Lou is awesome. I don't remember all the details since I wasn't there, but my family went over to Hawaii for the game in '91. Gramps is a big Lou fan, and while in the hotel lobby my uncles spotted Lou and his entourage. They got in touch with his assistant as Lou was walking off to do some press, and they asked if they could get Lou to meet Gramps. They told him to meet back in the lobby at a certain time and Lou would be there. Sure enough, Lou got the message. They said he left some engagement early, and my grandpa was in for a surprise.
Lou shook his hand, and they got a picture of the meeting which Gramps keeps in his office. They spent quite a bit talking, mostly about the team and the stadium. There was talk about the stadium expansion even at that time (Wouldn't be formally decided and announced for another 3 years) and he suggested the premium seating and some other ideas. I'm sure that idea was already being considered, but the bottom line is that Lou took Gramp's contact information and he ended up getting season tickets in those new Gold seats starting in '97. We held those same seats until 2017 when the university started squeezing the Gold seats for more cash, he gave them up after that. There was also a matter of disrespect stemming from his new university rep, but I won't get into that. Sadly, I've seen opposing fans in those seats on two occasions since we relocated to the bleachers, one such game being the Georgia game.
Aside from the picture he has shaking Lou's hand, Gramps also has one with Lou and the whole family. Lou also confided in him that Notre Dame had just offered him a new 5 year deal that week, which is something the university had not done in a long time (Contracts were generally shorter back then). That news wasn't going to hit the presses until a week later, December 6th according to an old Chicago Tribune online article. In any case, Lou was awesome to take time out and meet with the family, and it was one of Gramps' favorite moments as a fan.
