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Good Fridays w/Padre: Lost in Translation

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The Agricultural College of the State of Michigan is coming to town for a football game. Well, that was their first name; but they soon changed it to State Agricultural College. Realizing that this was dangerously vague – how would the students know which state’s agricultural college they were attending – the name was tightened up to Michigan Agricultural College. But there’s so much more to Michigan than growing cherries and Christmas trees; so the name was elaborated to Michigan State College … [Read more...]

Good Fridays w/Padre: Sunday Services

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I haven’t had to perform too many theological gymnastics in order to accept that we start this year’s Football March to Victory on a Sunday. Yes, it is The Lord’s Day. But you can go to Mass on Saturday evening and it still counts. The Lord is just happy to see you, and He appreciates that you stopped in for a visit. Besides, we don’t take the Bible literally. If we did, there would be a lot of eyes plucked out for looking at filthy images (like USC and Alabama playing with each other), and a … [Read more...]

Scouting Report: Syracuse

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If this were basketball, and it were the early-Nineties, Notre Dame's recent performance against Syracuse would be somewhat understandable, for the Irish are 2-2 against 'Cuse as we approach the fifth meeting of the teams since 2003 and the second-straight at MetLife Stadium.  NEW COACH Take everything you now about Syracuse and throw it away. Except for the horrible colors and the ridiculous mascot. For whatever reason, those things are staying. But under first year head coach Dino Babers, … [Read more...]

Good Fridays w/Padre: Bring It! (or not)

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An errant flyer was slipped under my door recently. It was a series of lists from the Office of Housing, instructing incoming freshmen in “What to Bring to Campus.” I found this amusing, because the Office of Housing used to be Brother Paul the Hermit; and “What to Bring to Campus” was “Whatever You Can Fit into Four Saddle Bags or One Steamer Trunk.” So I found these lists…quaint: Personal Supplies - Shower Caddy: This better not mean a fellow who carries your soap into the scrub room … [Read more...]

Playing Football in Baseball Stadiums is Awesome

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Debate This is a recurring series on Her Loyal Sons in which two writers take opposing sides on a hot topic. Yesterday, you learned why playing football in a stadium designed for baseball is "dumb." Today, you learn why it's awesome.  Many moons ago (these moons) (not that moons) (bless his heart), I wrote about the subway and the importance to the University of Notre Dame of its formative footballing years and how they helped build a national brand out of the little school on the shores of … [Read more...]

Spy Wednesday w/Padre: Faith, Hoops, and Charity

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Normally I write on the last day of the week, and I title my article “Good Fridays w/Padre.” For religious reasons, this is the one week of the year during which I simply cannot write that column. I also consider Maundy Thursday off limits because of the whole Last Supper thing. That left me with Palm Sunday, which was otherwise occupied by watching the basketball lads defeating a giant leprechaun and his Texan team (and I must applaud the cheerleaders’ intensity during that Pom Sunday game); … [Read more...]

Good Fridays w/Padre: NDowment

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A generous fellow named Murphy has just endowed the men’s basketball coachship. This goes along with previous endowments for the women’s basketball coachship, the lacrosse coachship, and of course, the football coachship. The defensive backs coachship is also endowed, and even the athletic directorship. Some people think this is crass, that only professorships should be endowed. I don’t have any problem with setting money aside to pay coaches, since it frees up funds to be used elsewhere. But I … [Read more...]

Irish Add Harland Bower

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Per sources, the Brian Kelly coaching tree just put out a new leaf. Harland Bower, who played linebacker under Brian VanGorder at Georgia Southern after transferring from, you guessed it, Central Michigan, has joined the staff as a defensive analyst. Born in 1988 and hailing from Edison, New Jersey, Bower majored in exercise therapy and graduated in 2009. Bower is definitely a coach on the come. Before his previous job as Central Arkansas' outside linebackers coach, he was the defensive … [Read more...]

Love Thee Notre Dame

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February 14th is a day when it is traditional to send a card or gifts to a person or multiple parties with whom one shares a loving bond or connection. In the old-school tradition, this gesture was purposely meant to be anonymous, or done as a surprise for a new connection or love interest, hence the term "secret admirer." Fans and alumni of the University of Notre Dame are perhaps the furthest things from the idea of "secret" admirers though, as some wear their pride and passion for the … [Read more...]