South Bend...more than just Notre Dame?

Today I was busy working in lovely Northeast Indiana, specifically South Bend. As much as I hate to concede this, I would wager that most people with any modicum of knowledge about college sports know that Notre Dame is located in this lovely pocket of Indiana. Similarly, most people who know anything about yours truly know that I have a deep dislike for all things Notre Dame. I know, you are all shocked! How does an Irish Catholic girl from the south side of Chicago come to despise the good ole' Fighting Irish? First of all, it was bred into my psyche by my equally Notre Dame hating father. For my immediate family members that are certainly reading this, we will ignore the transgressions of my junior high years when I wore ND sweatshirts and thought that I would some day attend the aforementioned. Secondly and more importantly, Notre Dame fans have a way of believing that the sun rises and sets based on the movements of ND football. If you would like to see a comprehensive list of 10 Reasons why you should hate Notre Dame, I suggest you visit this entertaining article: clicky.




Needless to say, I wanted to visit South Bend and do absolutely something other than visit Notre Dame's campus. If it's any indication of the deep seeded ND hate in my family, when discussing my plans for South Bend, my brother inquired if I planned to loot the Touchdown Jesus. Sacrilegious, it's true, but tempting nonetheless. Alright, shake it off Sarah! My hate for ND has made me lose my blogging focus. So, as I was saying I wanted to escape the all encompassing Notre Dame-ness of my South Bend work experience. Being a loyal college football fan, I decided to spend my lunch break paying a visit to the College Football Hall of Fame.

First, the basics:
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday - Sunday
111 South St. Joseph Street
South Bend, IN 46601
1-800-440 FAME (3263)
(574) 235-9999
http://www.collegefootball.org/index.php
Rates vary from $12-$5 depending on your age and residency

Perhaps it should be called the Notre Dame College Football Hall of Fame? I kid, I kid... (sort of).

The actual museum isn't that large, but if you are a fan of college football, you will enjoy your experience there. In this visitor's humble opinion, it's a bit heavy on the ND pageantry, but even I have to admit that ND does have a history that lends itself to the hall of fame. Still, it's a little overwhelming at first. Once you realize that they do focus on schools other than the Irish, it's easy to find fascinating pieces of college football history. For example, I found this amazing historical image near the beginning of my tour:

For those of you that can't read the caption, this is a scene from the infamous game where Michigan was beaten by Appalachian State due to a blocked field goal and overall crappy playing by the Wolverines. To reiterate, Michigan is IA while Appalachian State is IAA. A glorious day in any Michigan Hater's life indeed!

Strangely enough, Notre Dame's recent losses to Navy (twice in the past three years for those who haven't been counting) are not chronicled in a similar fashion. Shocking. Although I strongly dislike ND, my hate for Michigan comes in at a close second. Moving on...there are plaques with the carved images of anyone ever entered into the Hall of Fame. Each section is divided by era with highlights being placed on the standout teams and players of those eras. While wandering through the decades, I found players that we all know and love, relived the excitement of recent bowl games, and bemoaned the fact that my adored Illini were noticeably absent from many of the accolades (and rightly so...I may rip the competition to shreds, but I have no illusions about my boys in the orange and blue!). As I meandered down memory lane, I came across something exceptionally awesome...the Holub's and Ditka united forever!

Carved images of EJ Holub and Mike "Da Coach" Ditka, enshrined side by side, because as anyone God fearing person knows, Holub's and Ditka's are awesome

EJ Holub was a famous football player, both at Texas Tech and the Kansas City Chiefs. EJ Holub, at least to our knowledge, is of no relation to the Holub branch of my family. That little fact didn't stop my Uncle Gary from claiming to be cousins with the football great in order to get out of trouble when he was a student at Purdue in the early 60's. The EJ Holub story is one that has rattled around the Chicago Holub family tree for years. No matter the truth, it was neat to see my former last name hand in hand with Ditka. ;)

Throughout the museum, they feature jerseys and other memorabilia important to the history of college football. I found the early uniforms and pads to be especially entertaining. Did you know that Theodore Roosevelt is one of the main people that pushed for stricter safety guidelines in college football? Apparently, when he was in office, over 39 men died in one year just from playing football. Roosevelt was so upset by this turn of events that he created legislation requiring certain protection while playing football.

The evolution of shoulder pads...seriously, could the top set of pads really have done anything other than cause the awful stink of sweaty leather?

Evolution of uniforms through the years...apparently the earliest college football players were also performing pirate re-enactments at half-time

Finally, to my surprise and delight, I finally happened upon the one figure in Illini history that I knew would have a major focus in the museum.

Harold "Red" Grange, The Wheaton Ice Man, The Galloping Ghost, arguably the most prolific player in college football, and most importantly, an Illini

After viewing all the members of the Hall of Fame, I made my way to what it probably the most interesting room in the museum, the Heisman trophy room. One of the neatest features of the museum is that it houses all of the BCS trophies as well as the individual player trophies, like the Heisman. In this particular room, there are lockers all lined up against the wall like an actual locker room. Each locker features one or two players, their jerseys, and memorabilia from their era. Also, a video runs, featuring some of the more memorable moments in Heisman history. I will fully admit that I was a bit misty watching the reel of Heisman greats. I also took an opportunity to take a crappy self portrait with the Heisman.

I would have done the Heisman pose if I wasn't already getting strange looks for taking a self portrait

Did I think the ticket price of $12 was a little steep? Yes. Was there an over abundance of Notre Dame stuff? Definitely. Do I have serious issues concerning Notre Dame and Michigan? Without a doubt :) . All things aside, I did enjoy my visit to the College Football Hall of Fame. Just walking around, taking in the rich history of college football, gets my blood pumping for the upcoming season. Regardless of who you root for, there is something magical about a college football game. The tailgating, the fans, the loyalty, the passion for the game...it's a heady mix that combines to make the college football experience distinct from any other sporting event I have ever known. With that in mind, I will bask in the feeling of knowing that the college football season will soon be upon us and maybe, just maybe, my Illini will pull off a miracle this year. May the best man win (unless of course you are Notre Dame or Michigan)!


**If you love college football, you MUST check out this documentary about its history, The Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football. You will not be disappointed with this purchase! **