Mary kicked the extra point ...

Welcome to South Bend, Indiana, a place where religion and football meet, generally at the University of Notre Dame. My good friend, LD, who recently began her post-graduate studies at this esteemed institution has been good enough to take a break from her busy schedule to show me around.

I touched down early Friday morning in Chicago and had some rest after arriving at South Bend, the other SoBe, which is about two hours away if you don't get lost. I'm not saying we got lost, am I? So on Friday afternoon, we visited the College Football Hall Of Fame, where among other things, we were able to take part in a series of interactive exhibits, like kicking field goals and throwing footballs at targets, much like Louie Richards' handball competition. At the ripe old age of 27 and despite the encouragement from my new mates, pictured here, I won't be making my way onto a college football team any time soon.

Indeed, football seems to be a general theme here. Yesterday, we went to an Irish pub and watched the Notre Dame football team (ranked 20th in the nation) beat their more fancied and higher-ranked opponent, Michigan (ranked third in the nation) before a crowd of more than 110,000 in Michigan. The result has the other SoBe in a frenzy. Walking around the hallowed grounds of Notre Dame yesterday, a newly-married couple heard one young (and perhaps inebriated) man say: "We just beat Michigan and you guys just got married!" It was pretty funny stuff.

The university is home to some special landmarks, like the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and the Grotto, a smaller replica of the famed French shrine. There is also a big painting of Jesus, which has been renamed Touchdown Jesus by the students as his arms are raised in the air signifying that the offensive team has just gone over for six points. I'm pictured with First Down Moses. The students might have christened him with that too as that can't be his real name.

We've just come back from a pub where we witnesssed the Pittsburgh Steelers thrash the Tennessee Titans, 34-7, in their NFL season opener. It provided a little bit of joy in what has been a pretty dour week in sports back home. Geelong and Manly were both knocked out of their respective finals races and Australia looks like losing the Ashes which hasn't happened since JB was in primary school. Tomorrow I will train it back to Chicago for, among other things, the final leg of my baseball tour.