〽️ 〽️ 〽✈️✈️✈️ #BusinessTrip /oPJ4GKpafmįor the rest of the afternoon, Kendall gave me a walking tour of Utah's campus. Michigan alumnus and Twitter pal Scott Bell came to the rescue with an probably UtahĪfter a two-hour flight, during which I tried - and failed - to be cool like all of the Michigan players that take selfies when their plane departs for road games. There were five people in the security line at the Delta terminal at LAX just now rocking Michigan gear. When I arrived at the Delta terminal at LAX, I had my Michigan duffel bag to bring with me on the plane, and, as I stood in the line for security, I noticed I wasn't the only Michigan fan in the group: I spent the night watching YouTube clips of past Michigan football games that WolverineHistorian has archived for us - I get through the dog days of summer only because of WolverineHistorian's channel. Sleeping the night before had been an exercise in futility. Like when Michigan hired Harbaugh, I couldn't believe this was happening.Īnd, when Wednesday, September 2nd - the day when I would fly to Salt Lake City - arrived, I hardly could contain my excitement. After I confirmed that this was indeed a real offer and not some cruel, elaborate prank, I accepted on the spot, thanked Kendall profusely, booked my flight to and from Utah, and celebrated almost as awkwardly as Chad Henne after he completed a comeback win over MSU in 2007. And, because she knew I am a Michigan alumnus - I'm not exactly shy about my affiliation with Michigan - she offered me her extra ticket and a place to sleep on her couch in her apartment while I was in town. One of the perks of her job is that she receives two free tickets to each of Utah's football home games. Kendall is a former professional basketball player whom Utah just added to its women's basketball staff. It seemed it just wasn't meant to be.Īnd, then, on August 18th, I received this text message from my friend, Kendall: I didn't have the disposable income to afford game tickets, last-minute round-trip airfare, and two nights of hotel lodging. I was just in law school for three years. So much so, in fact, that, by the date of the game, Michigan-Utah had become the second-most expensive college football ticket of the weekend - a factoid that about 15 separate Utah fans would later inform me as if it had been the opening line of the Sunday sacrament meeting at the Salt Lake Temple earlier in the week. As I scoured the secondary market for tickets in early August, the cheapest ones I could find were in the top row of the corners for around $225. Demand to attend Michigan-Utah shot through the roof, and, because Rice-Eccles Stadium holds only 45,017 seats, ticket prices did, too. The problem, though, was that I was far from the only person that did not want to pass this chance up. It dawned on me that the stars had aligned for me to witness Harbaugh's Michigan coaching debut. In person.Īnd that desire multiplied by 100 on December 30, 2014, when Michigan announced Jim Harbaugh as its new head football coach. Some went across the Atlantic and city-hopped around Spain. And almost every lawyer to whom I talked instructed me to take time off afterwards because, once you start your career, you'll never get time off like that again until you retire. I was preparing to begin my first year of law school that August, and, if everything went according to plan, I would graduate and sit for the California bar examination by the end of July 2015. The timing could not have been more perfect. Since June 2012, when it was announced that Michigan would travel to Salt Lake City to open the 2015 season against Utah, I knew I needed to be there. I couldn't believe it when I saw the text message.
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