Geyer, mid-season walk-on, joins OFD staff

Who needs to give an introduction when you give hot takes instead? I’m Ellen Geyer and I Survived the 2018 and 2020 College Football Playoff Semifinals. I’m a 2021 graduate of THE University of Notre Dame, and in my final year of law school at a place which shall not be named until its head coach apologizes for berating to Lou Holtz on national television.

At Notre Dame, I worked in The Observer sports department with fellow OFD staffer Hayden Adams (back-to-back Turkey Bowl Champs), and watched the heartbreak of the 2019 Women’s NCAA National Championship game first-hand. But I also stormed the field after Ian Book and the Irish took it to The House! against Clemson and Trevor Lawrence, so life really is full of ups and downs. Beyond writing, I was also the Executive Sports Director of Notre Dame student radio (WVFI) and television (NDTV).

In college, I spent a summer on the sports desk at The Columbus Dispatch, where I got to hang out with Tiger Woods, cover a World Cup, and learn far more about bowling than I ever imagined was possible.

I have an unhealthy obsession with the Cleveland Cavaliers but I can’t stand the Cleveland Browns. The Cleveland Guardians fall somewhere in the middle. Notre Dame Football somehow rises above and sinks below them all, depending on the play calls. The most important sports franchise in my life is the middle school boys basketball team I coach with my dad and Grandpa – 2023 league AND tournament champs. And, to those who criticize sportswriters for lack of athletic perspective, let me just say that we had a nine-man roster last year, so as the compulsory 10th man, I’ve had the chance to crossed up a LOT of 12-year-olds in the past year (at least in my mind; in reality they’re all taller than me).

When I’m not working on my jump shot, I like to run (or swim, or bike; I just did my first half-Ironman this summer). While that may sound like a positive at first, there were in fact jellyfish who did in fact sting during the open-water swim. But don’t worry, I’m clearly not harboring any trauma, resentment, or oceanic aversions as a result. I’ve chosen to live in a land-locked city for no reason at all, I swear.

I have a lot of takes on a lot of things. Sometimes people like them, other times people remind me how poorly informed I am in the comments section. Like I said, life is full of ups and downs. But, I’m thrilled to be a part of the OFD community, and even more excited to be joining amid a football season that has the potential for more drama, romance, suspense, and thrill than Rudy. IRISH BY A MILLION!