Looking Good in Green

OK, so they didn’t fill Notre Dame Stadium. Still, the 35,000 or so who showed up for Friday night’s pep rally -- many wearing green body paint, togas and Viking helmets -- was indicative of the enthusiasm building for today’s Notre Dame-Penn State game.

A couple of hours before kickoff and the parking lots were jammed, mostly with Irish fans, and boy were they pumped. One guy had a big screen TV in the back his fan, a small satellite dish on the roof, tuned into Rutgers-Illinois (why, you might ask, but that’s a mystery that might never get answered) while next to him three college-age guys shot cans of beer, which basically means they drank it really, really fast.

Such festive actions didn’t keep fans from doing what’s really important before a game -- cheering the players as they walked from Mass to the stadium a couple of hours before kickoff.

The players seemed ready. Were the fans? Do you really need to ask?