Fighting Irish and Betting Indians

During our trip to Fort Wayne, I (Jim) had a chance to get away for about 24 hours with brother-in-law, Kevin. On Friday afternoon, we headed northwest from Fort Wayne to South Bend where Kevin’s mother, Midge, provided a rapid-fire tour of the Notre Dame campus. Her “hang tag” helped with parking and access into a couple of administrative buildings and her knowledge of the “lay of the land” allowed for us to see lots of things in a short amount of time.

We started in the football building where my appointment with Irish head coach Charlie Weis was not found by the receptionist (the communication for the meeting was as successful as the 2007 Notre Dame offense), but we saw his patio and then went on to the larger facilities that house the National Championship trophy, Tim Brown’s Heisman Trophy, and an enormous weight room for the players.
From there, we hit the Joyce Center which houses the Irish hockey team’s home ice as well as the basketball arena. Inside the facility is also the Notre Dame Sports Hall of Honor, which houses past uniforms, awards, photos, and plenty of other memorabilia from the glory days. It was pretty awesome to see sections honoring Knute Rockne, Heisman Trophy winners, national championship coaches and teams, and even some honored athletes from other sports programs at Notre Dame.

Sports turned to art as the tour took us to the main administration building which sports the legendary “Golden Dome.” The interior is amazing with murals and a stunning rotunda. All of the art and history housed in a building that makes the university go on a daily basis seems strange when one thinks of all of the technology to keep a school running in the 21st Century.

The next stop was the basilica, an amazing church that reminded me of the basilicas in Europe. From the large central portal where mass is held to the big pipe organ and ornate pews, the basilica was an intimidating building that seems to humble visitors who enter. Sticking with the religious theme, we then walked over to the Grotto. A very spiritual setting, the Grotto is like a half-cave that houses rows and rows of candles that are lit in prayer or memory of loved ones, friends, and others. It was a powerful experience walking by the candles and taking in the atmosphere with cards and pictures of loved ones left by people after lighting their candles.

After that experience, the stadium and bookstore harkened a shift from the Catholic Church to the Church of Football and Merchandising. Shirts were bought in hopes that the atrocity of the 2007 season is an aberration as everyone is now unbeaten again. The final stop outside the stadium was along the grass leading to the Hesburgh Library building that hosts “Touchdown Jesus” on its side – a Notre Dame icon almost as well-known as Rockne.
In all, the 2 hours on campus were awesome, especially considering that we covered so much ground and just about all of the important landmarks at Notre Dame. Having spent four years at a much newer university (Pepperdine’s Malibu campus opened for student enrollment in 1972 whereas Notre Dame was established in South Bend in 1842), the architecture and ambience were an obvious throwback to a different time and a very different collegial atmosphere.

The tour concluded, we headed back to Midge’s apartment to prepare for the next phase of our adventure – the Four Winds Casino Resort. The first stop was at the home of Kevin’s brother, Wayne, just a short drive away near South Bend in Granger where cold beers awaited before changing cars and hitting the road again (Kevin and I had the beers and Wayne drove). Our road trip took us north into Michigan and then west along the Michigan border to New Buffalo on the shore of Lake Michigan. We ventured down a road to view million dollar homes on the lake that look out toward Chicago (if the weather was better, we might have been able to look across the lake to see the Sears Tower and downtown Chicago) and the million dollar views of the lake.

As it was, we concluded our trip into the neighborhood and headed to the casino. The Four Winds Casino Resort is a luxurious casino and hotel opened in August 2007 by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (http://www.fourwindscasino.com/). Nestled in the woods of New Buffalo, it boasts a large gaming floor (it would be the third largest gaming room in Las Vegas) and a great atmosphere. I hit the Pai Gow table and spent about $20 for a few hours of entertainment. We also feasted at the Copper Rock restaurant (try the prime rib, it’s delicious) before heading back to Granger to finally end the day’s travel.

On Saturday, after a hearty breakfast, we concluded our South Bend get-away with a trip to the National College Football Hall of Fame. Packed with memorabilia, displays, and interactive exhibits, the HOF captures the history of the college game and the legends that played it. The evolution of equipment, uniforms, players, coaches, and the way people enjoy them is displayed in great detail and in a manner that is easy for the casual to die-hard fan to enjoy. My only complaint is that the HOF had no display or mention of George Pepperdine College’s 38-13 victory over Nebraska-Wesleyan in the First Annual Will Rogers Bowl Classic in Oklahoma City or of the school’s undefeated 1947 season.