Had a nice day yesterday down in Indiana. Ball State University is a nice little school in a very pretty little town about an hour from Indianapolis. I have no doubts that Bill would be immediately admitted there -- and in, fact, with his grades in difficult classes he would be a Presidential Scholar and get half off of his tuition. What would be a huge question is whether or not he would be admitted to the school of architecture, which is why he is interested in that university in the first place. Its in the top ten rankings nationally, and very very picky in who it admits...

It was the most beautiful fall day you could ever imagine...perfect for football! Sunny - not a single cloud in the sky -- and in the 70s.

We had a lot of fun at the football game.  We parked in a field next to the baseball diamond, where a lot of people tailgate party. People had a great time. It wasn't all stuffy like the UM tailgates I've seen. This had people of all ages, including very young children and dogs dressed up in school colors. College kids came with as many people as they could cram in the backs of pickup trucks. People were grilling food everywhere, and lots of people were playing beanbag tossing games, where they tossed beanbags through holes in pieces of wood painted in the school colors. While there was some beer drinking, just as many people were drinking pop or bottled water. Lots of people playing music on boomboxes, and there was a live rock band playing. Instead of $200,000 land yachts and people in designer clothing so expensive just the cost of the shoes could feed a village in a third world country for a week like you see in Ann Arbor, it was just regular people of all ages and colors, dressed in tee shirts and jeans, hanging out, eating, tossing footballs and frisbees, playing with toddlers and dogs, and having a lot of fun. We thought it was great! Except for the two guys dressed up in "super sperm" costumes. That was a little too weird!!! Well, it was a lot too weird!!!

The game itself was also fun. The band was great, the atmosphere was a lot more laid back than what you could ever get at UM. Who has ever seen toddlers playing football near the fence dividing the players from the stands at the Big House? Who has ever seen a toddler at the Big House, for that matter, with tickets so hard to come by? This crowd, like the tailgate, had families with children of all ages. A real family crowd, with some families of three or more generations coming to the game together. MAC football certainly isn't up to the near professional standards you get with some of the BIG 10 teams, but the games are a lot funner to go to! Even when the team you are rooting for isn't very good and gets its butt kicked!

Bill will get his applications sent to Ball State and UM next week, and he will take his college boards (the ACT) next Saturday. Probably some pretty big decisions for him to make soon...

But in the meantime, he had a great weekend down in Indiana.  I am so glad we could do this for him!