Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the fifth quarter lou somogyi lished a strong rapport with head coach Frank Leahy and team members, many of whom he knew from school. After one particularly tough loss in which Leahy bit his tongue about what he considered poor officiating, he motioned to Doyle to come over to him so he could vent to him privately. "Joseph," the always formal and eloquent Leahy began, "you have not known me as one to engage in profanity, correct?" When Doyle agreed, Leahy leaned over and said, "Ooooooo, Joseph, we got f-!" Leahy then quickly reminded Doyle to please not print that word — as if any editor was going to let it casually slip by. Sometimes Doyle would be labeled a "homer" because of his close relationship with Parseghian and Notre Dame ties, but even that often only strengthened his credibility. He was the Walter Cronkite — the CBS news anchor once known as the most trusted man in America — of Notre Dame athletics. If "Uncle Joe" wrote it — like it or not — it had to be true. During the funeral mass for Doyle, Notre Dame team chaplain Rev. Paul Doyle C.S.C., (no relation) recalled how one of the highlights of his week as a child in the 1950s in Lynchburg, Va., was receiving the South Bend Tribune solely for the football coverage provided by Doyle. That was shared by thousands of out-of-towners who subscribed to the Tribune during football season solely because of his coverage of the Irish and "According To Doyle" column during a different era of journalism. Before the "Information Age" would spawn hundreds of bloggers and myriad websites, Doyle was the go-to man in all things Notre Dame football. No laptops, no tweeting, no roving the Internet for information at your fingertips in seconds. It was ol'-fashioned legwork, just-the-facts-ma'am journalism, with always a sound perspective of history in a rich, informative tapestry of writings. You not only learned about history with Doyle, but you also felt it like you were there. Beyond his coverage of Notre Dame, the "Greatest Generation" product put in nearly 7,000 military hours in a dozen different aircraft before retiring in 1973, after 30 years, as a Lieutenant Colonel. An advocate of special needs children — which one of his five children was — Doyle served for six years as the president of the Council for Retarded of St. Joseph County. During his time, the Council built the $1.6 million LOGAN Center by Notre Dame, and he worked actively to require special education training in the public schools. In Rev. Doyle's eulogy, he noted how Joe Doyle's colleagues gave him the ultimate compliment of our time on Earth: while overcoming his own share of personal demons, the older he grew, the better man he became. Rest ye well, "Uncle Joe." ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com