tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89345525051751231512024-03-13T16:00:23.898-04:00Bridget McGuire's Filling StationMusings of an Irish Girl, (and zoo keeper's wife), living in the Ozarks ...Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.comBlogger389125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-42439662041872418502023-10-07T10:57:00.001-04:002023-10-07T10:58:39.033-04:00Clover Goes to Notre Dame - a review by Lauren Dangel<p><b>Good morning and Happy Saturday! I hope you're ready for another barn burner tonight when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish head to Louisville, Kentucky, to play the Louisville Cardinals. I'm ready for it ... are you? </b></p><p><b>As we countdown to kickoff, my peer and fellow OneFootDown contributor, Lauren Dangel, has graciously agreed to review my new children's book, Clover Goes to Notre Dame. </b></p><p><b>Here's what she has to say! </b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhynoqje_XX4sA7BfpkFKGHLTjkYkDTK4ULUa9y1v28xUgJBGvjkhcrbY5YHd2YwDUoy6rJ5nC3gsNK6y0EovEYgvENFYWLp5flDn6OOLoLiSR0iPZO1HEOhXqwVSdUMvRJOMBRZpk4cAU3OdDgyu3_Ixcm7CWhRro0k8Ti5g9snUgDPVaaRExMpPywlj/s1263/Front-Back%20Cover%20Final.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="1263" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhynoqje_XX4sA7BfpkFKGHLTjkYkDTK4ULUa9y1v28xUgJBGvjkhcrbY5YHd2YwDUoy6rJ5nC3gsNK6y0EovEYgvENFYWLp5flDn6OOLoLiSR0iPZO1HEOhXqwVSdUMvRJOMBRZpk4cAU3OdDgyu3_Ixcm7CWhRro0k8Ti5g9snUgDPVaaRExMpPywlj/w400-h279/Front-Back%20Cover%20Final.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><b><u><br />Clover Goes to Notre Dame - a review by Lauren Dangel</u></b><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>In
Lisa Kelly’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Clover Goes to Notre Dame</i>,
a curious and playful French bulldog learns that the three leaves of her
namesake remind us to keep faith, hope, and love in our hearts. However, she
worries she may not be worthy of her name. As she starts to think about what it
means to be a good clover, she accompanies her mom on a visit to the home of
the Domers.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>By
the time she sees the Golden Dome and joins the football crowd, she’s so
excited she doesn’t realize she’s broken St. Mary’s Lake’s “no swimming” rule
until she’s made a big splash! Can you blame her, though? It’s Notre Dame!</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Clover
receives the full college tour, befriends a campus squirrel, and of course,
snags some gear at the bookstore, a requirement for any college visit. As she
begins to feel at home as a French bulldog among the Fighting Irish, she
realizes honoring a legacy, and being a clover, doesn’t mean being perfect.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>This
Frenchie’s campus visit took me back to my own childhood. My Irish fandom began
at the age of three, of course, with a story. I came to love the gold and blue
when I saw the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rudy</i> for the
first time and heard that chant in the stands. Just as Daniel Ruettiger’s story
inspired my love of Notre Dame, Clover’s story is sure to inspire that same
love of the distinct Irish pageantry and tradition in young readers.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Every
university has traditions, but few have stories like Notre Dame. Clover’s visit
to her mom’s alma mater invites a new generation to fall in love with the
stories and traditions of the Fighting Irish and inspires them to imagine their
own places in them.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Every
child wants to be part of something special. Clover’s journey across Notre
Dame’s campus reminds young readers of the important roles they play even when
they worry they may not fit in or live up to their names. </b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>###</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Thank you, Lauren, for your book review of <i>Clover Goes to Notre Dame</i>.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Want to check it out for yourself? Head over to my website: www.EchoesFromNotreDameBooks.com. In addition to my new children's book, I have a Notre Dame football cookbook, and three non-fiction books about Notre Dame athletes, as well as children's book packages bundling the book with a Frenchie stuffed animal or a Kelly green children's hat. </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Cheers & GO IRISH! </b></span></p><br /><p></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-32880383214854275602023-06-01T21:54:00.001-04:002023-08-03T19:38:49.565-04:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Betsy Bernard, Notre Dame’s First Female Varsity Diver<p><i>I think my years spent at Notre Dame were the most wonderful gift that my parents could have given me. </i></p><p>Betsy (Shadley) Bernard grew up in the “city of seven hills,” Cincinnati, Ohio. While she never dreamt of being a woman who would break barriers in college, she most certainly did. Betsy was the first woman to dive competitively on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (men’s) varsity swim team, and went on to become a two-time All American representing the University of Notre Dame. Before setting off to Notre Dame she worried if the high price tag of a Notre Dame education would be worth it, but it has definitely paid her back since graduation a hundredfold. How did Betsy Bernard end up attending the University of Notre Dame and diving with the men’s swim team? This is Betsy’s story.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsXb84mDsu0Sg9OLH2y2TRgXMLiXF5mYOFRTEyXqekCotH0ZCDGIRAZOI6U5mwOZ87dAjTBez32XIYc5E78vT-DLn5iB4TVokgwDNh3hvgWQi-fMP9yqVxO3XF8rcRdCMMyOv174MGymxhR23W5tXZxPY788d2hZE4OEUNcWSaus1xasUEqTmHbAhlA/s920/usa_today_11251781.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsXb84mDsu0Sg9OLH2y2TRgXMLiXF5mYOFRTEyXqekCotH0ZCDGIRAZOI6U5mwOZ87dAjTBez32XIYc5E78vT-DLn5iB4TVokgwDNh3hvgWQi-fMP9yqVxO3XF8rcRdCMMyOv174MGymxhR23W5tXZxPY788d2hZE4OEUNcWSaus1xasUEqTmHbAhlA/w400-h266/usa_today_11251781.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;">Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>“I did not set out with the goal of being a diver in college. Growing up I was an athlete. I liked sports, and I enjoyed the competition. As kids, my siblings and I all swam at the local swim club, and I started diving at the age of ten. I started on the trampoline in my parent’s back yard, learning how to do flips, which translated very easily into diving. When I got to high school, my all girls private catholic high school did not have a swim team, so I played volleyball and basketball. I also worked with a private diving coach because I had some potential. Eventually I told my parents this notion that I had some diving potential was silly. I never went to any meets, I was not getting any competitive experience, and I was not able to compare myself against others. I ended up shelving diving when I was a junior in high school.”</p><p>“I was not focused on playing a sport in college; I was focused on going to college and getting an education. I only applied to Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College. I started to apply to the University of Miami (of Ohio), which is near where I lived in Cincinnati, and very quickly changed my mind. My father had gone to Notre Dame, and my brother was a student there when I was applying, and so there was a significant pull, drawing me toward either attending Saint Mary’s or Notre Dame.”</p><p>“I had it in my mind that I would attend Saint Mary’s. While I was a decent student, I was not a great student (as you have to be today to get into Notre Dame). I had already paid my deposit and had picked out my dorm at Saint Mary’s when I received my acceptance letter to Notre Dame. I went to my dad, concerned about the difference in cost. ‘Notre Dame is a lot more expensive than Saint Mary’s. What if I get my Notre Dame degree and then decide I do not want to pursue a career; that I just want to be a mom?’ He replied, ‘I can think of nothing I’d rather invest in.’ I did end up pursuing a career before I got married and had kids, and I enjoyed it very much. At the time that I was heading off to college, there were so many more opportunities for women than there had ever been before. Previously, women had primarily studied to be teachers and nurses. Options are good, but they can confuse you as an 18-year-old girl.”</p><p>“When I arrived at Notre Dame, women had been there for about ten years. While women were not new to Notre Dame, women’s athletics definitely were, and there were very few female student-athletes. The first opportunity to play sports at Notre Dame that presented itself to me was volleyball, which happened to be the sport I liked the best. It was a club team and I went to the first practice with the intention of trying out. It was utter mayhem. The coach was clueless, and I could see it was going to be a big waste of my time. There was also a women’s basketball team, but it was much more organized than the volleyball team was, and I did not think I was good enough to make the team. The next opportunity to present itself to me was the swim team.”</p><p>“My brother Fritz was a senior and a diver on the team and he encouraged me to try out. They had two senior divers, but that was it, and they desperately needed more. Another freshman (guy) and I showed up for tryouts. I had not been actively diving in two years, but I went ahead and tried out and they took me because they really needed more divers. It was the men’s varsity swim team, and I was the only woman on the team, but they welcomed me with open arms. My parents thought it was cute that my brother and I were on the swim team together. It was great that they could come to Notre Dame and watch both of us compete at the same meet. While I technically was a Division I athlete, the NCAA did not even exist/apply to women’s sports. It was the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women). Because there were not that many female students at Notre Dame, I was classified a ‘small college’ athlete. It was not a big deal at all to me, though, because it was something I liked doing.”</p><p>“The first year I was on the team the primary coach was a swim coach, and not a diving coach. Diving only takes up two events at a swim meet, one meter and three meter diving, and I guess it didn’t warrant its own coach. The swim coach, Dennis Stark, was a wonderful man, and a legend, but he did not know much about diving. He would say to me, ‘that was pretty good; maybe point your toes a bit more.’ I received more coaching from my fellow divers than I did from Coach Stark. In my first year on the team I did not perform all that well. I traveled to a meet or two, but I did not make the travel team. The next year my brother graduated and stayed at Notre Dame to go to law school, and they hired him on as the diving coach. That is when I really started to improve. It was a great opportunity for him. He was able to earn a little money doing something he loved while he was in law school. He was a great coach and my diving got significantly better under his instruction.”</p><p>“Being a student and an athlete at a school like Notre Dame was both time consuming and challenging. There is a significant change from being a student-athlete in high school, to doing it at the college level. In high school, your time is quite scripted, but once you get to college, you have way more free time on your hands. Being a student-athlete forced me to budget my time because I had more to balance than just my academics. We practiced in the evenings and I remember going to the library after practice and feeling so far behind because everyone else had already been there for two hours. As a student-athlete you just didn’t have the time to mess around, you had to be productive and not waste time.”</p><p>“As a woman at Notre Dame, the fact that there were more men on campus than women never seemed like a big deal to me. It just never dawned on me that it was not normal. The women who were already there made it very easy for us to come in. Yes, it was obvious that there were not as many women as there were men, but I always felt like I belonged. The only time I felt different was being the only woman on the swim team. When we traveled, many of the pools would only have two locker rooms. The home team would typically get the men’s locker room, and the away team would get the women’s locker room. Then there was me. Since I could not go in the locker room with the rest of my teammates, they would typically put me in an office where I could change clothes. My teammates, however, always made me feel like I was a part of the team. The other teams, however, probably did not like me too much, especially if I beat them. You knew their friends were going to give them all kinds of grief over getting beat by a girl. That was fun. I was lucky enough to have had a real college experience with a little good competition on the side. I worked hard, don’t get me wrong, but I also had a very normal college experience, which many college athletes don’t have today.”</p><p>Every college experience is filled with countless precious memories, but a few special ones usually stand out from the crowd as favorites. “Some of my favorite memories from competing on the swim team didn’t happen on the diving board, but rather on the bus. Traveling with the team on the bus and playing cards in the back with the guys, those are some of my favorite memories. We had a foursome that played spades, and we were always betting a keg. No one actually ever paid off those bets, but we sure had a lot of fun. We traveled with a priest so we always had a pre-meet Mass, or a quick Mass on the way home to get our Sunday obligation in (we timed it, we could get Mass done in 17 minutes!). The camaraderie and the friendships I made with my fellow teammates; that was truly the best part about being a student-athlete. You suffered together, you worked hard together, and you shared each other’s successes together. It was a wonderful thing.”</p><p>“At the end of my junior year they announced there would be a women’s varsity swim team the following year. As a senior, I wanted to stay with my teammates, and so I continued to compete with the men. I did not want to start on a new team my senior year, I wanted to finish where I started. I was still able to compete in the post season against other women, so it all worked out perfectly. Twice during my time competing at Notre Dame on the men’s swim team, I proceeded on to nationals and competed against women from other small colleges. My senior year, when I went on to nationals, I was able to compete with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s team which was an anomaly, but it worked. I made All-American status twice: my junior and senior years. One year it was in Reno, Nevada, and the other year it was in Meadeville, Pennsylvania.”</p><p>When you head off to college, four years seems like such a long time, but without fail, it goes by in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, it is time to take what you have learned along your journey on the Notre Dame Value Stream, and set out to see where the wind blowing your sails will take you. “In order to be a successful student-athlete you must be disciplined in all aspects of your life, which translates very easily to life after college. It also requires you to have perseverance, goal setting, and just being tough. During my years at Notre Dame, I not only learned all of those skills, but I bolstered my faith as well. I think my years spent at Notre Dame were the most wonderful gift that my parents could have given me. Yes, the experience was tremendous, but in the years since, what I learned at Notre Dame has enhanced my life a hundredfold.”</p><p>“I graduated from Notre Dame in 1981 with a business degree, with a concentration in finance. In 1981, the country was in a recession/economic downturn, and it was difficult for me to get a job. I ended up landing a part-time job at IBM through a connection my parents had. I did well and the part-time opportunity turned into a full time job, and I worked there for 15 years. I enjoyed my time at IBM and I really grew up during my time there. I learned how to live in the world, and be successful in the workplace, and I gained a lot of confidence in those years. When my first child was born, I was lucky enough to be able to stay home and raise our children.”</p><p>“We are a Notre Dame family for sure. I have three children, all boys, who all went to Notre Dame. My husband was also on the swim team at Notre Dame (it is how we met … I married one of my teammates!) He was an accounting major at Notre Dame. He went on to get his law degree and is currently an attorney in Detroit, Michigan. We dated for nine years before we got married. I wanted to find my own way in the world first, and be independent before I got married. All of our sons played sports growing up, but none of them pursued anything at the varsity level in college. They all played intramural sports at Notre Dame, and were coaches for the women’s intramural teams. My youngest son, Mikey, won Bookstore Basketball twice.”</p><p>Depending on the sport, the relationship between coach and athlete can vary. In some sports, the coach is very involved in the day-to-day details and instructions, and in other sports, not so much. Betsy spoke with me about her relationship with her coach. “The coach of the Notre Dame swim team was very open minded to allow a woman to compete on the men’s team. Back in those days that just did not happen. At the same time, he did not always know what to do with me. Before the first swim meet he asked me, ‘do you need a bathing suit? Do you think if I gave you two of the guy’s suits it would work?’ Um, no! (laughs) He was kidding with me (sort of) … but not really. I traveled with the team a few times as a freshman, and they would put me in a room with my brother. As time went on we got a few more women on the team, but they did not travel too much, so most of the time I had my own hotel room. I am very thankful that he was so open-minded with me, and gave me the opportunity to compete with the men. It sure did make his life more complicated, but I’m very grateful that he was willing to work with me.”</p><p>Notre Dame does such a great job of teaching Her students to give back, and so I always ask my interviewees if they have any volunteer efforts they would like to share. “I do a lot of volunteer work. I cuddle babies in the NICU weekly. I deliver communion to the homebound. When our kids were growing up, we were involved in a program that hosted sick children from other parts of the world who needed medical care and did not have access to it. Over the years, we hosted four different children through a program called, ‘Healing the Children.’ (https://www.healingthechildren.org/) The children would stay at our house and receive treatment at the local hospital. Local doctors would in turn donate their time/care. It was an incredible experience, not only for my husband and me, but for our children as well. It was such a great thing to be able to show our children that everyone can make a difference. That we all can work for social justice and make an impact. You always get more than you give.”</p><p>I greatly appreciate Betsy for spending some time with me and talking about her experiences at Notre Dame. I also found two other stories about her that I would like to share as well. One from the Scholastic and one from the Observer.</p><p>From the <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/Scholastic/VOL_0134/VOL_0134_ISSUE_0021.pdf" target="_blank">April 15, 1993 edition of the Scholastic</a>:</p><p>A New Tradition</p><p>In the fall of 1972, 325 women arrived on campus. At the time, there were no organized athletic activities for women. But, according to Notre Dame Sports Information director John Heisler, the university was open to implementing opportunities for women to compete in sports. . “The office is prepared to do all it can ‘to arrange athletic events for the girls. Thus the girls are encouraged to make their desires for various athletic programs known,” said interhall girls supervisor to the Scholastic in 1975.</p><p>Since it took several years before varsity teams were established, there were a few instances where women were allowed to compete with the varsity men’s team. When the men’s swimming team went to meets before there was a women’s varsity swimming team, females were allowed to compete at the meets against the opposing women’s squad. In 1977, Betsy Shadley, a Notre Dame diver, earned a monogram on the team.</p><p>According to The Dome, the first woman to earn four monograms was Maggie Lally. She was a member of the basketball team from 1977-1981. Jeanine Blatt and Betsy Shadley, both members of the swim team, were the first female Notre Dame All-Americans in 1979 and 1980. Molly Sullivan, a fencer, was the first and only four time Notre Dame female All-American in 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988</p><p>And this snippet from the <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/Observer/v14/1980-03-17_v14_107.pdf" target="_blank">March 17, 1980 edition of Observer</a>:</p><p>Four Achieve All –American Status</p><p>by Michael Ortman Sports Writer</p><p>MEADVILLE, Penn. — Notre Dame swimmers Jeanine Blatt, Lee Ann Brislawn and Kathy Latino and diver Betsy Shadley were honored as AIAW Division III All- Americans following their performances in the three-day-long National Swimming and Diving Championships held here this weekend. Since Notre Dame has no separate varsity team for women, the four had to compete with the men during the regular season. Times recorded against male competition qualified them for the 102-team national championships. Both Blatt and Shadley earned All-America honors last year in a similar small college championship in Reno, Nevada.</p><p>Shadley put on an impressive diving display, earning her laurels from the 1-meter board. Her 342.81 points placed her third in a field of 55 divers. In the 3-meter competition, Shadley failed to qualify for the finals by just six-tenths of a point and finished in 13th place. “I was a little calmer than last year,” admitted the Cincinnati native, “but I was still really nervous. I perform a little better under pressure, and I think that was a little plus.”</p><p>“I was incredibly pleased with the girls’ performance,” said Irish swimming coach Dennis Stark. “I really think they represented women’s swimming at Notre Dame in grand fashion.”</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-38344360620340154762023-05-18T21:35:00.003-04:002023-08-03T19:36:22.479-04:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Notre Dame Olympic Runner, Selim Nurudeen<p><i><b>Sports taught us all that you are not the top dog, and most of the time you won’t be the top dog...</b></i></p><p>For this week’s Throwback Thursday post, I have an interview with former Notre Dame Fighting Irish track and field runner, Selim Nurudeen (Class of 2005). </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm_1N6630YCu6igi6kBRz9D7fq8Q3gBgpi0L3tkumXPO8V_1ZALPnOM0a4d_5Ip1B1wqdlgvrf3gLvZOpUFyYqVgaI7UYDtUNfxQkYmJwxLMSeyt-gbjWgu4_8U2Wrx5NUTRbZpDVhJHA3vH7Arh3Yu0PlVNNZlsDE2FJY_dcPG4XPmiTRugnj-HpIA/s920/149927466.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm_1N6630YCu6igi6kBRz9D7fq8Q3gBgpi0L3tkumXPO8V_1ZALPnOM0a4d_5Ip1B1wqdlgvrf3gLvZOpUFyYqVgaI7UYDtUNfxQkYmJwxLMSeyt-gbjWgu4_8U2Wrx5NUTRbZpDVhJHA3vH7Arh3Yu0PlVNNZlsDE2FJY_dcPG4XPmiTRugnj-HpIA/w400-h266/149927466.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 07: Selim Nurudeen of Nigeria, Gregory Sedoc of Netherlands and Andrew Turner of Great Britain compete in the Men’s 110m Hurdles Round 1 Heats on Day 11 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 7, 2012 in London, England.</figcaption><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.75px;"> </span><cite style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.75; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images</cite></span></span><p><b>Notre Dame Olympic Runner Selim Nurudeen</b></p><p>Most of our lives are filled with challenges, adventures, and adversity. Selim Nurudeen’s life has been no different. The son of an anesthesiologist, his family moved around a lot as his father journeyed through his medical training, residency, and eventually a permanent job. Growing up in a house that moves you around teaches you many great skills including being able to adapt to new surroundings, and to make new friends. Skills that are useful throughout our lives as we continue to travel along our own personal journeys. Selim headed off to Notre Dame thinking he would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor, but life has a way of taking us in directions that we never would have seen. Where did Selim’s path take him, you ask. This is Selim Nurudeen’s story.</p><p>“I moved around a lot growing up as a result of my dad’s career in medicine. We started out in Atlanta (for 10 years), then moved to North Carolina for his residency (for 4 years), and then we moved to Texas which is where I went to high school. I did not start running track until I was 13-years-old. I started running by racing with my older sister (which we did a lot) and she used to beat me all the time. My main love, however, was basketball. I played basketball more than anything else and track was my backup sport. It was something I did when it was not basketball season. I played basketball and ran track in high school. When it came time to start looking at colleges I was looking at Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Arkansas and Duke. My top two picks were Georgia Tech and Notre Dame because I wanted a school that had a good balance between sports and academics. Arkansas actually had one of the best track programs in the country, and but in hindsight I lucked out as Arkansas had a complete coaching change the next year, which can definitely be precarious for athletes that are already there. Arkansas recruited me the hardest, with Notre Dame and Georgia Tech next in line.”</p><p>“The visit to Notre Dame absolutely won me over. I connected with both the students and the environment. I had the most fun during my visit to Georgia Tech, but something about Notre Dame connected with me on multiple levels. During my visit, I stayed with a triple jumper, Quill Redwine. He ended up being a mentor to me and we are great friends to this day. He was an outstanding host. He did not sugar coat what Notre Dame was or what kind of experience I was going to have there, and that showed true to my time at ND. I was not big on the Greek life thing. I knew what I was going to college for and that was to get an education, and it was a good environment for me to do that. Of course, I enjoyed going to a party, but I had goals that I wanted to attain at Notre Dame. My parents saw the 97% graduation rate at Notre Dame and they were sold.”</p><p><b>The Notre Dame Years</b></p><p>Of course, when you get to college, there is a transition from doing academics and sports on a high school level, to now performing and competing on a college level. Selim talked about what this transition was like for him. “I think the biggest transition for me was being able to find my balance. It was a challenge for me to find the balance between keeping up with my schoolwork and running track at the college level. Classes were more challenging, there was more travel to the different meets, the people you were running against were so much more talented, and there was a lot more anticipation. Coming into college I came really loaded with the notion that I came here to do this, this and that. There was not much time for me to adjust. ‘I’m here to run and study and get all of this done.’ All of the responsibilities in the classroom were a bigger challenge for me than the competition on the track. I was at Notre Dame to work, and my fate was completely in my hands. Everything I did, or did not do was all up to me; if I wanted to be great, it was up to me to do it. There was so much in your own hands that was completely up to you. I think that athletes make the transition from high school to college so much quicker because they have to. Another big transition for me was the pressure. There was much more pressure on you in college than there ever was running in high school. In college, you have to hit a certain time to even get invited to a meet. I put a lot of pressure on myself, maybe too much pressure. That was a huge adjustment for me, to compete on that big of a stage right out of the gate.”</p><p>Many of us set off to college knowing exactly what we want to do when we grow up. Some of us completely and without pause follow through with those goals. And the rest of us (myself included), find out that what we thought we wanted to do is not exactly as we had expected, and set out to chart a new path. Here is what happened to Selim.</p><p>“My dad was an anesthesiologist, and that was kind of the family trade, everyone went into medicine. I was pre-med at Notre Dame for 2 1/2 years and I was miserable. My grades were fine, I was getting As and Bs, but it was awful. My classes were like warfare, and track was the easy part of my life because school was so difficult. I was at a point where I was depressed. I did not want to go to medical school. I just wanted to run. What if I wanted to go to the Olympics? How could I possibly balance training for that and medical school? And then I heard my dad talk about the passion he had for medicine and that shined a light on the passion I did not have for medicine.”</p><p>“I did, however, have a passion of my own. I had been drawing all my life. A triple jumper on the Notre Dame Track team, Scott Kelly, was drawing as we were traveling on the team bus one day, and I asked him what he was working on. He explained to me that he was an Industrial Design major and was designing shoes for a project in one of his classes. In his classes, they were designing products from ideation through to the point where they executed with engineers to get the products designed. Right there I thought, ‘where do I sign up?!’ I set up a meeting with one of the professors who was in charge of the degree program and showed him some of my work, and he told me I had a natural talent for design.”</p><p>“I talked to my parents about the possibility of my switching majors to Industrial Design and they were very skeptical. The professor I spoke with reached out to my parents and reassured them, explaining that I was in very good hands in this program. At that point in my education I had already completed all of my pre-med requirements, and so in my junior year I switched majors, overloaded my schedule with design classes, and never looked back. There was a national housewares design competition, and the Industrial Design program at ND was not that big compared to some of the programs at other schools, but at this competition, I ended up finishing in second place. It completely blew my mind, and at the same time, it gave me the justification to prove that I was where I was supposed to be. At that moment my parents knew I was on the right path.”</p><p>Every athlete has a unique relationship with their coach: some are thick as thieves, and some are like oil and water. Selim talked to me about his relationship with his track coach at Notre Dame and how he helped him develop both on and off the track.</p><p>“I drove him crazy, all the time. My track coach was Coach John Millar, and he was the men and women’s sprint coach. And yes, I drove him crazy. I did not let him coach me very much. I got so upset with myself, and put so much pressure on myself, that he as my coach would have to run interference between me and myself. ‘You’re fine!’ he would say. We had a very strong relationship. It was cool because he was able to keep it simple for me, as he knew that I was going to overthink everything. He gave me the knowledge that I needed. I remember he would tell me, ‘when you’re hurdling, all you have to do is raise your arm higher when you’re going over the hurdle.’ He was able to simplify his instructions to me by giving it to me in certain cues. I was also able to apply that to my homework. I was always making everything more complicated that they needed to be. I started to look at it like this: Figure out the one thing that you need to do first, and once you figure that out, often times it takes care of everything else. A lot of this is muscle memory, so all you have to do is find the one thing that you need to do that sets precedence over everything else. Once I figured that process out, it helped me in both track and field and in my academics. I used to treat track as if it were life and death. No one was making it that way for me; I was doing it to myself.”</p><p>“After I had taken my first general chemistry test, I called my mom crying and told her I was sure I had failed it. Then, with the curve (which at the time I had no idea what a curve even was), I ended up with a B! It is funny, I loved taking organic chemistry, and I totally got it, but I hated taking general chemistry. And I still don’t understand general chemistry to this day!” (laughs) When I was in school, I was so focused on getting good grades and getting certain times on the track. Now, when I look back on it, college is more about what you learned when you came away from those things, and not what grades you earned. It is funny, I do not remember many of the times I ran, but the lessons I learned from the different situations I was in, that is what I remember. And that’s what lead me to where I am today.”</p><p>Here it is the question that my subjects either love or hate. What was your favorite sports memory from your time at Notre Dame?</p><p>“My favorite track and field moment at Notre Dame was at an indoor conference during my senior year. I had won the year before, and my time broke the meet record in the 60-meter hurdles. After that performance, everyone expected me to win again my senior year. I had a rival who ran for Rutgers. He was not a great hurdler, but he lived to run against me. He would always run his fastest when he ran against me, and then he would never run that fast ever again. I just knew my senior year that he was going to bring it. I ran decently in the prelims. We were at this terrible track in Syracuse that was falling apart. When we ran the finals, my block slipped, and as a result, my rival ended up beating me. However, they ended up calling the race back, and had us run it again. People were so mad. They were staring dagger looks at me. They had us run the 60-meter hurdles again after the 60-meter dash, which was also an event I ran.”</p><p>“It actually worked out for me because they could not use the excuse that everyone else had to run a race while I had to rest, because I had to run the 60-meter dash before we re-ran the 60-meter hurdles. I ran the in the finals of the 60-meter dash and finished in fourth place, and then they re-ran the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. I must have been mad as a result of the dagger looks people were giving me over my slipped block because I not only broke my own meet record, it was also the second fastest 60-meter hurdle time in the whole country! I was so hyped after that race. That is hands down my best track and field memory from my time at Notre Dame. The best part was that no one could say anything to me because I re-ran the finals of the 60-meter hurdles after running the finals of the 60-meter dash and I still came out on top.”</p><p><b>Professional Career</b></p><p>“Upon graduation it was time for me to figure out what I was going to do in life. I wanted to continue running. I also wanted to continue my education and get my master’s degree. So I headed to Arizona State University to work on my Master’s in Instructional Design, and I trained with a running coach out there. I did not know what was going to happen with my running. The coach I met out in Arizona had coached for West Virginia University, and she was Nigerian just like me. She was trying to recruit another girl on my team, who was also Nigerian, to run for the Nigerian national team. Once I found this out I told my teammate to tell the coach that I was interested, too. ‘I have a Muslim name, so you probably didn’t know I was Nigerian.’ And yes, she was surprised. So the next year I was at ASU, working on my thesis, and training. In January, I had only run one indoor meet when I got a call saying that they were going to fly me to Nigeria in two weeks for the trials with the goal being to compete in the Commonwealth Games, which were going to be in Melbourne, Australia in April. Get ready for it! All I could think was, ‘Oh shoot!’ Yes, that is how my professional running career began. There was no planning; it was an operation of faith.”</p><p>“I finished my master’s degree in 2008, and was training the whole time I was in school. I was gearing up for the Olympics in Beijing, (running the 110-meter high hurdles), where I was a semifinalist. I was hurt that whole year leading up to Beijing. I had a stress fracture, and was getting my butt whooped from taking time off to deal with the fracture. It was not until the last couple of meets in Europe when something clicked with me and I was able to apply it to my running. Thankfully, I ran really well in the prelims. So well that I set a personal record.”</p><p>“Once I had completed my masters, I had a friend who was training in Florida and was making great strides in terms of her improvements, and so she connected me with her coach. I then moved to Orlando to continue my training there with him. It was interesting, and I learned a lot from his coaching. It was under his instruction that I ran in the London Olympics. Now, I am still here in Florida … as it is where I met my future wife. She was in a training group that worked on the other side of the track!”</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhklwf4xzJvS22_qCcNcLEKsSOELcS5jJz7sq8NJ8hZqHl5_sOD0P9D-JUZEvGUAvzy6roDu9JjBSRxaHV0W6axht8sl7-0zAn8MBLF-3yAXbSKjbZ3EbBUvSVwhLAaE9WmqV_z4-ZpqmL1ugN7zn9z1NEEnd9pYrHIUk7W7SsWXg3034t_U8vFtmGA/s720/149996216.jpg.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="720" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhklwf4xzJvS22_qCcNcLEKsSOELcS5jJz7sq8NJ8hZqHl5_sOD0P9D-JUZEvGUAvzy6roDu9JjBSRxaHV0W6axht8sl7-0zAn8MBLF-3yAXbSKjbZ3EbBUvSVwhLAaE9WmqV_z4-ZpqmL1ugN7zn9z1NEEnd9pYrHIUk7W7SsWXg3034t_U8vFtmGA/w400-h255/149996216.jpg.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 08: Andrew Turner of Great Britain and Selim Nurudeen of Nigeria compete in the Men’s 110m Hurdles Semifinal on Day 12 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 8, 2012 in London, England.</figcaption><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;"> </span><cite style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.75; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images</cite></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>“Running in the Olympics was a really fun experience, but I went into the Olympics like a man on a mission. I ran a personal record in the prelims of both of the Olympics in which I competed. I did not have time to be dazzled. I had work to do. Running at Nationals in college and running in the Olympics seemed the same to me. Yes, one stadium was bigger, but the pressure was the same for me. The one thing that was different at the Olympics was the Olympic Village; that was amazing. It is its own living space. Everything thing you could possibly need is there. It was the perfect environment for you to compete at your athletic peak. Being at the opening ceremonies was a fantastic experience as well. Beijing was so incredible; I just cannot put it into words. Getting to meet athletes from different countries, and NBA players. Getting to go the Great Wall when I was finished competing. The whole experience was priceless. I was really able to enjoy myself once my race was done. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.”</p><p><b>Life After Sports</b></p><p>“While I was getting my master’s degree, I also got into graphic design, because I had those skills from my undergraduate degree. This allowed me to do some freelance work and make some money while I trained for the Olympics. I made my roommate a flyer (he was a trainer at a gym), and then all of his coworkers starting coming to me because they needed flyers. Then I started branching out and made some logos, and brochures, and then people asked me if I made websites. What did I do? I taught myself how to code and then I started making websites, and it just ballooned from there. The work-life balance I learned at Notre Dame helped me to balance my training and my freelance work. It was great because I did not have to look for a job. I could just come home after training and work. I set my own hours, I had a steady flow of work, and I got to work from home. I didn’t do a lot of marketing to promote my work, either; it all came through word of mouth.”</p><p>“Today I have my own company which does graphic and web design … that very same company that I started while I was training. I am publishing a graphic novel that I have been working on for a while. I was able to turn my artistic background into a career I love. From the design competition I was in at Notre Dame I was able to patent the product I created. Someday I need to figure out how to move that forward. Having the opportunity to create something that can potentially affect the world was an incredible experience. What did I create you ask? A broom/vacuum device which is as effective as a broom but changes the dustpan step to make it more efficient in the dirt/dust remove process. During the development process, I got to work with an engineer to execute the technical part of it. If only I could tell the me back then what I know now! I also know why so many great products never see the light of day. It is more than just designing and developing a product, there is a whole another level: marketing, getting it built, putting it in front of the right people. It is a whole process. I definitely did not get it then, but the process was invaluable to me.”</p><p>I asked Selim if he could share some words of advice for young student-athletes, and here is the wisdom he shared.</p><p>“My advice would be to enjoy it, as it goes very fast, but to also learn the lessons along the way. The lessons you learn in sports will influence you for the rest of your life, and will continue to appear as you live your life. In addition, it is not just the lessons you will learn in sports, but how you handle yourself during those life experiences, that you will be able to fall back and use later on as you journey through your life. Learn the lessons from the sport you are in, and grow from those experiences. You will be able to use them in all aspects of your life. Do not always take life so seriously. All of those seemingly difficult things, they are just a footnote in your life. I was at Notre Dame for four years. When I look back at the last four years of my life and how quickly they went by, that is exactly the same amount of time that I spent at Notre Dame. Enjoy every moment of your sports career, because they go by so fast. Something bad might happen and you might think it is literally the end of the world, but in reality, it is just a small blip in the story of your life. Enjoy it, don’t take it so seriously, and make the best of each moment.”</p><p>I just cannot end an interview without asking for a funny story …</p><p>“Well, we played in Notre Dame’s Bookstore Basketball tournament one year even though we were not supposed to have a team at all. We had a ‘secret team.’ Most of us had played basketball in high school, and so we were not too bad. We made it to the Sweet 16 two years in a row (my sophomore and junior years), but we were not able to play because we had relays at the same time. My junior year, when we got to the Sweet 16 (our team name that year was ‘The Bad Guys From Space Jam’), someone called our coach and said, ‘I do not think it is fair that there is a bookstore basketball team with track guys on it.’ (Oops.) We went to practice that day and our coach says, ‘will The Bad Guys from Space Jam please stand up.’ He then proceeded to tell us that if we wanted to run at relays we needed to drop out of the tournament. There were so many creative teams playing in the bookstore basketball tournament. It was so fun to watch, even if we could not participate. There was a team called Condiments, and each guy was covered in his respective condiment (mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise). No one wanted to play them because they were so gross!” (laughs)</p><p>Selim and his wife currently live in Orlando, Florida, and have a little girl. All of the siblings in his family were athletes. His two sisters went to Texas A&M and both ran track, and his brother went to Baylor where he played football. “Sports taught us all that you are not the top dog, and most of the time you won’t be the top dog, so you better have a humble spirit and the determination to keep working toward the next level. These lessons are easy to translate into your professional career and the rest of your life!”</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p><p><br /></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-15084292933120615462023-05-04T21:20:00.001-04:002023-08-03T19:33:17.979-04:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Preparation in Practice Leads to Success on Game Day<p>When I interview former football players, of course the stories of the big game, or the big win, are of great interest. But the daily activities, such as practice, can also contain interesting stories as well. Today I’ll share with you two Notre Dame Fighting Irish football practice stories. One from former Notre Dame outside linebacker Rich Thomann (who played under Ara Parseghian), and one from former Notre Dame defensive walk-on Stephen Pope (who played under Lou Holtz).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqAb-k6bfT47_d17QBFyP_qbZ7XFP8KtFWTGxRZqRQezvk5Dg-X9HGS-KoCcnAPsZ09MCfxDpR-hC-pjPfmopj1QqiS6hFlHOIrL_7C6-WJwUVw3Z0Mw1LG-cLT3bChibvjgbzR-GTATQdvWXLFzfO8f5YCu4g9ErGmwKQOMAYrh9YqaV5bXnuaitWyg/s920/51894785.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqAb-k6bfT47_d17QBFyP_qbZ7XFP8KtFWTGxRZqRQezvk5Dg-X9HGS-KoCcnAPsZ09MCfxDpR-hC-pjPfmopj1QqiS6hFlHOIrL_7C6-WJwUVw3Z0Mw1LG-cLT3bChibvjgbzR-GTATQdvWXLFzfO8f5YCu4g9ErGmwKQOMAYrh9YqaV5bXnuaitWyg/w400-h266/51894785.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><b>Rich shared this story with me ...</b></p><p>“On one hot summer day in pre-season 1970, the defense practiced against the scouts on one field, and the offense practiced against the scouts on another field that backed up to the first one, with Ara’s coaching tower in between so that he had an end zone look at both fields. He mostly watched the offense, but on one play we (the defense) were going live tackling, and I failed to come up and make the tackle on a screen pass. I knew I should have made the play and I quickly got myself back to our defensive huddle hoping Ara was looking the other way. But when I looked up ... he had smoke coming out of his ears as he climbed down off the tower. There I was, just hoping he’d walk the other way, but he didn’t.”</p><p>“We all froze in the huddle. He walked over and stood directly behind me and I could feel his heated breath exhaling down my neck. I was shaking! He whispered in my ear that the same play would go again and this time I was going to make the tackle or his size nine shoe would fit nicely between the cheeks of my rear end, and as I looked down his leg was cocked up ready to deliver! Captain Tim Kelly broke the huddle, and I’m positive that every guy in that huddle was glad it wasn’t them, and we ran that play again. This time I defeated several blocks and made the tackle like I should have done the first time and returned to the huddle where Coach was waiting. All he said was, ‘That’s more like it.’”</p><p>“The cool thing was no-one overheard what he said to me, which meant he didn’t embarrass me in front of the entire team, and then he promptly climbed back up the tower. I remembered that lesson, and it was seared in my memory. In that season’s last game vs. USC (in the LA Coliseum) their All-American Offensive Lineman, Ron Yary (I believe), had pulled out and detached from the rest of the offensive line in the flat area on my side, with the Southern Cal running back receiving the screen pass. It was do or die, on National TV, and I’m outweighed by 60 pounds, and yet somehow I have to make the tackle. It was as if Ara’s shoe was ready to deliver if I didn’t! So I charged at the huge 6’5” 260 pound lineman full speed, (I weighed about 200 soaking wet), and cut his legs right out from under him. Somehow, because it was raining and the footing was poor, the running back fell over him. Years later listening to a replay of the game someone sent me, the color guy was Bud Wilkinson, (the famed Oklahoma Coach), and he said that my play was the finest he’d seen a linebacker make all year. If he only knew all I was a trying to do was avoid getting my butt kicked by Ara!”</p><p><b>Former Notre Dame football player, Stephen Pope, talks about what it was like to be a walk-on playing for Coach Holtz. (Excerpt taken from Chapter 3 of “<a href="https://www.echoesfromnotredamebooks.com/product-page/triumphs-from-notre-dame-the-echoes-of-her-loyal-sons-and-daughters" target="_blank">Triumphs From Notre Dame</a>.”)</b></p><p>“During spring ball my sophomore year, we were already looking ahead to fall ball and preparing for the first game of the season. As a defensive player on the scout team, we were tasked with running a particular team’s offense, and on this particular day we were running Northwestern’s defense, as they were the first game of the season. This particular practice was a half speed practice. Basically, you were walking through the plays on the field. After walking through a couple of plays, we moved to running plays at full speed with the caveat that nobody hits the ground. Well f-ck, man. I know exactly what they’re going to run. And to be honest, the guys on offense were getting kind of lazy, so I come in and hit the running back. I don’t knock him down, just hit him squarely, but apparently that was too much. Then I hear the coaches yell, ‘Pope, what are you doing?! That’s not your assignment. Run the defense g-d d-mnit.’ And I reply, ‘But coach, he did such and such, and so that’s why I did this.’ It was the first time I had ever talked back to a coach. Coach Holtz looks directly at me and says, ‘Run the g-d d-mn defense or get out of here.’ Yep, that was the gist of it. Then Skip Holtz comes over and starts berating the running back, and after that goes back over to speak with Coach Holtz. At least someone recognized that I wasn’t being a jerk, I was merely trying to help the offense get better.”</p><p>A team is made up of players with not only diverse talent levels, but diverse personalities as well. This can be good, as it helps each player to grow based on their teammates pushing them on; it can be challenging as well. The Notre Dame Value Stream knows exactly what to do to take this diversity and turn it into something incredible.</p><p>“Ricky Watters, Tony Brooks, Andre Jones and Todd Lyght were the rock stars of Notre Dame when I came in as a freshman. They were seniors that year, and had just won the national championship the year before. I was lined up across from Ricky my freshman year, and I was pretty uneducated when it came to Notre Dame Football. Yes, they had won the national title the year before, but I didn’t follow Notre Dame Football. They weren’t my squad, I followed west coast teams. As a result of my not knowing who the ‘star players’ were, Ricky thought I had disrespected him. And so as a result of him thinking I had disrespected him, in my mind it was his goal every practice to knock me out. I thought he had this personal vendetta against me.”</p><p>“This one day at practice, we’re having this scout team moment where coach is getting on us. He is screaming at the defense to run the play because he’s trying to get his rock stars to actually practice. Meanwhile, Ricky Watters and Todd Lyght and Andre Jones are telling us, ‘we’re seniors. We won a national championship. We’re not getting hurt, we’re going pro. We are not going to practice hard.’ And they let it be known. And Coach Holtz says to them, ‘yeah, you won in ’88, but guess what? This isn’t ’88, and if you actually practice, you have the chance to win it again.’ So I am lined up across from Ricky. It’s a full speed; nobody goes to the ground practice. I’m playing free safety. When we run the play I wrap Ricky up, and he f-cking throws an elbow to my chin and knocks me down, and runs all the way down the field. I’m thinking to myself, ‘what the f-ck was that? I’m being the dude, and coming in, and helping you out.’ We’re doing repetition drills, and so we line back up to run it again, and what do I do? I don’t just wrap him up or knock him down, but I f-cking rock him, and drive him back six yards, and now he’s hot. He immediately comes after me, ‘who the f-ck are you? How dare you?’ and I just say, ‘dude, whatever,’ and walk away. I knew I was a good athlete, and a smart guy; I also knew I could play at Notre Dame if given the chance. As a walk-on, you had to prove yourself every day.”</p><p>I love hearing the every day stories of how coaches like Parseghian and Holtz ran their practices, and prepared their players for what they would see on game day. Rarely would there be a situation on game day that they hadn’t seen in practice, and I believe this level of preparation made the teams that played under these two men so successful.</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-4516319566856246382023-04-20T21:18:00.001-04:002023-08-03T19:30:33.729-04:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Former Notre Dame Running Back, Lee Becton<p><b><i> If I can get the ball to be part of the body, it won’t let go. I pride myself on not fumbling.</i></b></p><p>Even when I’m not actively doing research for a project, I do enjoy poking around in Notre Dame Archives. There are so many great memories recorded there from my four years at Notre Dame, and of course the many years before and since. I can thank my dad for my love of history, both Notre Dame history, and the history of this country. One of my favorite classes at Notre Dame was a class on the Civil War, in which we read the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Angels-Classic-Novel-Civil/dp/B005WM81AW/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_1/136-1456932-7709129?ots=1&slotNum=1&imprToken=eec2b7e2-dd4a-6c22-936&ascsubtag=[]sb[p]20889095[t]w[r]google.com[d]D&_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B005WM81AW&pd_rd_r=73b134cf-7b55-4f4f-9156-0a8ae0556de1&pd_rd_w=os6ON&pd_rd_wg=88rLc&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=M2KCCYKN5AJZ2RX550X3&psc=1&refRID=M2KCCYKN5AJZ2RX550X3&tag=sbnation-20" target="_blank">Killer Angels</a> (which, if you haven’t read it, you should. It’s a great read!) ... but I digress. In my poking around in ND Archives this week, I stumbled across a piece on former Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back, Lee Becton, (from the <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1994s.pdf" target="_blank">Scholastic Magazine 1994 Football Review</a>) that I thought I would share excerpts from this week for my Throwback Thursday. Lee is not only a classmate of mine, but a good friend to this day, so it was fun to read this story about Lee Becton.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFFZzJnC2_cv2qabDuzpP0V1K5KlDH_dDe41s0Rg8A9QZnrcgFC2eU9K4qb4IBYvYyFav5CiaPYQfyyBtbrkTmFMvtSf_dquqcQd0-9ohIHH12RLdap7OGiJ_5-5DtE8EX29Os4JIXMMxs4O-fYXHhjNWgf8TH0kBhuJR34xZxi9XqD4ROxxmSoLAUw/s920/1784446.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFFZzJnC2_cv2qabDuzpP0V1K5KlDH_dDe41s0Rg8A9QZnrcgFC2eU9K4qb4IBYvYyFav5CiaPYQfyyBtbrkTmFMvtSf_dquqcQd0-9ohIHH12RLdap7OGiJ_5-5DtE8EX29Os4JIXMMxs4O-fYXHhjNWgf8TH0kBhuJR34xZxi9XqD4ROxxmSoLAUw/w400-h266/1784446.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>But before I share that story, I also found this gem in <a href="https://vault.si.com/vault/1994/01/10/lee-becton-cotton" target="_blank">SI’s vault</a>. “It was easy to spot Lee Becton on the Notre Dame campus during his freshman and sophomore years. He was the guy who always carried a football with him, even when he went to class, because he was so concerned about fumbling. “I hold it and play with it and get comfortable with it,” Becton explained. “If I can get the ball to be part of the body, it won’t let go. I pride myself on not fumbling.” (by <a href="https://vault.si.com/vault/1994/01/10/lee-becton-cotton" target="_blank">William F. Reed</a>)</p><p>Here’s more on Lee Becton, from the story in <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1994s.pdf" target="_blank">Scholastic Magazine</a>, Carried Away: Overcoming injuries, the fabulous number 4 rampaged through his senior season. (By <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1994s.pdf" target="_blank">Mark Mitchell</a>)</p><p>“I was just lying there on the field. I couldn’t move.” Lee Becton stares into the distance as he remembers the day he suffered what could have been a season ending injury. “It scared me a Iot as I lay there with the trainers all around me because I had no idea of the severity of the injury. I just thought that could be the last day I ever played football.” . Fortunately for the Irish captain, his groin injury did heal, though slowly. He was able to come back to the team late in the season and performed up to his own extraordinary standards at the USC game. ‘’That wasn’t the greatest result as far as games go, but that was the greatest game for me because I really felt that I was finally able to be involved with the offense and to produce on the field.”</p><p>Producing big results for the offense has been the tailback’s trademark for the last three years. Becton had outstanding seasons in 1992 and 1993, and was just getting his game going when he got injured. Even before his injury sidelined him for several games, Becton felt that this season started on weak footing: “I fumbled twice in the Michigan game, and that’s very uncharacteristic of me.” So uncharacteristic, in fact, that he had not fumbled in two years. But Becton continued: “After every game we’d second-guess ourselves and my biggest regrets came from how I played. But you can’t let what could have happened get you down.” In his four years with the Fighting Irish, Lee Becton witnessed his team achieve a whole spectrum of results, from its number one ranking last year to the disheartening losses of this year. ‘’The most incredible for me was the comeback against BC last year. We lost the game, but to be down 21 points with eight minutes left and then to take the lead - anything is possible, anything can happen.”</p><p>Though his senior season was not the brightest, the events on the football field this year have not dimmed Becton’s memories of his four years at Notre Dame. “I’ve really enjoyed meeting people around campus, doing simple things, having fun, playing SEGA. The greatest thing about all of it is that some of these people that I have met will become famous politicians and presidents of Fortune 500 companies, and someday I can say, ‘Wow, I knew that person.’</p><p>“Like many students, Becton’s college career has had its rough spots, especially in his first year. “Coming from North Carolina I had felt cold weather before, but not like this. That first winter -the first time I felt an eighty-below wind chill- I was ready to pack my bags and head home.” It was Becton’s friends who helped him through the chill of his freshman year. “Germaine Holden is my all-time greatest friend, and as a freshman in the same dorm we spent a lot of time talking and crying together. He’s the reason I’m still here.” Again, during the injury scare of his senior year, Becton’s friends showed him their support. ‘’The guys on the team helped me to stay involved, leading the team and showing the guys who filled in for me how to get the job done.”</p><p>And this right here is my favorite part of the article ... Whether he goes on to professional football or into business back in North Carolina, Lee Becton can look back on his time at Notre Dame and know that he has achieved something. “Graduation will be my greatest accomplishment That’s what I came to college for, and that’s what I’m going to be proudest of.”</p><p>Of course every college football player dreams of playing in the NFL, but getting that degree should be something that every athlete walks away with from college. Sports careers do not last forever, and having that toolbox to carry you through the next forty years is absolutely invaluable. Not only that, the adversity Lee Becton faced during his time at Notre Dame prepared him for adversities he would face later in life, because very few lives come without some challenges. I’m so glad I went to Notre Dame, because the adversity I faced at Notre Dame prepared me for the tough times I would face in my life. I already knew how to shake myself off, get up, and try again; and I thank Notre Dame for that. Okay ... enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoyed this week’s walk down memory lane. Until next week ...<br /><br /></p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-52766599234276884702023-04-06T18:46:00.002-04:002023-08-03T19:28:19.363-04:00Throwback Thursday: Former Notre Dame Running Back, Vagas Ferguson<p><b>Never say quit.</b></p><p>For this week’s Throwback Thursday post I'm going to flash back to the first season I actually remember going to Notre Dame for a football game; 1979. I was 8-years-old, and it was the year before my family moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles (at which point it was too far to go back to Notre Dame for games, and we just settled for ND vs. USC games in Los Angeles). I don’t remember much about the game, and I’m not even sure which game we went to that season, but I do vividly remember being at the pep rally in Stepan Center. I remember the rowdy crowd, and the students tossing rolls of toilet paper through the air. For some reason, that left a big impression on 8-year-old me.</p><p>Seeing as I can’t remember exactly which game I went to that year, I’m going to talk a little bit today about a player that made some big strides that season, Vagas Ferguson. In 1979, his senior season at Notre Dame, Ferguson was voted to the All-America Team of the American Football Coaches Association. He was the fifth ranked player in the nation in yards per rush and finished fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQwpfVR5zcIFEkRDGVwRbSjzsfHXPv-XIeBq1s3WmLd46Z0F6BjiBiS0ORZMAP_qbLH8QPI79aQyHZRf9S_ALsACmwGNPlYBs7l2wtUnwdcaABvTNMGbsr44Bx5N5L-jrIClRjSlNwHSr0oUI1z-VRWn4RucRkFA0PJN4848s5k2wnq6BHhZR-08GXXQ/s920/515410574.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQwpfVR5zcIFEkRDGVwRbSjzsfHXPv-XIeBq1s3WmLd46Z0F6BjiBiS0ORZMAP_qbLH8QPI79aQyHZRf9S_ALsACmwGNPlYBs7l2wtUnwdcaABvTNMGbsr44Bx5N5L-jrIClRjSlNwHSr0oUI1z-VRWn4RucRkFA0PJN4848s5k2wnq6BHhZR-08GXXQ/w400-h266/515410574.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: black; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;">Vagas Ferguson (32) Jumping During Play</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notre Dame was nowhere on Vagas’ radar when he began looking for a college. Yet this dashing, slashing, darting, powerful running back finished his career with the Fighting Irish as the nation’s fifth-leading rusher, fifth in Heisman Trophy voting and with All-America honors. (He ranks third all-time for total yards (3,472) among Notre Dame running backs, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. He was a first-round pick in the 1980 NFL Draft and played for five seasons with the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and Houston Oilers; and is a member of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.) Notre Dame discovered him, in this small town near the Ohio border, and won him over with some Fighting Irish magic. You would assume, if you were a great player and you grew up in Indiana, you were familiar with Notre Dame, but this is not always the case. “To be truthful, I didn’t hear about Notre Dame until my sophomore year of high school. The schools that most of us talked about were Purdue, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State. Those schools got a lot of local coverage.”</p><p>”I had the chance to visit Notre Dame during my sophomore year in high school because my cousin Lamar Lundy, Jr., a tight end, was being recruited by Notre Dame through a Notre Dame alum who lived in Richmond. He was a senior when I was a sophomore and I got to tag along on his visit to Notre Dame. My cousin ended up going to California – Berkeley, but that trip to Notre Dame left quite an impression on me. I took official visits to Big Ten schools primarily. I went to Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa; Notre Dame was the last school I visited.” The concept that student-athletes at Notre Dame are students first, and athletes second, was very appealing to Vagas and his family. This was a huge selling point used by ND recruiter Brian Bulac, who was the driving force behind Vagas’ decision to attend Notre Dame. “He came to my home to speak to my grandparents (Vagas’ mother died when he was eight, and his father lived nearby). Education was top on my grandparents’ list. They wanted to make sure we got a good education, and that was the first thing he talked about when he walked in the door. ‘You will be a football player at Notre Dame, but you are a student first.’ That impressed my grandparents, and impressed me as well. Most schools only talked about what I could do for them on the field.”</p><p>The cultural make-up of Notre Dame in the late 70s was very complicated. While the University, much like the rest of the country, was doing its best to move forward it still had growing pains during the process. “When I was at Notre Dame in the late 1970s, we were in a time of awareness. Racial issues were very much being addressed and it wasn’t any different at Notre Dame than it had been at my high school back home. You tended to hang out with people who looked like you. You congregated as a group, black females and males. Women had not been at Notre Dame very long at that time either, so they had an especially tight bond as well. The black students that I met the first few weeks I was at Notre Dame, guys and girls, we became really close. We were new and didn’t know any of the upperclassmen so we just kind of took each other in. We still stay in touch today. You gravitate to people who are more like you. It’s not a negative thing. You renew yourself through people who have similar experiences as you do. Today, that is changing. I can see it in my kids and grandkids today. I have bi-racial grandkids. They don’t even see that kind of stuff at all.”</p><p>The Notre Dame Value Stream became ingrained in Her students’ lives without us even noticing. We all had highlights during our collegiate careers, students and student-athletes alike; whether it was a big play on the football field or a successful presentation in class. But the moments that we hold most dear of our time at Our Lady’s University are really much more basic than any of those big moments. “The most important thing that I took from Notre Dame was the development of relationships, and crossing the barriers of race. Football did that for us. We had to play as a team and support one another and that broke down a lot of racial barriers that we were facing during that time as players.”</p><p>Not only did Vagas learn the value of hard work as a Fighting Irish football player, he also learned that quit was not a word in his vocabulary. His favorite on the field moment is a shining example of the never say quit attitude that he and his teammates shared. “My favorite memory on the field had to have been the 1979 Cotton Bowl against Houston. It was below zero; so cold, in fact, that they had to put salt down on the field to thaw it out. In the fourth quarter, we were behind 34-12 with seven minutes left. Late in the game the defense made a big play (a Tony Belden blocked punt) and got points on the board which really changed the momentum for us. (Quarterback Joe) Montana, who had been sick with the flu and missed most of the third quarter fighting below-normal body temperature, returned to execute an unforgettable fourth quarter comeback.”</p><p>“Down 34-28 with six seconds remaining, we had just enough time to run two plays. The first play was a pass pattern where myself and receiver Kris Haines went to the flat and we had to get across the goal line from the 20-yard line. With the limited amount of time remaining in the game, if we caught the ball, we had to score. The first play we ran was not successful. At this point there was only two seconds on the clock. On the next play, Montana looks over to the sidelines and the coaches, including Coach Devine, put up their hands as if to say, ‘Do whatever you want to do. Joe, you call it.’ He got down on one knee and drew the play (the same play we had just run), just like you would in the school yard, and told me and Kris Haines how to run it. Haines said he could beat the guy that he was covering. Joe told him, ‘I’ll hit ya in the corner of the end zone.’ We ran the play, scored and won on the last play of the game. Incredible.”</p><p>Vagas reminisced about what made Coach Devine such a great Notre Dame football coach. “What made Dan Devine good as a head coach is that he surrounded himself with good position coaches. These guys had great instincts and tremendous knowledge of the game. You dealt with your position coach way more often than you actually dealt with Coach Devine. He was not very outgoing, didn’t talk to people a lot and was kind of withdrawn. He would talk to us, but he didn’t talk to the public very much. He and his family had previously had some bad experiences with the media and I think that was part of why he was so withdrawn. We didn’t know that, we just accepted him the way he was. You have to be able to delegate to people and trust them. Coach (Gerry) Faust, unlike Coach Devine, was not able to do that.”</p><p>“I had two backfield coaches when I was at Notre Dame, but my primary coach was Jim Gruden. Indiana had recruited me starting in my sophomore year of high school all the way through, and Coach Gruden was there before he got the job at Notre Dame. During the recruiting process he told me, ‘I’m gonna coach you someday’. During my junior year of college he left Indiana and came to Notre Dame. He taught me more about the running back position than any other coach and took me to another level of play. I absolutely contribute the success I had my junior and senior years at Notre Dame to Coach Gruden. I try to stay in touch with him to this day.”</p><p>What was the first Notre Dame game you attended? Were you a child? An adult? Tell me all about it!</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p><p>(Vagas Ferguson quotes taken from <a href="https://www.echoesfromnotredamebooks.com/product-page/echoes-from-the-end-zone-the-men-we-became" target="_blank">Vol I of Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became</a>.)</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-85230261732098191142023-03-23T18:44:00.004-04:002023-08-03T19:28:45.115-04:00Former Notre Dame Football Player Flash Gordon<p><b>Change does not occur in a FLASH</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMF01tj5zp4gqXVxROBluvXhKCaTFBHx_M4KT6CpOL3OE2wTtpmh8hbEodMKQMMFo_tc8CyZRbhkwCcb0iUdNnThM7jpff-94Ni_ceJISZHBPgpppCBTgUOfgQ_s7-nKDPH-KyyolFLrGINM6uqXEAZLjtjvhKuimBLrHcCgLrmXRFsi0vqq5C6HawA/s920/90263324.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMF01tj5zp4gqXVxROBluvXhKCaTFBHx_M4KT6CpOL3OE2wTtpmh8hbEodMKQMMFo_tc8CyZRbhkwCcb0iUdNnThM7jpff-94Ni_ceJISZHBPgpppCBTgUOfgQ_s7-nKDPH-KyyolFLrGINM6uqXEAZLjtjvhKuimBLrHcCgLrmXRFsi0vqq5C6HawA/w400-h266/90263324.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">SOUTH BEND, IN - CIRCA 1988: Head Coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches the action from the sideline during a NCAA football game circa 1988 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Holtz coached the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1986-1996.</figcaption><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;"> </span><cite style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.75; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images</cite></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a nickname like “Flash Gordon” you might make the obvious assumption that Darrell “Flash” Gordon was a superhero busy saving the planet earth. While today Darrell Gordon is very much a superhero in the eyes of the many young men whose lives he touches on a daily basis, his beginnings were not as “flashy” as the town he hails from. Raised in Hillside, New Jersey, a community incorporated shortly after the appearance of Hailey’s Comet in 1910, Darrell’s path towards Notre Dame did not begin with a comet-like flash. Although he was a diligent student and high performing athlete in high school, his college bound path was somewhat diverted due to some typical teenage distractions. After a slight but firm nudge from the Notre Dame recruiters, Gordon promptly corrected his path, was a high school All-American in football, graduated in the top of his class and landed a scholarship to play football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After a tremendously successful career at Notre Dame which culminated with the fairy tale ending of a national championship in 1988, the successes that Flash has had post football far outshine the spectacular plays that he delighted fans with during his tenure at Notre Dame. This is Flash Gordon’s story.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>But when Notre Dame came, they didn’t even meet with me.</b></p><p>“I was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and when I was five years old we moved to Hillside, New Jersey. During the recruiting process hundreds of colleges were coming to visit my high school and they all had a great pitch as to why I should attend their institution. But when Notre Dame came, they didn’t even meet with me; they just went straight to the guidance office and looked at my academic records. Coach Paterno, the head coach from Penn State University came and talked to me at school, but not Notre Dame. They weren’t just recruiting athletes, but ‘student-athletes,’ and that interested me highly. At the end of my sophomore year / beginning of my junior year, Notre Dame started to lose interest in me. I guess I wasn’t performing up to their standards. I wasn’t taking high school seriously enough and they indicated that if I didn’t start focusing on academics they would no longer pursue me. At that point I really dug in and I ended up graduating near the top of my class. I was also a high school All-American in football.”</p><p>And just like that, the Notre Dame Value Stream had already found a place in Flash Gordon’s life.</p><p>“I made official visits to Boston College, Pitt, Notre Dame and Penn State; and then I narrowed it down to Penn State and Notre Dame. I really liked what Notre Dame was offering. The thing they said that really caught my eye was this, ‘we will guarantee your scholarship for four years. Whether you break your leg or it just doesn’t work out, we will still guarantee your scholarship for all four years.’ That was amazing. I wanted to make sure that wherever I went to school there was going to be some sort of security, and in addition to the scholarship guarantee Notre Dame had a really high graduation rate, which was very appealing to me. Some of the schools that I had either looked at or that had expressed interest in me had graduation rates as low as 40%. Notre Dame’s graduation rate was right around 99% at the time and that was a big deciding factor for me.”</p><p>“When I visited Notre Dame my host was Allen Pinkett. I made my trip to Notre Dame in the middle of January and it was extremely cold. Allen took me to visit different dorms and in the basement of the dorms they had these parties. When you’re visiting schools you need to see which institutions you can bond with both academically and athletically; but being able to have a good time without even leaving the dorm was pretty appealing to me as an 18-year-old kid. The funniest thing is that in between my visit to Notre Dame and actually arriving on campus in the fall they changed the University policy and no longer allowed basement parties in the dorms. Apparently someone had left a party and gotten into an accident and the campus had since become a dry campus. So much for having fun without leaving the dorm! (laughs) Allen Pinkett did a great job of being my host that weekend and convincing me that Notre Dame was where I wanted to be.”</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Notre Dame’s objective was to create relationships.</b></p><p>“Coach Faust was really special to me and I still keep in touch with him to this day. When the various coaches came to visit you in high school, they would come to your school and you would get called over the loud speaker to go visit with them in the school library. ‘Darrell Gordon, please come to the library to see Coach Paterno.’ Coach Faust was the only head coach who didn’t visit me at school. I came home from school one day to find Coach Faust sitting in my living room with my mother having a spaghetti dinner. He also visited my dad at his job, too. Notre Dame’s objective was to create relationships. After that visit, all I heard from my parents was how great Notre Dame was and that I needed to go there. They became immediate fans of the University based on that personal touch they were given. Notre Dame felt that if you didn’t have a strong family it would cause problems later when the child was off at college and unsupervised. They want to recruit a child who comes from a solid family unit with a strong foundation and good morals.”</p><p>Flash Gordon and each one of his teammates who were recruited by head coach Gerry Faust to play football at Notre Dame followed him with complete trust and were inspired by his love and passion for the University. And then one day this little man named Lou Holtz came marching in as the new head coach of Notre Dame’s football team. Transitions such as this are never easy, but the Notre Dame Value Stream spoke through Coach Holtz 100% and helped make the transition period as painless as it possibly could have been.</p><p>“Coach Holtz made the transition extremely easy. He was an extremely focused coach. He knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish, how to play the game and what kind of athlete he needed to accomplish his style of play. During his time at Notre Dame he consistently recruited top classes. Then he would master mind the X’s and O’s on both offense and defense. He perfected that skill set. His greatest asset, though, was as a motivator. His ability to motivate players and to have them at the highest level of their game was off the charts. If you can’t motivate your players to play you’re missing out on a huge aspect of coaching. He made sure we had what we needed to succeed, both on and off the field. Excellent coaches, tutors for the classroom, and nutritional meal plans.”</p><p>“When Coach Holtz got to Notre Dame, he realized that many of the starters didn’t practice during the week until a day or two before the game. This was not how he ran things. On Monday we practiced in t-shirts and shorts. On Tuesday and Wednesday we came out in our entire uniforms. On Thursday we practiced in shoulder pads and shorts, and on Friday we did our walk through drills. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the days you really executed your game plan for the next game. If you didn’t practice until Thursday or Friday you missed out on the execution and strategy for that week’s game. Prior to Holtz, if a first stringer was injured he would sit out until Thursday to rest. This meant that the second and third string were ready for game day but not the first string.”</p><p>“Holtz made himself very clear from the start. If you missed practice on Monday, you didn’t get to start on Saturday, even if you were a starter. If you missed two practices you didn’t get to dress on Saturday. Once everyone heard those expectations, immediate changes were made. Everyone was at practice, every day. Even if you were on crutches, you were dressed, on the field and ready to practice with the intent that if you could practice you would. Those were some of the psychological changes that Coach Holtz made. He knew exactly what he needed to do to transform the team. He knew how to take a team that was struggling and bring them to perfection. Very few coaches have that gift but it all starts with discipline and commitment.”</p><p>The Notre Dame Value Stream made sure you had the focus and direction needed to be prepared and successful in the classroom. Coach Holtz was also perfectly aligned with the Notre Dame Value Stream and made sure those same values were applied on the football field; even if his delivery was at times a little unconventional.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Gentlemen, I want to tell you one thing. Next time, save Jimmy Johnson for me!</b></p><p>“My favorite Notre Dame football memory is the pre-game warm up before the Miami game in 1988. We were warming up and preparing to play the number one team in the country, and we were ranked number two at the time. Miami came to South Bend and they already had an idea of what the Catholics vs. Convicts rivalry meant and they wanted to live up to that image. They were warming up on the far end of the field and we were warming up on the end of the field closest to the tunnel. Each team had a line of players on the 30-yard line so that the other team couldn’t see what formations they were practicing. When they were done warming up, instead of going around our line to go back to their locker room they decided to go right through our line. It was very disrespectful and we were high character kids but we could only take so much. Guys started pushing back and forth and a big brawl took place in the tunnel. Finally they separated us and sent us to our respective locker rooms. Guys were bleeding, hyperventilating; it was a mess. We felt like we disappointed the University and our teammates because we didn’t conduct ourselves appropriately.”</p><p>“We were sitting there waiting for Coach Holtz to come in and ring us a good one on how we tarnished Notre Dame and how this incident was a nationally televised game. Coach Holtz walks in and says, ‘Gentlemen, I want to tell you one thing. Next time, save Jimmy Johnson for me!’ That was exactly what we needed from Coach Holtz, the endorsement that no one can come in and disrespect our team or our University. After Coach Holtz’s speech there was such electricity in the locker room that ignited the team. Here we thought we were going to get scolded and then we were told ‘save daddy for me!’ That really gave us the confidence that we needed to beat the number one team in the country. His words didn’t tell us that fighting was okay but rather the importance of fighting for what you believe in. Even though a lot of us were not Catholic, he was showing us how to fight for our respective religions and the issues we believed in. He was teaching us to be better leaders not only on the team but also in our communities and in our country. That was a very profound moment for me, in what it did for me and how it changed my life.”</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Even though a lot of us were not Catholic, he was showing us how to fight for our respective religions and the issues we believed in.</b></p><p>“That same fight that we had on the field against Miami was the same fighting spirit that I had when I wanted to become the CEO of my company and there were seven other people who also wanted to be CEO. You fight for what you believe in, for what you want, and you don’t give it away. There isn’t a class that teaches more practical knowledge on how to succeed in life than what we learned from Coach Holtz on the football field. What we learned that day was to fight for what we believed in. I share this with my own kids every day as they compete in the classroom, on the basketball court, or on the football field. You have to fight for what you want or someone else will take it.”</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRi0jTAtzDc7P31OB8Xvbe0wEmWMmjYSqFfqLTDGrDPzUJnGvwM3PEhxK7aHChLLU7XpcwXrzasGcQR_084ZQ8axpCytCLAs_iOFdhuGr7ryE9DVowN6xGnjBG60m7USc9wSMDcMfHdoKebmHMOlgHHm4hzKUkJd8JiF21d0Gsw2MPLFGDWOYfcGKevA/s960/Lisa_and_Flash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRi0jTAtzDc7P31OB8Xvbe0wEmWMmjYSqFfqLTDGrDPzUJnGvwM3PEhxK7aHChLLU7XpcwXrzasGcQR_084ZQ8axpCytCLAs_iOFdhuGr7ryE9DVowN6xGnjBG60m7USc9wSMDcMfHdoKebmHMOlgHHm4hzKUkJd8JiF21d0Gsw2MPLFGDWOYfcGKevA/w300-h400/Lisa_and_Flash.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;">Flash Gordon and Lisa Kelly signed their new books in Louisville, Kentucky, at 4th Street Live.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Want to read more of Flash’s story, and see what he’s up to today? (Need something to pass the time on this bye weekend?) You can find his complete story in my second book, <a href="https://www.echoesfromnotredamebooks.com/product-page/the-men-we-became-more-echoes-from-the-end-zone" target="_blank">The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone</a>. Also be sure to check out Flash’s new book, Change Does Not Occur in a FLASH.</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p><p><br /></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-7570187185480461062023-03-09T18:39:00.003-05:002023-08-03T19:19:39.946-04:00 Former Notre Dame Wide Receiver Raki Nelson<p><b>And some lessons from Coach Holtz ... “Can I trust you? Are you committed? Do you care?”</b></p><p>For today’s Throwback Thursday post, I’m going to give you a sneak peek at the 15th chapter of my new book, “Triumphs From Notre Dame: Echoes of Her Loyal Sons and Daughters.” In Chapter 15 I tell the story of former Notre Dame Fighting Irish football player Raki Nelson, (class of 2002), and how he decided to follow the spark he felt for football and pursue a collegiate career at the University of Notre Dame.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKETFpKLt6gEvwjWl8OMMuQeZdmKGGH52ubCr0EbJ2QR2yzf4ouXrMkC_nAOL8hYBJdXyIMhW_4-_vuiAeUMF5gaA-iZ5W5CvTHTRw9_qALgEBuN0AYrvjLTMGDzetBLMM6ujD1JZu4InL2_EOKRvKNXnf8iDTNgr_M6ARzfpguUndc--ELgSAbO8xew/s920/72563969.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKETFpKLt6gEvwjWl8OMMuQeZdmKGGH52ubCr0EbJ2QR2yzf4ouXrMkC_nAOL8hYBJdXyIMhW_4-_vuiAeUMF5gaA-iZ5W5CvTHTRw9_qALgEBuN0AYrvjLTMGDzetBLMM6ujD1JZu4InL2_EOKRvKNXnf8iDTNgr_M6ARzfpguUndc--ELgSAbO8xew/w400-h266/72563969.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;">5 Sep 1998: Wide receiver Raki Nelson #9 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in action during a game against the Michigan Wolverines at the Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish defeated the Wolverines 36-20.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>“I played little league baseball as a kid, but baseball felt way too slow for me; I needed something with more action, more excitement. As I hit the teenage years, basketball and football definitely ignited my passion.” Raki played both basketball and football at Bishop McDevitt High School, home of another Notre Dame Football player you may remember, Ricky Watters. Raki shared with me one win that his basketball team had in a high school tournament, over another player you may have heard of - Kobe Bryant; a win that now seems like a much bigger deal than it did back then.</p><p>“I remember playing in this tournament against Lower Merion High School, and they had this guy on their team, Kobe Bryant. We really didn’t know who Kobe was, but after watching him play, Kobe seemed like he was really going to be something. We beat them that day and I probably scored about 27 points, but in comparison, Kobe had about 40 points. He also cried foul a lot in that game , but we ended up coming out on top. I remember when I heard Kobe was going into the NBA draft thinking, ‘Hey, we beat that guy!’”</p><p>As the time grew closer for Raki to figure out where his post high school path was going to take him, he was confident that football was his ticket to the next level. As he did his homework on the various colleges he was interested in, toured campuses, and talked to coaches, he may not have noticed what was happening, but the Notre Dame Value Stream was already making its way towards him.</p><p>“I was very interested in the University of Florida, North Carolina and Pitt; Syracuse was interested in me as well, though I wasn’t very interested in them. However, when I made my visit to Syracuse, my host was Donovan McNabb, which was pretty cool. Pitt was pursuing me very hard, and then Notre Dame came into the picture a bit late in the recruiting process. When you play football at a Catholic high school, ND was always in the back of your mind, but when Coach Holtz and Coach Mosley started to pursue me, Notre Dame rose to the top of the pile. Eric Chappell (quarterback from Carver High School in Montgomery, AL) and I had both been at UF and Notre Dame at the same time for our official visits, and we had exchanged numbers at Notre Dame. We were talking on the phone, comparing Florida and Notre Dame, and the more we talked, the more we both liked what we saw at ND. I really liked the atmosphere at Notre Dame. Everything I saw during my visit was very appealing, and that’s where I decided my football career would continue.”</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Can I trust you? Are you committed? Do you care?” - Coach Lou Holtz</b></p><p>Pretty much every player who has played for Coach Holtz has had that moment at which they realize exactly what is expected of them. Raki had his moment early-on in his Notre Dame Football career.</p><p>“It was ’96, my freshman year, we were just wrapping up practice and Coach Holtz was making his final remarks about practice. I was goofing off a little bit, telling my friends something, and while Coach was still talking I said something funny and burst out laughing. Everyone froze. ‘Who was that??’ And then the red sea parted, and there I was, exposed to Coach Holtz. Coach screamed, ‘Raki, get your butt up here!’ And he proceeded to chew me out, right there in front of everyone. He told me, as a result of my disturbance during his practice, I was not going to dress for the Boston College game. My stomach sank. My mom, dad, and my third grade teacher were all coming in for the game. What was I going to do? But coach took care of everything, they all got their tickets. But me? I didn’t dress, and I watched the game from my dorm room. That was some lesson for me. When coach was talking, no one talked. It’s all about respect.”</p><p>All college football players have their favorite in-game moments, but for the Notre Dame guys who had the privilege of playing football under head coach Lou Holtz, they also have a few classic Holtz moments to share. On more than one occasion, Coach Holtz’s players may have thought he was truly out of his mind. But as they learned the lessons Coach Holtz was trying to impart upon them, through his unique coaching style, they discovered that not only was he not crazy, but that he 100% cared about them, and was only trying to mold them into the best versions of themselves. This was Coach Holtz at his finest.</p><p>“I missed a block against Washington in my freshman year (1996), and at our next practice we ran drills involving the same situation. Once again, I didn’t block the guy correctly, and then it happened. Coach Holtz comes over, takes off his hat, slams it on the ground, and puts his face right onto my cage. The next thing I know, I see that his face got cut on my cage and is bleeding. He’s not just bleeding, he’s bleeding everywhere, and he’s screaming at me, ‘HIT ME!! HIT ME!! HIT ME!!’ I look back at him and say, ‘Coach, I’m not going to hit you.’ And he’s still screaming at me, ‘HIT ME! HIT ME!’ And so I had to block him a little bit. He just wanted to prove to me how much he cared, and to make absolutely sure I did not miss that block again. And what happened after that? I became a pretty darn good blocker from there on out. He truly cared about each and every one of us, and he wanted us all to be the best we could be. He showed me that day he’d go to war for me, and he did during the Air Force game. I made a catch, which the refs said was not a catch. Holtz asked me if I caught it, and when I said yes, he fought the ref for me. Whenever he says he’s going to do something, he does it. He’s a great person.”</p><p>You can read more of Raki’s story in my third book, Triumphs From Notre Dame, which you can pick up <a href="https://www.echoesfromnotredamebooks.com/product-page/triumphs-from-notre-dame-the-echoes-of-her-loyal-sons-and-daughters" target="_blank">here</a>!</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-77871248606155536422023-02-22T18:00:00.011-05:002023-08-03T19:23:05.330-04:00Notre Dame versus Penn State: The 'Snow Bowl'<p>As we get closer and closer to the spring game, I tend to start to daydream about some of my favorite Notre Dame football memories. I know, it’s darn near impossible to pick one favorite, but if I had to create a top ten list, this one would definitely be on it. Notre Dame vs. Penn State: The Snow Bowl.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOK_skLSfurOajVkq_otI5tFahzb540YgBb0CFq6GcKvX4gppXvVS1VW3XBtOEtvmddYeWABjcXFno9GmXM0lAIo2x_icc5AbPX3nOWyf8ZVZmQeFoixMZpRqWbNuwD6lf4VcEsmsdZO3Bvn3fTUuXkXjg4D_ukVkebNjSkRZQ3nTGrq-AHr4lvXvt7g/s920/snow_bowl_copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOK_skLSfurOajVkq_otI5tFahzb540YgBb0CFq6GcKvX4gppXvVS1VW3XBtOEtvmddYeWABjcXFno9GmXM0lAIo2x_icc5AbPX3nOWyf8ZVZmQeFoixMZpRqWbNuwD6lf4VcEsmsdZO3Bvn3fTUuXkXjg4D_ukVkebNjSkRZQ3nTGrq-AHr4lvXvt7g/w400-h266/snow_bowl_copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;">In a dramatic conclusion to the series between Notre Dame and Penn State, the Fighting Irish emerged with a 17-16 Snow Bowl victory. [Photo: Notre Dame Media Relations]</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>On Saturday, November 14th, 1992, the Nittany Lions of Penn State played the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was the last home game of my senior year, and the senior captains Rick Mirer, Demetrius DuBose, Irv Smith and Devon McDonald were hoping to finish strong on Senior Day; something that hadn’t happened for the previous two senior classes. It was also the last game of the Notre Dame - Penn State series, and so both teams were hoping to snatch one last win.</p><p>The Irish got the ball first and moved methodically down the field, but only walked away with three points, on a successful field goal by Craig Hentrich. (ND 3 - PSU 0) On the subsequent Penn State possession, Tom Carter and John Covington combined for an interception, but the Irish were unable to convert any points out of the turnover. The Nittany Lions came up with a touchdown on their next possession, but freshman Bobby Taylor made sure they only got six points as he blocked the PAT. (PSU 6 - ND 3) And that’s when the snow really started to kick in. It was challenging for either team to secure their footing or hold on to the ball. The second quarter was a sloppy mess, and included a forced fumble by Jim Flannigan which was recovered by Brian Ratigan, and Penn State came dangerously close to picking off a pass to Derrick Mayes. At the end of the first half, though, the Irish managed to set Craig Hentrich up once more for a field goal, and his successful 37-yard kick tied the game at 6-6.</p><p>The biggest gain of the game by either team came in the third quarter on a Rick Mirer pass to Lake Dawson for 30 yards. That set up Craig Hentrich to convert his third field goal of the game, putting the Irish up 9-6. But Penn State came roaring back and tied the game with 8:35 remaining in the game. It was becoming apparent that this game was going to be won by the team who had possession of the ball last. And then with 4:19 left on the clock, Penn State scored its second touchdown of this contest, regaining the lead and going up 16-9. The Notre Dame drive which followed this Penn State touchdown is one that no one watching the game that day will ever forget.</p><p>On second and ten, Rick Mirer found Jerome Bettis for 21 yards down the near sideline. Then on second and sixteen, Mirer managed to scramble for 15 yards, coming up one yard short of the first down. Two plays later he found Ray Griggs at the Penn State 17 yard line, with less than two minutes remaining in the game. From first and goal at the nine, Reggie Brooks ran for five yards, getting them just four yards from the goal line. But on the next two plays, the Irish were stopped. The Irish had to take their final timeout to discuss what play they would run on fourth on goal, with the game on the line. The play that was chosen was a play that Coach Holtz typically reserved for two-point conversion plays, but the gamble paid off as Mirer connected with Jerome Bettis in the end zone for the touchdown.</p><p>With no timeouts left and 20 seconds remaining on the clock, Mirer and Holtz quickly conversed on what play to use next, and the result was nothing short of spectacular. With no one open, Mirer rolls right and drops a pass right in the corner of the endzone, perfectly into the hands of an outstretched Reggie Brooks.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UrGb7Xc3JLg" width="320" youtube-src-id="UrGb7Xc3JLg"></iframe></div><br /><p>As I wrote my first book, I had the chance to hear Reggie’s thoughts on this incredible game. “We always practiced the two-point conversion in practice. It was nothing new to us. Holtz had us on the sideline, told us what the formation was, and we never had any doubt in our mind that we could successfully run the play. The funny thing about that play was I was not even the intended receiver. Irv Smith was supposed to run a pivot route and I was supposed to distract the safety so that he could make the catch. We had never practiced this particular formation before, we just knew that we needed to go out and execute it. We had so much confidence in ourselves. Aaron Taylor likes to say that he was the reason I caught the pass because he missed the block that caused Rick Mirer to have to roll right and throw to me.”</p><p>Rick Mirer also shared with me his memories of the Snow Bowl. “ My all-time best football memory, however, has to be the 1992 Penn State game. There was so much drama at the end of that game … going for two points to win the game, playing our last game in Notre Dame Stadium. We ended our time at Notre Dame on a huge highlight. The one we got to sleep on was the Penn State game, and we could not have asked for a better ending . After the Michigan game ending in a tie, and being left with such a weird feeling after that game, I just felt that we had to go for it. We’re either going to win this thing, or not.”</p><p>As I look back on all of the Notre Dame games I’ve witnessed over the years, I think this one means so much to me seeing as it was the last home game of my senior year at Notre Dame. I’ve seen some other pretty incredible games, including the 1993 ND vs. FSU game, and the 2012 ND vs. Stanford game, but the Snow Bowl may very well my favorite.</p><p>So ... what Notre Dame football game is your favorite? Can you pick just one?</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-54567157990068579682023-02-08T18:16:00.005-05:002023-08-03T19:23:20.149-04:00Throwback Thursday: The Evolution of the Student-Athlete at Notre Dame<p><b>Student first, athlete second.</b></p><p>What does it take to be a student-athlete at Notre Dame? We as fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish think we know what it takes to be an athlete at a Division I college: the training, the discipline, the pain, the motivation. But most of us have no idea what it takes to be a successful student-athlete at a top academic institution such as Notre Dame. How did the “student-athlete” concept develop at Notre Dame?</p><p>“I didn’t know what in the hell I was doing when I first took the job,” said Mike DeCicco, a mechanical engineering professor at Notre Dame back in 1964 when he accepted Father Joyce’s offer to become the Chief Academic Advisor of Student-Athletes, a newly created position. Notre Dame executive vice president Rev. Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. and then President Father Theodore Hesburgh had a vision and felt a moral commitment that the University’s excellence in athletics wasn’t good enough. This was Notre Dame and Our Lady of Victory was ready to create a new era in collegiate sports. No - these young men would become much more than mere “jocks” – instead now and forever known as “Notre Dame Student-Athletes”.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOk2d9v0jk3Pn2lxg-egYt_JVmvbLsqtGuzh02KAMMaAqk_teFfQl27YMvYIt3iPuK5pIvI7Y1Fc3yF8v0Dh8kViuYPaYu-mm9r4k_a-RyqKKF9QKP1N7VwiUODDnfWFGIZL_FAf5rb3Pex9eqN1pMhIxbYtVX2yJsbJugq5Kn4xYEL-VIOuikiYtkQ/s920/_MIL0776.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOk2d9v0jk3Pn2lxg-egYt_JVmvbLsqtGuzh02KAMMaAqk_teFfQl27YMvYIt3iPuK5pIvI7Y1Fc3yF8v0Dh8kViuYPaYu-mm9r4k_a-RyqKKF9QKP1N7VwiUODDnfWFGIZL_FAf5rb3Pex9eqN1pMhIxbYtVX2yJsbJugq5Kn4xYEL-VIOuikiYtkQ/w400-h266/_MIL0776.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;">Mike Miller / One Foot Down</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/Article/Notre-Dame-Mourns-Death-Of-Mike-DeCicco-123852/" target="_blank"><b>In a 1988 interview</b></a>, Mike recalled he had no idea what to do, but it was clear that Hesburgh and Joyce would know success when they saw it. “There was no template or benchmark for success. I’d sit down with a kid and ask how his schoolwork was going. He’d say, ‘Okay.’ I’d say, ‘Fine.’ And that was that. Then when grades would be posted, I’d discover a lot were not doing as well as they said they were.” Mike quickly learned he had to stay on top of each student-athlete’s progress on a weekly basis, not once they were in academic trouble.</p><p>Mike created a methodology that would become the model for the best universities, and a standard to be adopted by the NCAA. During Mike’s time as the ND Athletic Department’s Chief Academic Advisor, 99% of student-athletes who were enrolled and stayed in school for four years graduated. When women came to Notre Dame in 1972, female student-athletes were offered the same academic support that was available to the male student-athletes. And in 1988, Notre Dame became the first school ever to win a football national title while at the same time graduating 100% of its players. For the 59 other College Football Association member institutions who returned results that year, the graduation rate was 50.7 percent.</p><p>Mike always credited Father Joyce and Father Hesburgh for having the vision to create a position that many felt was unnecessary. “They recognized the constraints and time-factor difficulties student-athletes would eventually have with the increased emphasis on intercollegiate sports,” Mike said. The three of them felt that if they were asking athletes to give their service and energy to the University, the University at the very least could assure them an equal chance to earn a degree along with the rest of their fellow classmates.</p><p>Mike’s team set up tutorial services and a ten day orientation program which taught time management and proper study habits, and a summer school program; all of which have been a mandatory part of the academic year of a student-athlete for years. Luther Bradley and Marv Russell, recalled Mike’s role in their lives. “Two-months before we arrived on campus to start summer camp, we received a letter from this guy named Mike outlining academic expectations and what he and his team would do to insure our success in school.”</p><p>Marv recalled, “I was a good student, studying theology which is a very tough major at a religious school like ND. Coach DeCicco (also the Notre Dame Fencing Coach) called me into his office and told me what it was going to take to be successful. He said ‘Marv, this is how it’s going to be. The minute I suspect you are not cutting it or you’re having problems, we are going to reassess your major.’ He said, ‘I want you to meet with a graduate assistant every two weeks to assess your progress. Remember: you will get no breaks or special consideration.’ I did what I was told and I was successful. Forty years later I saw Coach at a Notre Dame function and he still recalled that story. What made me feel great was when he said, ‘I’m proud of you Marv and what you have accomplished.’”</p><p>Luther was focused on business as his major. He and Marv laughed at Luther’s story of being called into Coach DeCicco’s office for a chat, “You remember that fencing sword he had mounted over his desk? I walked into his office and sat down and all he said was, ‘You see the sword behind me? If you don’t get busy and study harder, you are going to find that sword up your ass.’ Coach never minced words.” Luther said, “I wasn’t doing that bad in class, but he felt I wasn’t working to my potential. He wanted our best just like Ara did on the field.” Both Luther and Marv said what was even more important was if you weren’t performing in the classroom you could bet Ara knew and it was likely Moose Krause the AD knew and you were going to hear from all of them.</p><p>Ask just about any Notre Dame student-athlete and they will share with you how in hindsight they realize how much they benefited from the evolution of the Notre Dame “student-athlete” concept. Notre Dame is not an easy place for any student, let alone for those who have the additional demands of athletics. Without this visionary program, many athletes would be left by the wayside, as they are at so many other schools. Today, thanks to the leadership of Mike DeCicco, Father Hesburgh and Father Joyce, Notre Dame consistently leads NCAA schools in graduation rates and overall academic performance.</p><p>Coach DeCicco passed away in the spring of 2013. His impact on Notre Dame and the NCAA schools will be a legacy for decades to come. Notre Dame student-athletes owe a debt of thanks to this Loyal Son.</p><p>Mike DeCicco was Notre Dame at its finest – he was the Notre Dame Value Stream at work.</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p><p>[Today’s story includes excerpts from Triumphs From Notre Dame: Echoes of Her Loyal Sons and Daughters. The Mike DeCicco quotes have been taken from here.]</p><p><br /></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-62752718063742232822023-01-31T18:35:00.001-05:002023-01-31T18:37:39.225-05:00From Football to Coffee Beans - Part II<p><b><i>Discovering the Secret of Life</i></b></p><p><b>Hopefully you had a chance to read my story yesterday on Damon West, and enjoyed it. Here is the second half of his story.</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"There are two ways out of prison, through the courts, and through parole.”</i></b></p><p><b>“That Monday, I decided I was going to start earning my respect … at the rec yard. The rec yard, like everything else at prison, is all about race. At the rec yard, far in the distance, is the sand volleyball court, and it’s for the whites and Hispanics only. To the left, you see big walls, and those are the handball courts. They are open to any race, but your partner has to be of the same race. At the weight stack, your spotter better look at you. And finally, there is the basketball court, and that is run by the blacks; no whites allowed. Growing up in Port Arthur, Texas, I was used to being the only white kid around, so I headed out to the basketball court. I know I’m better than some of the guys out there, I just need to get my hands on the ball. After each game, they ‘shoot for teams.’ Meaning, the first two guys who make shots get to pick the teams. So I go out there, and when the last ball of the game goes through the basket, I grab the ball, falling on it like a fumble ball in football. And the guys on the court are screaming, ‘man, white boy! Have you lost your mind?! We’re gonna hurt you!’ And what do I do? I scream back, ‘hurt me! I’m shooting for teams today.’ They are screaming at me and spitting on me, yelling, ‘we’re gonna kill you, white boy.’ The biggest Blood from Houston, he tells me, ‘get up there and shoot your shot.’ I get up to the free throw line and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Damon, what are you doing?’ I’ve now disrespected the whole race, but if I make this shot, I am one step closer towards getting their respect. I get up there, and I make my shot; and he gets up there, and makes his shot. I pick my four, and he picks his four, but the game isn’t 5-on-5, it’s 9-on-1. But I survive.”</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1Bjwf5MkrPSAoxcG8WupgfaSqfMLfCz79uLbBG383GSrmbhElsj6S0geT1YDOHZMQDEvo_Tq3U2JA2yzwN6wFXephEHCaVs5rLGtqrKCRhIgNMKBzRJ4csJa0HUzIJvfGw0jQQ5W5_ZW2hiDY0dLBhlkVH2Km2iBKox8z41GZlMrJXKWl3yrZc6ETw/s920/west_damon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1Bjwf5MkrPSAoxcG8WupgfaSqfMLfCz79uLbBG383GSrmbhElsj6S0geT1YDOHZMQDEvo_Tq3U2JA2yzwN6wFXephEHCaVs5rLGtqrKCRhIgNMKBzRJ4csJa0HUzIJvfGw0jQQ5W5_ZW2hiDY0dLBhlkVH2Km2iBKox8z41GZlMrJXKWl3yrZc6ETw/w400-h266/west_damon.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>“Tuesday, I go back out onto the court, and they are laughing at me again. ‘Man, we thought you had enough yesterday. What are you doing out here?’ And I look them straight in the eye and say, ‘man, I thought you were playing basketball.’ The Blood who I played against yesterday, he picked me to be on his team today, and they gave it to me even worse. I go out there Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; and they are all picking me to be on their team because they want to beat me up. On Saturday, this is when I see it happen. I’m out there playing in this game, and up until this point all I’ve been able to play is defense, when they finally pass the ball to me. I shoot, and I miss. They pass it to me again, and I make the shot, and then I hear; it ‘good shot, West.’ They weren’t calling me white boy any more. After that game was over, the guys came over and their posture was different. The head Blood said to me, ‘you pulled something off out here that we’ve never seen a white boy do before. You’ve earned our respect. You won’t have to worry about the black the rest of your time here in prison.’ All I could think of was Mr. Jackson and the coffee bean. In six days I had changed the environment out on the yard, and they and accepted me. From then on, they’d come get me, ‘West, let’s go shoot some hoops.”</b></p><p><b>“But, there was problem, based on a flaw in his statement. The head Blood, he couldn’t promise to keep the entire race off of me. That was out of his control. And then there was another problem, I’ve always taken shortcuts. Two weeks after that Saturday, I was coming off the court, and this guy named Carlos pulled me aside. He takes me into the stairwell and tells me that this big black guy is coming for me in the shower, and that he’s not coming to fight you, he’s coming to rape you and he has a knife. My reply? I just won’t take a shower today. To which Carlos reminds me that I’m a fool, because sooner or later I have to take a shower, and he’ll be waiting for me. He tells me, ‘You’re on the track and the train is coming. What are you going to do?’ I answer Carlos, ‘I don’t have a knife.’ At this point, Carlos gives me a knife, and I hand it back. I’ve never fought with a knife before, and if I go in there with a knife, he’s going to kill me for sure.”</b></p><p><b>“Carlos has an idea. We go back to my cell. I have this little fan in my cell, because prisons in Texas have no air conditioning, and you need that little fan when it gets hot in August. It is March of 2010 when this is happening, so I’m not actually using my fan. Carlos takes my fan apart, takes the motor off and puts it into this bag that he has, and makes a weapon out of it. He hands me the weapon and instructs me, ‘don’t wear your flip flops to the shower, and wear your boots. Turn the shower on, make the water as hot as it will go to create steam and as soon as he comes in, hit him in the head and kill him, or he will kill you.’ At that moment it sinks in, I am going to kill a man. How did this happen? How did I get here in life?”</b></p><p><b>“I walk the 20 steps to the shower, and I realize, I am never going home. If I kill him, they are going to give me another life sentence, or he’s gonna kill me. But I have to do it.”</b></p><p><b>“I do everything he says. I’m waiting in my boxer shorts and my boots with my weapon, and the wait seems like forever. My heart is pounding in my chest, and then he pops his head through. All I remember seeing is this big grin on his face, which pissed me off and I screamed as I hit him. I hit him in the breastbone, totally missing his head. He drops his knife, and now I’m on this guy, smashing the motor into him. He’s on the ground, and I’m smashing him in the head. Two of his gang brothers come and demand that I stop or they’re gonna throw me off the run, which would be my death for certain. You see, once he hits the ground, and I’m still hitting him, I’m violating the rule. The rule is, once the other guy is down, you have to stop fighting; you have to let him get up.”</b></p><p><b>“I snap out of it, grab my bag, and run back to my cell, closing the cell door and I start to cry. I fall asleep, or more like pass out, and sleep until the next day. When I walk out of my cell the next day, everyone knew I spoke the universal language that is spoke in prison, violence; and once they all saw that, they never bothered me again. No more challenges, no more fighting. Once that pressure was lifted off of me, I started working on myself; mentally, spiritually, physically, and I started the process of recovering. I learned that we all need to eat, and what you feed yourself is not only food, but it is also what you read, what you watch on TV, what you do to feed your spirituality. I started reading a book every other day. Whatever I could get my hands on. I started learning about the five major religions, and what I learned is that they are all based on four main principles.”</b></p><p><b>· Unselfish</b></p><p><b>· Honest</b></p><p><b>· Pure</b></p><p><b>· Loving</b></p><p><b>“Those are the four principles I based my recovery on, and through them discovered the secret of life. When I came to the understanding that those principles were how I needed to run my decisions, I discovered these retreats that they offered through the prison, called the ACTS retreat. The ACTS retreat is based on serving others and being humble. ACTS is an acronym for: Adoration – Community – Theology – Service. These men would come in to the prison from the outside, leave their jobs, their families for four days and come in and love the inmates. There were 66 of us who would go on these retreats, and the men would hug us and shower us with love. You could just see a transformation happening to the guys in the room.”</b></p><p><b>"Big murderers, crying like babies at the end of the retreat. I was mesmerized. I saw a transformation happen at that retreat that I never thought could happen in that deep dark place.”</b></p><p><b>“A great example of the ‘servant leadership’ that comes out of these ACTS retreats, is my buddy Joe Tortorice. Joe started a sandwich shop in 1976 in Beaumont, Texas. He began his Jason’s Deli restaurants with four employees and one store, and now he has 270 stores, 11,000 employees in 29 states. But if you ask Joe, he’s not in the restaurant business, he’s in the people business. He believes that you help others achieve their goals and through that you elevate yourself. That’s how the universe works, when everything is in harmony.”</b></p><p><b>“Since I already had a college degree, I couldn’t take classes in prison, but I came to the realization that I could teach others in prison. I became a tutor, and started mentoring my fellow inmates; helping them go in the right direction. Any way I could give back, I did. I learned that the best way to free myself of my addictions was to help others.”</b></p><p><b>“Next, I started going to AA meetings on a regular basis and working the steps. One day, I went into a meeting and the sponsor told us, today we are going to diagram the Serenity Prayer.</b></p><p><i><b>God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;</b></i></p><p><i><b>Courage to change the things I can;</b></i></p><p><i><b>And wisdom to know the difference.</b></i></p><p><b>“First, he drew a long line across the chalkboard. For the first line of the prayer, put all of the things you cannot change on God’s line. For the second line of the prayer, erase one inch of God’s line, and that’s your line. That’s what you get to work on every day. There are four things that you can control in your life: what you think, what you say, what you feel, and what you do. That’s what you need to work on every day. For the third line, the wisdom to know the difference, know the difference between what’s on God’s line, and what’s on your line.”</b></p><p><b>“Everything I went through in prison was very humbling. And I believe when you are humbled, it’s because you needed to be right sized. After you have been humbled, whether or not you stay there, is up to you.”</b></p><p><b>“I helped a lot of people during my time in prison, but then I got to a point where I wanted to get out.”</b></p><p><b>“There are two ways out of prison, through the courts, and through parole.”</b></p><p><b>“It came time for me to sit down and write my appeal. There are jailhouse lawyers, and they will tell you, in exchange for $100 at the commissary, I’ll get you out of here. But the more I thought about it, I knew I was a smart guy, so I paid one of the lawyers two bags of coffee to show me how the use the law library, and after an eight hour tutorial of the library, I got to work. It took me two weeks to write my appeal, and then I sent it off to Provost Umphrey Law Firm, asking them if they would review it and let me know if it was something I could use. My Umphrey responded to me saying it was one hell of an appeal, and that when I got out of prison I should come see him for a job.”</b></p><p><b>“I file my appeal, and I’m trying to do all of the right things, but as Dabo Swinney says, ‘you bloom where you’re planted.’ Growth happens outside of your comfort zone, otherwise you wouldn’t grow, and you’d stay stagnant. I was lucky, I had a lot of help. My parents came to visit me over 150 times when I was in prison. I had visits from friends and family almost every week. I had encouragement from so many people, but what I had most was hope, which is also in short supply in prison. With hope and time on my hands, I went to work on myself spiritually, mentally, and physically; and on November 16, 2015, the parole board set me free.”</b></p><p><b>“When they granted me parole, they told me this. ‘Hey look, if you come back to prison, we’ll keep you for the rest of your life. Make it right.’”</b></p><p><b>“The guard walked me to the gate and he told me, ‘here’s your last order. Once you get out of here, get off of our property and don’t ever come back to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice every again.’ I run to the car, where my parents are waiting for me, and my dad says, ‘You want to get a Whataburger?’ And my mom says, ‘hang on Bob, don’t start the car just yet. I have three tools that Damon needs to restart his life.’ First, she handed me an iPhone. I was blown away. When I had a cell phone before I went to prison, it had buttons, not a computer screen! Second, she handed me my driver’s license, which I had been able to renew from prison. Third, she put an ACTS bracelet on my wrist, from the men who ran the retreat I went to in prison. She told me, ‘all the men who have been on these retreats, just like you … they’re waiting for you. Wear your ACTS bracelet so that you can identify each other. I have signed you up for another ACTS retreat in St. Charles … go find your friends.’”</b></p><p><b>“I thought I was in a good place with my bible and my rosary, but that first retreat after I got out of prison was so great for me. These men shared with me the failures in their own lives, explaining that they were sharing their stories so that others don’t make the same mistakes. This was the servant leadership guide that I have chosen to follow. If by sharing my story, I can save even one kid, or save one family from having to go through what my family went through, or save one future victim from suffering, I am doing right by God.”</b></p><p><b>“Now my prayer is, ‘God, put in front of me what you need me to do today, and let me recognize it when I see it.’”</b></p><p><b>“The best thing I have every single day is my program of recovery, because I will always be an addict. I go to meetings, meet with my sponsor, work my steps, and continue to clean out the junk in my life. I have made lists and apologized to people, because whether or not they accept my apologies, it’s my job to keep my side of the street and life clean. And if I can do that, I can stay right with my God. I do this every single day. It’s not something I’ll ever graduate from, it’s something I’ll have to do for the rest of my life.”</b></p><p><b>“The day after I got out of prison, I went to see Mr. Umphrey, as he had instructed me, and he gave me a job at his law firm. I work in the pharmaceutical division, and I’ve been there for two years now. To get a job at a law firm like this, it’s a one in a million chance, but they feel I am a real life service project.</b></p><p><b>On the side I started going to local prisons and speaking to the inmates, and then the next things I wanted to do was start speaking with students and student-athletes. I got the opportunity to go speak at the University of Florida. They couldn’t pay me, but they had me flown in, and they were blown away by my story. And then it happened … other schools started calling. What everyone started to realize was that I am the only former NCAA student-athlete to get a life sentence, get paroled, and have the opportunity to go out and speak about it.”</b></p><p><b>Damon has spoken at multiple Division I universities including Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Texas A&M, SMU, Michigan State, Pitt, Kansas, and many more. He has had coaches from Dabo Swinney to Nick Saban endorse his servant leadership, and he continues to speak at universities and prisons to make a difference in the lives of young men and women. He has devoted his life to sharing with others the dangers and consequences of making bad decisions, and the benefits of staying humble.</b></p><p><b>Are you interested in Damon West coming to speak to your organization? Please visit his website, www.DamonWest.org for more information!</b></p><p><b>And don’t forget … “Be a coffee bean!”</b></p><p><b>Want to read more of Damon West’s story? Check out his books on Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Change-Agent-College-Sentenced-Transformed/dp/1642931020" target="_blank">The Change Agent: How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Bean-Simple-Lesson-Positive/dp/1119430275/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1675207918&sr=1-1" target="_blank">The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change</a>, and his new book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119430283/?coliid=I3V99CF9NR1IAG&colid=262BIOE450E2M&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it" target="_blank">How to be a Coffee Bean : 111 Life-Changing Ways to Create Positive Change</a>.</b></p><p><b>Cheers!</b></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-17674469911859427042023-01-30T18:26:00.005-05:002023-01-30T18:32:58.803-05:00From Football to Coffee Beans?<p><b><i>Discovering the Secret of Life</i></b></p><p><b>You may not have heard of Damon West before. He has no connection to Notre Dame, per se, but he does have a connection to college football, as he played football for the University of North Texas. He has published multiple books, with a new one coming out this week <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Coffee-Bean-Life-Changing-Positive/dp/1119430283?crid=HFOO1ESN6JMZ&keywords=how+to+be+a+coffee+bean&qid=1672933902&sprefix=how+to+be+a+coffee+bean,aps,255&sr=8-2&linkCode=sl1&tag=hlg2-20&linkId=0841763d9868351e5fd84eab8ba9edb3&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl" target="_blank">(How to be a Coffee Bean</a>), February 1st, and I think his story is pretty incredible ... so I’d like to share a little bit of it with you. I hope you enjoy it!</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XBBej1bxexGyzZivckoDyqWdOjGmNSDbb6NAg4yHU3Z1IeV1G7uVtLn143essThEyU-dQtgkN2f-_3pBQK5b8HEub6ENuDk__OysYA-zJDFXLuOB15LMr_NPK61R-PU5fn9HJNlMW6hg4hZj4pjdgXP812K2lEM3OEESwzuuv6agLQfasxWUClFAqA/s920/DamonWest.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XBBej1bxexGyzZivckoDyqWdOjGmNSDbb6NAg4yHU3Z1IeV1G7uVtLn143essThEyU-dQtgkN2f-_3pBQK5b8HEub6ENuDk__OysYA-zJDFXLuOB15LMr_NPK61R-PU5fn9HJNlMW6hg4hZj4pjdgXP812K2lEM3OEESwzuuv6agLQfasxWUClFAqA/w400-h266/DamonWest.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><i>From Football to Coffee Beans? Discovering the Secret of Life</i></b></p><p><b>Port Arthur, Texas. Have you ever heard of it? If you’re a fan of Notre Dame Football, you might have, as it is the home of one Christie Flanagan. Flanagan earned his spot in Fighting Irish lore by becoming Knute Rockne’s star halfback after the Four Horsemen departed. Here’s how the iconic Grantland Rice described him: “There was only one lone Horseman riding against the skyline of Fame when Notre Dame met the Army in their annual classic at Yankee Stadium this afternoon, but this time one Horseman was enough.” “His name was Flanagan – Chris Flanagan – a big, gangling, hard-running halfback with the speed of the wind that sweeps the prairies of the West.” ~Grantland Rice, Nov. 13, 1926.</b></p><p><b>Damon West was born in Port Arthur, Texas; on the gulf coast where Texas and Louisiana meet. His father, Bob West, was a groundbreaking sports writer. In fact, he was the first sports writer to put an African-American athlete (former Oklahoma Sooner football player, Joe Washington) on the front page of the sports section in Port Arthur. And his mother, Genie, was a nurse, and raised Damon and his older brother Brandon and younger brother, Grayson. In the 1970’s and 80’s, when Port Arthur’s schools were becoming integrated and white people were leaving in droves, the West family decided to stay. There were many situations during those days growing up in Port Arthur in which Damon was the only white kid. Little did he know that these situations would one day help him, when once again he would be in similar situations, but I’m getting ahead of myself.</b></p><p><b>The West family was a traditional Catholic family, with a cross and a prayer plaque hanging on the wall in each room of the house. In 1985, this strong faith was greatly tested. Damon came to his parents to tell them his babysitter was molesting him. They sent Damon to counseling and reached out to their family priest, but Damon went into a very dark place. That was his activating event. “By the age of 10, I was sneaking beers from my Dad’s fridge, sneaking liquor at friends’ houses, and smoking cigarettes. By age 12, I was smoking pot, and my belief system was in a bad place. I thought, I wasn’t hurting anyone, I was just smoking a little pot and drinking beer. I was a really good athlete growing up, and I would go onto become a three-year starter for the football team at my high school. I was recruited by many Division I schools, that is until they found out I was only 5’10.” In 1994, there were few successful short quarterbacks, so no one was eager to take a chance on me. I did, however, receive a scholarship to the University of North Texas, and that’s where I went.”</b></p><p><b>“Once I got out of Port Arthur and into Denton, I lost sight of a lot of important things in my life. I stopped going to church, and I turned my focus towards playing football, having a good time, and partying. Every person’s life is made up of a bunch of ‘fork in the road’ type moments, and September 21st, 1996 was one of mine. North Texas was playing Texas A&M on that day, and I was the starting quarterback for North Texas. On the third play of the game, I would go down with a separated shoulder, and that would be the last football game I would ever play in.” (The following summer, Damon would sever his Achilles tendon in a home accident, which would end his football career.)</b></p><p><b>Damon had drank and smoked pot quite a bit up to that point, but after realizing his football career was over, he began to shift towards harder drugs to help talk away the pain. “I hit the harder stuff, ecstasy, cocaine, pills … I had no inhibitions. My grades suffered terribly, but somehow, by the grace of God, I graduated. After college, I worked in Washington, D.C., for a congressman from Houston, and following that job I worked for Missouri congressman Dick Gephardt while he was running for President in 2004. Then I worked for UBS bank and trained to become a stock broker. One day at work, one of my co-workers commented that I looked sluggish and told me to follow him to the parking garage. That’s when I was introduced to meth. Up to that point I was a pretty normal, functioning coke addict. Yes, my value system was so warped that I thought what I was doing was normal. But meth, that was a different story. That first time I used meth, I was up for four days straight, and I loved how it made me feel.”</b></p><p><b>Damon’s life went from functioning to spiraling out-of-control. “I lost my job, my home, my car, my savings account, my connection with God, my family, and my sanity. I was homeless, living on the streets of Dallas. I found a place to stay at a dope house, where all we would do was sit around, get high, and talk about getting high. We were a bunch of unemployable addicts, doing anything we had to do to get more drugs. The thing about addicts, we are selfish people and we are thieves. Addicts steal lots of things, but one thing that is stolen from an addict is time, and time is the most precious resource that once lost, cannot be regained. I started breaking into cars, storage units, and eventually into homes in the uptown neighborhood of Dallas where I used to live.”</b></p><p><b>“The burglary ring we were running would go on to be known as the ‘Uptown Burglaries,’ and I left a trail of victims in my wake. I hurt a lot of people. I took from them a sense of security that they may never get back. Their thoughts of a person coming into their home, unannounced, unwelcomed, stealing their sense of peace; that’s something they’ll always have to live with. By July 30, 2008, I had been running these burglaries for two years. On that particular day, I was sitting on a couch in a run-down apartment, with a dealer sitting next to me, and we were handing the pipe back and forth. I told the dealer that I thought the end was near; I thought the cops were coming to get me. My partner had been picked up 10 days prior to that day, and I felt my days were numbered. Just as I’m handing the pipe back to him, a window breaks and a cannister comes sailing through the window. I get up from the couch, look down at the cannister, and in a flash it explodes right in my face. The explosion blew me back onto the couch and I couldn’t see or hear anything. When I regained my senses, a cop was standing over me in full riot gear, and his gun was pressed into my eyeball. I look up at the cop and he says, ‘DON’T MOVE, DON’T MOVE!’ And then I hear them say, we got him! The uptown burglar!”</b></p><p><b>“When all was said and done, we had broken into dozens of homes in that uptown neighborhood of Dallas, desperately trying to feed that insatiable addiction. We were white, black, male, female.” Addiction knows no boundaries, it sinks its teeth into anyone who will let it.</b></p><p><b>“They took me to the Dallas County Jail, where they threw me into a holding cell for 24-hours. I only had one thought during that 24-hours. It wasn’t about the victims, my family, or about me. The one thought in my head was, ‘how in the world am I going to get high in here; how am I going to get my dope.’ After that first 24-hours, they moved me into general population, which was a terrifying experience. Never had I been somewhere, where I knew I wasn’t able to leave. In my first 24-hours in general population, I was in my first real fight over a breakfast tray. I called home from this blue jail phone that they had hanging on the wall, and I heard my dad crying. He was screaming at me, ‘how did we go so wrong?? How did we mess up so badly?? What could we have done differently??’ Then my mom gets on the phone, and I hear her say, ‘baby, listen. Your dad can’t talk to you right now. You’ve hurt us, but we love you unconditionally. That’s the deal we made with God when he loaned you to us. You know that, right?’ And I replied, ‘yes.’ She said, ‘now we have to give you to God. You’re now a captive audience to God, and you had better start listening to him. Do you remember the prayer plaque that was on the wall above your bed?’ That plaque had been on the wall in my room for 18 years in our house on Roanoke Street, and I for the life of me couldn’t remember what it said.”</b></p><p><b>“My mom replied, ‘it was footprints in the sand. Do you remember the story?’ When I could not remember the story, she ever so patiently and lovingly told me the story of footprints in the sand. How every time something good happened, the young man saw two sets of footprints, but every time something bad happened, he only saw one set of footprints. I asked her, ‘why is there only one set of footprints when things are bad in life?’ And she replied, ‘that’s because in those moments, God is carrying you.’”</b></p><p><b>“That night I started praying to God, something I had not done since I was injured in college in 1996. Reopening a conversation with God like this doesn’t just happen overnight. My first prayer, during those 10 months in the county jail awaiting my trial, was pretty simple; ‘Dear God, get me out of this jam. If you get me out of this jam, look what I’ll do for you: I’ll get a job, be a normal guy, and only smoke meth on weekends.’” Not exactly ‘Footprints in the Sand,’ but it was a start.</b></p><p><b>“I was in the Dallas County jail for 10 months awaiting my trial, but my hope, my thought, was that I’d get out on probation, and resume using the drugs that I missed so much. When my trial began, I sat there for six days, with my family right there with me. I listened to the testimony of victim after victim, accomplice after accomplice, and recordings of the phone calls I’d made from jail over the last 10 months. I was not remorseful, I was not sorry, and the jury only deliberated for 10 minutes before they came back with a guilty verdict. The next thing I heard was the judge saying, ‘you are hereby sentenced to 65 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice … life sentence.”</b></p><p><b>“After that, all I could hear was my mother gasping. It was my first felony conviction, but I received a life sentence. I would later learn, once I got to prison, that I was there with people who had committed murder and only gotten 8 years … and I got a life sentence. The jury was mad at me. There I was, this selfish guy who had hurt so many people. It definitely struck a chord with the jurors. They were sitting there looking at this smug guy who could have done anything to earn a living, and had chosen to do this instead. I was not remorseful. They had listened to calls I had made from prison trying to get someone, anyone, to move stolen property to bail me out. I didn’t care about anyone but myself. All of those jailhouse phone calls, ultimately, that’s what sealed my fate.”</b></p><p><b>“Once the verdict was read, they quickly handcuffed me and shoved me out of the courtroom. They put me inside of a holding area, with me on one side of the bullet proof glass, and my parents on the other side, and we get one last visit. I turned to my mother and said, ‘I’m sorry mom.’ My dad sits there, stunned with disbelief, and has no words. My mom says, ‘debts of life demand to be repaid, and you just got hit with a huge bill by the state of Texas, and you must repay it. You owe your dad and me as well. We gave you a life, and here is the debt you owe us. You are going to go to prison, and you’re going to get on God’s back, and you are not going to join one of these white hate gangs, you’re not going to get any tattoos, and you’re going to repay your debt. Do you understand me?’ And I replied, ‘yes.’”</b></p><p><b>“The guards took me back to the pod in the county jail, before I got transferred to where I’ll serve my life sentence, and I start asking every single guy in there, ‘how am I going to survive this?’ And this is what I’m hearing. I’m going to a building which is going to be my sole existence. There will be a chapel, chow hall, and law library. That’s it. They keep telling me I’m going to have to join a gang in order to make my life easier. Everyone but one man, Mr. Jackson. I was very receptive to Mr. Jackson. He was an older black man, and he pulled me aside to give me a different set of advice. He said, ‘I’ve been watching you, and you keep telling everyone that you can’t join a gang, in order to honor your mom. And that’s okay. You don’t have to join a gang. But there are a few things you need to know.’”</b></p><p><b>“Mr. Jackson continued, ‘The first thing you need to know is that everything in prison is about race. In the television room, the first row is for the blacks, the second row is for the Hispanics, and if there is a third bench, that one is for the whites. Otherwise you sit on the floor. Second, the white gangs will feel they have an ownership over you. You will fight them first if you don’t want to join them. If you survive what they are going to do with you, you will move onto the next phase which is fighting with the black gangs. The gangs all work together. If you survive all of that, you will be able to walk alone, and only the strongest guys in prison walk alone. Third, you don’t have to win all of your fights in prison, but you do have to fight them. (This is not only the most important rule in prison, but it’s the most important rule in life.) You have to respond quickly, and you have to get back up again. You have to fight.’”</b></p><p><b>“The next thing he told me, has stuck with me every day of my life. He told me, “West, imagine prison as a pot of boiling water. It’s hot, and the pressure is high. Now imagine putting three things in this pot of boiling water; a carrot, an egg, and a coffee bean. What happens to the carrot when you put it in boiling water? It gets soft. The carrot went into prison hard, and got soft. What happens to the egg when you put it in the boiling water? It gets hard. The egg went into prison hard, and it became hard on the inside, too. Now the egg is incapable of giving or receiving love, and never needs to come out of prison. What happens to the coffee bean when you put it into boiling water? It changes the water into coffee. The smallest of the three things changed the whole pot of water into coffee. That’s what you need to do when you go into prison, change everything. You have to go into this high pressure, negative environment, and change it forever. You get out of anything, exactly what you put into it. The other coffee beans will find you because your energy will shine. Where do you find them? Go to the chapel.’”</b></p><p><b>“The last thing he told me before I left the county jail is this, ‘when you walk into your pod for the first time, put your back against the wall and wait for it to happen. The first guy to come to you will not come to hurt you, he’ll come for info. The second guy, put your fist in his mouth because he’s coming to hurt you.’”</b></p><p><b>“1585689 Inmate West. In prison, they count you multiple times a day, so it doesn’t take long to memorize your number.”</b></p><p><b>“The bus ride to prison was an awful ride. You’re handcuffed to another man, so if he needs to go to the bathroom, you go to the bathroom. You go everywhere together. It’s a 10 hour ride. It’s August, it’s hot and there is no air conditioning. It’s just like you see in the movies. Then, when you get there, you get off the bus and they strip you down. They do a cavity search, shave your head, and give you a sack lunch; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a hardboiled egg, and prunes. They take a sample of your DNA, poke you, prod you, and look for identifying marks. You get boxer shorts and clothes, and they take you to your pod.”</b></p><p><b>“The prison they sent me to was in Beaumont, Texas, which happens to be right next to Port Arthur. I never thought I’d be coming home on a prison bus. It’s a mixed bag. Yes, I’m close enough to home that my friends and family can come visit me, but I’m going to prison. The Mark W. Stiles Unit, in the Texas Department of Correction. One of the toughest prisons in Texas.”</b></p><p><b>“I remembered everything Mr. Jackson told me. I walked into my pod in section two, put my back against the wall, and 10 minutes later this little guy comes around. He asks me, ‘hey white boy, what family are you riding with?’ And I reply, ‘I’m riding with God.’ He laughs at me, and says, ‘we’re gonna come get you. God isn’t here. He left a long time ago.’ 10 minutes later this big corn fed white guy with swastika tattoos came up and once he got within range of me I hit him as hard as I could, and then he dropped me within 20 seconds.”</b></p><p><b>“I had three dozen fights while I was in prison, and I lost 75% of them; but in the end, I won by showing up. I learned so much more about myself from my losses than my wins. Let’s face it, no one analyzes a victory quite like they do a loss. Many times they would roll my cell door and another inmate would say, ‘West, I want to look at you in the shower,’ meant they wanted to fight, because in the showers, it’s easier to clean up the blood. After a few weeks, I’m done fighting the white gangs, and then the black gangs came. And they came four guys at a time.</b></p><p><b>“At this point I’m starting to visit the chapel. There is a big Catholic presence there, and the Catholic representative is this woman named Dee Doucet. She carries a cane, and she is not one bit afraid to hit you with it. I go into her office and speak to hear about my situation. I tell her, I can’t do this; I think I need to kill myself. At which point she said, ‘you can’t do that, Damon. Follow your mom’s advice and get on God’s back.’ She gave me a bible and a rosary, and asked me to say a rosary with her. My mom had an extremely strong devotion to the blessed mother, and I knew my mom prayed the rosary quite often. My mom always had her rosary in her car, and she prayed it any time she had a few extra minutes. This gesture from Dee, giving me the bible and rosary, very much resonated with me. She enrolled me in all of her Catholic groups at the prison. She told me, ‘you need strength and you need help.’ That was a Saturday, and on Monday morning I got up and thought, I’m tired of these limits I’m putting on myself. I’m ready to surpass what I thought I could do.”</b></p><p><b>Stay tuned ... part two tomorrow!</b></p><p><b>Cheers!</b></p><p><b>P.S. Here's some info about his new book coming out this week from Damon's co-author, Jon Gordon: </b></p><p><b><i>111 Life-Changing Ways to Create Positive Change</i></b></p><p><b>Life is often difficult. It can be harsh, stressful, and at times feel like a pot of boiling hot water. The environments we find ourselves in can change, weaken, or harden us, and test who we truly are. In those times we can be like the carrot that weakens in the pot or like the egg that hardens. Or, we can be like the coffee bean and discover the power inside us to transform our environment from the inside out.</b></p><p><b>That's the core message of "The Coffee Bean," the breakaway bestseller that my co-author Damon West and I released in 2019.</b></p><p><b>Now, we're back with a new book titled "How to Be a Coffee Bean" that releases this week. In it we share 111 life-changing ways to create positive change and live out the coffee bean principles each day. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Coffee-Bean-Life-Changing-Positive/dp/1119430283?crid=HFOO1ESN6JMZ&keywords=how+to+be+a+coffee+bean&qid=1672933902&sprefix=how+to+be+a+coffee+bean,aps,255&sr=8-2&linkCode=sl1&tag=hlg2-20&linkId=0841763d9868351e5fd84eab8ba9edb3&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl" target="_blank">You can get a copy here</a>.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-11497566161300301362023-01-25T19:10:00.004-05:002023-01-25T19:10:53.340-05:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Former Notre Dame Basketball Player, Philip Hickey<p><b>Once you graduate from Notre Dame, you are a Domer for life.</b></p><p><b>I had the opportunity to jump on a call with former Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball player, Philip Hickey. We had a great time walking down memory lane and talking some Notre Dame basketball. I never get tired of speaking with former Notre Dame athletes and getting an inside perspective on what it is like to be a student-athlete at a Division I program such as Notre Dame. Not only do I learn something new every time, I walk away with an even more profound love of Our Lady’s University. And without further ado, here’s my interview with Philip Hickey.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolYY9E_N007PlAe9MMT-jhb8LvQy4dzA8uw6o3zSOkajnwP7rw54b_viGuFd6zAKq219cPx-dpx1a7I0yyBmkZjyaREaSWOC-3mSHPb5BiTdEYACnn-_O8OwdFzEtHuSUaXbRTzCseLx7P0jum7zijb2eK7cB7jFx5CZApWgMJKqbIGIylhivZZTRfw/s920/Notre_Dame_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolYY9E_N007PlAe9MMT-jhb8LvQy4dzA8uw6o3zSOkajnwP7rw54b_viGuFd6zAKq219cPx-dpx1a7I0yyBmkZjyaREaSWOC-3mSHPb5BiTdEYACnn-_O8OwdFzEtHuSUaXbRTzCseLx7P0jum7zijb2eK7cB7jFx5CZApWgMJKqbIGIylhivZZTRfw/w400-h266/Notre_Dame_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Where did you grow up?</b></p><p><b>“I grew up in a beautiful small town called Wellsboro, in north central Pennsylvania, which is also home to the Pennsylvania Grand canyon. It is a picturesque New England style town with gaslights lining the streets. It is the type of place that you do not appreciate as a young person and you probably thought was a bit boring, but looking back on it you count your blessings that you grew up in nice, safe, beautiful town. I have two siblings. My sister, Christine, lives in Perth, Australia, and my half-brother, Jonathan, lives in Arkansas with his wife, Alysha, who is in the Air Force.”</b></p><p><b>How did you become interested in playing basketball?</b></p><p><b>“I always felt like the world was pushing me to play basketball. I was a huge kid. When I say I was a huge kid, this is what I mean: I was the same size as my teacher when I was in kindergarten. If I wanted to go on the teeter-totter, she had to go on the other side, or two kids had to. Growing up my first love was baseball. I was obsessed with the New York Yankees, and I was obsessed with right fielder Dave Winfield who was my hero growing up. He was a great role model for me. Based on his size alone, he stood out playing right field, and he was an amazing player. Come to find out he was also a great basketball player, and in addition to playing for the Yankees, he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks (NBA), Utah Stars (ABA), and even the Minnesota Vikings (NFL).”</b></p><p><b>“I played little league baseball growing up and absolutely loved the sport. My coach, Keith Tombs, had a brilliant sports mind. He could teach anything about any sport. Coincidentally, he was also the high school basketball coach. As he was coaching me in baseball, he would give me these gentle nudges that maybe I should pursue basketball, or at least try it and see if I liked it. My mom, Elaine, was a great basketball player as well and played basketball in college (Division III). All of these signs were just pushing me towards basketball. At first, I resisted it, and felt that I only loved baseball. Somewhere around fourth, fifth, or sixth grade, I started to get interested in basketball, and started to enjoy it. That was around the time when Michael Jordan was really starting to evolve as a pop culture figure, and his Nike Air Jordans were everywhere in the media. By the time I was in sixth grade I just could not get enough of basketball and it became a lifelong obsession. I was hooked.”</b></p><p><b>What made you interested in playing basketball at the University of Notre Dame?</b></p><p><b>“Obviously, the University of Notre Dame has a lot of history to it; it is a storied program and a storied school. When I was growing up, part of the Notre Dame NBC football contract included that two or three Notre Dame basketball games would get national television coverage. I watched them as much as I could, and started following players like Monte Williams, LaPhonso Ellis, and of course head coach Digger Phelps. When I started being recruited, Notre Dame was always on my interest list, and they were interested in me as well. My mom suggested to me that I take my official visit to Notre Dame during the week so that I could actually see what real student-life was like at ND, and not be wooed by a ND football weekend. In hindsight, that was a brilliant move on her part. During my visit, I fell in love with the campus, the coaches, and the players. If you combine that with the fact that they were moving into the Big East Conference, which was always my dream conference, that sealed the deal. (Philip’s first year was Notre Dame’s first year in the Big East Conference.) The combination that Notre Dame offered with world-class athletics and world-class academics, there were only a handful of schools that could compete with that and it just felt right to me. For me, it was the place to be.”</b></p><p><b>“My freshman class was targeted to be a big breakout recruiting class for Notre Dame, and it was the first nationally ranked class at ND in a couple of years. We had Doug Gottlieb, who is now a big Fox Sports personality, who ended up transferring to Oklahoma State. We also had Gary Bell, who was from Joliet, IL, and now coaches youth athletes, who was nationally ranked in both football and basketball. He finished number two to Kevin Garnett for Mr. Basketball in Illinois. We had Antoni Wyche, who has been a successful NCAA basketball coach and is currently at Siena. A big part of your success as a team is that when you come together, you have to believe that your class can contribute to the team as a whole. Overall, that class was full of talent and personality.”</b></p><p><b>“I will never forget the first time I met Gary, at the Nike All-American camp. He was such an interesting character. I think he had already committed to ND, and I hadn’t, and he said to me, ‘listen man, you can jump on my back for two years, but then after that you’re going to have to do it by yourself because I’m going to go to the NBA.’ Unfortunately, he had some bad luck injuries with his back and ankles and things did not work out as he had hoped. Doug ended up transferring at the end of my first year. Antoni and I persevered and had careers we were very proud of and were captains our senior year. Attending and playing basketball at Notre Dame is a choice I will never regret and I loved every moment.”</b></p><p><b>“When I made my official visit to Notre Dame, I had a couple of students who hosted me. Keith Kurowski, who was from New Jersey, and Admore White, who was a point guard. They toured me around campus and I got to meet a bunch of the players that would become my future teammates like Pat Garrity, Derek Manner, Marcus Young, and Matt Gotsch. Being that I was there in the middle of the week, I got to hang out with them on a much more laid-back basis. My mom was right, if you love a school on a normal day, football weekends are going to be twenty times better.”</b></p><p><b>What other schools were you looking at?</b></p><p><b>“I was looking at all of the schools in the Big East Conference, as that was always the conference I wanted to play in. In particular Syracuse, Pitt, and Rutgers. I also was looking at Penn State, Duquesne, and Northwestern. And of course Notre Dame.”</b></p><p><b>What was the transition like from playing basketball in high school, to competing at the collegiate level?</b></p><p><b>“The transition from playing basketball in high school to playing at the college level is difficult on many different levels. When you get to the Division I level, the training is so intense, and there are no shortcuts on the court or academically. You are thrown into both the athletics and the academics on day one. When I arrived on campus, I had never shot around on the basketball court at Notre Dame. On my first day on campus, I went to the basketball office and the assistant coach Terry Tyler said, ‘Let’s go shoot around a little bit and you can see where you will be playing for the next four years.’ It was not a full workout, just a couple of shots to welcome me and make me feel at home. He was dressed in a Notre Dame polo tucked into his khaki pants with a nice belt. I remember shooting a few foul shots. One shot in particular (maybe the third or fourth shot) bounced off the front of the rim. Terry went straight off of two legs, grabbed it with two hands and dunked it right into the basket. I was in absolute shock. My reaction was, ‘my god, if the assistant coaches at Division I schools can do this, what are the players going to be like?’ It is something that has stuck with me my entire life. To be fair Terry was just a couple years out of his NBA career and still in excellent shape, but I did not expect that at all.”</b></p><p><b>“Besides how good the existing players were and how hard they worked, I came in as a freshman recovering from a broken toe incident over the summer. I also needed to get in a bit better shape. In addition, I failed the mandatory swim test (I could not do my backstroke), and so I had to take swimming lessons in the morning, on top of the extra practices and rehab that I had to attend in the evening. I felt like I was working out around the clock. It was quite intense. Then I started to see the results, and it made me excited for what was next, and so the hard work paid off. The transition was definitely grueling both mentally and physically, and it is something you have to be ready for, but it definitely works if you put the effort in.”</b></p><p><b>What was it like to be a student-athlete at Notre Dame?</b></p><p><b>“I am not sure what it is like to be at another school, but being a student-athlete at Notre Dame is the best. I love that there were no athletic dorms, that students and athletes lived together, and you all have a shared experience. You meet lifelong friends in the dorms at Notre Dame, and you become family. I was lucky to have lived in Dillon Hall, and roomed with (football walk-on) Justin Meko, who has become a brother from another mother, and is a lovely guy with whom I have a lifelong bond. It is an immediate network that is created for you and it is just amazing.”</b></p><p><b>“I had the normal school year experiences at Notre Dame, but I also went to a couple summer school sessions and had those experiences as well. When I attended summer school at Notre Dame, it was almost as if it was a different university for me. I worked out and was roommates with a lot of the football team; especially the offensive and defensive linemen (Tim Ridder, Alex Mueller, Mike Rosenthal, David Payne, John Wagner, and John Cerasani) and we had some amazing summers. We studied hard and worked out hard, but we also did some exploring of Indiana and Illinois on the weekends, which I had never really done before. We are still all close friends. Once you graduate from Notre Dame, you are a Domer for life. It automatically opens up a great network of alumni, family and friends that you can participate in, take advantage of, and give to for the rest of your life. It is a special place to be a student-athlete. You not only develop academically and athletically, but you also develop morals and a sense of purpose.”</b></p><p><b>“And, of course, it is the most beautiful campus. It is just stunning … when it is at its best, it is incredible. You almost have to take a moment to enjoy how beautiful it really is, and what a wonderful place it is. The architecture, the landscaping, the Golden dome, the football stadium, and touchdown Jesus … or is it three point Jesus? (laughs) It is all just amazing, fantastic, and breathtaking.”</b></p><p><b>What was your relationship with Coach MacLeod like at Notre Dame?</b></p><p><b>“He was an outstanding man and a great teacher both on and off the court. He had the NBA pedigree. He worked us hard, and pushed us hard, and he expected a lot out of us. He expected us to grow into men. I really cannot say enough positive things about him or his staff. He had a great basketball staff, which included Fran McCaffery, who recruited me, as well as Terry Tyler, Parket Laketa and Billy Taylor. Additionally, I had a great bond with our legendary trainer, Skip Meyer, and we were lucky to have a great strength and conditioning program run by Billy Ray Martinov, and then Tony Rolinski, who is still there doing an amazing job. I was lucky to have played for Coach MacLeod for four years. He was kind of a private man but he was wonderful. He 100% encapsulated the spirit of Notre Dame, and everything that Notre Dame stands for. He was an honest person, he expected a lot out of you, and he held you accountable for your actions.”</b></p><p><b>“He evaluated you and told you what your potential was, and then he showed you where you needed to be and set up a program to get you there. He also provided us with opportunities off the court that we would not have otherwise gotten. For example, when we traveled to Washington, D.C. for a game, he was friends Sandra Day O’Connor, and we met her while we were there and took a tour of the White House and the Supreme Court. He gave us all of these intangible opportunities that at the time were cool but looking back as an adult were unbelievable. He knew a lot about basketball and I think we were so close to breaking through, but, unfortunately, there were a couple of transfers and a couple of injuries that kept us from getting there.”</b></p><p><b>What skills and/or tools did Coach MacLeod give you to help you manage the challenging academics at Notre Dame along with the rigors of playing basketball?</b></p><p><b>“He held us accountable for our successes and failures. It was a simple strategy. He would tell us, ‘You came here to be a Notre Dame student-athlete, which means you need to focus on both and do well in both.’ In addition, there were no short cuts anywhere. He wanted us to learn fast from our mistakes, to own up to them, and then to lean into our strengths and he helped us do that. He expected us to put in the effort both on and off the court, and on multiple occasions told us, the reason why Notre Dame is great is that there are no short cuts. This is hard. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. This is why you came here, to have these experiences, to push yourself, and to be challenged. Which was absolutely the right approach. It was all very doable with effort and determination. I was a business major and had a keen interest in English literature. There were a lot of interesting classes that I would have loved to have taken but they were in the afternoon and I could not take them because of practice. To say the least, I was very busy and rarely bored.”</b></p><p><b>What is your favorite ND basketball memory?</b></p><p><b>“I have two favorite memories to share with you. One from my freshman year, and one from my senior year. First, Coach Terry Tyler invited us (the freshmen on the squad) over to his house for Thanksgiving my freshman year. We were right in the middle of two-a-days, and were overwhelmed with trying to balance basketball and our first semester of classes, and it was a much-needed break for us. He and his wife, Sara, cooked an amazing southern Thanksgiving meal, he told us stories from when he played in the NBA, and it felt like we were in another world, a vortex of sorts. It was calm and relaxing, there was no pressure, we laughed, ate amazing food, the freshmen all bonded, and it was definitely one of the highlights from my time at Notre Dame. It is hard to explain how much that night was needed at the time but it definitely was.”</b></p><p><b>“Second, in my senior year, my senior day game was my favorite on the court memory. I tied my career high points during that game. We beat Boston College and I dunked on a few people. My Mom and sister were both there to see me play, we got to celebrate afterwards with friends, and it is a day I will never forget.”</b></p><p><b>Did you play basketball professionally after ND?</b></p><p><b>“I had been chasing that NBA dream since I was a kid and so I continued to pursue that dream post Notre Dame. After graduation, I attended the Indiana Pacers free agent camp run by Larry Bird and Rick Carlisle, which was an unbelievable experience. That really showed me where the bar was, as the Pacers team was very strong that year. From there I played a season in the CBA-IBL for the Cincinnati Stuff. The year was fine but I did not really enjoy it, to be honest, because it was a very selfish atmosphere. Everyone was playing for these ten-day NBA contracts and trying to get called up, and it was selfish one-on-one basketball. I missed the team goal of winning and it lacked the camaraderie I had experienced at Notre Dame. It was a learning year, though, and my game continued to improve.”</b></p><p><b>“The next year I played in Finland and it was one of the best years of my life. I really got to focus on basketball and play on a team where the goal was to win and come together. I loved it and I had a great season. Then I played for the London Towers in the EuroLeague, I played in Slovenia and in Belgium, and then I hurt my knee. After I hurt my knee I was going to hang it up and then John Simon from the original team I played for in Finland called and asked me to come back and play for them for two years. While I was there, I also had the opportunity to go back to school at the Helsinki School of Economics and get my Master’s Degree. It was like being on scholarship again (just a bit older). It is also where I met my wife, Anne (in MBA school), and we lived in Finland for eleven years. It was a great choice. Playing basketball professionally was a wonderful experience for me and it allowed me to see the world and meet my wife.”</b></p><p><b>Where did life take you after basketball?</b></p><p><b>“Once I retired from playing basketball, and graduated with my MBA, I was hired in Helsinki to do marketing at Nokia, who was the biggest mobile phone maker in the world at the time. Then I took a job with a company called Rovio Entertainment and headed up the marketing for Angry Birds, which was a mind blowing kind of experience as it became a pop culture juggernaut. That led to my current job where I head marketing and brand for the Best Fiends franchise at Seriously Digital Entertainment (A Playtika Studio), which moved us from Helsinki, Finland, to Los Angeles, California. The company is based in both Helsinki and Los Angeles which is great because it gives us a reason to go back to Helsinki, but we also love being in Los Angeles. My wife and I have 2 boys, Liam (8), and Fin (5), and we have two family dogs. Living in Finland was a great experience for us, and we may end up back there, but it sure would be hard to give up the Los Angeles weather.”</b></p><p><b>How did being a student-athlete at Notre Dame prepare you for what you are doing today?</b></p><p><b>“Of course graduating, and all of the experiences you have at Notre Dame, and the wonderful classes and professors, all prepare you for life after college. But I think Notre Dame has a way of holding you accountable for your own successes and failures, and it teaches you that quite early. You have to learn an inner motivation while you are there, in order to be successful in a place where you are surrounded by so many other smart, very motivated, future successful young men and women, and that inner drive is what you need to become a successful adult. Being surrounded by so many talented people also causes you to find that inner motivation quickly, and to act on it, because you have to in order to survive.”</b></p><p><b>What advice would you give current student-athletes?</b></p><p><b>“Ask questions, be curious, and put yourself out there. Learn from others and offer your expertise. Build a network. Push yourself both on and off the court (or field). Even if you are lucky enough to eventually play professionally, it going to end one day, and you are going to have to be prepared for what is next, and Notre Dame will prepare you for that. However, you have to put in your own effort, and you have to be determined to do that. It is important that you start thinking about that early. Even if you are the greatest athlete around, it is going to end at some point and there is a whole another life after athletics. There is no better place than Notre Dame to figure that out.”</b></p><p><b>Do you have a funny story about your coach?</b></p><p><b>“Coach MacLeod was a stickler for each one of us to wear jock straps. To me, it was something like my grandfather would have worn. It was uncomfortable and weird and everyone in my freshmen class hated them. I just stopped wearing it and wore the normal spandex sports things that you would wear. I do not know if someone told on me or what, but he got wind that I was not wearing mine. So we were at practice one day, and he stopped us right in the middle of the lay-up line. Out of the blue, he came right up to me and started frisking me TSA style, to see if I was not wearing it. It was the most awkward funniest thing and the rest of the team was just standing there, watching, trying not to laugh at this situation I had gotten myself into. He went on to give us a speech on me not wearing my jock strap, and why it was important for us to wear it. It was such a surreal, weird, awkward experience, and my teammates still talk about it to this day. Doug Gottlieb loves to bring it up every year in one of his sports broadcasts, and then everyone starts texting me, ‘oh, he’s talking about it again!’ I think year after year the story grows into more of a legend.”</b></p><p><b>Do you have any philanthropy work or charity involvement that you would like to promote?</b></p><p><b>“I work with a couple of partners through our company that I love, and I have one that I am particularly excited about. I have always worked in the mobile game space, and we have collaborated with a company called SpecialEffect in the UK. They help people with physical disabilities of all ages find joy through playing video games. They build these unbelievable tech apparatuses that allow them to play games by blinking their eyes or using their feet and it is so incredible to see the smiles on their faces. They thought they would never be able to play a PS5 and now they have this incredible solution. They are a small organization, and they are starting to do some work in the United States, but they are looking to get bigger and help more people and we work closely with them. I am an ambassador for them and I am very proud of the work they are doing.”</b></p><p><b>Thank you, again, to Philip for spending some time with me and reminiscing about the good old days! I hope you enjoyed this week’s story, and as we head toward the weekend ... Cheers & GO IRISH!</b></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-24698508148156105892023-01-18T08:00:00.004-05:002023-01-18T08:00:00.185-05:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Former Notre Dame Quarterback, Terry Hanratty<p> In celebration of Terry Hanratty’s (upcoming) birthday on January 19th, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite Terry Hanratty stories. I had the privilege of interviewing Terry a few years ago, and when I say he was one of the most entertaining interviews I’ve ever done, that’s the absolute truth!</p><p>Here are some of my favorite stories that came out of my interview with Terry Hanratty.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs83POodkGb19uMIwwvliUrFb7cObLIALuvrFfTc9mtm6hqP59uGp7Ly53doyw9RyxvQ2qZhCWqE60AwTApS-KFpwXgk0TTUyLxqXOQCx-XpEwQcBK7vSaU0q9y5vHwmvKF598TBUlabH_aE2ON8Rhaf8kkdiofuxAViGSyhle52pbAMIH7aKbD3VZlw/s920/TerryHanrattyAndAra_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs83POodkGb19uMIwwvliUrFb7cObLIALuvrFfTc9mtm6hqP59uGp7Ly53doyw9RyxvQ2qZhCWqE60AwTApS-KFpwXgk0TTUyLxqXOQCx-XpEwQcBK7vSaU0q9y5vHwmvKF598TBUlabH_aE2ON8Rhaf8kkdiofuxAViGSyhle52pbAMIH7aKbD3VZlw/w400-h266/TerryHanrattyAndAra_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;">Image: US PRESSWIRE</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>To start, he told me about his beloved coach, Ara Parseghian, and the traits that made Ara such an incredible coach.</p><p>There are good college football coaches, there are great football coaches, and then there are coaches that are on a level all their own. Coach Ara Parseghian is definitely in this latter elite group.</p><p><i>Ara’s ability to have us 100% prepared for anything we could possibly face on Saturday was what made him such a talented head football coach. Back when I played at Notre Dame in the mid 1960s you couldn’t play your freshman year, so I was a starter for the next three years. I was never once surprised by anything I faced during a game. We won a lot of games but we lost a couple as well. Our losses were usually the result of a bad performance. The losses, however, were never from being unprepared or from not knowing what Ara expected of you. He had you completely ready with a phenomenally constructed game plan, and you felt 100% comfortable going into every game. You were extremely prepared for anything that was headed your way.</i></p><p><i>Quite honestly I think Ara Parseghian is a one-of-a-kind guy. You will not find anyone like him ever again. He was such a dynamic recruiter. He had this personality that was so magnetic; you just had to play for him. It’s truly something you can’t read or learn in a Coaching 101 book on “how to become Ara Parseghian,” it’s just not that simple. He had this honesty and fairness about him. I haven’t seen those qualities in a coach anywhere else.</i></p><p>Yes, Ara may have been dynamic, magnetic, fair and honest, but when it came time to get down to business, he was just that: all business.</p><p><i>When you’d screw up at practice, Ara would tell you to bend down and touch your toes and then he’d literally kick you in the butt. One day Ara came to practice and he was really upset. He said, “Dushney, get over here and bend down and touch your toes,” and then he kicked him in the butt. Then he said, “I know you’re going to screw up today so I’m going to go ahead and kick you in the butt now!”</i></p><p>All of the hard work and perseverance paid off for Hanratty, but life with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (and beyond) wasn’t all work and no play. His Notre Dame head coach, Ara Parseghian, did a great job of recognizing that Hanratty and his fellow teammates were still developing young men. Ara always kept a watchful eye on his players to make sure the balance between work and play didn’t tip to one extreme or the other.</p><p><i>Coach Parseghian had been notified by a few professors that some of his players were skipping class. As a result of this, Parseghian put Coach Boulac in charge of following these football players and making sure that they actually made it to class. One of my classrooms had a door into the class from the hallway. It also had another door which led out of the room from the back of class. We would go into class through the front door (while Coach Boulac was watching us) and then out the back door and over to “The Huddle.” This worked for a few days until Coach Boulac got wind of what we were doing. One day we did what we usually did and were sitting in The Huddle when in walked Coach Boulac. He caught us.</i></p><p>And then Terry dropped this story on me ...</p><p>Hanratty is the kind of guy who brings laughter with him wherever he goes. His time with the Steelers was no different.</p><p><i>Jack Lambert was a middle linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was one of the meanest guys in the NFL. No one would mess with him ... well, except for me! When I’d go into the locker room before practice, I’d go early enough so that I could place two cups of water underneath his shoulder pads, which were sitting on the top shelf of his locker. When he’d arrive to the locker room, he’d pull down his shoulder pads and the water would spill all over his face. I did it to him three days in a row. And for three days in a row he had water spill all over his face. Finally I told him, “You big dummy! Tomorrow morning, get up on your stool and look under your shoulder pads and if there’s water there, move the cups of water before taking down your shoulder pads.” The next morning, Jack gets up on his stool and looks underneath his shoulder pads, and there’s no water. He was so very proud of himself; he was strutting around the locker room as proud as a peacock. The next day, he comes to practice, pulls down his shoulder pad and water pours all over his face. I was 25-0 with different tricks on Lambert and he never got me once!</i></p><p>Terry, I hope you had the best birthday ever, and that your next trip around the sun is your best one yet.</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-60253380547771297562023-01-11T08:55:00.008-05:002023-01-11T09:48:36.208-05:00Triumphs From Notre Dame: Dr. Charles Thomas Jr.<p><b>If you're a Notre Dame basketball fan, this season has been pretty rough. (Congrats to the Irish, by-the-way, on their first ACC win last night!) So this morning I thought I'd channel some positive karma by sharing one of my favorite Notre Dame men's basketball stories from my third book, Triumphs From Notre Dame: Dr. Charles Thomas Jr. Here is a snippet from Charles' chapter. </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMqnxMpbthUK4qrVdmxGhoSblOk-B-jjjgzYOWJ1TWWZPnoyZ1MQLiBYHpbiTX-VQNW7BkL9USJs1anWRRkSYJP0yhovf2M4h2Qp6pi0wDc_8rn1tBckxJUawxwGyUsz3Oz_KLb-4yGa9YwEaMXwg6ufZD67YwZgj8rGYnHBpnqx9DqyyyaKjcdorqQ/s720/CT_Profile_Pic_4_1024x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMqnxMpbthUK4qrVdmxGhoSblOk-B-jjjgzYOWJ1TWWZPnoyZ1MQLiBYHpbiTX-VQNW7BkL9USJs1anWRRkSYJP0yhovf2M4h2Qp6pi0wDc_8rn1tBckxJUawxwGyUsz3Oz_KLb-4yGa9YwEaMXwg6ufZD67YwZgj8rGYnHBpnqx9DqyyyaKjcdorqQ/w400-h400/CT_Profile_Pic_4_1024x1024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Triumphs From Notre Dame: Dr. Charles Thomas Jr.</b></p><p><b>In the iconic words of former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz, “I can’t believe God put us on this earth to be ordinary.” I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who walks through life in such a way that he proves the validity of this quote over and over again like Dr. Charles Thomas Jr. does. Dr. Charles Thomas Jr. is a man who challenges the thought processes of others in his daily encounters, who provides those who cross his path with a sense of hope in moments where all hope seems to be lost, whose selfless acts of community service help to mold and shape those who so very much need a sense of purpose and direction, and who strives to not only enrich his own life, but the lives of others as well. How does a kid from Flint, Michigan, end up playing Division I Basketball under the hue of the Golden Dome at Our Lady’s University, and go on to become a pillar not only in his career path but in his community as well? This is Dr. Charles Thomas Jr.’s story.</b></p><p><b>“My journey to Notre Dame was actually pretty interesting. At least it is to me. I knew nothing about Notre Dame until my senior year of high school. I grew up in Flint, Michigan, surrounded by ambitious and intelligent young black men. Although we had big dreams, many of us lacked exposure to the realm of probable. Many of us didn’t know anything about Ivy League schools, or schools such as Notre Dame…at least I didn’t. I only really knew about the schools I could ‘see,’ such as Michigan, Michigan State, Central Michigan; and I certainly never thought, ‘I want to be a Golden Domer.’”</b></p><p><b>“I went to this summer basketball camp and met some coaches from several different schools, one of which was Notre Dame; and so I put ND on my list. I literally thought Notre Dame was located in California. My counselor called me into his office one day and said,</b></p><p><b>‘Have you ever thought about applying to Notre Dame and Princeton?’</b></p><p><b>‘I don’t know where Princeton is, and I don’t want to go to California.’</b></p><p><b>‘Notre Dame is in South Bend!’</b></p><p><b>‘South Bend what?!’</b></p><p><b>‘Indiana!!’</b></p><p><b>“During my senior year of high school I got the itch; and I just had to go to Notre Dame. When Mr. Reynolds planted the bug in my ear, my entire focus shifted to getting into Notre Dame. And then, once I got accepted, the only thing on my mind was playing basketball at Notre Dame. I knew academically I would be okay, but athletically I was so small. There was no reason I should have thought I had any chance to play basketball at that Division I school, with players of that caliber.”</b></p><p><b>“When I arrived at Notre Dame, I went to the basketball office (Coach MacLeod was the head coach at the time), and I introduced myself. ‘Hey, I’m Charles Thomas, and I’m from Flint, Michigan. I want to speak with someone regarding the process one must go through to play basketball here.’ One of the coaches came out to meet me, and the coach looked at me and he asked, ‘Charles Thomas, how do I know that name?’ And I answered, ‘I’m from Flint, Michigan.’ And he emphatically replied, ‘You’re not 6’1” tall!’ My coach, Ray Jones, had made me out to be much bigger than I actually was!”</b></p><p><b>“My AAU Coach, Ray Jones, had written letters about me, and filmed me working out in the gym, and had bombarded the Notre Dame Basketball office with information about me. He told me if I ‘work, work, work, work, work,’ we’ll figure out a way to get you to Notre Dame.”</b></p><p><b>“One of the coaches at Notre Dame’s basketball’s office told me the process that I needed to follow in order to try out for the basketball team. He told me I couldn’t ‘officially’ practice with the team, but informed me that I could work out at ‘The Rock’ (workout facility and basketball gym for students on campus) in order to get ready for tryouts. He also told me that I could play pick-up games with the guys on the team, if they decided to pick me. ‘You just have to keep showing up,’ he said. With the stringent NCAA rules, as a prospective walk-on, you aren’t allowed to practice with the team before tryouts, and so I would go sit in the gym and watch them practice. I would keep going, day after day. I wanted them to see my commitment, and know how much I wanted to play with the team.”</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Unbeknownst to them, I’m not afraid of the sharks, and I’m not afraid of living in the jungle, because I’m quite used to living in that space.</i></b></p><p><b>“One day as I sat and watched them practice, one of the guards twisted his ankle, and so they called over to me, ‘Hey Chuck, you want to play?’ What kind of question was that? Of course I wanted to play. And from that day on, every day they picked me to play with the team. It was such a challenge for me, because I was little, compared to the rest of the guys. Everyone told me I was too small, not strong enough, not fast enough; but unbeknownst to them, I’m not afraid of the sharks, and I’m not afraid of living in the jungle, because I’m quite used to living in that space.”</b></p><p><b>“I practiced every single day … 1,000 shots a day. I wasn’t going to give up on my dream.”</b></p><p><b>“At this point, I’m practicing with the team every day. When fall break rolls around, Coach Billy Taylor tells me, ‘go home for break and we’ll call you and let you know when tryouts are.’ When the call came during fall break, that epic phone call, that moment of joy on the phone; at first, I thought the call was a joke. Coach Taylor called and said, ‘there’s no need for you to try out, the fellas love you, come on back.’</b></p><p><b>Me: ‘Is this a joke?? Are you serious??’</b></p><p><b>I handed the phone to my mom, and then she said, ‘it’s no joke!! They are serious!!’”</b></p><p><b>“We drove back to campus the next day, and when I walked into the gym, the lights felt like they were so much brighter. The team was standing there in the middle of the court, clapping for me.”</b></p><p><b>“Academically, classes at Notre Dame were so hard. I knew it was going to be hard, but I wasn’t doing as well as I thought I was going to do. The conversations were just so different from what I was used to. We never talked about economics or any of these topics at home. But my parents had instilled this tremendous work ethic in me, and told me that even though I didn’t have all of the resources that many of my peers had, if I worked hard I could make it happen. I called home and told my parents that I did not belong at Notre Dame, and my mother quickly told me that I needed to stop my ‘woe is me’ act. My mom sold her car so that I could stay in school. I may not have believed in myself, but she absolutely did.”</b></p><p><b>“My teammates, however, were so cool. They told me told me to keep coming to practice. The focus that I had from my senior year of high school, straight through to October of my freshman year at ND, it was a singular focus to play basketball at Notre Dame. Months and months of the same routine every day, run, workout, shoot, eat, study, sleep, repeat; had finally paid off with that moment in the gym when my teammates were applauding me as I walked in. Easily the most memorable moment I had during my time at Notre Dame.”</b></p><p><b>“I wasn’t one of those kids who had always wanted to be an Irishman, but once the opportunity presented itself to me, I knew it was where I wanted to be. Before Notre Dame came onto my radar I looked at Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Princeton, UNC – Chapel Hill, Hawaii, and some smaller schools such as Akron and Grand Valley. I went to a private high school in Flint, Michigan, but many of my classmates were looking at schools local to Michigan and Ohio. Only one of my classmates came to Notre Dame with me. Schools like Yale, Cal Berkeley, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Brown … none of those schools were on my radar.”</b></p><p><b>Every student arrives at Notre Dame with visions of grandeur. The sky is the limit, the dreams are endless, and the confidence to reach the summit fills each and every cup. But then life happens. The journey along the Notre Dame Value Stream is not an easy one, and every student and student-athlete who roam the halls of Our Lady’s University will have their ups and downs during their years under the Golden Dome. But the beauty of the Notre Dame Value Stream is this; She knows the journey will not be without strife, and She is always there to show you the way, so that when you come out on the other side, you are a stronger person than you were when you went in. Charles’s journey was no different.</b></p><p><b>“When I arrived at Notre Dame, I decided to study both science and business in the collegiate sequence program they offered (which was pretty new at the time). I liked science because of the process nature of it, but I also enjoyed business. Paul Rainey, one of my teammates, was in a similar collegiate-sequence program and told me to check it out. He told me, ‘you get the best of both worlds!’ So I went and talked to my counselor and he told me it was a great program. I completed all of my major classes in three-and-a-half years, so during my last semester I was able to expand my horizons and take classes outside of my major.”</b></p><p><b>“I was absolutely the definition of a ‘student-athlete.’ I studied, studied, studied and then played sports. I didn’t have the luxury of playing sports first and then studying as an afterthought. I wanted to be ready to play, but I knew academics was my focus. Initially, I thought the NBA was in my future. As college progressed and my game times experiences were limited, my NBA aspirations also decreased. This change in thought did not occur because I lost confidence in myself and my abilities. I simply began to accept the nature of my situation. At the point in which my focus started to shift, I knew that I was not an NBA caliber player. Maybe overseas, but not NBA level. My focus and desire shifted. My goal was to leverage sports to acquire the skills and education necessary to prepare myself for life after college.”</b></p><p><b>“I haven’t found anything that has replaced basketball for me. The teamwork, commitment, absolute pursuit of excellence, the crowd cheering you on; nothing else in life has replicated that for me. Not at that same level. However, I take that same focus and hustle mentality into my daily life. That four year experience at Notre Dame has prepared me for the next 50 years.”</b></p><p><b>Just when it seems that you are starting to get comfortable with what it takes to be successful both on and off the court at a big time Division I college program, your journey draws to a close, and your next adventure is about to begin. That first step on a new path may be scary and somewhat intimidating, but this is exactly where the Notre Dame Value Streams shines. It is where She lifts you up, and sends you out into the world prepared with everything you need to face the challenges ahead.</b></p><p><b>“After my academic and athletic career at Notre Dame, I was recruited to work within the Intelligence Community. Working in that community was an awesome experience. To know that my academic background from Notre Dame set me up for such a prestigious job was incredible. I was just a kid from Flint, Michigan. Opportunities like that didn’t exist for kids from Flint, Michigan … or at least I thought.”</b></p><p><b>“Then I changed course and got a job in the corporate space doing organizational dynamics and IT. I also went back to graduate school and earned my MBA at UTSA, and then went on to Creighton University to earn my Master of Science and Doctoral degrees. I’m back working in the intelligence community, as CEO of a technology company. When I was in school, I had always talked about being a forensic scientist, but then I decided to try something else. We all have to decide where our aptitude and abilities are going to take us.”</b></p><p><b>“The interdisciplinary training that I acquired at Notre Dame prepared me for interdisciplinary aspects of life. The success that I’ve achieved so far, it’s not because of pure talent; it’s because I put in significant effort. No one can ever say that I don’t work hard. That will never be on my tombstone. You don’t have to be the most analytical or the most intelligent, but you do have to put in effort. I know so many people who may not be the smartest one in the bunch, but they work extremely hard. Take your aptitude and abilities and align that with your future.”</b></p><p><b>“The adversity I felt in my dark days, when I wasn’t playing on the team, wondering if I was ever going to be able to do this; became I’m going to turn this into what I want it to be. I am going to stop being mad and start working harder, to study harder, and to keep at it. You’re going to have adversity in your life, you need to be able to figure out how to solve it. Coach Brey told me, ‘if you can shoot, you can play anywhere in the country. Now I’m not telling you to leave, but I am telling you no matter where you are, if you can produce, you can play.’ I used this philosophy in the work force as well; if you can create produce, and perform, you can work anywhere. You need to be able to take nothing, and turn it into something. Be an artist and create.”</b></p><p><b>“The people in life who are the most successful are the ones who are able to produce something. They are no longer purely consumers of knowledge, but are producing something worthwhile. The sports journey that I traveled allowed me to become confident in telling stories. Not only in the books I’ve written, but even in my executive work, I have to tell stories. We have a business objective we’re going after, and we need to be able to explain why we want it, how it fits with us, how our employees fit with it. It’s all story telling.”</b></p><p><b>In addition to his work in the government and corporate space, and his collegiate level teaching activities, Charles also writes. He is a soon-to-be four-time published author. I asked Charles to tell me what prompted him to become an author, and what the writing experience has been like for him.</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I didn’t want to be an author, but I needed to release my demons, and writing was my way of releasing them.</i></b></p><p><b>“For starters, I don’t consider myself an author. I just consider myself someone who wrote something and got it published. I also don’t consider myself an academic, I just consider myself someone who likes to learn. I didn’t want to be an author, but I needed to release my demons, and writing was my way of releasing them. I was in shambles internally, and the only way I knew how to get rid of the negativity was to write about it. Kind of like that song from Hamilton, I wrote my way out. I had to deal with my demons one way or another, and so I started writing to get them out. I sent the manuscript (for ‘Scars, Exile & Vindication: My Life as an Experiment’) to one of my graduate school professors, who told me I had a strong voice and that I needed to get it published. And that’s what I did. Now, I have published a second book, ‘Breakthrough,’ and a third book as well, ‘Leading Through Difficulty: The Darker Side of Workplace Behavior.’” My fourth book is on the way. It’s about the walk-on journey.</b></p><p><b>“My grandmother always told me, ‘don’t die with the stories inside of you.” I have so much inside of my head, and I need to get it out. There are so many of us going through things in our life, and we feel like we are alone. I hope that through my writing and speaking I can be a voice in the ensemble of choices that can resonate with someone. One of my philosophies is to try to be the best I can, while I can. I don’t necessarily think it was me deciding that; that I wanted to be an author. I wanted to tell stories, and to be of value, rather than to be an author per se.”</b></p><p><b>“After I wrote my first book, I let it sit for two years. I happened to send it to a friend, and he said, ‘this is a real book! You actually made it flow and it tells a story!’ I’ve always been able to tell a story, but I had no idea I could write a book. My desire to let my negativity go was my first desire. I was in a bad headspace. Before I started, my coping mechanism to deal with my negativity was to reach for the bottle. Even though I was drinking a tremendous amount of alcohol, I was still functioning well and performing at a high level in graduate school. It was pure intellect and instinct that carried me through those dark moments.”</b></p><p><b>“I was in a downward spiral internally, for several years, but externally you would have never known. I was still wearing three piece suits, and going to the gym; but at night I’d drink a bottle of tequila and read a book. It all seemed to be working for me until I walked into the liquor store one day and the guy said to me, ‘seriously? You were just here yesterday.’ But I didn’t feel anything was wrong. After I would drink a bottle, I should have felt something, but I didn’t. I’d drink, write, work out, and feel perfectly fine. Get up the next day, go to class, and repeat the whole process the next night. I wrote my way out of a very dark place.”</b></p><p><b>“In elementary school and high school, sports kept the negativity out of me, but as an adult, writing helped me deal with the negative situations I was facing in life. Something bad would happen and I would go home, write about it, get it out of my system, delete it, and feel better.</b></p><p><b>You might think that a successful government consulting career, along with writing books, would be enough to keep one more than busy; but not so for Charles. He is also a keynote speaker, a co-host of the Divergent Thought radio show, an educator (Charles is an Adjunct Professor of Leadership, Civility, and Personal Responsibility, Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Development and Transformation at the Undergraduate level. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Leadership Theory & Practice and Consulting Management & Practice at the Doctorate level. And within the local jail system, Charles teaches Life Skills: Communication, Financial Literacy, Decision Making, and Mental Health; to men who are incarcerated and preparing for societal re-entry), and has committed himself to service before self through his many community service endeavors. How did Charles get involved in so many different things?</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>When you learn, teach, when you get, give. ~Maya Angelou</i></b></p><p><b>“I’m not the most profound person in the world, but I do things because I think they can get done. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I strive to meet and exceed the ideals and standards of the best of those that came before me. I teach at the county jail in Northern Virginia, I teach students at the University level, I work with the homeless, I have a radio show in which we talk about social justice; I believe that education and community engagement are so very important. Growing up in Flint, Michigan was a magnificent upbringing. As a teenager, I became very aware of the power of community. I didn’t understand the magnitude of how much value people were offering, however, until I became older and more self-reflective. Although there were plenty of role models, external to my parents and some relatives, I mainly looked up to athletes and entertainers. Now, that I am older and have the opportunity to do so, I want to represent a different narrative for kids growing up in situations like I did.”</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiRFCA46mlb15_Ilc5e7syLpVFW5ChGPjPkA8k-WGUBpRUud-hv4H14X9JLqOhPd0WK3zASyi1W2mDiQMZ6kd8Od77Q_BuATRLzK7w5CTNgevBzuXixOzC_qQYLu0ArQmMYVkymXO2_hg2JvnXsxan9yxAwUi9cgQ-CDMCze1j02VnSpzDkVqGmgp-Q/s767/Civic_engagement_Photo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiRFCA46mlb15_Ilc5e7syLpVFW5ChGPjPkA8k-WGUBpRUud-hv4H14X9JLqOhPd0WK3zASyi1W2mDiQMZ6kd8Od77Q_BuATRLzK7w5CTNgevBzuXixOzC_qQYLu0ArQmMYVkymXO2_hg2JvnXsxan9yxAwUi9cgQ-CDMCze1j02VnSpzDkVqGmgp-Q/w375-h400/Civic_engagement_Photo.jpg" width="375" /></a></div><p><b>“I was giving a speech not too long ago, and a young black man came up to me after I was done. He told me, ‘I’ve seen President Obama speak and that’s cool, but you, I know you. I’ve seen what you have done, and I know that I can do it too.’ President Obama did just that for me. To see an educated black man achieve that level of success shows me that opportunities like that exist for me, and that maybe I can become something like that one day. I am constantly in a state of self-exploration, asking, can I do it myself? And who can I bring with me if I can’t. As a demonstration of human potential, I want to show people something that they may not otherwise see.”</b></p><p><b>“We do intellectual, mental, and spiritual rehabilitation at the county jail to give men and women tools they need to successfully re-integrate into society. How do I respond to this situation? Not react to the situation, but respond. Not everyone is going to like me, but I’m out there shooting and catching arrows. You can’t be afraid of success, failure, or of what people think of you. ‘When you learn, teach, when you get, give.’ Maya Angelou”</b></p><p><b>“At the very least, I’m trying. I want everyone to know I did my best. I want me to know that I did and am doing my best. You can’t do that if you just sit at home. You have to offer value to other people. I want to use whatever talents, gifts, wisdom that I have. In order to get in the game, you need to be near the game. That pattern of life has propelled me, even into the community. If I want to share and/or solve a leadership problem, or a mass incarceration problem, I have to be involved.”</b></p><p><b>“As an adult, I’ve won two leader of the year awards, an outstanding service to the community award, two 40 under 40 awards, a rising star award, and several other accolades. Those awards were bestowed upon me based on the dealings I’ve had with people, and the impact I’ve had on people at the micro level (jail, community, and university work). Those acts of service are just as important to me as my corporate work.”</b></p><p><b>“I try to be involved and offer insights to others based on my experiences and the lessons learned from other people. When you talk to so many people, you get so much insight on how to better live your own life. When you capture the life experiences of others, it gives you real insight as to whether or not you are living your life well. In the process, you learn that there are things that are an option that you never knew were a possibility before.”</b></p><p><b>“I try to at least offer something of value, so that someone who is listening to me can take something away with them; one thing at the very least. They may not take everything away with them, but I want them to at least take one thing away with them. On our radio show, we try to offer something to counteract all the negativity that is in the world.”</b></p><p><b>Charles currently lives in the Washington D.C. area with his wife, Manthanee, and their two children.</b></p><p><b>The full version of Dr. Charles Thomas Jr.’s chapter (including what it was like to play for three different head coaches, and his favorite memories from his time at Notre Dame) appears in my book, <a href="http://www.echoesfromnotredamebooks.com" target="_blank">Triumphs From Notre Dame: The Echoes of Her Loyal Sons and Daughters</a>.</b></p><p><b>You can also check out Charles on his radio show, Divergent Thought, and if you’re in need of a fantastic keynote speaker, you can reach out to him via his website: <a href="https://charlesthomasjr.com/">https://charlesthomasjr.com/</a></b></p><p><b>Cheers & GO IRISH!</b></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-50642611298469575652023-01-04T18:37:00.000-05:002023-01-04T18:37:01.544-05:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Former Notre Dame Basketball Player Joe Fredrick<p><b> T-shirts? What t-shirts?</b></p><p>Happy Wayback Wednesdsay! </p><p>The following is a snippet from Chapter 21 of my third book (Triumphs From Notre Dame): Joe Fredrick, former Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball player. Joe shared with me what it was like to play for coach Digger Phelps.</p><p>Coaches at the University of Notre Dame tend to have big coaching philosophies, and oftentimes even bigger personalities (and egos). Head basketball coach Richard Frederick “Digger” Phelps was no exception. Joe talks about what it was like to play for a demanding head coach, and how Digger’s coaching style taught the guys not only about the game of basketball, but the game of life as well.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhDY6QrvUtRJXKpLHiFXQo_Y9JiCm3U1bExYAcnSYtahzgUt8LMGSD6LLO5K7b3LP6TBwoLYcrrpD5I84NS2mkdHQjRmzUd_TPgKB96E-2uAv3qINzkU_K_4mml7OchOYlgkNzR053gMTALtUJhFEk1n-X8hfjVxvENTVX6WDU5cWrBtKvZM8lFOJ7g/s920/usa_today_9639657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhDY6QrvUtRJXKpLHiFXQo_Y9JiCm3U1bExYAcnSYtahzgUt8LMGSD6LLO5K7b3LP6TBwoLYcrrpD5I84NS2mkdHQjRmzUd_TPgKB96E-2uAv3qINzkU_K_4mml7OchOYlgkNzR053gMTALtUJhFEk1n-X8hfjVxvENTVX6WDU5cWrBtKvZM8lFOJ7g/w400-h266/usa_today_9639657.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><figcaption style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">The infamous Catholics vs. Convicts t-shirt</figcaption><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; text-align: start;"> </span><cite style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.75px; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.75; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports</cite></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><b>“Don’t assume, always have a backup, and always have a follow up.” ~</b><b style="text-align: left;">Coach Digger Phelps</b></p><p><i>“What was it like to play for Coach Phelps? Challenging. You always knew that he was going to push you every single day to become the best possible player that you could be. What I admired most about Coach Phelps was that even with as difficult as the athletic part of the equation was, when it came to the academic and personal side of the equation, he truly cared about all portions of your life. He didn’t only care about what happened on the court. Looking back on those days as an adult, father, and coach, I have a great deal of appreciation for what he did for us. He always talked to us about our life after school and after basketball, and emphasized the value of graduating and getting our degree. He had a phrase that he used quite often, that I still use this day, ‘Don’t assume, always have a backup, and always have a follow up.’ And he would say it to us all the time. He literally drilled it into our heads. In addition, he would apply it to every life situation. If you were late to practice he would ask you, ‘Why weren’t you there early? Did you have a backup plan? Why did you assume we were going to start practice at 3 pm? You should have been here at 2:30 pm.’ He basically eliminated every excuse you had and honestly to this day in business, I think that particular phrase of his is probably my number one core principle.”</i></p><p><i>“We had practice at 3 pm, but practice really started at 2:15 pm with what was called ‘pre-practice.’ In hindsight, that 45 minute pre-practice was actually harder than the regular practice. The first month of my freshman year I kept thinking to myself, are you kidding me? This is just pre-practice, and pre-practice is harder than the ‘actual’ practice. Coach would walk out for practice at 3 pm and I was dead, gassed, completely tired. I had to go through a significant adjustment period to gain the stamina to do both pre-practice and regular practice. He was a driver, make no bones about it, he pushed you every single day. He pushed you mentally, and physically. Every which way you could be pushed, he tried. He’s a character. He’s a one of a kind, that’s for sure.”</i></p><p>Every coach who coaches at a Division I school, especially a school so steeped in a winning tradition such as Notre Dame, wants his team to perform at their absolute best year in and year out. Joe explains some of the factors that contributed to head coach Digger Phelps being as successful as he was</p><p><i>“First, candidly, back then the lack of network exposure (for teams other than Notre Dame), worked in Digger’s favor. Today there are five or six ESPN channels, and the Fox Sports network of channels; every team has national exposure of some sort. Back then, Notre Dame was really the only school who was on TV weekly because we were not in a conference, and we played as an independent. This allowed him to recruit players from all over the country. The ability for him to get top, number one recruits was such a great asset for him. When you look through the years, he always had high level players. Second was his ability to push you, and get every ounce he could get out of you. He was a really good X’s and O’s coach. He understood the game, and knew how to motivate players. He always was able to keep you on edge. He never let you have a comfortable feeling, which meant you always felt like you were playing for your job. And from having friends who played football under Coach Holtz, the two coaches had very similar coaching styles.”</i></p><p>And then, there it is, that dreaded point in every interview when I ask,</p><p><i>“What is your favorite basketball memory from your time at Notre Dame.” I always thought that question would be a slam dunk, but for so many of the athletes that I interview, that question is hands down the one they labor over the most. But without fail, as the conversation moves along, and the walk down memory lane gets a bit clearer, every single person has that a-ha moment and elatedly recites the story of their favorite Notre Dame memory. “Honestly, my favorite memory from playing basketball at Notre Dame? Being in the locker room with my teammates. The bonds that I built with guys like Jamere Jackson, Keith Robinson, Scott Paddock, Kevin Ellery, Tim Singleton, LaPhonso Ellis; those bonds never leave you. I coach at a local high school, and we were at a state tournament down in Lexington, and I got a text from Kevin Ellery who came to the game to watch my team play. When LaPhonso Ellis announces the Notre Dame Basketball games on TV, he and I text after the games. Jamere Jackson is super successful, he’s the CFO of Hertz Rental Cars, and every time he gets a promotion we all text him and tease him about lending us money. Twenty plus years later and those bonds are just unbreakable. Every time we talk to each other we feel like we’re right back there in the locker room. Like no time at all has passed. And I know the football guys feel the same way.”</i></p><p><i>“Probably the most unforgettable, distinct basketball memory that I have, the one that is indelibly marked in my brain, is not really an on the court memory. It was the time when we were at Midnight Madness, and Coach Phelps called me over and asked me, ‘Hey Fred, do you have anything to do with the Catholics vs. Convicts t-shirts?’ And without missing a beat I responded, ‘Coach, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nope, that’s my roommate, Mike.’ That was probably the most terrifying moment I ever had with Coach Phelps. But it’s also my most lasting memory <laughs>. . . meanwhile I had thousands of dollars in my dorm room, and t-shirts flying out the door. Everywhere.</i>”</p><p>I hope you’ve enjoyed this snippet from Joe Fredrick’s chapter. If you’d like to read more of his story, here’s a 20% off code (IRISHSHOPSMALL), for you to <a href="http://WWW.ECHOESFROMNOTREDAMEBOOKS.COM" target="_blank">pick up a copy of the book</a> for yourself! </p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-15253527145580046712023-01-01T17:30:00.001-05:002023-01-01T17:32:39.104-05:00Echoes From Notre Dame: Irv Smith versus the Hoosiers<p>It's been quite a while since I've been here ... and so I thought I'd start the year off by returning to where my writing began and share some of my favorite Notre Dame football stories. (Happy New Year, by the way!)<br /></p><p>As a marketing major at Notre Dame, I had classes with several Notre Dame football players, including (but not limited to): Rick Mirer, Brian Ratigan, Jordan Halter, Junior Bryant, Nick Smith and Irv Smith. During my weekly Sunday phone calls home, I would tell my parents about how school was going, and about the friends I had made in my various classes. My dad, as a Notre Dame alum (and huge football fan), loved hearing about the football players who were in my classes. Well, my mom did, too. As a woman who did not attend college, she vicariously lived my college experience through me, which would later cause great embarrassment when she would get to meet them, but I’ll address that later. First, I want to highlight my favorite Irv Smith football moment.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax5WDWmX-zV4xhKrdvQMmghkpb_uqq2HdVo86_wvfd2bEbsGjGWpSFp3AHGfAtLtMaAfUxbxdGvqTjoP38bEAHtxuBp-x8Fuo-YsYLj_D3Og5ndVay2R3keebstCMA-SmWP9MeJjx9AhXxfhot-J90hJU793FN58owNv4q-c4sQN7jBIU-z_bb_i8lA/s920/Irv_Lisa_Rick.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax5WDWmX-zV4xhKrdvQMmghkpb_uqq2HdVo86_wvfd2bEbsGjGWpSFp3AHGfAtLtMaAfUxbxdGvqTjoP38bEAHtxuBp-x8Fuo-YsYLj_D3Og5ndVay2R3keebstCMA-SmWP9MeJjx9AhXxfhot-J90hJU793FN58owNv4q-c4sQN7jBIU-z_bb_i8lA/w400-h266/Irv_Lisa_Rick.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>In the 1991 Notre Dame football season opener, junior tight end Irv Smith (‘93) caught a pass from quarterback Rick Mirer (’93), and dragged an Indiana defender nearly 30 yards, as another pair of Hoosiers unsuccessfully tried to tackle him.</p><p>Here are Irv’s thoughts on the play: <i>“The Indiana game (Sept. 7, 1991) when I dragged two Indiana defenders 20 yards to score a touchdown, is hands down my favorite Notre Dame memory. I’m not sure anything could top that. It was a home game, the opening game of my junior year and I had worked so hard to prove that I was good enough to be out there. I played baseball and football my first two years at ND. I liked baseball, but I loved football. I eventually gave up baseball to pursue football full-time, and that play made me realize that playing Notre Dame football was exactly where I wanted to be. It gave me the motivation to work hard to get my opportunity to shine.”</i></p><p><i>“It wasn’t even so much the actual play that sticks out in my mind so much, but the moment when Derek Brown and the guys picked me up in the end zone and tried to carry me off the field. As I was getting close to the side line I realized that Coach Holtz was screaming at me … ‘You’re on the field goal unit … get out there!’ Derek Brown was the man, the starter, the stud, and to see him happy for me was a real turning point for me.”</i> (Excerpt from <a href="https://www.echoesfromnotredamebooks.com/product-page/echoes-from-the-end-zone-the-men-we-became" target="_blank">Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became</a>)</p><p>In the below interview with Fighting Irish Digital Media, Smith, who also played baseball at Notre Dame, reflects upon the play and how head coach Lou Holtz’s motivation changed the course of his athletic career.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JMRELfUFzn0" width="320" youtube-src-id="JMRELfUFzn0"></iframe></div><br /><p>Okay, back to my embarrassing mother story. As my parents heard my stories about the football players who were in my classes, my mother decided she wanted to meet Irv Smith. During that same 1991 season, Notre Dame played the University of Hawaii in Hawaii, and my parents went to the game, and sent me to Toledo, Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my grandparents. During the course of the trip in Hawaii, the football players were given some free time to spend on the beach, and my mom was introducing herself to them, trying to find Irv. In the process she met Rick Mirer, who in turn returned to school and told me, “Hey, I met your mom on the beach in Hawaii.” Talk about being mortified ... I certainly was.</p><p>Flash forward to Notre Dame’s Sugar Bowl appearance in January of 1992. I was at the game with my parents and my best friend from college, Kristi Quinn, and we finally ran into Irv after the game. My mom proceeded to tell him how much she’d heard about him and that I’d told her that he was always so happy and positive. In his response to her, Irv didn’t miss a beat. He put one arm around me, and one arm around Kristi and said, “Well, when you’re surrounded by such wonderful company, how can you not be happy all of the time?” Oh Irv.</p><p>I hope your 2023 is off to a fantastic start, and that your year is filled with joy and abundance. And I hope you continue to check back here as the year goes on and I share some of my favorite Notre Dame football memories.</p><p>Cheers & GO IRISH!</p><p><br /></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-29598225871758526122020-08-18T22:55:00.006-04:002020-08-18T22:57:45.298-04:00Come As You Are<p> <b>I want to be a come-as-you-are-friend. </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf4RyqzgZcAmnsCBCsbbjABY4y4-8rvc7Hs5mgRhKwuYth1vsGZeANG7iHypWPgjQncpZ5FIawWnY4PGbug5eloiOw4PK9M9rurFe-wUE7XZMpiNSP0sxUOYwH5BSaXpnXDlDmN4UjsAd/s625/ComeAsYouAre2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="625" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf4RyqzgZcAmnsCBCsbbjABY4y4-8rvc7Hs5mgRhKwuYth1vsGZeANG7iHypWPgjQncpZ5FIawWnY4PGbug5eloiOw4PK9M9rurFe-wUE7XZMpiNSP0sxUOYwH5BSaXpnXDlDmN4UjsAd/w400-h308/ComeAsYouAre2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>I want my friends to come as they are when we're together. Rough day? Haven't showered in a week? Going through something hard? Not feeling yourself? Perfect. Come as you are. </b></p><p><b>I want my friends to know they don't ever have to censor themselves around me. You don't ever have to say, "I hope this doesn't sound bad, but..." Sound bad. It's okay to sound bad around me. Come as you are.</b></p><p><b>I want my friends to know that I'm a safe place for them to erupt like a volcano, laugh like a lunatic, and cry their ugliest without ever feeling judged. I love you in all the ways and I don't ever want you to quiet yourself around me. Come as you are. </b></p><p><b>I want my friends to know I'm here for all their controversial opinions. It doesn't matter if I agree or I don't, I'm here for your thoughts. Can't post it on Facebook without a cat fight breaking out with an entire side of your family and also some strangers? PERFECT, I'm here for your unedited thoughts. Come as you are. </b></p><p><b>I want my friends to know I'm there for the middle place. Don't have it figured out? Still in the woods? Stuck in a struggle and you're not sure you're way out yet? I'll plop myself down in that uncomfortable place with you and pour you a glass of wine. Your mess doesn't scare me. Come as you are.</b></p><p><b>I want my friends to know I'm there for their celebrations. Don't tone down your successes around me. I want to shriek and clap in the front row of all your accomplishments. I want to get a text with the video of your son taking his first steps and I want a screenshot of the email that says you got the job. Come as you are. </b></p><p><b>I want my friends to know they can be "too much" around me. Be loud, be funny, be obnoxious, be crazy. I love you for all your too muchness. Don't turn down the volume or edit the you out of yourself when you're with me. Come as you are.</b></p><p><b>I want my friends to know they can be "not enough" around me. Be tired, be empty, be quiet. When you run out of gas and when you need a good long nap I'm still here. Come as you are. </b></p><p><b>I want my friends to feel completely free to be THEMSELVES around me. Be you. In all your tiredness, in all your loudness, in all your opinions (uncensored), in all your big feelings. Come as you are. Be you in your stained T-shirt and your dry shampooed hair or be you in your cute Instagram worthy outfit and recently whitened teeth. Be you. I want you to be you because that's what friendship is all about: you being you and me being me and loving each other through it all. </b></p><p><b>Come as you are. </b></p><p><b>Written by Wonderoak by Jess Johnston</b></p><p><b>Follow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sisteriamwithyou/" target="_blank">Sister, I am with you</a>. for more.</b></p><p><b>Cheers!<br />Bridget</b></p>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-35855468540406037962020-07-26T16:11:00.001-04:002020-07-26T16:17:23.769-04:00This is a bit random, but ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7rkbl9oU1JXLYUjfyWLy-eLiVPe2f3TqrWbUvmhQIhLgHQQxlQVxQM44X3TJWbDXu_Fcn-GQAmP1Fm_4ud8CbFc8ydynQi4z-z5Tm_q95jx_jyoJNt19cYaN5I-SK8tv3Aupfv6A5ydZ/s1600/listen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="993" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7rkbl9oU1JXLYUjfyWLy-eLiVPe2f3TqrWbUvmhQIhLgHQQxlQVxQM44X3TJWbDXu_Fcn-GQAmP1Fm_4ud8CbFc8ydynQi4z-z5Tm_q95jx_jyoJNt19cYaN5I-SK8tv3Aupfv6A5ydZ/s400/listen.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I love this so much I just had to share it.<br />
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This is a bit random, but ... (by Philip DeFranco) ... psst. Be nicer to yourself.<br />
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If you're anything like me that voice in your head can be pretty brutal at times. Try talking to yourself like someone you care about. Also if this is completely off base, I'm sorry, and also I hate you for having your shit completely together. 😛<br />
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Also if this feels random, it is. Sometimes that's how important words have to hit you; Seemingly out of nowhere when your guard is down.<br />
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Love yo face,<br />
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-Philip DeFrancoBridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-39336541015906529822020-07-07T19:29:00.001-04:002020-07-07T19:29:09.126-04:00July Resolutions<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTF-vZd0LvjSUs3vDQvuyxTLdRvvXzMSnW74NBsiy_0iNU0eWY2Ew8fqjtI7fGTxWdzwGv7TAX-z0LqEyBCSYqICfhlseSIfLxe9zpwi0Z4QFz7NZmD8CuKGZYjJBFnbAjnbd_FWJxpBOA/s1600/canva-photo-of-woman-holding-sparkler-MADyRCVYuPU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="550" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTF-vZd0LvjSUs3vDQvuyxTLdRvvXzMSnW74NBsiy_0iNU0eWY2Ew8fqjtI7fGTxWdzwGv7TAX-z0LqEyBCSYqICfhlseSIfLxe9zpwi0Z4QFz7NZmD8CuKGZYjJBFnbAjnbd_FWJxpBOA/s400/canva-photo-of-woman-holding-sparkler-MADyRCVYuPU.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>I like most people write my New Year's Resolutions in January, break them within about 30 days, and after that never look back at them.</b><br />
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<b>I decided to bust them out over the weekend. I read them and didn't just laugh, but laughed hysterically.</b><br />
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<b>Yep, I threw them out and started over.</b><br />
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<b>I know this year has been an extreme year, but the goals I wrote in January were written in a different time. (It's crazy how MUCH things have changed in six short months.) We're in a new normal now. (Good grief I hate that phrase.) It's time for a do over.</b><br />
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<b>Here are my redirected goals:</b><br />
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<b>1. Walk every day. Whether it is for 5 minutes or 50.</b><br />
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<b>2. Network daily. Invest in your career by investing in others.</b><br />
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<b>3. Encourage 1 person a day. Reach out and say, "I see you."</b><br />
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<b>4. Spend 2 hours a week learning. (I read A LOT.) Foster your curiosity. </b><br />
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<b>5. Be more aware of others. Put yourself in their shoes. Think from their perspective. What could you be doing better as a leader, teammate, partner, aunt, cousin, spouse, etc. </b><br />
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<b>Sometimes you need to regroup, redirect, and try again. </b><br />
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<b>Here's to REWRITING and RECOMMITTING! </b><br />
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<b>What are your plans for the second half of 2020?</b><br />
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<b>Cheers!</b><br />
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<br />Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-42322555594135920152020-07-07T18:34:00.001-04:002020-07-07T18:35:34.401-04:00Why Aren't We Confident?<b>I received this fantastic email today from <a href="https://blog.join-eby.com/article/power-series-why-arent-we-confident/">Team EBY</a> ... and I'd love to share it with you, in case you missed it.</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixUENdgGSuRdNGCma2Qdl-RGxbpp_u0Zo8MaFXlfhDeptw0uZXtu5fP4J3xMBe_6e03nKQeDLqiKfblFgASZzIi7yZp7u_EYxe3pXt7oj3kkQPajA-bjks1KKmtlyz57xHE_uvMtuUHmi/s1600/This-Study-Explains-Why-People-Procrastinate-1024x683.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixUENdgGSuRdNGCma2Qdl-RGxbpp_u0Zo8MaFXlfhDeptw0uZXtu5fP4J3xMBe_6e03nKQeDLqiKfblFgASZzIi7yZp7u_EYxe3pXt7oj3kkQPajA-bjks1KKmtlyz57xHE_uvMtuUHmi/s400/This-Study-Explains-Why-People-Procrastinate-1024x683.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Credit: Apartment Therapy</span></td></tr>
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<h3>
<b>Be a lady, they said. </b></h3>
<span id="goog_1064327022"></span><br />
<i><b>...Don’t talk too loud. Don’t talk too much. Don’t take up space. Don’t sit like that. Don’t stand like that. Don’t be intimidating. Why are you so miserable? Don’t be a bitch. Don’t be so bossy. Don’t be assertive. Don’t overact. Don’t be so emotional. Don’t cry. Don’t yell. Don’t swear. Be passive. Be obedient. Endure the pain. </b></i><br />
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<b>- Camille Rainville, “Be a Lady, They Said”</b><br />
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<b><i>Did you know?</i> One in three girls with a grade point average above 4.0 do not think they are smart enough for their dream career.</b><br />
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<b>Read that again. That’s every third peer, sister, daughter, or friend you know. Let it dawn on you, the realization that these smart, capable women face an epidemic no matter how deserving they truly are.</b><br />
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<b>Why aren’t we confident? Why can’t we seem to escape these assaults to our self-esteem? Why do we never feel smart enough? Pretty enough? Strong enough? Good enough?</b><br />
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<b>It's simple. From the time we were young until now we've been told to be something other than who we are, had expectations placed on us from society's norms, and told we need validation from others to feel confident in who we are.</b><br />
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<h3>
<b>No longer.</b></h3>
<b>We are not asking for permission to be ourselves, we are demanding that our whole selves be accepted. We are powerful just as we are but we must now figure out how to let the rest of the world in on that secret.</b><br />
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<h3>
<b>POWER TIPS</b></h3>
<b>Power Tip 1: Take up as much space as you want</b><br />
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<b>Power Tip 2: Talk as loud as you want</b><br />
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<b>Power Tip 3: Yell. Swear. Cry. Emotion is powerful</b><br />
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<h3>
<b>REAL TALK</b></h3>
<b>Stop listening to who the world says you are 'supposed to be' and just be. Hell yeah, it feels vulnerable and scary to put yourself out there, but it's the path one must take to step fully into your most powerful and confident self. The world is waiting.</b><br />
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<b>Want to read more? Check out their blog <a href="https://blog.join-eby.com/article/power-series-why-arent-we-confident/">HERE</a>.</b><br />
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<b>I'm not sure if you needed to hear this today, but I sure did.</b><br />
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<b>Cheers!</b><br />
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<br />Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-63854632948536882222020-06-22T08:26:00.001-04:002020-06-22T08:26:56.747-04:00Change is Hard<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWJCXMy-TPZCTnqGKW1Eguo56tHJcffmELxviuVeIXDZLNaEy6o9_tHGNNOFW8XmdeFl1yHrDt1nJhSMTFXCpB9tf6GLbBf8V2GO-U60heXQv0gj7dUlb9ZJ3E8DeIXZK8xqDX73_YETO/s1600/Butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1339" data-original-width="1600" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWJCXMy-TPZCTnqGKW1Eguo56tHJcffmELxviuVeIXDZLNaEy6o9_tHGNNOFW8XmdeFl1yHrDt1nJhSMTFXCpB9tf6GLbBf8V2GO-U60heXQv0gj7dUlb9ZJ3E8DeIXZK8xqDX73_YETO/s400/Butterfly.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo: Pedro Lastra/Getty Images)</td></tr>
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<b><br />The word change normally refers to new beginnings. But transformation, the mystery we’re examining, more often happens not when something new begins, but when something old falls apart. The pain of something old falling apart—chaos—invites the soul to listen at a deeper level. It invites, and sometimes forces, the soul to go to a new place because the old place is falling apart. Most of us would never go to new places in any other way. The mystics use many words to describe this chaos: fire, dark night, death, emptiness, abandonment, trial, the Evil One. Whatever it is, it does not feel good and it does not feel like God. We will do anything to keep the old thing from falling apart. </b><br />
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<b>This is when we need patience and guidance, and the freedom to let go instead of tightening our controls and certitudes. Perhaps Jesus is describing just this phenomenon when he says, “It is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13–14). Not accidentally, he mentions this narrow road right after teaching the Golden Rule. He knows how much letting go it takes to “treat others as you would like them to treat you” (7:12). So, a change can force a transformation. Spiritual transformation always includes a usually disconcerting reorientation. It can either help people to find a new meaning or it can force people to close down and slowly turn bitter. The difference is determined precisely by the quality of our inner life, our spirituality.</b><br />
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<b>—from <a href="https://shop.franciscanmedia.org/products/the-wisdom-pattern-order-disorder-reorder?utm_campaign=Minute%20Meditations&utm_medium=email&utm_content=89959745&utm_source=hs_email">The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder by Richard Rohr, OFM</a></b>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-9684232797609039022020-06-21T20:59:00.001-04:002020-06-21T21:00:45.400-04:00You are Worth More than Many Sparrows<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZLgHP7ZTfGKPoD57Nt12R3iCrpIHYTX5YFdAjeTl3GYH_z904oJp_G4-O6XP-efgaNBMdoyMyfjBCL5XPoT-RrQWTnen1P8q_8zqMm2xjjzEMSxAtyB6QCLpPkwKMKIk6EhpmCpLKyWr/s1600/sparrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZLgHP7ZTfGKPoD57Nt12R3iCrpIHYTX5YFdAjeTl3GYH_z904oJp_G4-O6XP-efgaNBMdoyMyfjBCL5XPoT-RrQWTnen1P8q_8zqMm2xjjzEMSxAtyB6QCLpPkwKMKIk6EhpmCpLKyWr/s400/sparrow.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Image from the www.deccanherald.com)</td></tr>
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<b>A dear friend of mine shared this beautiful reflection her father wrote and I'd love to share it with you all on this Father's Day 2020. I hope you all have had a wonderful Sunday. And without further ado ...</b><br />
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<b><i>“…You are Worth More than Many Sparrows.” by Brian Conroy</i></b><br />
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<b>My father, an Englishman, would call whomever was the youngest among his brood of grandchildren “My little Sparrow.” It was a sweet and gentle term of endearment. To hear it coming from a strong, manly carpenter, as my dad was, made it even more endearing. He loved his little ones and doted on them unabashedly.</b><br />
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<b>Externally, his life was governed by his sense of duty, order, simplicity, and righteousness, but his heart was wild with love. He loved his wife with a relentless devotion. He loved his God the same way. Each morning, as he prepared for work before the rest of the household awoke, he could be found on his knees – literally – in prayer at the beginning of the day. A Catholic gentleman in every respect.</b><br />
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<b>I was privileged to have been present at his death after his long encounter with cancer. He died in such holy peace I was left with the most profound experience of my life. I became witness to the arc of a life well lived. A life balanced between duty and love, between work and the arts. He was very much as I imagine Saint Joseph to have been – a “righteous man, a working man.” Tradition holds that Jesus and his mother Mary were present at Joseph’s death. I am convinced they were there with my father too “…now, and at the hour of his death.”</b><br />
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<b>Here at the Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time we are past the Glory of Easter, the Pentecost that concluded it and the beautiful Solemnities of Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi that followed. Here we are now in Ordinary Time, living ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances: a perplexing, frightening pandemic, intense but necessary social disruption. It is a time when as Jeremiah says today, “I hear the whisperings of many: ‘Terror on every side.’”</b><br />
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<b>While our days are difficult and many a reckoning is at hand, each and every human being, as daughter or son of God, is assured that he or she should “Fear no one.” The Father knows us, knows our needs; every sparrow falling is held in the gaze and love of God. “Are you not worth more than many sparrows?” Jesus asks. And we hear Saint Paul today assuring us of this truth, that Jesus Christ, the love of God made visible, is the gracious gift of God that “overflows” for us. </b><br />
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<b>The image of falling sparrows in today’s reading reminded me of my own dad and the witness to love and mercy he gave me. What does that image say about the Heavenly Father we encounter in the Gospel today – God as a severe judge, or God as loving and merciful Father, wild with love for his children? – If that is the case, how can we in turn treat those around us any other way? How can we fail to love our fellow human beings the way God loves them; the way the Father knows and loves us? “Even all the hairs of your head are counted.”</b><br />
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<b>We who are fathers ourselves model for our children who and what God is. We teach them by who and what we are and what we do; it’s quite a responsibility to live up to. For me to model the love of God the way my own dad did - this takes grace and mercy itself.</b><br />
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<b>In my mind’s eye, I can still see my father with a little one on his lap and hear him say in his South-of- England accent, “How’s Grandpa’s little sparrow then?”</b><br />
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Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-9159192730657761302020-04-03T17:36:00.004-04:002020-04-03T17:48:00.935-04:00Help Animals Effected By Pandemic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfvb5EU4CyOjZ93LMJ4Em5KzVttVxn9C9WRGWe-th2X5T_juDPqAmQhlR7FydzJoJd4DZDgsF0B5ce4qx5jk_NGZRv8I90nDAbOu-uJwl185Htuwm6lv3d3bCBWYGmTqxEr03TGCGK0EY/s1600/Dingo4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfvb5EU4CyOjZ93LMJ4Em5KzVttVxn9C9WRGWe-th2X5T_juDPqAmQhlR7FydzJoJd4DZDgsF0B5ce4qx5jk_NGZRv8I90nDAbOu-uJwl185Htuwm6lv3d3bCBWYGmTqxEr03TGCGK0EY/s320/Dingo4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br />As I've mentioned before, my husband and I own a zoo in Branson, Missouri, in the heart of the Ozarks. We have lived here full time for almost two years now, and absolutely love our Ozark life, but we need a little help keeping the animals fed while our zoo is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.</b><br />
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<b>If don't need any more information and you'd like to make a monetary donation now, you can do it one of two ways:</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>GoFundMe: </b><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/wild-world-animal-care-fund"><b>https://www.gofundme.com/f/wild-world-animal-care-fund</b></a><br />
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<b>PayPal: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/BransonsWildWorld">PayPal.me/BransonsWildWorld</a></b><br />
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<b>If you'd like a little more information, here's what's going on ...</b><br />
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<b>Humans are not the only species to be greatly effected by the outbreak of COVID-19. Zoo animals across the United States are also at risk. No, these animals in a large part cannot contract the disease, but they do need daily care, bedding, heat and electricity, medicines, and most importantly food to survive. With most of the country on quarantine, this has now become a serious issue for many smaller, privately owned zoos.</b><br />
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<b>Branson's Wild World is a small zoo and aquarium in the tourist town of Branson, MO. This attraction has been especially hit hard by this pandemic, due to the nature of the town itself. The winter is especially slow for Branson, and most businesses use most or all of their savings to get through the months of January and February. Then in March, spring break helps everyone climb out of debt and function normally. This is true for the zoo, too. However, with the upswing of COVID-19 cases, Branson was mandatorily closed for the month of spring break, and possibly will be for many more months to come. Many businesses can close and conserve money, but not an aquarium and zoo like Branson's Wild World. The tropical animals need heat. Electricity runs filters and pumps for fish and UV bulbs for reptiles. They need water to drink and food to eat. It takes about five full time staff to cover all the vital tasks. Being closed for any amount of time can be devastating.</b><br />
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<b>Due to this outbreak and our desperate need for funds, we are asking for animal lovers to donate whatever you can to help our animal friends. All proceeds of this GoFundMe will go directly to the care of the 400+ species of animals we have in our care. We have applied for SBA disaster relief funding, but everyone says it could take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to receive anything. Our goal is to raise money to get thru this waiting process. Our goal is $15,000.</b><br />
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<b>Thank you for considering to help us. Our website is <a href="http://www.bransonswildworld.com/">www.bransonswildworld.com</a> if you would like to see pictures of our wolves, sharks, dingoes, and many other animals your donation will be providing for.</b><br />
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<b>If you'd like to make a monetary donation, you can do it one of two ways. </b><br />
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<b>One, we have a GoFundMe set up here: </b><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/wild-world-animal-care-fund"><b>https://www.gofundme.com/f/wild-world-animal-care-fund</b></a><br />
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<b>Two, you can donate via PayPal: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/BransonsWildWorld">PayPal.me/BransonsWildWorld</a> </b><br />
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<b>If you'd like to make a food donation, here is the list of food items we feed our animals each week:</b><br />
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<b>Vegetables:</b><br />
<b>Romaine 20 heads</b><br />
<b>Carrots 10lbs</b><br />
<b>Cucumber 8lbs</b><br />
<b>Squash 8lbs</b><br />
<b>Zucchini 8lbs</b><br />
<b>Bell peppers 5lbs</b><br />
<b>Sweet potato 10lbs</b><br />
<b>Celery 4lbs</b><br />
<b>Mixed greens 5 lbs</b><br />
<b>Broccoli 5lbs</b><br />
<b>Cauliflower 4lbs</b><br />
<b>Fruit:</b><br />
<b>Apples 10lbs</b><br />
<b>Strawberries 4 lbs</b><br />
<b>Bananas 15lbs</b><br />
<b>Oranges 10lbs</b><br />
<b>Blueberry 2 lbs</b><br />
<b>Grapes 10 lbs</b><br />
<b>Mangos 7</b><br />
<b>Kiwi 2 lbs</b><br />
<b>Pears 5 lbs</b><br />
<b>Cantaloupe 2</b><br />
<b>Watermelon 2</b><br />
<b>Meat</b><br />
<b>Chicken 460lbs</b><br />
<b>Beef 100 lbs</b><br />
<b>Fish 50 lbs</b><br />
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<b>Thank you so much, in advance, for your help.</b><br />
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<b>Cheers!</b><br />
<b>Lisa </b>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934552505175123151.post-2555601619757724032020-04-02T17:56:00.000-04:002020-04-03T18:07:35.014-04:00Notre Dame’s 1988 “Unbeatable” Team<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqf9Po2PTsm8kyR-OwSv4OCTMY1d2JG1-FPqJWEjY5XAWsI42aR4gzJOIc31g3AA1Z1mwI61nhsTQvvkBkzeeyhkvOHifzoud2p_clqjg3AJ21VCF792rLvuauT54nlQRK11tGDWwf1oR/s1600/ChrisZorich-JerryBarcaBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqf9Po2PTsm8kyR-OwSv4OCTMY1d2JG1-FPqJWEjY5XAWsI42aR4gzJOIc31g3AA1Z1mwI61nhsTQvvkBkzeeyhkvOHifzoud2p_clqjg3AJ21VCF792rLvuauT54nlQRK11tGDWwf1oR/s400/ChrisZorich-JerryBarcaBook.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<i>(Caption: Chris Zorich #50, Defensive Tackle for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish blocks Chris Dalman #50 of the Stanford Cardinal during their NCAA Independent college football game on 7 October 1989 at the Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California, United States. Notre Dame won the game 27 - 17. Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Allsport/Getty Images)</i><br />
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<b>For this week’s Throwback Thursday post I thought I’d dust off another book from my Notre Dame book shelf. What book have I picked? Jerry Barca’s “Unbeatable: Notre Dame’s 1988 Championship and the Last Great College Football Season.” Jerry does an incredible job of sharing the magic that happened both on and off the field that year, and includes backgrounds of your favorite players from the 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football team. I’d like to share a few excerpts from the book this week, focusing on one player, my friend and classmate, Chris Zorich.</b><br />
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<b>(This story originally ran on <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com/2020/4/2/21200453/throwback-thursday-notre-dames-1988-unbeatable-team-jerry-barca-chris-zorich-ricky-watters-lou-holtz">OneFootDown.com</a>)</b><br />
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<i><b>Just nine starts into his college career, Chris Zorich had already become a cult figure. High school football players started wearing belly-showing half jerseys to look like Zorro, the beast who played nose tackle for the Fighting Irish. Before the Miami game, a group of Notre Dame students pulled names out of a hat to determine which one would win the privilege of painting his body with Zorich’s number 50.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>“I had no idea. I was out there trying to have fun - and really survive,” he said.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Zorich is a sports rarity. In the lionization of athletes, his story is more truth than fable. He went to the same high school as Chicago Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus. He grew up with his mother, Zora, in a one-bedroom apartment in a two-story brownstone on the corner of Eighty-first and Burnham on Chicago’s South Side. Rent was $140 a month. Zora, a diabetic on welfare disability, received $200 a month. She slept on the couch, and Chris slept in the bedroom.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>When the money ran out each month, Zora put young Chris on her bike and pedaled to the local supermarket shortly after closing. There she parked next to the Dumpster and lifted Chris over her shoulders into the trash. He picked through what the grocer had thrown out, handing his mother partly rotten meat and produce. Zora would cut away the spoiled parts, and they had their food until the next check came or until they needed to return to the Dumpster.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>“She did the best she could, but there were times things were tight,” Zorich said.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Dope fiends, drug dealers, gangs, and prostitutes colored the neighborhood scene. No one went to college. If someone graduated high school, it was a major accomplishment. Zorich never knew his father, but that was never an issue. Most kids in the area didn’t know their dad. There were only about a half-dozen dads in the neighborhood of about sixty families.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>_________________</b></i><br />
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<i><b>He wanted to play football when he entered Chicago Vocational High School as a freshman, but Zora refused to sign the paperwork allowing her boy to participate in the violent sport. In his sophomore year, Chris begged and pleaded with Zora to sign the permission slip. She refused. On the way to school the next day, Chris forged her name.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>He lied to his mother, telling her he was getting home late because he was in the school play and participating in other school activities. The ruse fell apart when Zora found his football gear in the apartment.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>“You’ve been lying to me, haven’t you?” she asked, confronting Chris. She sat him down on the couch and told him she was doing her best to raise him on her own.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>They talked for several hours. Chris told her football taught him discipline and he was around people who set goals. She allowed it, but she didn’t see him play until the last game of his senior year. She was too worried he would get hurt. Chris had the assistant principal and some friends bring her to the game and sit with her in case she got upset witnessing her son on the gridiron.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>“Oh my God. You’re good,” she told Chris after the game.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>_________________</b></i><br />
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<i><b>At Notre Dame, Zorich found a utopia. There were tree-encircled lakes, with ducks and squirrels to hand-feed. The dining hall had all-you-can-eat food. Some students complained about it. Not Zorich. He didn’t even share his. People left bicycles unlocked overnight in front of dorms. “And they were still there in the morning,” Zorich said. “Are you kidding me?”</b></i><br />
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<i><b>His freshman year, he did not play a down. On the night before home games, he slept in his dorm while other classmates, ones who had a chance to see action, stayed with the team.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>He moved from middle linebacker to nose tackle in his first year. Playing on the scout team during a practice leading up to the Michigan State game, he caused havoc for the first-team offense when he put a hand on the ground on the defensive line. After practice, Holtz announced to the team that they had found the next nose tackle.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>His weight room sessions were performances. He curled as much as the punter bench-pressed, and he bench-pressed 500 pounds.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>While Zorich grunted and maxed out on the bench, Ricky Watters leaned over in his face and mocked his stutter. The next thing everyone saw was Zorich chasing Watters around the weight room until the flanker escaped. Zorich wouldn’t forget. Later, at training table, he might sneak behind an unsuspecting Watters, who had sat down to eat, and clamp a headlock on his tormentor.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Part of Zorich knew it was in jest, but he only knew one way to react. “Where I’m from, when you talk shit, you’ve got to back it up, and that meant fighting,” Zorich said.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>_________________</b></i><br />
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<b>If you’d like to read more about Zorich and the rest of the guys on the Unbeatable 1988 team, and everything that went into creating that magical season ... go <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unbeatable-Championship-College-Football-Season/dp/B01L98HRD4?ots=1&slotNum=1&imprToken=5eb8a104-deaf-1f4d-ad9&tag=sbnation-20">check out Jerry Barca’s book</a> for yourself! (Once you start it, you won’t want to put it down.)</b><br />
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<b>If you’re not the book reading type, Jerry Barca was also one of the producers of the <a href="https://hesburgh-film.com/">Hesburgh film</a>, and if you haven’t watched it yet ... what are you waiting for?? You can watch it on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/hesburgh/id1478926249">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Hesburgh?id=FSi7oThiwso.P">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hesburgh-Theodore/dp/B07SJY3BDJ/ref=sr_1_1?ots=1&slotNum=3&imprToken=5eb8a104-deaf-1f4d-ad9&keywords=Hesburgh&qid=1565705871&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1&tag=musicbox-wait-20">Amazon</a>, and <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-hesburgh-theodore-hesburgh/33819040?st=AFF&SID=Barnes+%26+Noble+-+Top+100%3A+Book+Bestsellers&2sid=Skimlinks_7598039_NA&sourceId=AFFSkimlinks&cjevent=e2bcbbbf75f511ea80a201280a1c0e0e&dpid=tekz25v83">Barnes & Noble</a>, and if you’ve got <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hesburgh-Ted-Koppel/dp/B07WRST8FS?ots=1&slotNum=4&imprToken=5eb8a104-deaf-1f4d-ad9&tag=sbnation-20">Amazon Prime</a>, you can watch it for free!</b><br />
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<b>Have you guys been reading any good books during your time staying at home? Please share with me ... I’m always looking for something good to read.</b><br />
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<b>Cheers & GO IRISH!</b>Bridget McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02020799575251897264noreply@blogger.com0