Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI Paul, which is why he took the name Paul upon his ordination at Sacred Heart on June 24, 1943. "I looked upon Paul as my model be- cause 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 ex- cerpt 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 famous politician said on losing the presidential election, 'I'm too old to cry, and not old enough not to feel the hurt' … Southern Cali- fornia 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 sportsmanship. This kind of spirit never abuses a com- petitor — 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, disrespect 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 capable of living with success, without becom- ing arrogant, boorish, or just plain un- bearable. 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 independent of the mass mentality, to be unwilling to be classed with the lowest common denominator, then the educa- tional process 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 student 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." ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com