Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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66 JUNE/JULY 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:7, St. Paul's letter O n March 4, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., was placed in his eternal resting spot on Notre Dame's earth after having finished his race. He had always belonged to the world, but he was Notre Dame's treasure, well beyond just the 35 years he served as the school's president from 1952-87. The scene outside Sacred Heart Basilica the day and night prior, and throughout that morning, was a powerful testimo- nial of his influence. In the middle of spring's mid-term exams, and amidst bone-chilling temperatures, students and the public lined up by the thou- sands, first outside and then inside, waiting hours in reverential silence to get a final and brief viewing of Fa- ther Ted in his "God, Country, Notre Dame" coffin. At 3 a.m. on the day of his burial, hundreds upon hundreds of visitors were gradually streaming through the church after waiting about an hour outside. Father Hesburgh had told Blue & Gold Illustrated near his 90th birthday in 2007 that the life he tried to emu- late was St. Paul, which is why he took the name Paul upon his ordina- tion at Sacred Heart on June 24, 1943. "I looked upon Paul as my model because he carried Christ to the world, and I've tried to do that too — even though South Bend, Ind., isn't exactly the center of the world," he said. How do we run the race or carry on the fight to represent Father Ted's legacy? Perhaps he spelled it out best the morning after Notre Dame lost the consensus football national title in the closing minute at USC in 1964 to end a magical year in anguish. This is an excerpt of his letter written to the student body on what it means to run the course in an effort to win any race: "It's dark outside and cold. There is a strange quiet on a campus that usually is pretty noisy … As a fa- mous politician said on losing the presidential election, 'I'm too old to cry, and not old enough not to feel the hurt' … Southern California had done it to us before, and we have done it to them, too, but somehow the world went on, the sun rose again the next morning and people began to dream of next year. "That's football and, in a sense, that's life too — we can never be sure of total victory, not even of eternal salvation, until we've won it. And win it we must, day by day, even minute by minute. Don't ever stop wanting to be No. 1, but especially don't ever stop trying. "… We have to remind ourselves at times that spirit is more than noise. It has a kinship with the spiritual in sport. In this sense, it's called sports- manship. This kind of spirit never abuses a competitor — without him there would be no game — and with him, what takes place can be exciting, thrilling, even hard-nosed without degenerating into cheap abuse, dis- respect or a boorish lack of fair play. … In the Middle Ages when games were often a matter of life and death, there was still a spiritual quality to them called chivalry. "This is the unwritten code that makes sport different. … One of the greatest signs of immaturity is not to be ca- pable of living with success, without becoming arrogant, boorish, or just plain unbear- able. Those who win success the hard way, like the team, rarely show those unpleasant qualities — only those who ride the coattails of success the easy way do. "… If Notre Dame is not teaching you to be responsible as individuals, to be indepen- dent of the mass mentality, to be unwilling to be classed with the lowest common de- nominator, then the educational pro- cess isn't taking hold, and we will deserve the growing bad name we have begun to acquire this fall — even while achieving great success. "I happen to believe that our stu- dent body has every capability of being No. 1, and should be in every way, be it sports, or honor system, or academic or spiritual achievement. All I'm really saying is that life goes on, the challenge remains and it will be a really dark and cold place here if we ever lose the desire to be No. 1 in everything we do, or lack grace and style and humanity in doing it." ✦ HONORING A LEGEND The late, great Lou Somogyi possessed an unmatched knowledge of Notre Dame football and it was his mission in life to share it with others. Those of us at Blue & Gold Illustrated would like to continue to share his wisdom and unique perspective. In each edition, this space will feature the best of Lou's Fifth Quarter col- umns over his 37 years covering the Fighting Irish for this publication. For this issue, we chose this column that ap- peared in our April 2015 edition after Father Hesburgh passed away. We feel it is a fitting tribute to how Lou lived his life and repre- sented the university he loved. If you have a favorite Fifth Quarter column you would like us to run in a future edition, please contact sdowney@comanpub.com. Both Lou and Father Hesburgh always strived for the best in whatever they were doing, and represented Notre Dame with grace, style and humanity. PHOTO COURTESY LOU SOMOGYI BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI On Running The Good Race