Notre Dame Football
 

I will be attending the Notre Dame vs. Purdue football game on October 2, 2004.

I will be coming from Chicago to see the game. What time should I arrive at the campus to see all of the pre-game activities?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Jim, you can never get there too early. By noon, tailgates should be starting. The marching band used to march all over the campus well before the game, often in the morning. And, it's great fun to watch all the ND alum returning in their *colorful* pants. Well, at least it was for me.

You can check out www.nd.edu for possibly more info.

Go Irish! %%- (Hope my smiley works!)

We love Lou Holtz (unless you are Clemson) in South Carolina!

I would arrive before noon for a 1:30 start. As mentioned above, the band marches through campus on the way to the stadium, the different groups cook out, the bookstore will be a zoo and you can check out the grotto.

Thanks for the replies. The Notre Dame website says the game starts at 1:30 EST.

Isn't South Bend still in the central time zone...making kick-off at 12:30pm? Or is it far enough east to be in the eastern zone?

If I had to choose between teams, I'd be for Notre Dame...but I live in southern California and usually route for UCLA.

Hey Jim. Welcome to the weird world that is Indiana time. We even have our own special entry in Microsoft Windows. :-)

The game really is EST, Eastern Standard Time. Right now that's the same time as Chicago and CDT, Central Daylight Time.

A 1:30pm game will be at the same time as Chicago's 1:30. At the end of October Chicago & the east coast will drop back an hour.

So in the summer Chicago & Indiana are on the same time. In the winter Chicago is one hour behind Indiana.

As a Boiler I think Notre Dame is overrated, overpriced and buys their wins for football. :-D

no other game to see besides this slaughter? nd should still be winless after the game. good thing nd don't fire coaches. willingham safe, although alum/backers want him out. go huskies. :-).

Sounds like this is quickly becoming a football team post. In answer to your question. If it's 1:30PM est, the game time really is 12:30pm local time. Yeah I know we have some goofy timezone stuff going on here. As for getting to the game. Since it's Purdue you can count on many, many, many local fans coming. This means the traffic will be BAD!!!!! I would plan on being at the college at least 10am - maybe earlier. And depending on where you end up parking, it could easily be a mile walk to the stadium. You can also count on long lines on the toll road so you should count that into your travel time. This should give you time to see the campus (a treat in itself), hear the band and visit the bookstore. They've really restricted the tailgating, so I'm not sure if that plays into your decision. It's been tough being an Irish fan these days, but I still have trouble rooting for Purdue.

Thanks again folks. I did do this once before on the train...but I wasn't in charge of the outing, and sort of just went along without paying too much attention to the details.

This trip I'm bring my wife and a few friends. We're mostly interested in experiencing the pre-game atmosphere.

I have the car available, and we may not be able to stay for the entire game. So I didn't want to have to wait for the train.

If I leave Chicago at 8:00am, will I arrive at the campus in time?

Thanks Chicgal...I'll look at the train schedules again and see if they fit in with our plans.

Look forward to returning to Chicago...and all that great food!

Come out west and see a real football team-USC!!! GO TROJANS!!! sorry, couldn't resist

You may want to call in to The Regis and kelly show. Regis may have just the precise details since he is such a big fan as well as alum!!! :-)

That's true, Chicgal. I have many friends who travel to Notre Dame for the USC/ND game. But as I said...I prefer UCLA. But they have fallen on hard times in recent years.

By the way, I realize asking food questions can start a debate, but is Mike Ditka's restaurant worth the price?

Also, as I said, I've been to Notre Dame, but let someone else handle the details (meaning, I had a few too many beers the night before to care how we got there). I know my wife would love the atmosphere, so I'm returning this year...sober.

I make a part of my living licensing travel photography to publishers. I managed to get a few decent shots on my last trip there. Here they are:

http://www.jimtardio.com/notre-dame/notre-dame.html

Oh, chicgal, you just wanted to use the pig icon! LOL!

I've eaten at Ditka's and really liked the prawns (might be called large shrimp on the menu). They were somewhat spicy and cooked to perfection (i.e., not overdone) -- an excellent choice, IMO.

Looks like "Da Coach" can handle seafood, too.

Happy eating!