Notre Dame Football: The Texas Hangover

It feels like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and coaching staff need a “talk.” I have 3 children, and although they are only 7, 5, and a 10 month old baby- they have all got “the talk” from me. Yes, even my 10 month old got a “this is very disappointing” talk from me after he ate about a half a pint of blueberries, and proceeded to fill up one diaper after another after another after another.

You get the point. You understand that this is a necessary part of life. We could give that speech a billion times over for this game alone, and in many ways it is being given by just about anyone with internet access right now. I’m not a rainbows and sunshine kind of a guy (well, okay, you KNOW I love rainbows) but there is another speech that is needed here...

“I am disappointed with you son- heck, I know you’re probably even more disappointed. However, you made a commitment and have only just started to work towards that goal. You can not and should not even begin to pack it in. No, you need to stand up, look in a mirror, look deep into yourself, find that will, say hi to it, slap yourself in the face and start saying to yourself, ‘THERE IS NO WAY IN LIVING HELL THAT I AM GOING TO FEEL LIKE THIS AGAIN.’ You need to realize that you did some really good things, and you need to build on that and throw away the shit you don’t need. You can sit here and sulk all you want, but sulking over long work hours, a pile of bills, and your mother’s expensive tastes- that shit didn’t keep the family fed, housed, and happy, and it never will. What you do now is more important than anything you have done in the past. You need to change your ways son- you need to change the way you look at this. If you need help, ask for it- pray for it. No one in the history of the world has ever accomplished anything completely on their own- even Jesus Christ Himself needed 12 apostles, some devoted women, and hours of prayer to do what He did AND HE SAVED THE WORLD. Are your problems that big? No, they are not. Believe in who you are and what you do and focus on doing what you do best. You score touchdowns son. That’s what you do- that’s WHO you are. I love you, and if you need a starting point, you can take that and lock that away in your heart and mind. Now, get downstairs and help your mother with the meatballs. Your penance begins by not letting her mess up the sauce again.”

You see... we have 11 games left this season. That’s plenty of time to make up for the sins of the recent past. We all know what is wrong with the Irish right now, but because everyone is also spilling their guts to the world about those problems, I don’t see the point of piling it on here. There has to be one small corner where hope remains alive.

I’m not saying that “all is well,” because that is certainly not true. However, we should at least acknowledge that there are a lot of positives with this team. I invite you to go ahead and share them, if you like. Don’t be frightened- it’s okay to not act like a a complete know-it-all asshole for a moment, and actually like something.

Sometimes, it’s all we have left. The season will carry on, and we need to find a way to march along with it.