Vince's Journey

On Saturday Julie, Abbey and I went to Indianapolis to watch Xavier play in the Wooden Classic. Julie's brother, Jerry, and his family also made the trip along with her cousin, Mike Schmitt, and his family. We had a great time if you ignore the fact that we were close to getting kicked out of our hotel due to Mike's yelling at the end of the Notre Dame football game. More on that later.

Xavier looked good in their win over Purdue. I was surprised at the low attendance given the fact that both Purdue and Notre Dame were playing in the 'classic'. While I don't have a count, I'd guess no team sold more tickets than Xaveir and based on what I saw, Xavier was the best team in the field. Purdue will struggle in the Big Ten. Notre Dame doesn't look very good at and NC State has to compete in the ACC - Good Luck. We left at halftime of the NC State/Notre Dame game so my Irish friends could watch the Golden Domers battel it out with a 'strong' Stanford squad.

ND appeared to be in control most of the game but a Stanford kickoff return for a TD combined with ND's one-legged kicker to give the Cardinal hope. Late in the fourth quarter with the Irish clinging to a 6 point lead, the unthinkable happened - an ND defender fell down on a pass play and Stanford was able to take the ball down to the 6 yard line. 2 plays later, the Irish were behind, 31-30. That's when Mike Schmitt decided to let everyone in the Embassy Suites know exactly what he was thinking. Within seconds, security was over having a nice chat with Mike.

As most of you know, ND regrouped to win the game 38-31, and 'earn' a berth to a BCS bowl game. Personally, I have to wonder if they deserve it but they are ND, so what do you expect? Anyway, the word is they may get to play my Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl. That would lead most Irish fans to cower in the corner (similar to Sam the Snowman in Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer), covering their eyes while repeatedly murmuring...'Tell me when its over!' At this point you've probably figured out that there is a little rivalry going on between myself and our relatives who back the Irish.

Hope all is well with you and your familes and that holiday weekend was nice. I'll continue to keep you updated - thanks for all your prayers and support.

Go Bucks!

Vince