Irish Blogger Gathering: Tailgate Edition

Sarah at Bad Trade is hosting this week's Irish Blogger Gathering, and she has chosen that most venerable of American sporting traditions - the tailgate party - as this week's topic. So grab a brat and a beer and enjoy this week's B.S. session. My answers follow below, Sarah's original post and the responses of the other members of the IBG can be read over at her place.

1. You're having some beers and brats outside Notre Dame Stadium, just chilling with friends. If you could have one Notre Dame player or coach drop by to share a drink, a brat and some stories with you, who would it be?

George O'Leary, without a doubt. I'm sorry, that wasn't nice.

My first thought was Father Ted Hesburgh. He's not a player or coach, although I could perhaps bend the rules to make him an honorary coach or something here at OC Domer. Fr. Ted is a bit of a name dropper (it's actually pretty funny how many names he can drop into any given conversation, the guy knows EVERYBODY), but he really is a fascinating guy to chat with and he really did transform Notre Dame into the University we know today.





But I want to be true to the original question, so I would have to go with former Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Moore. Joe Moore was on Lou Holtz's staff from 1988 (National Championship year) to 1996 and was certainly among the best assistant coaches ever associated with Notre Dame. Coach Moore's tenure at ND ended when new head coach Boob Davie let him go and somehow managed to get the University sued and held liable for discriminating against Moore based on his age. That was probably the first sign that Davie wasn't cut out to be head coach at ND. At any rate, Coach Moore was seriously "old school" and it would be awesome to give the guy a cold beer and let him tell the uncensored history of Lou Holtz's tenure at Notre Dame. I would also love to hear Coach Moore's expletive-laden analysis of why the current Irish offensive line can't run block worth a damn. Maybe we could figure out a way to get Coach Weis and Coach Latina to join us? Coach Moore died of lung cancer in July of 2003. A couple of nice articles about his legacy and career can be found here and here.


2. What was your best experience ever with a tailgate party?

I don't get to a lot of games, so I don't do a lot of tailgating, but the one that sticks in my mind is 2005 at Stanford. That game was on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. We rented a big Chevy Tahoe and drove to Northern California. As a belated birthday present we picked up my mom and took her with us into San Francisco and spent a great day in the city on Friday (Pier 39, Alcatraz, cable cars, Lombard Street, etc...) capped off by the Notre Dame pep rally held in our hotel.

On Saturday we headed down to Stanford for the game. Because Stanford's fans are totally weak, tickets to the game were readily available (I still get mail from the Stanford athletic department today trying to sell me Stanford tickets), so my two brothers were able to get tickets too. Although our plan to meet before the game for some tailgating was woefully thin on details, we miraculously managed to park within just a few feet of each other in a grove of trees not too far from Stanford Stadium. I had purchased a tiny gas grill before we left Orange County, and we all chipped in with bringing food and drinks.

It was a perfect day for football, cool and crisp. We fired up the grill, broke out some cold drinks, and had a great time. My daughter was wearing her "Play Like a Champion Today" yellow T-shirt, my son was in his #10 Brady Quinn jersey, and we were all tossing the football around. We don't get together as a family very often, so having my mom, both my brothers and their wives, and Mrs. Domer & the OC Kids there and enjoying a great afternoon made it a really memorable day. To top it all off, the Irish beat Stanford that night (in a game that was closer than it should have been), and we were all there for the post-game ceremony when they officially began ripping up the turf and tearing down the old Stanford Stadium so they they could build a newer, smaller one for their fans to stay away from in droves. We still have some of that turf tucked away somewhere.


3. There are lots of great tailgate experiences around the country - what school's tailgate tradition do you most want to experience?

They say that game days at the big SEC schools are absolutely amazing, but the place that sticks in my head for no obvious reason is Penn State. I've heard that Happy Valley is just an amazing place to visit for a game. We have some friends who went to Penn State, and my experiences hanging out with them at parties and backyard barbecues leads me to believe that those Nittany Lions know how to tailgate. To me, Midwestern tailgating bundled up in a sweatshirt against a little November chill seems more authentic than tailgating in the South in 90-degree heat, and I think eating a brat and chugging a beer in Happy Valley would just be a lot of fun.

Of course, there is something to be said for tailgating in Southern California. Hard to describe though.


4. Indiana decides that their drinking laws are far too un-draconian (I'm from Wisconsin. I don't understand these things like "kids aren't allowed in bars," "your parents can't give you liquor if they are supervising" and "no alcohol purchases on Sunday"), and drinking is now forbidden on Saturdays. The Excise Police stop by your tailgate, and proceed to dump out the liquor you were attempting to hide from them. What do they pour out?

Well, if we're in our usual low-budget tailgate mode, we're looking at some Corona beer (with slices of lime), and some excellent California wines for the ladies (possibly a nice Zinfandel and some Pinot Grigio from Napa and Sonoma counties). If we're tailgating upscale, there will be some nice vodka for mixing Cape Cods, and things are gonna get ugly if they find that bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label because that stuff is way too expensive to be pouring out on the ground.

5. OK, I couldn't leave it alone completely. How do you feel about the impending end of the Coach Willingham era at Washington?

Look, it's a crappy thing to say but I have to admit I feel a little vindication as an Irish fan and alum. But that's only because the University was unfairly accused of racism when they fired him. The bottom line is that Coach Willingham was not getting the job done in recruiting or on the field. If he had brought in better talent and won more games he'd still be the head coach and they'd be sizing him up for a statue outside the stadium next to Ara's. But since he and his supporters brought race into it, it has become necessary for TW to be publicly exposed as a poor football coach so that Notre Dame put those charges of racism to rest. When politically correct U of W fires Willingham after he has destroyed their football program, that should be the end of the matter for both ND admirers and detractors.

In a way it's unfair for the current players and Coach Weis to be dragged into this. It's not their fault that Willingham was fired - but it somehow falls to them to defend the University's honor by beating Coach Willingham and the Huskies. It's kind of weird, really. But I would bet that Charlie and the team aren't thinking about Ty Willingham at all. I am sure they are just worrying about playing with energy and speed and executing their assignments so that they can get to 5-2 on the year.

Notre Dame, Our Mother

Notre Dame, our Mother
Tender, strong and true
Proudly in the heavens,
Gleams thy gold and blue.
Glory's mantle cloaks thee
Golden is thy fame,
And our hearts forever,
Praise thee, Notre Dame.
And our hearts forever,
Love thee, Notre Dame.

In celebration of Mother's Day, I am dedicating this post to Our Lady of the Lake, and I encourage all members of the Notre Dame family to remember her as well on Sunday as they honor all the moms in their lives (depending on your particular situation that could be "Mom", wife, sister, daughter, neighbor, friend, or even a stranger in need of an encouraging word). It seems too obvious to mention, but devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary has been remarkable throughout the history of the University of Notre Dame. The University is, of course, named for her. The most significant architectural feature of the University is topped by a 16 foot gilded statue of her. And the most significant place of worship at Notre Dame is not the Basilica, but the Grotto, where one can go at any time of the day or night to pray or meditate under her protective gaze.

In research for this post, I came across what must be considered among the most definitive publications on the history of Notre Dame's Grotto and many of the other religious symbols and landmarks at the University. It is called "A Cave of Candles: The Story Behind the Notre Dame Grotto." The author of this marvelous work is Dorothy V. Corson, and all credit for collection and publication of the excerpts below must go to her. I highly recommend the entire story to all those interested in Notre Dame history beyond the football field.

Everyone loves the Dome. But it seems that many fail to see that perched on top of the famous Dome is an impressive statue of Mary. Long before Mary set foot there, it had been the dream of Father Edward Sorin to make it so. As early as 1844, Sorin had envisioned his Lady on the Dome when he wrote:

When this school, Our Lady's school, grows a bit more, I shall raise her aloft so that, without asking, all men shall know why we have succeeded here. To that lovely Lady, raised high on a dome, a Golden Dome, men may look and find the answer.

After the Main Building of the University burned to the ground some thirty five years later, in 1879, Father Sorin renewed his vision:

The fire was my fault, he concluded. I came here as a young man and founded a university which I named after the Mother of God. Now she had to burn it to the ground to show me I dreamed too small a dream. Tomorrow we will build it bigger and, when it is built, we will put a gold dome on top with a golden statue of the Mother of God so that everyone who comes this way will know to whom we owe whatever great future this place has.

Not long after the 1879 fire, the plan for a statue of Mary to top the new Dome had taken shape:

We have received a description of the proposed statue of our Lady which is to adorn the new University, and which the young lady graduates of St. Mary's Academy generously proposed themselves to contribute as their crowning gift to Notre Dame. The model of the statue is that adopted by our late Holy Father, Pope Pius IX, in 1854, on the occasion of the solemn proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (erected by Pius IX in front of the Propaganda College in Piazza di Spagna in Rome). The material will be of highly polished bronze, sixteen feet in height, the crescent with the serpent beneath, and a starry crown above. Nine of the stars will be seen over and on either side of the head. By day the statue itself and its circle of stars will glitter in the sunlight, an object of beauty for miles around; and by night the nine stars will be lit with the electric light, and thus be a beacon of beauty from a still further distance. As the head will be 186 feet above the earth [sources vary on this; 197 feet seems to be the correct figure], it is evident that the jets of light will be seen by night all over the neighboring city and for a great distance on the various railroads entering here.

The young ladies of St. Mary's have therefore undertaken a beautiful task, a labor of love, in thus placing our Lady's statue in mid-air, as Michael Angelo placed the faultless Grecian temple above St. Peter's, a thing of beauty to rest and shine there, a joy forever. May their labor of love be rewarded, here, with the success of the object which they have in view, and afterwards with the sweet memory of the noble deed which they have accomplished, and may our Blessed Lady look upon them with her brightest smiles when, as the shades of night come on, her beautiful statue lights up the landscape of Notre Dame and St. Mary's!

The dream was realized when the statue of Mary was carefully lifted into place in 1883. I think it is important to note here the close ties between Notre Dame and St. Mary's Academy (now St. Mary's College). The profound nature of the gift from St. Mary's to Notre Dame, and the gratitude and love with which it was received is but a symbol of the close historical ties between the two institutions, which is further detailed in Dorothy Corson's manuscript. Periodically an article will appear in the Observer, written by an undergraduate student without any perspective, insulting Saint Mary's and its students, accusing them, essentially, of being parasites living off of Notre Dame. The crux of the article is typically that St. Mary's students shouldn't be permitted to buy tickets to Notre Dame football games. A reading of the full history of the two schools makes clear how ignorant (and selfish) these young authors can be.

A center of devotion at Notre Dame for over a century is the Grotto, a replica of the Grotto at Lourdes, France. The dedication of the Grotto at Notre Dame was an occasion of great ceremony:

On August 5th, 1896, the Feast of Our Lady of Snows, a beautiful statue representing the Blessed Virgin as she appeared to Bernadette at Lourdes was set in place in the new Grotto here at Notre Dame. The ceremony of the occasion, though short, partook of a simple grandeur that is not usually seen outside of Catholic countries. In the cool hours of the morning the Religious of the Holy Cross -- priests, brothers and nuns -- to the number of five hundred or more assembled in the spacious College Chapel to assist at Solemn Mass. All who were present approached the Holy Table and, when the services were over, formed in procession leading across the University lawn and through the picturesque grove in which Our Lady's shrine is situated. The brothers were in front carrying the statue and telling their beads, while the acolytes and priests followed with candles and waving banners. The sisters, chaunting the Litany of Loretto and the Magnificat, walked behind the ministers of the Mass. Those who have never witnessed a procession of this kind cannot know the beauty and the glory of it. Hard indeed would be the heart which would not thrill at the sight. To be sure, we do not refer to the mere specular aspect of a number of men and women marching in picturesque habits through a wooded glen, -- though that in itself is something uncommonly striking; we have in mind, rather, the faith of which is hardly any left in our day. No man could gaze on such a scene without feeling in his inmost consciousness -- whatever his outward expression might be -- that in the Catholic Church faith at least is not dead. And when on this occasion, the statue was finally in place and the religious knelt down before Our Lady's image offering prayers of thanksgiving and supplication, it was clear beyond doubt that here at Notre Dame there exists a faith in the Blessed Virgin's power, before God which is as strong and living as that which existed in the very "Ages of Faith" themselves. It is gratifying to be able to say this much, for it means that blessings are in store for the home of the new Grotto as well as the country round about from which the pilgrimages come.

A procession of 500 priests, brothers, and nuns would indeed have been an impressive sight on Notre Dame's modest campus in 1896. Since it's dedication, the Grotto has played an important role in the lives of Notre Dame residents and visitors alike. Dorothy Corson captures it so well that I won't try to paraphrase it:

An article in the Observer printed on February 13, 1986, five months after [a fire at the Grotto], brought renewed attention to this lovely campus shrine when the threat of loss was focused upon it.

In a portion of that impressive article, Kathy Martin the feature staff writer, speaks of the student experience:

Scarcely a student passes through the challenges, dilemmas, and triumphs of four college years here without taking refuge at one time or another in the peaceful silence of a moment of reflection before hundreds of glowing candles which are special prayers to the Virgin Mary. It is part of the Notre Dame experience and tradition. [...]

Kathy Martin also quotes former Notre Dame President, Father Theodore Hesburgh, who usually visits the Grotto every day when he is on campus:

"I really believe that Our Lady watches over this place. I feel I ought to stop in and say thanks, and also pray that she keeps watching over it." he said. "I usually get down there in the wee hours of the morning when I leave the office," he continued. "There is almost always someone down there, rain, sleet, or snow . . . . Every university has a place where students hang out for their social life, libraries where they study, and playing fields where they play sports, but how many have a praying place?"

The Grotto has earned Father Hesburgh's own personal accolade: "I've been to shrines dedicated to Our Lady all over the world. Mary may visit them, but she lives here at Notre Dame." [...]

This sanctuary among the trees is filled with the memories of a host of fellow travelers journeying through life. John Bruening's comment emphasizes this impression.

On a cold winter night, it's one of the few places you can go to be by yourself, yet never feel alone.

It has been said that the sweetest words in the English language are mother, heaven, and home -- Mary represents them all. The inspiration of her faith burns ever brightly in the candles at her Grotto, so that all people in need might come directly to her, like a child to its mother.

Father John E. Fitzgerald penned these words about that special feeling that radiates from the Grotto and touches the heart:

It's quiet and shady there. Just what there is about the place can't be described because it's different for everyone. Nobody knows how many candles have been burned or prayers answered there. From the great Golden Dome of her University Our Lady reigns as our Queen. Yet at the Grotto she seems to have stepped down a little closer to us that she might emphasize the other side of her personal relationship with us -- that of Our Mother.

The thoughts expressed above echo my own feelings about the Grotto. Haven't we all gone there in a moment of personal darkness and found comfort? Notre Dame, Our Mother.

Happy Mother's Day, from OC Domer.

Father Ted is Turning 90

Notre Dame sent me a mailer yesterday, with information on some of the plans they are making to celebrate the Father Ted Hesburgh's 90th birthday, which is in May. Sounds like a very nice celebration. But it got me to thinking. Where would I rank Father Ted on the list of important figures in the history of Notre Dame? It's a tough call, but I think I would put him #3, behind Fr. Sorin (founded the University), and Knute Rockne (chemistry professor).

Where would you put him?