TL;DR: After 50 years of fandom, I finally saw a game at Michigan Stadium, and the entire experience (including the stay in Ann Arbor) was fantastic.

I started following The Team in the early 1970s and never stopped, despite not having a connection to the university (more on that in a bit). Those of you who can relate to the first part of my username may recognize these words: “We now move to further action in the same series of downs.” I got hooked on Michigan football thanks to Saturday morning highlight shows that featured the prior week’s game.

Fast forward to 2019. The younger of my two sons has graduated from Virginia Tech (with a degree in computer engineering, which can make for a great launching pad into blogging, I hear). Suddenly, my weekends and my bank account look different. And that long-daydreamed-about trip to the Big House is finally viable.

The trip finally happened for opening weekend, featuring a stay at the Ann Arbor B&B. In no particular order, thanks for allowing me to share the following:

- Thank heaven I’ve matured enough not to have stopped at the rollicking Lambda Chi house on the way into town Friday night. I’m a member of a different chapter and a different generation; nothing good could have come of it.

- The stadium is breathtaking and the atmosphere was top-notch despite the lopsided score and non-conference opponent. My only non-NFL firsthand comparisons are Virginia Tech (worth the trip in its own right) and my alma mater, James Madison University (proud new member of the Sun Belt, not in the same football galaxy as UM), but it felt obvious that Michigan is special. We sat in Section 43, Row 25. I absolutely understand some of the concerns being expressed in the game-day-experience thread, but we arrived early, skipped concessions other than one trip for water, and thought the pregame and in-game entertainment was mostly enjoyable.

- I should have set up direct deposit with M Den. Was surprised that the only NIL jerseys were replicas, but maybe the stitched ones sold out or there just hasn’t been enough time to produce them. Skipped the jerseys this time but still did plenty of damage.

- Apologies for these particularly unoriginal observations but the campus is impressive and the local friendliness (throughout the weekend) was reassuring.

- The older of my two sons (a fellow JMU Duke) made the trip and similarly appreciated all of the above. He’s an avid UM fan, undoubtedly because there was no escaping the games on TV as he grew up. I would not have gone without him.

- About that lack of connection to the university. It fully hit me when I booked the trip many months ago. I subsequently took a couple of UM online freebies this summer to placate myself, but who was I kidding? Ultimately, though, it didn’t matter. I felt like a welcome visitor on campus and very much felt at home at the game.

Lastly, to anyone who’s also a fan but hasn’t made the trip, I’d encourage you to find a way. It’s worth every penny and every mile. And if you remember nothing else, let it be this if you attend a daytime game early in the season: BRING SUNSCREEN. Good heavens, what an oversight.

Thanks for reading and Go Blue.