Four

Today's countdown to football blog post (Four) includes a few tales of some of the people we’ve seen, and/or met, along the way!

When you are a student, or an alumni, of the University of Notre Dame, a unique and often times famous following is part of the deal.

Through the years, we've seen and/or met many famous people along the way.

Some of the highlights are as follows ...

Freshman year, when we were ranked #1, Julia Roberts was spotted in her sunglasses and Notre Dame hat, sitting on the 50 yard line, just to the left of the Notre Dame student section. The movie Pretty Woman had just come out not too long before, so we were pretty darn excited to see her at Notre Dame!

Sophomore year, Dick Vitale's daughter moved in to my dorm (she were a year younger than me), and so Dick Vitale was a regular fixture on campus and in our dorm. And let me tell you, you could HEAR him coming a mile away! (On a side note, when I introduced my Dad to him at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans my Junior year, I didn't think we'd ever get them separated. Mental note, don't introduce two chatty people to each other and expect the conversation to be short!)

Junior (or Senior?) year Regis Philbin's daughter moved on campus, and so Regis became a weekly fixture at Pep Rallies. We never actually met him, but he certainly was around a lot!

Junior year was also the year that they were filming the movie Rudy on campus. We had many movie star sightings, and also saw the real "Rudy" himself, over the course of the several months that they were on campus. Not to mention, being extras in the movie ourselves!

During my tenure at Notre Dame, meeting, getting an autograph, and actually getting to talk to Lou Holtz were HUGE highlights for me. He was such a huge part of our football experience while we were students at Notre Dame ... I will never forget that!

Last year (2009) ... Vince Vaughn was sighted at the Notre Dame/Michigan State game ... that I attended with my children. I did not actually get to meet him, but one of my friends DID actually get to meet and talk to him. Hello. Jealous. Party of one!

But I think the most memorable of the famous (or should I say infamous) people that we met was O.J. Simpson. Our seats for the 1993 "Game of the Century" between #1 Florida State and #2 Notre Dame were just four rows behind where O.J. Simpson was set up to do during-the-game and half-time reports ... just mere months before the "slow white Bronco chase." I can just remember how COOL it was to be so close to him ... and then how creeped out we were after what happened months later.

I wonder who we'll meet this year?

Cheers!