B1G Championship Game, Outback Bowl and a brand new year!

Well I've been remiss in udating my blog for the past 6 weeks. It's been due to extremely busy schedules and life however. I have a few great pics from the B1G champ game and what a game it was even though the ending was not how we had envisioned. What a team this 2011 Spartan Football team has been! First ever Legends division champions and a moment away from being a repeat B1G championship team. They played their hearts out and they are champions in my mind. End of December had us traveling to the Outback bowl in Tampa for one of the most exciting games I've ever witnessed. We finally seal a bowl win in the books against an excellent championship SEC team in Georgia.

front row seats at Lucas Oil stadium in Indy for the champ game! What a great venue for this game!

coaches gathering for pre-game prayer

Coach Hoke ready to go

Off to the Outback bowl and a fabulous luncheon for Coaches wives and daughters at Roy's with luau and great Polynesian dancers and live music

Team bowling night at Splitsville was a blast. A couple of our favorite GA's, Freddie, Billy and Nick

Jen bowling with her wild socks

Jen with 2 of my favorite guys, Nick Hill and Leveon Bell

Jen got all of the seniors to sign her Outback bowl football

Gonna really miss BJ Cunningham

Outback bowl beach day at Clearwater beach

Sarah Huffman

Enjoying a little R&R with hubby

some of the players, specifically O line guys, decided to play chicken in the ocean although I can't imagine why!

very cool sand sculpture

Jen with Keshawn. Yup that's pretty much his usual expression! haha!

And then my favorite "slappy" Chris D Rucker

Jen with Blake

Look at that. Pickleman can actually smile!

we all know who this is...

and this...

OK so Jerel isn't a senior but I had a feeling it would be the last we would see him. She got pics with all of the seniors but too many to post here

Finally it's gameday. With my best Spartan football bud Liz

Jen is rocking her Sparty spirit

Here they come!

our superstar Will

and poor BJ was swarmed by at least 2 Georgia defenders all day!

crazy Drew with Pops

we finally get to celebrate a WIN!!

Triple OT!!

guys finally get to celebrate a BOWL WIN!!

Nick Hill is one of my faves and a great RB!

celebrating in the locker room. No I did NOT take these pics!! :-)

Pic of us taken from the field after the WIN and yes those are our seats!

 Great to sit close when you WIN!

and my last goodbye with BJ! Gonna miss him!

It was another awesome and exciting year of Spartan football. I'm happy that we can finally have a breather and have some great vacations planned, both couple and family trips. 

Happy New Year!!

Baby it's cold outside...

Well last weekend's road trip to Northwestern officially ended our regular season for football. It was cold and rainy and let me tell you THIS girl is very happy that the B1G championship game this weekend is indoors!!! My niece Laura was here for Thanksgiving break from her freshman year at UNC Chapel Hill. It was great having her and she appreciated going to a "real" football game! Sorry Carolina fans...

Just arrived at the stadium in time for the rain. Here with my good friend Katie Schoenwolf, Laura, Jen and Drew

me with my great friend Chet Tetta (former National Sales director at Genentech and now in the same role at Celgene), his main squeeze Katie, Drew and Jen

Awwww

in front of Spartan Football truck. Can you tell that my only Spartan rain gear belongs to my hubby? i.e. XXL hahaha! I think I have 3 layers on underneath and was still freezing!

post game after the great win!

there's Coach Hoke

then we came home and this is what we woke up to yesterday!!

8 inches of snow! It was beautiful and the kids had their first snow day!

Murphy is less than thrilled however when trying to find a place to go to the bathroom. Corgis and short legs and deep snow do not mix...

Off to the B1GFCG in Indianapolis this weekend! Despite being a 10 point underdog and not ONE SINGLE sports pundit has picked us to win.... I believe we will come home victorious with a championship trophy and a trip to Pasadena! Here's hoping anyway...

Stay tuned and as always...

GO GREEN!!!

BIG TEN LEGENDS DIVISION CHAMPIONS!!!

A quickie entry in the midst of a crazy, whirlwind college football season to say how proud I am of this team, it's seniors and their focus! They are on their way to a back to back BIG TEN Championship year and a Rose bowl berth! Hope to see y'all in Pasadena but in the meantime, see ya in Indy on December 3rd!

GO GREEN!!!!

ESPN GAMEDAY and an unbelievable finish!

WOW! That's all I have left to say after the amazing ending of Saturday night's epic win over the Wisconsin Badgers! It was a 60 minute battle that we just came out on top of. When Kirk threw the Hail Mary pass into the endzone and Keith caught it we thought he got the touchdown from what we could see from our seats. It was completely silent in the stands with everyone holding their arms up in the "TOUCHDOWN" signal until the ref came back and said he had crossed the line and got in. Then the stadium ERUPTED!!! I can't remember ever being at Spartan stadium for a more exciting game and finish. Of course the oddmakers had us as 8 point underdogs, no one really gave us a chance to win. I BELIEVE in these guys and this team! They are working towards something special this year and I hope and believe they will achieve it!

we had backstage passes for ESPN GAMEDAY!

They had these signs everywhere...I wish I had taken a picture of the guys shirtless in the front row of the student section that had "FREE WILLY" painted on their chests! Hilarious!

Herbstreit

I wasn't surprised when Corso put the Badger head on...but he's now 0 for 3 in picks against us!

some hilarious signs!

kids by the stage

Here are a few of my faves...

had a few former players swing by the tailgate and even was graced by Coach Hoke's presence for a few minutes! Tommy with Jehuu Caulcrick

My neighbor Don was an exceptional "Grill Daddy"

fun tailgate with old friends from college days

Dino, Jenny and Alex

with my friend Andy who came up from Texas for the game!

Greg Jones now of NFL Giants fame stopped by!

It was a great day and a better night! Now onto Nebraska next weekend where it will be an arguably bigger game and have more weight for winning the Legends division.

Here's to another SPARTAN WIN in Lincoln next Saturday!!

GO GREEN!!!!

STATEMENT WIN!!!

It's rivalry week and of course that means our annual matchup Michigan State vs Michigan game. The guys came out rocking brand new, one game only Nike Pro Combat uniforms just for the Michigan game! They looked fantastic and I'm happy to say that the guys played great in em! The end result, 28-14 Michigan State wins! A clean sweep and 4 in a row for the Seniors! Next week is BIG, BAD Wisconsin and a night game to boot. Should be a grudge match as I'm certain Wisconsin is still stinging from their last loss...last year in Spartan Stadium! Hope we can make it a repeat!

Making an entrance in those sweet Pro Combat unis!

Props and credit to the team photographer who took these amazing pics... Matt Mitchell I think?

If not my apologies to the amazing photographer who took these.

it's a rough day for Shoelace

Oops not again...

ouch

I invited my work colleague Tony and his friend Dan. They come to every Michigan game with me and have been our good luck mojo!

Team rushes to the student section post-game to sing the fight song

A beautiful sight - 28-14

Jean, Drew, Jen and me feeling pretty happy!

carrying the Paul Bunyan trophy back to it's rightful place in the Spartan Football building!

catching up post game with some of my favorite former players, Otis Wiley, 

Javon Ringer and Mark Dell

Even Zeke the Wonder Dog was rockin the Pro Combat jersey!

Jen poses with Zeke (who's real name is Beaucoup!)

Jen and I pose with Paul (we're on a first name basis now) as the equipment managers bring him home for another year. He's gotten very comfortable here and has no intention of moving!

Onto next week versus Wisconsin!

GO GREEN!!!!