Notre Dame experience.

Animal02

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GTpdm said:
Uhh, complimenting Notre Dame for how they treat visiting fans by comparing the experience to being a visitor at uGA is like comparing a visit to your neighbor's country club to a stay in a federal penitentiary. It's really not a fair (or sane ;)) comparison.

ND campus itself was nice, but apparently @YJAlleyCat and I missed the best fan experience--we bused into central campus with the alumni tour group, and missed what it was like in the satellite tailgating areas. It did not come close to our experience at Clemson, where CU fans were inviting us to stop and have a drink with them, before and after the game.

Again, that disparity may be an artifact of how we arrived on campus--maybe ND fans were the same way, and we just didn't get a chance to see it.
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The tailgating was a bit odd this time..,because of the rain, they stopped cars from parking on a lot of the grass areas and only had them park on gravel so it spread out people even more....at least in the south white lot. It also seemed that the tailgating lots had moved further out with the new dorm construction taking place. Agree with all the other posts about the fans and staff. The fans as sitting around me were constantly asking questions about Tech players, coaches, etc. Never once tried to rub in the score.
 
Techster

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EVERY ND fame we came across was nice...and every one made sure we were having a good time. The lady sitting in front of us found out we were from out of town and staying in Chicago. Her and her husband then began to rattle off all the restaurants they thought we should try out, and places they thought we would enjoy...non touristy stuff.

Even the drunk guy razzing us for being GT fans did it in a nice way. Almost thought about selling the ticket and watching it from home, but really glad I went. Really thought some the ND pre-game traditions were neat. Easily one of the best GT road trips I've taken.

Oh, and stopped by the Barnes and Noble bookstore for some coffee. Yeah, ND has some REALLY sweet Under Armour gear.
 

stevo0718

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Quietest 80,000 people of all time. Wouldn't consider it intimidating which does not account for all off the unnecessary time outs...

For a school with loads of money, unbelievable that there is no jumbo tron and are just now building luxury boxes, especially with the cold winter weather. I figure no jumbotron + NBC on the broadcast leads to fewer replays, and so no one can re-see their receivers pushing off.

All that being said, it's a beautiful place in the middle of a dumpy town in northern Indiana, you can understand why there is so much pride there. Talked to an usher who had worked there for 15 years and was still working his way up the ranks, wasn't even a supervisor yet. The people all love ND and were very kind hosts.

But, hope they lose games so that they don't take our bowl spot.
 
DrJacket

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Some of you had told us what a fine experience visiting ND would be. Nothing could prepare us for the classy and downright hospitable atmosphere they have. In addition to the ushers, their Info/Hospitality people (all over campus) were on it-- upon spotting Ga Tech folks, they would ask if we were finding our way around, needed anything, etc.

The campus was beautiful as advertised. Because we got there a good bit later than we had planned to be, we explored the campus more after the game than before. In winning, their fans seemed to leave room to understand our pain. They were nice to us all the way out. The Basilica and the Grotto were beautiful spaces, and not to be missed.

It was as good an away experience as I could imagine. Couple that with a great weekend in Chicago, and on balance the trip was exceptional. Well, if I could just forget that other thing that happened between the end-zones...:rolleyes:
 
4NatlChmps

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dressedcheeseside said:
They have a huge jumbotron on order for next season.
I agree on the loud/obnoxious piped in music, but it's no different than any other stadium these days, including ours. They were actually one of the last holdouts with all live marching band music, but Kelly made them change. Kelly made them put in the turf, too.

How many times were you guys "welcomed to Notre Dame" and not just by University staff? Multiple times this guy.
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Fans are nice, campus awesome, but get your in stadium experience into at least 1990's: big scoreboard with stats, REPLAYS, real grass field that isn't slick as ice after rain, cell coverage, more bathrooms, easy entry to seats.....and on and on
 
herb

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I"ll trade the lack of a junbotron for their ushers and staff. Refreshing to have helpful and nice staff that seemed to want you to have a good time, who knew?
 
Ash

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One of the ladies traveling with us is very pregnant. When she and her husband found her seats, a ND fan told her if she needed anything from the concessions to tell him and he would get it for her.
I don't think you are going to get that kind of treatment in many stadiums anywhere.
 
B Lifsey

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Ash said:
One of the ladies traveling with us is very pregnant. When she and her husband found her seats, a ND fan told her if she needed anything from the concessions to tell him and he would get it for her.
I don't think you are going to get that kind of treatment in many stadiums anywhere.
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Wow. I doubt you get that from your own fans anywhere.
 
awbuzz

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First class fans on and off campus. Bet we could have dropped in on almost any tailgate and eaten if we had wanted to do so.
Have a rep from on of our suppliers that is a ND grad and has a tailgate. He all but begged us to drop by, then when we did wanted to stuff us with food etc. (thank you Jim :) ) before we went to see the campus. ND Alumni could tell we were site seeing and asked if we need directions or suggestions of what to see and do.
The Basilica and Grotto are a must see.
Definitely a bucket list visit.



Sure did miss the "jumbotron" and scoreboard information though. Good to know they'll be getting one soon, South End Zone .... can't totally block the view of TD Jesus! :)
 
Northeast Stinger

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herb said:
I"ll trade the lack of a junbotron for their ushers and staff. Refreshing to have helpful and nice staff that seemed to want you to have a good time, who knew?
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Hope people will understand my short rant and take it in the right way.
I grew up in the South where we pride ourselves on hospitality. I am afraid much of that hospitality died a long time ago and the South is simply living off its reputation. I married a yankee 31 years ago and up until five years ago we lived that entire time in Georgia. Everywhere we have lived or visited in Georgia she has had at least one unpleasant experience with someone making fun of her accent or telling her what a horrible place the north is. She has even had total strangers try to pick fights with her over politics or social issues because of where she is from.

Since we have lived in the northeast we have not had one person make fun of us from moving here from Georgia, no one has made fun of my accent and everyone is truly interested, if they have not been to the south, to know what it is like and where they should go. Meanwhile we have discovered more great places to visit than we have time for because of people wanting to show us around or help us out.

When we retire we will probably spend most of our time at a house we have in the North Georgia mountains. I hope I experience again the hospitality that I have experienced up north.
 

RyanS12

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Beautiful campus and not a single bit of trash talk from any fans. Actually ran into a group of students and asked where the closest bar was. At most schools they would be a bunch of d bag frat boys and tell you some random bs and walk away but these guys invited us to walk with them and even gave us a few miller lites. Went to the linebacker lounge and I think mulligans it was called. Only issue was the piped in music. It was louder than any concert I have ever been too. Had an obvious affect on play calling. But other than that I wish we played a home and home every year.
 
Lexjacket

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Northeast Stinger said:
Hope people will understand my short rant and take it in the right way.
I grew up in the South where we pride ourselves on hospitality. I am afraid much of that hospitality died a long time ago and the South is simply living off its reputation. I married a yankee 31 years ago and up until five years ago we lived that entire time in Georgia. Everywhere we have lived or visited in Georgia she has had at least one unpleasant experience with someone making fun of her accent or telling her what a horrible place the north is. She has even had total strangers try to pick fights with her over politics or social issues because of where she is from.

Since we have lived in the northeast we have not had one person make fun of us from moving here from Georgia, no one has made fun of my accent and everyone is truly interested, if they have not been to the south, to know what it is like and where they should go. Meanwhile we have discovered more great places to visit than we have time for because of people wanting to show us around or help us out.

When we retire we will probably spend most of our time at a house we have in the North Georgia mountains. I hope I experience again the hospitality that I have experienced up north.
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I concur. I am from Georgia and have always arrogantly believed that no one was as gracious or more courteous than Southerners - the Notre Dame folks humbled me.
 
iceeater1969

iceeater1969

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Indiana is Midwest. Talk about nice folks try North Dakota. I was Doing a public meeting for a pipeline there and the brochure we printed said we would provide refreshments and snacks. The locals not wven near the line came and THEY brought home made cookies. Everybody knew everybody.
 

MWBATL

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JacketFromUGA said:
As someone who went to school for a few years in Wisconsin let me just say that just because we label people as Yankee's down here doesn't mean they all behave like New Yorkers.
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Agree 100%. Day and Night difference. Midwesterners are good folk through and through. New Yorkers...not so much.
 
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