Three games that come to mind when I think of an electric atmosphere in Spartan Stadium.
Two of those games are from 2004, when heavily favored Minnesota and Wisconsin came into East Lansing only to see each of its Big Ten Championship hopes crumble.
The "go green, go white" chants coming from the student section were so loud that they drowned out the PA announcer. The rain, sleet, and snow that fell during the game against the Golden Gophers wasn't even enough to be a momentary distraction and the cheers for the two goal-line stands against the Badgers could be heard all the way to Madison.
The third most electric atmosphere I've experienced at Spartan Stadium was none other than Saturday's contest against Notre Dame, as bittersweet as the end result may have been.
We waited in a half-hour entrance line 90 minutes before the opening kickoff. I thought we bought Corner Blitz tickets to avoid the long lines to get in.
But there was a line because every other ticket-holding student was just as pumped.
The lights beamed onto the field through the blackness of the night and the student section was rocking on all cylinders an hour prior to kickoff. The towels were being waved in unison, derogatory chants were being made toward Notre Dame and Drew Stanton's visit to the section before kickoff sent the place into a complete frenzy.
High-fives and group hugs were aplenty early on and the 17-0 lead only pumped us up even more.
The on-and-off rain was embraced with a warm welcome every time the showers picked up. It's not necessarily because we wanted the rain, but just like those games in 2004, we were beating a solid football team and it was as if nothing could ruin that for us.
Even if I did happen to wring out their clothing multiple times throughout the course of the game.
Even when Notre Dame eventually took the lead, nobody left early. We stayed together, until the end, as depressing as it may have been and as angry as we might have seemed at the conclusion.
So hats off to you all, MSU students. We were loud, we were charged and I'm hoping that we hurt Brady Quinn's feelings, even if he did have the last laugh.
We held up our end of the bargain, but it just wasn't meant to be.
Eric Fish can be reached at fisheric@msu.edu.
