It was all good just a week ago

Last Friday night, after another yummy dinner at Pizza House, Kevin, Harmon and I went for a long walk around town. Instead of going south toward the athletic campus, we decided to head north – mostly so Harmon could see the fire trucks at the downtown fire station (located on Fifth, just north of Huron). We took Huron back to the car and passed by the Campus Inn. The football team stays at this hotel the night before home games but we’ve been by it a thousand times without incident so I wasn’t expecting any excitement as we passed by the main entrance. However, as we walked past the secondary entrance, I glanced back and immediately grabbed Kevin’s arm all the while trying not to yell “ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!” Just as I had glanced back, Coach Rod had glanced toward the street! I looked at Kevin and we KNEW we had to stop. What other opportunity would we have to meet U-M’s new football coach, especially with our connections to the athletic department dwindling! So, we turned around and made our way back to the hotel. He was speaking with some media types so we patiently waited our turn. When he was done, he turned around all smiles and Kevin introduced us all. Let me just say that a 2 ½-year-old is a great ice breaker! We chatted a bit – well, except for Harmon who went all shy on us (he’s all about Coach Rod at home) – and it was great! He was very welcoming and friendly and taller than we expected (he also had the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen)! He had a real down-to-earth appeal to him and his accent was downright endearing. I can see how he is a big hit in a recruit’s living room! Since he had team meetings to head too, we didn’t take up too much time (and we decided against a photo) but it still was a pretty awesome experience!

Of course, U-M lost its home opener against Utah the next day and then had some tough luck on the recruiting front this week – I hope we weren’t bad luck!