What can I say? After four heart-breaking losses, watching (from the 7th row of the student section) our team bounce back and ROLL OVER Notre Dame made me feel the happiest I’ve felt in a few months. Saturday - nay - this entire weekend couldn’t have been more perfect.

I’m not going to post a lengthy recap of the weekend… partly because I’m lazy, but mostly because it would be a re-hash of most of the stories from last year. We drove to Ann Arbor, we partied, we tailgated, we watched some football, we partied some more, and we drove back. A couple things, however…

- The minivan was awesome! Unbeknown to us prior to picking it up, it came with a little flip down DVD player that we could also hook iPods up to. On the drive out, we watched (well, I listened) Caddyshack, Tommy Boy, and Old School. One the way back we went with Bulletproof, Half-Baked, and - after realizing we had only brought comedies and stopping at a truck stop to pick something else up - The Recruit. I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but I’m not ruling out getting a minivan in the future. Like if my future wife asks if we can get one, I’d probably say “yes, but only if I can ride in the back.”

(Other selling points, it was fairly comfortable, and more car-like and easier to drive than my family’s. And it got ridiculous gas mileage - we went to Michigan on only three tanks of gas. I can’t even believe I just gave you selling points on a minivan.)

- I didn’t get my free burrito. Not because I didn’t earn it, mind you, because I did go to Panchero’s twice in a 24-hour period. But I accidentally left my ‘frequent burrito eater’ card at home in New York, so I wasn’t able to fill in the remaining stamps. Boy was I pissed when I realized that. Oh well, something to look forward to for next time.

(Side note: Panchero’s remodeled their restaurant in the last year. It does look nicer, but I miss the older, more familiar look of it from before. Burrito’s are still amazing though, so…whatever.)

- Miraculously, I still know a bartender that works at Rick’s. There are few things more satisfying in life than ordering a round of 12 shots and 12 beers and paying only 40 bucks for all of it. After tip.

I can’t wait to go back. I don’t know if it will happen again this year, but trust me, I’m not done with that town yet.

(Sadly, however, I’m running out of people I know that are still in undergrad there, meaning that the dynamics of our trips in future years may be changing. Even this year, many of my friends ended up tailgating on the golf course and MBA student tailgates, prominent tailgating locations, but places slightly out of the way from the largely undergraduate central campus mayhem that I’ve enjoyed for the last eight seasons. I was referred to as “old balls” this weekend by the younger guys from my old fraternity. And then there’s the whole minivan thing. Times are a-changin’.)