My First Bowl Experience: The Sugar Bowl

I was fortunate enough to go to New Orleans for these last few days to see my Alma Mater, the University of Michigan, play the Virginia Tech Hokies. It was my first bowl experience and it was unique to say the least.

Let's start with the reason I was there.

My view at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (What the hell? They spent a lot of money on naming rights!)

The Game:
I can't say I actually enjoyed the game until the very end. I have never been to a more nerve racking game. It wasn't just that the game was close throughout or that Michigan played easily its worst game of the year with the horrible offensive play calling and the seemingly collective effort by the defense to forgot how to tackle.

In the back of my head, what made the situation so stressful was that I had come all that way. I had expected Michigan to win, though that's not the only reason I went down. It was the most important reason I went to New Orleans: to see Michigan win a BCS bowl game.

At this point, I should say that what made the situation better was being around Michigan fans. Being around people who want the same thing certainly eased the situation. However, not having the benefit of replay, not sitting with friends, fending for myself essentially, that was a bit difficult. I don't like watching important games with people. I like to deal with the stress by myself rather than to impose my stress on others.

With that bit of personal stuff out there, I'll get into the actual experience. I wasn't feeling well from the night before and I wanted to remember the game, so I did not drink. There was plenty of alcohol being served though. It's New Orleans. That's all you have to say.

One of the most overlooked aspects of the college football experience is the band. May be this is because most schools don't have good bands. Michigan has the best band there is playing the best fight song there is. The band is integral to building the excitement leading up to the team's entrance. Nothing gets me more pumped than seeing the M Fanfare and hearing The Victors.

The Block M formation

The Halftime show was nice too. One of my qualms was that the Superdome was so big and the acoustics in the stadium were so horrible. I could barely hear the band play. At least we got a great view of the band's elaborate formations.

The very beginning of the band's halftime program.

In typical New Orleans flavor, they had a Dr. Michael White, a jazz clarinetist, and Bryan Batt perform it. The anthem is always a nice reminder of our great country. I really liked that while they honored our country, they also managed to incorporate the unique culture of New Orleans. Another nice touch was the flag that they had for the National Anthem:

America.

As I mentioned in this post, the pricing of tickets at bowls has made it a difficult sell:

Ticket prices are too high, and as a result, the schools are having trouble selling their allotment of tickets. If a school doesn't sell its allotment, it has to eat the costs. For smaller schools like UConn with less support for the football program, making a bowl can be a costly endeavor. The initial idea was to use the games to get people to come down. While the people may still come down, the schools pay the price.

The Sugar Bowl was no exception to this problem. While I saw plenty of fans from both sides around the city, there were tons of empty seats:

A large block of the upper section of the stadium was empty.

We all know the Superdome can have an electric environment from watching Saints games. I expect it to be electric on Monday night as well for the National Championship game. It was definitely not electric for the Sugar Bowl. It's a big stadium. With a crowd of 64,512 in a stadium with a capacity of over 76,000, the size of the stadium really was a negative for the environment.

As for the game, I thought Al Borges had a poor offensive game plan. It was obvious that he had watched film from the Clemson game as he tried to use the jet sweep early. It was extremely ineffective and I would've liked to see Borges play more to Michigan's strengths than trying to implement what had beaten Virginia Tech before. We didn't see enough of Fitzgerald Toussaint. Denard's passing was very poor. The offensive line looked horrible without David Molk. I'd go so far as to say that that was the worst offensive performance of the season, despite the two Junior Hemmingway touchdowns.

Defensively, Michigan did a great job of putting Virginia Tech in third and long situations but did a very poor job of killing drives. Some of the tackling reminded me of the Rich Rod/Greg Robinson defenses of the last three years. It was that bad. Logan Thomas looked fantastic. The Michigan defense did not. One of the key plays of the game, though, came from Frank Clark who has a huge and athletic interception.

What might have won the game for Michigan was the special teams play. I don't think I imagined saying that before the season, but Gibbons was great kicking field goals. The fake field goal attempt actually worked and Michigan shut down Virginia Tech's fake punt attempt. If I wasn't before, I am now thankful for brunette girls.

One of the most controversial plays of the game was the Danny Coale non-catch. There was a lot of bickering after the game from the Virginia Tech side. I don't think they got a clear replay, nor do I think any of us, on both sides, got a clear explanation of why it was incomplete. The officials made the right call in the end:

The ball hits the ground and moves.

It wasn't incomplete because Coale landed out of bounds. That is probably inconclusive and not overturnable. However, the ball hits the ground and moves, which is an incomplete pass. That's the bottom line, so I don't feel that the Hokies got screwed. You hit your field goal and stop Michigan and you win the game. Tech didn't do that. There's nothing to complain about.

Michigan Celebrates!

While I don't feel great about the game because of the way Michigan played, I am extremely happy for the players on this team, especially the seniors. They've probably been through the worst stretch in Michigan football history, and it's great to see them go out in grand fashion. I am so very proud of them.

The City:
First, let me say that New Orleans is a great city. There's beautiful architecture and a culture unlike any other city in the US. This was my first time staying in a different city for vacation by myself, and I must say it was a bit intimidating. I was able to explore a lot on my last day in town, but I did not get to see everything I wanted. I will return in the future because I have to see a brass band on Frenchmen St, I have to see the plantation houses, and I have to see the swamp.

Part of why I enjoyed the city was being around the Maize and Blue faithful. There's something great about going to a different city and seeing Michigan fans everywhere. Everywhere you go, you're greeted by several Michigan chants. You have street performers playing The Victors. It makes you feel at home. This is part of why Michigan is such a special school to me. I'm not sure there are many others that compare.

The people of New Orleans were tremendous. I think just about every native I encountered was more than friendly and accommodating. I don't think you can say that about the people of any other city. They were very polite too, and bring the politeness out of you. I must've said please and thank you more than I ever have.

I arrived in New Orleans on the afternoon of New Year's Eve and took a cab into the city. My cab driver and I chatted about New Orleans and its recovery since Katrina. He was a nice guy and seemed to appreciate that I actually know some of the hardships that the city has been through. It was a very sobering start to my New Orleans experience.

New Year's Eve on Bourbon Street is nuts. On my flight back, I ran into an old high school friend, and he called NOLA an "adult Disney World." That's about as accurate a description as you are going to get. There are people everywhere, and it is filthy; alcohol is flowing, the streets are dirty, there are beads everywhere. It was nuts.

We did our best to avoid the chaos of Bourbon Street to start New Year's Eve. We started on Decatur St at Jackson Brewery, which is by Jackson Square (makes sense rght). It was there where we rung in the new year along with several others who wanted to check out the fireworks. I'm pretty sure that this was the only time that it was hard to get any "Go Blue!" chants going.

As I said before, Bourbon Street was nuts. I think the pandemonium was a bit confusing to us non-natives. I think pictures speak louder:

Looking East on Bourbon Street

Looking West on Bourbon Street

Looking up at the Balconies.

It's something that everyone should do. As a warning though, if you go for a few days, Bourbon Street might keep you from seeing things that you want to see because it is consuming. New Orleans is a beautiful city and there is a lot to see. The only day I really got to see the city was my last day when I had nothing to do and I hadn't drank the night before.

On my last day, I did a lot of the things that I had intended on doing but had thus far wasted the opportunity to do so. I went to Jackson Square to see the statue of Andrew Jackson.

Jackson Statue in Jackson Square

I was there really to sit down as I had been walking around the French Quarter all morning, but it was definitely something I wanted to see along with the St. Louis Cathedral.

St. Louis Cathedral.

It also happened to be the site of College Gameday. I relaxed and watched Desmond Howard, Todd McShay, and I believe Wendy Nix broadcast live from New Orleans. It seemed that Desmond had to catch a flight to Miami for the Orange Bowl right afterwards, but he took the time to meet with Michigan fans and take pictures afterwards. It's always great to see athletes take the time to show their fans appreciation. Desmond is a class act. 

I headed to Cafe du Monde for Beignets afterwards as it was recommended to me by a few people. The line wasn't as bad as the days leading up to the Sugar Bowl. The Beignets were pretty good. There was a mountain of sugar in my bag. It's pretty much fried dough, but fried dough is delicious too. The cafe au lait was alright. I was there to go to Cafe du Monde more than I was there to enjoy doughnuts and coffee. 

Cafe du Monde is a New Orleans institution.

As I walked around the rest of the French Quarter, trying to kill time, I realized that I was going to miss the place a lot. It's so different, it's so unique. There's the debauchery, but there's also the food and art. It was nice to walk through Chatres Street and look at the art galleries. It was also nice to walk on Bourbon Street one last time. Seeing it during the day without all the mayhem is different. There are still some people getting their drink on, but the music and the food are a much more prevalent feature. 

The last thing I had to do was get some New Orleans food. I hadn't had the chance to have any of the food really, so I had to go all out. I went to Pier 424 and ordered the Taste of New Orleans, which included Jumbalaya, Gumbo, Crawfish Etoufe, and Beans and Rice. I wasn't that hungry and I could barely eat the food that was given. The waitress definitely made fun of me for it. Oh well, I'll say I enjoyed the Jumbalaya and the Beans and Rice a lot. I'm just not a heavy eater.

A Taste of New Orleans.

Concluding Thoughts:

The Sugar Bowl was an opportunity to check off several things off my bucket list: to visit New Orleans, spend New Year's on Bourbon Street, and to see Michigan in a BCS bowl game. All of those things contributed to a memorable experience. 

In a short time, New Orleans captured my heart and I hope to visit there again. I know that, while I had a lot of fun, I missed out on seeing a lot of things that I would've seen had I better planned my trip. I will be back.

I always espouse the virtues of sports as something more than the game. I believe it is a powerful force that can unite, divide, wound, and heal. It can also take you to new places. It can also bring you new experiences. The Sugar Bowl was my first bowl experience, but it was only a small part of the bowl experience. I wouldn't have gone to New Orleans without the bowl. I wouldn't have been reminded why I love my school so much. So when I think about my first bowl experience, I will think about those things first, before I think of the actual bowl.

That is the beauty of the bowl experience.