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Our Rival

Good Fridays w/Padre: Bad Question

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Last weekend was that big football game which millions ignore to watch everything else that goes on around it. A lot of defense was played and a quarterback of mature years seemingly concluded his career on a high note. One of the several occurrences that people found more interesting than the game itself was the press conference during which the defeated quarterback was laconic, surly, and dismissive before dismissing himself from the press conference. I’m told this fellow attended no fewer ...

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Good Fridays w/Padre: Being Generous

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In this season of giving, in what I’m told is now a Year of Mercy, the Alumni Association is giving away lanterns to people who “Be the Light.” I’m not sure if this is a command, a wish, or slang. But vague grammar aside, it is a very nice idea to send lanterns to those who light up your days and nights. I would have loved it if someone had sent me a lantern or two around Christmas of 1842 – my log cabin was quite dark and things growled outside the door at night, seeking entry and food. I have ...

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Good Fridays w/Padre: Working Mercy

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Pope Pope Pope Pope. Is no one aware that we have a football season underway? Well, certainly not the Pope, since his idea of a football is round, you can’t touch it, and you play with it on a pitch. Yes, for Catholics (and, strangely, also for non-Catholics) a Papal visit is very exciting. It is an element of our religion, of our belief system, to recognize the supremacy of the Pope. But it’s also an important element of faith for both Catholics and many, many others, to recognize the supremacy ...

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Good Fridays w/Padre: Candid Dates

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There’s been a lot of talk in the last few days about the debate among the candidates who want to be President. I was President and I didn’t have to debate anybody for the position – I just had to buy the land, build the buildings, bring in students, burn it down, start over…you know, those sort of things. When I retired, I became Superior General so I could give the President orders. I highly recommend this course of action to those seeking higher office. The only debate I had while I was ...

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Good Fridays w/Padre: A Tale of Two Teams

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It was the best of seasons, it was the worst of seasons; it was a game of touchdowns, it was a game of turnovers; it was the inspiration for belief, it was the cause of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the autumn of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had a playoff berth before us, we had a second-tier bowl before us; we were in Heaven on earth, we were in a cold, wet Stadium of defeat. Since 1887, we’ve had worse seasons, but few as ...

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The Blue Chip Ratio Revisited: Conference Data versus Schedule Data

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Last week in this space we examined how a hypothetical “conference” containing Notre Dame compared to the five major football conferences on the strength of their recruiting. Now this  conference was nothing more than Notre Dame’s opponents the past four years (minus the schools from non-AQ conferences + plus ND). A number of you gracious readers pointed out that the power conferences playing in divisions with a championship game don’t play the same conference schedule, e.g. Florida and Georgia ...

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Good Fridays w/Padre: Our Forces

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Evidently we’re playing something called the Air Force Academy this weekend.  I’ve never really understood what an “Air Force” actually is.  We never had one in France – and if we had (let’s be honest) they would have found a way to surrender promptly.  We never had an Air Force back when I was starting my Northern Indiana adventure.  We were still doing cavalry charges and using sabers.  So this is all rather odd to me.  As I have studied the issue, it seems that the Air Force maintains many ...

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Good Fridays w/Padre: Armageddon

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The Revelation of the 86th meeting between Notre Dame and USC, which The BVM gave unto him, to show unto his Irish, things which must shortly come to pass; and She sent and signified it by a really freaky dream unto Her servant Edward.  Blessed are they who read this, and they who hear the words of this prophecy, and who believe those things that are written herein: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND. I, Edward, who also am your founder, and your companion in tribulation, was in the most beautiful ...

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Ogling Orgeron: Looking at USC’s New Coach

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The Notre Dame/University of Southern California game on Saturday, under the lights and going off the rails at Notre Dame, will be the twelve thousandth meeting between the two schools, who have been playing college football since the reign of Ximodines LVI. It is also a match between two schools which started the season with highly-ranked defenses and aspirations to much higher poll rankings than either one brings into the game. In fact, that could be story enough, given the histories the ...

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Good Fridays w/Padre: True Colors

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Green is good.  It’s the color of God’s green earth.  Green is the shade of Ireland – 40 shades of Ireland.  Green is one of OUR colors.  Not the ugly reptilian green of Michigan State; not the olivetan green of Tulane and their wave.  This is Irish Green…shall we say Kelly Green.  What wonderful serendipity that our field general shares his name with one of our favorite colors. So the Leprechaun Legion (that mirabile visu green horde of spirit and pride and love and support and noise and ...

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