it was over. [00:13:30] And I mean, literally. [00:13:32] I have a ridiculous fairness gene. My birthday is in October. I'm a Libra. I'm the one that's always balancing the scales according to astrology. I like things to be fair and balanced. And even Steven and I cannot stand cheaters, which is what I now considered Notre Dame a cheater. [00:13:58] Listen, Lou Holtz was not coaching at that time, because if Lou Holtz had been the coach, I find it very hard to believe that this kind of stuff would go on. [00:14:09] So I'm just going to pass it off to the fact that they no longer had the king there. [00:14:15] But they were not going to let Michigan State beat them in their stadium. And they made it very clear after that play. [00:14:25] So I'm like, well, I'm not standing up and cheering for Notre Dame anymore. That's the end of it. I turned around and looked at my husband. I go, they're cheating. My husband's like, oh, God, please, God, just let us get out of the stadium alive. That's all I care about, right? [00:14:42] So the next thing you know, there were a couple more plays like that where they were not calling the. The calls that should have been penalties against Notre Dame. [00:14:54] And I started standing up in the middle of the Notre Dame section that I was sitting in, cheering for Michigan State. [00:15:03] Every time I would stand up and I would start to yell as loud as I could, I would feel a hand on my shoulder, and I would turn, and there's my husband trying to get me to sit down. He's like, you're trying to get us killed or what? What is the matter with you? They're cheaters. I said, they are absolute cheaters. I don't mind if they beat us fair and square, but I'm damn sure gonna have something to say about them cheating their way to a win. [00:15:40] That is not gonna happen. He's like, oh, God, please, please. I think he was back there praying behind me that we made it out of the stadium alive. [00:15:51] I was incensed. I was so furious, and I didn't care. After that, anything that went on, I stood up and cheered for Michigan State as loud as I could. I. I didn't make any friends that game, as you can imagine. [00:16:09] I got so many dirty looks you can't even imagine. But listen, this is how seriously we take our. Our football teams around here. Come on and do the right thing, Buddy. What are you doing? Throwing the game for Notre Dame. You're playing Michigan State. It's not like it was a homecoming game either. That's the other thing. It wasn't even a homecoming game because a homecoming game, you could kind almost see that they would want their team to win. But this is a regular game, and you're trying to cheat us out of winning. What the H? I was a very unhappy camper. [00:16:51] Extremely unhappy. [00:16:53] I managed to sit through the entire game, not without making my snide comments most of the time posted the second half. [00:17:04] It was brutal, believe me. [00:17:07] But I have to say that Notre Dame fans sitting around me were actually. Were quite gracious to me. They didn't have to be. And I'm sure they were saying under their breath, she's just a poor loser. Which it is true, I am a poor loser. But I'm especially poor loser when I know they're cheating their way to winning, okay? And that's all I have to say about it. [00:17:31] So, anyhow, we make it through the game. I'm like, ah, I. I can't even face your family. I said to Craig, Craig is like, don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously? I go, no, no, I'm really not. Okay? I take my football seriously. If you have to cheat your way to a win, give me a break. He's like, don, I hate to admit it, but I absolutely have to agree with you. [00:17:57] There were so many things that were just not right about that game. [00:18:02] And he says, let's just take our time walking back to the car, because I don't really know what I'm gonna say to my cousin who graduated from Notre Dame. [00:18:12] I'm like, okay, I'll try to put my best face forward, but it's not gonna be easy. I feel bitter right now. He's laughing at me, right? And we were taking our time. It was mobbed. It was absolutely mobbed. [00:18:28] I will say one thing, but I want to at least tell you this part. [00:18:33] The stadium, it's beautiful. It's so beautiful, but it's so small. It's nothing like what you think it is. It's really like, almost like an underground tunnel kind of thing that you're sitting in. [00:18:47] And I remember saying to Craig, it's so tiny. It's not you, because you think of U of M and you think this massive stadium and everything, but it's really not like that with Notre Dame. And I guess I had had this presence in my mind because we always held Notre Dame up so high when I was growing up. [00:19:11] But the campus itself is spectacular. [00:19:15] It was a beautiful stadium. I guess I just thought it was going to be larger and bolder than what it really was. [00:19:24] And I'm still so, so happy that Uncle David got us tickets and we got to go. It was a big deal, and it was a memory that I'll always hold on to. [00:19:35] So, anyhow, we're walking back out. I'm kind of like, hang dog. Because we. They did beat us by cheating. I think they ended up beating us by two touchdowns. Two touchdowns that they should not have had, in my opinion. In my opinion. And I know I am not the only one that had that opinion. Believe me, even my husband felt that way. [00:19:58] So the two hang dogs are walking back out, trying to get to the parking lot where we can figure out where his Uncle David's family and everybody was. [00:20:08] And we finally, we find everybody and we get up there, and now I'm just the in law, don't forget. [00:20:17] And of course, his cousin's like, wasn't that the greatest game? [00:20:22] And I go, no, it really wasn't. And everybody burst out laughing at me. I go, you mean to tell me you did not see the cheating that was taking place? Come on. [00:20:35] And Craig goes, I'm ashamed to admit it, but Don actually stood up once and said, you're nothing but a bunch of cheaters. [00:20:44] I don't actually remember saying that, but I possibly could have, because I was quite perturbed at the time. [00:20:53] I think that is the time when his hand was on my shoulders and he was saying, sit down. I don't want to die at Notre Dame field. [00:21:03] So his cousin had to admit that there were a couple calls that did not seem right. [00:21:12] And when he kind of conceded that to me, I thought, okay, I don't have to carry on. [00:21:21] They even know the truth. [00:21:23] So since they know the truth, let's just give them the win. And I had a great time. I'm so grateful that we even got invited to go to the game. Probably never again. But at least I got to be there that time. And it was definitely, definitely worth it and just such a great memory for me. [00:21:49] I will never forget it. [00:21:51] And the funnier, even funnier conversation was my after conversation with my mom. [00:21:59] And you can just imagine, because she revered, you know, Notre Dame, too. And so when I was telling her about some of the calls on the phone, mom, you wouldn't have believed it. I've never seen such blatant cheating in my life. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's how I was talking to her. My husband was laughing. He's like, betty, I had to hold her down. I thought we were gonna die in the stadium today. [00:22:25] But my mom was still really happy that we went. And she says under her breath, he always wondered who the cheaters were. [00:22:36] I cracked up with that, too, because, you know, she's such an avid football fan. She probably felt that way herself many times. [00:22:45] But listen, it was a great time to grow up when I grew up, and I am so lucky. I got to go to Notre Dame Stadium, and I'm grateful that his cousin went there. I don't think any less of them at all. It's just one of those events where you have an outcome in your mind, and so you're going with what you think the outcome is going to be. And then when you see it for what it truly is, it's just a disappointment. That's all. Like, I'm a little kid, right? [00:23:20] But I have a thing about cheating. I have to say, cheating and liars drives me nuts. [00:23:25] So thank you so much for listening to my story today. I hope you're getting a good laugh out of me having a little hissy fit at a Notre Dame game. [00:23:38] And I hope this makes my Michigan State fans feel better to know that I actually support you when you're up against other teams, just not U of M. [00:23:51] And I hope you'll continue to listen to my stories. I really appreciate having all of you listen to my life stories. It means a lot to me. [00:24:06] Until the next time.