Well folks, I'm back from my first college football road trip and let me tell you, the atmosphere at Ryan Field (at Dyke Stadium...but they don't ever mention that part) was not much different from a high school game.

I would apologize for that crude remark in the intro about Northwestern's beloved mascot, who celebrated his 70th birthday on Saturday, but I don't think any NU fans actually care. I think most of them barely even notice that they have a football team.

Going in, I knew NU was not exactly a football mecca and their stadium was small, but the fans there were far more pathetic than anything I had imagined.

No one knows the official numbers, but there may have been more UM fans there than NU fans, and the UM fans were certainly a hell of a lot louder than Northwestern's. And UM fans aren't even close to being the loudest in the country.

The Northwestern students came decked out in "Beat Michigan" shirts hot off the presses, but the way they sat on their hands, even when the Wildcats were up 16-7, you'd think they didn't really care if they won or not.

At one point early in the fourth quarter on a key third down, an NU player finally took things into his own hands and urged the students to actually get up off their asses and cheer a little bit, and they reluctanctly obliged and made some noise for the first time they entire game. I know Northwestern isn't exactly Ohio State or Penn State but come on, it's still a decent little overacheiving program in a major conference.

Other strikes against Evanston include a complete lack of anything resembling real food after the 2nd quarter (they ran out of hot dogs, sausage, and pizza at most stands) and people selling merchandise literally lifted straight from 1991. I think I even saw an old school Michigan starter jacket for sale.

Anyway, the trip wasn't all bad, as we were there to check out Chicago, and Michigan pulled out a win.

Actually, the latter didn't sit too well with me at all, seeing as how NU dominated the first half and led most of the way, yep, the same Wildcats team that lost to Duke (who's definitely worse than App. State).

Most of the UM fans in my section were calling out the plays right as they were being called. No throwing on first down and tons of runs to left that went nowhere was the order of the day. It's almost as if Lloyd and his buddy Mike Debord the offensive coordinator spend all week hanging out at the bars before UM plays a good team and then slap a "game plan" together on Saturday morning consisting of ten basic plays written on a cocktail napkin.

Hopefully, they're holding some of their best plays back for Ohio State and Wisconsin. Because if they come out with this kind of predictability against a good team, it's going to be lights out.

Man am I ever anxious for the Lloyd Carr era to come to an end.

It's almost over....right?

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ItOffishul said:

	Have any of you Bucks made the roadie to Evanston? I'm sure someone here has...
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October 02, 2007
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Lloyds Apple said:

Funny read man. Crude is welcome with open arms... I saw OSU play NW and the crowd was mainly OSU fans. This is probably 10 years ago, either just before or after the Wildcats fielded some good teams...I'm thinking before. We had arranged for an OSU party bus to take us from a bar, which had food for everyone, to the game. Long story short, whoever planned this OSU bus thing did a shitty job. The fan support seemed more like support from MAC fans, or something. Before Northwestern strung together a few descent seasons, including a shared Big Ten title in a season they did not have to play Ohio State, people would always rumor that NW would get replaced by a school who had an athletic program worth mentioning. But, after that I think we've all come to realize the Wildcats are here to stay, giving traditional Big Ten powers an auto-win (most years). I also remember their student section had a cheer about them sucking but becoming our bosses some day. Maybe JEH45 can remember that one, 'cause I remember it being pretty funny. Anyways, good read. While I can't remember every detail, my most distinct memory was at halftime as John Cooper and a bunch of huge offensive lineman walked out of the locker room....which does not say much about the game itself. Very bland...very Northwestern. The Big Ten likes them for academics, period. And yeah, App. State beats them and Duke most of the time, I agree. Considering Duke just hung with Miami, if I were an athletic director for Miami right now I'd be careful who I'd schedule. That goes for pretty much any AD at a major college these days.

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October 02, 2007
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JEH45 said:

Nick: We traveled to Chicago to watch the Bucks. Great city. Home game for the visiting team. Memoryis a bit foggy as I remember my breakfast drink came with salt and lemon. I'm not going to argue with your high school analogy. It is amazing the difference a week makes as when the Bucks played NW the game was basically over when it started. How many carries did Hart have? Back to your article, to me it was fun to go to a great city, see your fellow Bucks everywhere, and watch a game wherein the result was a forgone conclusion.

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October 03, 2007
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