I finally left Sangria across from the Royal Oak Music Theater shortly before midnight. I had no voice left, mentally exhausted after the events of the past 30 hours and knew that I had to start over at 4:45AM (this morning!).

I would do it all over again and then some. Kemon Nights was beyond expectations but I have to reserve that topic for tomorrow. Today it’s about Green and White!

My oldest son Michael came in from Chicago to join us for the fun. The last time he came in State lost 49-3 and Daniel was hoping for more of the same. I never saw State win in the Big House and I knew this was the day (my gut instinct once again).

We started off tailgating in the lumber yard parking lot where we paid $35 ($10 in East Lansing). Right across from us was Marlene’s husband, Kevin, who joined us for a turkey sandwich. There’s something about tailgating however in a lumber yard lot that’s amiss, at State it’s a lot more fun.

We then headed towards the stadium where some 110,771 folks joined us. It was mostly those god awful maize and blue colors around although us Spartans were there to be seen. Everyone was buzzing and it was game on. The score was 0-0.

Our seats were in the visitor’s section, conveniently located in the corner of the end zone. There were no worse seats to be had but at least we could watch the game on the giant TV screen on the scoreboard.

MSU scored first and the yelling and screaming started early. But U-M came back and tied the score. We then fumbled twice and missed 3 field goals. U-M actually took the lead 21-14. It was Daniel’s only glory of the game where he had the opportunity to stand on the bleacher and be obnoxious. Us State fans were cursing under our breath but not nervous for a second. This was our day and our game to win.

The rest is history. After Ringer scored his touchdown, I went nuts, lost my voice and my brother in Florida saw us on TV. Yes, we were that nuts. The Wolverines were silenced for the first time since 1990 and we were the happiest bunch of green and white ever.

And here’s the "theme" of sports that says it all. After the game, other Spartans came up to us to give us high fives and just because we had on green and white, we were all best friends. Race, nationality, income, sex or any factor whatsoever didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered is that State won and we were State fans. What a feeling and what a phenomenon.

I can’t wait to live it again.

Happy Monday!

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