Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FAN FORUM lously light punishment handed out to Tommy Rees (community service and a one-game suspension) for resisting arrest and kneeing a police officer, I was reminded of a bright little jingle that goes something like this: Poor little Willie is down in the When I heard about the ridicu- NO JAM FOR YOU dumps He's as sad as sad can be For he's broken his little sister's neck And he'll get no jam for tea. What has happened to the Notre will be in our reading the signs of the times and in educating the youth of our times in vision and values …" said 1952-87 Notre Dame president Father Hesburgh. Have the power brokers of college football learned nothing from the trag- edy of Penn State and the reading of police blotters across the nation filled with names of college athletes? Robert Maynard Hutchins, chancel- Dame that used to care enough about its reputation that when it came to seri- ous offenses, it suspended the offend- ers not for a game but for a season? (Remember the 1974 case involving Ross Browner, Willie Fry, Luther Brad- ley et al?) The punishment in the present case not only doesn't fit the crime, it's laughable, self-serving, and out- rageous. Throw in the similarly light punishment for Carlo Calabrese's threat to the police that "my people will get you" and one gets the idea that today's Notre Dame authorities worry more about football success than little sisters with broken necks. Brooklyn, N.Y. sand words, then the picture of Ara Parseghian and Bear Bryant on page 35 of the August issue of Blue & Gold Illustrated is the equal of a thesis on college football post 1973. Where are the ubiquitous team lo- If a picture is truly worth a thou- VISION QUEST John Martin Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick has witnessed and been a part of major changes to college football on a national level and at Notre Dame. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND coaches with, "A new era dawned on college football this summer when school presidents approved a four- team playoff to crown a national cham- pion from 2014-25." I can hear the clarion call already lor of the University of Chicago, de- cided after WWII that the risk of pro- fessionalism as a member of the Big Ten Conference was so great that he had the University of Chicago leave the conference. I believe Notre Dame because of its mission, its past, its uniqueness, its independence, its lead- ership is able to travel those two roads of Robert Frost's poem and experience the joys and the challenges of both. Notre Dame is blessed with great to every alum, to every fan of every major college football team in the land: "Open your wallets and help us get 'Dear Old Ivy' to the new NCAA promised land called 'College Foot- ball's Final Four.' " I fear it could become terribly diffi- cult for Notre Dame to listen but to pay no heed to those voices demanding entry into this playoff system regard- less of cost. "If our lives in education have any meaning or significance, it FROM THE WEBSITE News about Notre Dame wanting to play Stanford gos? Where are their team caps? Where is the elephant, the leprechaun? Where are the sweatshirts with BAMA and Notre Dame Football for all the sport- ing world to see and to buy? Don't these giants of college football real- ize the financial opportunities they are forsaking by not becoming human billboards? Lou Somogyi opens his column that appears beneath the photo of the two Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007 Send your letters to: Letters BE HEARD! Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com www.BLUEANDGOLD.com leaders such as Coach Bob Diaco, who is as likely to quote Aquinas or Augus- tine as he is Bednarik or Butkus. "The very essence of leadership is that you have a vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet." Father Hes- burgh's famous quote has to be the ba- sis of every decision made by athletics director Jack Swarbrick. I believe that it has been and will continue to be. It won't be easy. Trenton, Mich. Matt Hart in China to end the 2013 regular season was greeted with comedy, approval and anger. Here's a sample: Irishking30: With China's human rights issues, does everyone think it's a good idea for ND to play there? Mob11: I think it would be cool. IFR: This should help our ping-pong team in recruiting. TX golf nut: I actually think it would be great for recruiting. How many teams can say they play in Cali- fornia, Texas, Ireland, China, New York, etc. By itself, just like the uniforms, it will not persuade a kid to come to ND. But it is part of the package. Good for ND. Wjasonp: This better not happen. NDIrish2: China would make no sense. Wouldn't be good for the players. LeftcoastNDfan: Hell no! It's way more important to the California fans to watch the game. ND doesn't need to be the Walmart of college football. Spenna: It gets more ridiculous every day. Vin4Irish: Makes no sense and it starts to make ND look foolish. Send the debate team there. Coachcft: Australia would be a better and more reasonable fit as the game would be understood nearly by all midway through the second quarter. In China, it would be about as understood as the language by a non-native speaker. Want to stay up-to-date with all the Irish news? Like Us On Facebook: www.facebook.com/blueandgoldillustrated Follow Us On Twitter: www.twitter.com/BGInews PRESEASON 2012 7