Are you ready for some football?!?!

I live in South Bend, Indiana. Most people have no idea where that is until I say the magic words NOTRE DAME. Notre Dame is actually a town unto itself these days, but originally its address was South Bend. We also have Holy Cross, St. Mary's, and Bethel College as well as Brown Mackie, Ivy Tech and IUSB. Some would call us a college town and that would be true, but Notre Dame is more than a university, its an American institution which makes us a tourist town. Notre Dame provides the largest employment base in the area and is supplemented by conference halls and numerous hotels providing lodging for Notre Dame related events. I work at the best hotel (yep I said that), Holiday Inn located in the City Center Building....that's us....the tallest building (and the best views) in the area.

Notre Dame students provide volunteerism for our social programs as well. You can find these earnest students contributing to our city in numerous ways from reading to inner city children to helping to build Habitat for Humanity homes. These students are at every food drive and every walkathon in our financially strapped community. They are helping us to rebuild after the disasterous turn the Nation's economy took a few years back. They are good people. I'm proud that we, as a community, have something to do with these incredible young men and women.

I meet the students often. They often come to stay at our hotel during thier college interviews and of course for games and to visit their visiting parents. Good kids.

So this would be enough to make our community grateful, but Notre Dame also provides Notre Dame sports....the most famous of which is FOOTBALL!!!! We love football around here. Blue and Gold are our colors followed closely by green. We are the FIGHTING IRISH.

If we can't go to the games, every bar and major restaurant in town, even the local Burger King, has them on big screen for us. We call out to the players by first name as if we know them personally. Jimmy is our first born son right now. He can do no wrong or no right depending on who you talk to. Tailgating is a verb. If we can't tailgate for real, we have tailgate parties. My neighbors BBQ in 30 degree weather and watch the game from a big screen TV in the Garage while having a freezing party outside in the driveway. Being cold is part of the experience. If the players are cold....then we want to be too.

My 16 year old son puts up signs on our front door during the biggest games of the year. NO MICHIGAN FANS ALLOWED. USC FANS ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. He means it. He has a squirt gun. A big one and he's not shy about using it. He will be your friend every day but game day. On game day YOU are the ENEMY. You must be soaked.

We live and breathe Notre Dame football. We love them and hate them and yell at the players like they are our own misbehaving children when they don't play the way we want. We also shed tears for them for every disappointment and every incredible win.

I don't even understand all the rules and I've won on two football pools this year. The only rule I need to understand is WE ARE NOTRE DAME.

GO IRISH!!! Beat USC! (sorry USC...this year we really want it!)