It was the Best Day!... Of my life?

If anyone talked with me in basically any context last week (e.g., in class, in meetings, in line for the bank), or know anything about me at all, you likely know that one of the biggest events of my life took place this past Saturday. Was this my wedding? My graduation day? The day I got into grad school? No, no, it was, of course, the Michigan vs. Michigan State football game. But not just any Spartan Wolverine faceoff... this year was different. It felt different. The buildup was different. This was our f**king year.

For those of you who aren't up on the current stats of this matchup, let me enlighten you. Michigan State hadn't beaten Michigan since 2001. They hadn't beaten Michigan at home since 1990. In case you aren't aware, it is 2008. And I went to school from 2003 to 2007. I also know a lot of Michigan fans, some of which went to the school, and some who did not (my fav kind) who will pretty much remind me of the above facts any chance they get.

Almost immediately following our loss to Ohio State the previous Saturday, my thoughts moved to the next game. During that entire work-week, any reminders of the game on Saturday would tie my stomach in knots and possibly get me raving to some random person about how big of a game it was for us. I started to get confused and thought maybe I was actually playing in the game given my intense anticipation of it. I even declined offers to go out and went to bed early Friday night in preparation for the big day.

The game itself was an emotional roller coaster, as usual. From the questionnable calls (flying Wolverine who hits pylon gets touchdown, a call which was deemed incorrect after the game was over based on the NCAA rulebook) to the quick run down the field Michigan made at the end of the first half to tie the score, to my 4th quarter marriage proposal to our tight end Blair White (due to his impressive 143 passing yds), the game was certainly not lacking in excitement. It started to feel all too familiar to the Spartan fans at several points, but we struggled to stay positive. This year was going to be different... right?

As the clock began to wind down, a strong concoction of fear and excitement began to churn around inside of me. Sure, we were up 14 points and there was less than 3 minutes to go... but all true Spartan fans know that doesn't actually mean the game is over. Until that final knee was taken, my body was not going to relax, that was very clear.

When that final knee was taken and the water cooler was dumped onto Dantonio, the joy that welled up inside of me was pretty much indescribable, but I'll give it a shot. I'm gonna go ahead and say it was like Christmas, New Years, Easter, and Flag Day combined, times 100. I was on Cloud 9 and nothing, not annoying Penn St fans trying to take our seats, not the fact that my fingers were almost bleeding due to nervous biting during the game, nothing could keep me down.

One might think that its sad that this event was up there as one of the best days of my life, but this means you just don't understand the happiness I was experiencing. It means you just aren't getting it. Over a week later, the memory of that day still brings a smile to my face... Its something that can never be taken away from me...