Nicholas Chang

On Saturday afternoon, I returned to a familiar locale. It could be argued that Michigan football's New York home is Park Avenue Country Club, or PACC, (E. 27th Street @ Park Avenue). While this sports bar is certainly not a country club, and definitely not my favorite sports bar by any means, it is one of those places that feels like home away from home...one day per week. I felt that the most comforting aspect of living in Ann Arbor was the community aspect of being around fellow Michigan students and supporters wherever I went, from the Section 29 Row 1 bleachers of Michigan Stadium to the back patio of Dominick's to the hills of the Arb and even within the cereal aisles of Meijer. PACC exudes a similarly comforting atmosphere as it is where as many as 400 Michigan alumni and fans unite every Saturday afternoon/evening to watch Michigan football games. Naturally, I will run into old friends and former classmates at PACC who have made their way to New York as well. It never ceases to amaze me how large your network can be just because you went to Michigan and you (hopefully) know other people who went to Michigan as well. Sure, I plan to go watch the game with x amount of friends on any given week, but the best part about going to any Michigan event in New York is the possibility, and probability, of running into people you did not expect to see. Here is a sampling of Michigan grads that I unexpectedly ran into at PACC, and how I knew them back at Michigan:

• B-School classmate 'A' ('03) that I knew through another b-school classmate 'B' ('03), who I knew freshmen year because my roommate ('03) flew back to AA for winter semester and sat next to her (B) on the plane, and who (A) now works at a major financial services firm in New York
• Psych Honors program grad ('04) that I met during Greek Week 2003, who I used to see on a weekly basis before I decided I don't really like PACC, who is now a Ph.D. student in New York
• Michigan LSA grad ('02) and Law School grad ('05) that I met at fraternity rush years ago, who I didn't see again until senior year at a mutual friend's party, that I didn't see for another few years again until I found out he was dating aforementioned Psych Honors program grad above
• Michigan LSA grad ('03) who went on the Salamanca summer study abroad program with my roommate in 2001, and who works in real estate in New Jersey (I think)
• B-school classmate ('03) who I met at b-school orientation and saw sporadically since then, but not in over a year, who will be starting a new job in NYC later this month
• LSA grad ('05) that I met at a club meeting at U of M through her two friends that I drove from Ann Arbor to Florida with for spring break 2002, who coincidentally turns out to be one of my dodgeball team (!) teammates through another mutual Michigan friend
• 2001 grad that I never knew while at U of M, but who enjoyed the fact that I had some choice words for the University of Southern California, or U$C (they co-habitate PACC as their sports bar as well), who graduated law school in the spring and now works for "the good guys" in what I presume is the public law field

I will not claim that what I just wrote is coherent. But, I sort of wrote those descriptions of my encounters in the same language that I would speak about them as if you were standing right here next to me in order to emphasize the randomness of how I met some of my friends while at Michigan. Wouldn't you say that you have similar stories about meeting your Michigan friends?

Anyway, if you find yourself in New York during football season, drop by PACC and you might just find yourself reuniting with old friends and acquaintances that you walked through the fountain with at orientation or met at your first Detroit Project mass meeting. Heck, if you knew Amani Toomer, you might get lucky and see him at PACC watching his old team play.

Well, I am heading to State College, PA this weekend to see the Michigan-Penn State game in Beaver Stadium. I have no doubt that I will see some familiar faces at the game, and I will spend a lot of time figuring out how I met them while we were all students at U of M. Reunions are the best...you know, like the Real World San Diego reunion.

M Go Blue. Beat Penn State.