I’ve always been a firm believer in introducing change slowly. For instance, private rooms for the lads. Sure it’s nice to live in your own broom closet, rather than a human barn; but what sort of mischief will a lad get up to all alone without 50 brothers to snitch on him. Or take electricity. Though I was assured it didn’t explode like gas, it seemed to be an awfully magical source of power, and that could only mean one thing: Freemasons. Even football. ...
History
Good Fridays w/Padre: Team Building
Brian Kelly is taking his show on the road. Specifically, he’s taking his team to beautiful Marion, Indiana, to start the season’s practices. In addition to being an exciting change of venue for the lads, Shiloh Park evidently offers something the University of Notre Dame, in all its glory, does not: A Challenge Course. And I was of the opinion that all of our courses were challenging. As it was explained to me, a Challenge Course is used in team-building exercises. And I was of the opinion ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: ND SA
You have to write an essay – and a good one at that – in order to be admitted to Our Lady’s University. But just anyone can buy, be given, or stumble upon a ticket to a home game. And I’m not exactly sure that’s appropriate. I think there should be an essay application for anyone – student, alum, subway alum, or first-time fan – who wants to enter the House the Rockne Built…except the other team’s people, who we know are illiterate. So I’ve taken this year’s actual essay questions, written ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Common Scents
I’m not nearly as upset about this forthcoming Notre Dame perfume as most people might think. You must remember that the every Main Building I every built (including the one I burned) housed not only my Presidential office, but also dormitories for the lads. That’s right – I worked 16-hour days behind a desk and under the miasma generated by hard-working student bodies. That’s why I had a strict, twice-weekly bathing rule, as well as an unbreakable 4:00 Saturday foot-washing command. Even ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Fr.’s Day
It’s important to remember that all of our greatest football coaches kept their most precious players at home…literally. Each man who has led the Fighting Irish to first place in the rankings has been a father first and foremost. I don’t mean to suggest any element of competition, but no one beats Frank Leahy and his brood of eight, though Dan Devine’s clan comes close at seven. Knute Rockne and Lou Holtz had something in common besides winning a National Championship – both men fathered ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Loose Change
This weekend, Notre Dame Seniors will enter the Stadium where they never saw their team lose this season. But they won’t be cheering for just another football victory. They’ll be cheering for a far more important victory – their own graduation. Keep in mind: football is a nice touch, but our whole purpose here is the education that culminates in graduation. And that’s why more of our football players graduate here than anywhere else (and by “more” I mean very nearly every single one of ...
Lunch with Brady Hoke: Tastes Like Chicken
So Brady Hoke had a luncheon in Grand Rapids and decided to voice his displeasure over Notre Dame cancelling the Michigan series. More precisely, he claimed the Irish were "chickening out" of the series, much to the delight of the audience. Hoke's insertion of his foot into his mouth is simply begging for analysis ridicule as is this entire article, so let's just get to it. ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Last Hurrah
Send three volleys of cheers on high for our Seniors! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hooray! As final exams end today, so begins your last week at Notre Dame. Be proud. Be gracious. Be generous. Be humble. But above all, be happy! For you have achieved something great. And you have achieved it together. When you arrived here as a herd of freshmen in 2009, did you think that in your Senior year you would see your classmates lead your football team to an undefeated season and a #1 ranking? Probably not. ...
Hint of Change Sparks Panic and a Rethinking of Architecture as We Know It
"Eventually, we want a big Jumbotron in there. We think that's something that's going to add to the atmosphere, too." Those words, spoken two seasons ago by Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly, sent a frisson of panic up the stenotic spine of a Notre Dame Nation already overwhelmed by Crazy Train and night games. A year and a half later, on the surfaces unseen in an architect's rendering, revealed May 2, 2013, by Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick and Notre Dame Executive Vice-President ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Admit This
We have a controversy! There is a tear in the seamless garment of our unity. Ugly voices are raised in shouting and discord. Someone has messed with the Stadium! And this time it’s serious – someone has messed with the tickets. Alumni and Subway Alums, put the lead pipes and letter openers down; this doesn’t call for violence on your part, because this has nothing to do with your tickets. You will continue to be given one-sixth of the tickets you request at twice the price you expect. ...