Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/561665
person with these qualities as being trustworthy. Of course, we are all humans, with weaknesses and frailties common to the human condition. Even some of King Arthur 's knights sometimes failed to live up to the code of chiv- alry. But a modern-day knight humbly strives to live by the code, and to learn from his failures and mistakes. None of us know what our end will be in this world. But we can deter- mine what our legacy will be. If you love your fellow man, try to make the world a better place and pass your values on to the next generation. Your legacy will be that you were a knight who truly made a difference. . . . Players also shared some personal experiences during that time, includ- ing assistant Greg Blache, who was hired in 1973 as the school's first black assistant before embarking on a career as a longtime NFL assistant and coor- dinator. The following is a story he shared in the book on why Parseghian en- gendered fierce loyalty among his as- sistants: Greg had been a freshman walk-on whose career was ended by injury, but Ara sensed he had interest in coach- ing and brought him on staff, first as an undergrad and then as a graduate assistant. The latter position covered his tuition and books, plus $1,000 stipend — not much for a guy who was married and had a young boy at home. "Around Christmas, when the sea- son was finished and before recruiting, I was working construction in Elkhart, which paid four dollars an hour. I had a raggedy old Oldsmobile. At lunch, I'd say, okay that's 16 dollars. If I make it through the afternoon, that's $32. We were so poor, we had this Christmas tree that was about 20 inches tall, set on a table," Greg said. About that time, Greg was invited to the coaches' Christmas party at Ara's house. During the party, Greg said Ara was handing out envelopes to the as- sistants. "Ara pulls me asides and says, 'Here, Greg. Here's a little Christmas present for you.' I put the envelope in my pocket. I'm so poor, it's burning in my pocket." Greg went to the bathroom to check out what was inside. "I'm thinking $25. That would be almost a day's work. I open the thing up, and it's $500. My knees got weak. I almost buckled right there." He went back to the party, called his wife aside, and showed her what was in the envelope. She said, "Oh, Greg, we can't accept that." "I went back to the coach and said, 'Can I talk to you?' He said, 'Sure, Greg, what's the problem?' I looked at the envelope, and he said, "What, is that not enough?' I said, 'No. Coach, I can't accept this.' He said 'No, no, no, that's money from the TV show I do. I split it up and give it to you guys for your Christmas present. You've earned every penny of it and more. You take it and you and your family have a great Christmas.'" ✦ This excerpt from Ara's Knights by Frank Pomarico with Ray Serafin has been printed with the permis- sion of Triumph Books (www.TriumphBooks.com).