Today was the annual EMC Customer appreciation tailgate and U of M football game. Today they were playing Air Force. While the party and game were enjoyable, for me I think the best parts were right before the game began.  During the singing of the national anthem Air Force released a trained Bald Eagle which circled down through the stadium and landed on its trainers arm down on the field. If that weren’t awesome enough, just as the anthem finished a B-52 Stealth Bomber did a flyover! The whole thing was pretty awe inspiring!

Today was my annual EMC vendor tailgate party, and this year it was the U of M versus MSU game. As usual the party was a blast! Lots of food, drinks, really fun people. Again this year I was able to get a couple of tickets to the game so Melissa and I were able to go watch it live. We almost didn’t make it though because we were unaware of a new rule that the University of Michigan put in place this year, they no longer allow any bags in side the stadium, this includes purses. Melissa, of course, had her purse with her and we were unaware of this new change until right before the game. Seeing as we didn’t have many options we though we try to go and see what happens, and once we got to the gate they told Melissa she couldn’t bring her purse in. Apparently we now have the option of going to Crisler Arena and checking her purse, she wasn’t thrilled with that option so luckily we were able to lock it in the truck of one of the vendors at the party that I know and trust. I guess we will need to keep this in mind for next year. Unfortunately U of M lost, but it was still cool to be in the stadium again, and seeing the flag and game ball parachuted into the stadium by the 101st Airborne Division was pretty sweet too.

Today was one of my vendor’s (EMC) annual University of Michigan tailgate party! Last year was the first time I was able to go and it was a blast, so I had been looking forward to this years as well. The excitement and anticipation was heightened a few days back when i found out that not only was I going to the tailgate, but the vendor was also supplying me with tickets to the UM vs Notre Dame football game! I had never been in the Big House (U of M football stadium) even though I have been past it many many times. The party prior to going to the game was fun, as it was last year, but when Melissa and I got to go into the Big House, that was an experience. From the outside you don’t realize just how big the stadium is because half of it is under ground. We walked into the stadium from ground level and entered about half way up the seats. We had to go up a little further to get to our seats (which the tickets said were $65 each) and were impressed with the view. We were seated in section 16 row 87 seats 9 and 10, which were at the south west end of the field and we had a great overview of the entire field. The seats themselves were hard bench seats that wreaked havoc on my back, though I did spend a good amount of time on my feet as well. All in all it was a great experience, but I can honestly say that, even if I were an avid college football fan, I am not sure I would want to repeat it that often.

That being said, it was great to be at this particular game which many have said became an instant classic due to the way Michigan came back in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to win the game via a Tate Forcier (the 19 year old Freshman starting quarterback!) touchdown pass that let the Michigan Wolverines beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 38-34. It was certainty an exciting game to see for my first ever visit to The Big House!