Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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"That's the moment he understood exactly what she wanted to hear, and it came from his heart: 'We're going to take care of him, he'll be with us … just know that we will take care of him,'" Stone said. "As a parent, when you send your kid away to college, you dream of somebody at the school saying that." NO REGRETS Notre Dame football media relations director Michael Bertsch admitted he had initial apprehensions about the show because of the spontaneity as- pect. "One of the early things I struggled with was the desire of the show to be real and on the fly. Any of the inter- views you saw on the show were in the locker room, or right after practice, right on the field … at times I like to work with the guys and talk to them about some stuff that might get asked and make them as comfortable as pos- sible," Bertsch said. "When you get a kid immediately after that, it's great for Showtime be- Memories For A Lifetime Showtime executive producer Scott Stone said the most gratifying aspect of "A Season With Notre Dame" was the feedback from the Fighting Irish players. "When student-athletes tell us we got it right, that's the ultimate compliment as a storyteller," Stone said. For a weekly half-hour show, not everyone could be featured, nor did everyone want to be on camera, but people such as freshman Jerry Tillery and senior Sheldon Day, both defensive linemen, were naturals in front of the lens. Fifth-year senior and team captain Joe Schmidt was a compelling story, and so was sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer. "Showtime was a special experience that's going to happen only every once in a while," Kizer said. "As a player and person who was a part of that, it was a privilege to have them along with us. There's going to be footage that I'm going to use for the rest of my life to show my family." Kizer also developed some media savvy along the way that has made him a quick study and leader. "They did a good job with editing out the stuff that I didn't really want people to see," he said. "I figured out that if I say the word 'Showtime' while I'm doing some- thing I don't want on there, they can't put it on there. "Anytime I was in a position where I didn't want anyone to see it, I would just start yelling 'Showtime!' I knew they couldn't use it." — Lou Somogyi Sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer became a favorite subject on Showtime, but he also knew when he didn't want certain topics aired. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS