Irish 33, Washington Huskies 7

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to the University of Washington for providing such a great experience on their campus for visiting fans. Dad and I were wearing ND clothes, and literally not one Huskies fan said anything bad about it. The only time I was actually sad to be an ND fan was when this idiot kid who was REALLY drunk stumbled into our section (of course wearing an ND hat and backpack) and essentially passed out. Not cool, kid. Not cool.

So after showing Dad around the Seattle-land area (checking out the house in Kent, visiting our PO box, partaking in some Target goodness and then eating at RAM Brewery), we headed back downtown. Dad and I then hopped on the very convenient express bus up to campus, which was free for ticket holders. (Side note: Seattle public transit continues to impress me. Yes, I know that the bus has its flaws, but seriously, free transit in the downtown area everyday? Free transit to and from major sporting events? Come on, people, it's not that bad. Suck it up and hop on.)

Dad and I spent a little bit of time wandering around campus, and we were very impressed. The campus is beautiful, and the weather this weekend was gorgeous; the combination was perfect for a football Saturday. (We're going to Notre Dame this weekend, hopefully the weather will be just as nice...) I took some pictures of campus - there seems to be a neat European influence on the areas we were in, with a big fountain, a palazzo-type area and even a cool amphitheatre deal complete with columns.

After checking out some of the campus, we headed into the stadium. It's actually rated one of the top 25 stadiums to see a college football game in the nation. (So is Notre Dame Stadium, in case you were wondering.) Husky Stadium was great! The tickets I snagged on Craigslist were on the 20 yard line, about 35 rows up - our view was great. I had worried that it might rain this weekend, but not to worry. Not only was it a beautiful sunny day, even if it had rained, the seats we had in the stadium were totally covered. We had a pretty view of Lake Washington from our seats as well.

We had the guy behind us take our picture. He kind of gave me a funny look, but still took the pic. Thanks, dude!The band made the flag!
Within the first nine minutes, the Irish had scored twice. They looked really good at the beginning, but then had some terrible looking drives as well during the rest of the game. By the way, Dad just loved the HuskyTron - I admit, it really is pretty impressive. That screen had awesome clarity. We should get one.
By the end of the game, the Irish emerged victorious, and it was pretty evident that Husky coach (and former ND coach) Tyrone Willingham was going to be out of a job soon. (And he is.)

All in all, this was a fantastic first experience at an Irish away game. Getting to and from the game couldn't have been much easier (or cheaper!), the game was fun, the stadium was a great venue and Dad and I had a great time.

Here's to enjoying another ND game this Saturday - hopefully the Irish can pull off a win against the Pittsburgh Panthers, who have something to prove after getting their butts handed to them by Rutgers this weekend.

-SKH