Here Come the Irish . . . to St. Paul

This past April St. Paul hosted the NCAA Frozen Four Championship and the ND Irish Hockey team made the trip. It was awesome to be able to root on my Alma Mater here in Minnesota. It is Big Ten (12) Country and ND never plays Minnesota in anything. So this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Irish in Minnesota for anything.

We were able to greet the team when they arrived to the hotel. The Pep Band arrived shortly before the team and we (ND Alumni Club) were all singing the fight song and chanting "Here Come the Irish."

Prior to the game, the Pep Band stopped by a local bar to get the fans excited for the game.

There was a bit of drama around the Irish coming to town in our household. Alex had made plans with his friend from Detroit to go to the Frozen Four no matter what teams made it. They had no tickets. Once the Irish made it, I wanted to go and see them. With a little luck and my dad's college roommate, I was able to get 2 tickets. Problem . . . I had 2 tickets and 3 people wanted to see the game. Alex and his friend decided to look for their own tickets, while I tried to sell my extra one. Which I was successful. However, Alex and his friend were still without tickets. With another bit of luck and my dad's friend, we were able to get another pair of tickets. The Frozen Four was a BIG social experiment for myself. I rarely go to anything by myself. However, I wanted to see the Irish, so I went out on a limb and watched the game by myself. It wasn't terrible, but it isn't the same without Alex.

All and all, it was fun despite sitting alone and the Irish losing. I enjoyed seeing Notre Dame plastered all over St. Paul and the Xcel Energy Center.