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On the Notre Dame campus

We made it to Notre Dame with no incident. The Yankee and I are staying with a friend who is in a doctoral program here.

Before kickoff the stadium announcer, who injected just a bit too much personality into the job, announced the weather conditions as “Bottle it up and sell it. High of 79 degrees!” The crowd roared. At this point last year they were already bracing for snow.

Fortunately, we brought the warmth with us. This is Touchdown Jesus, enjoying the day:

I have the pleasure of doing a little work with this group, Gameday for Heroes, which takes donated college athletics tickets and sends veterans and servicemen and women to the games. Frank Julian — South Bend lawyer, Notre Dame man and a Navy veteran — organized the entire weekend and sent almost 100 members of the military to the Air Force-Notre Dame game:

And they saw an impressive game. Notre Dame scored more points at home than they have in 15 years, striking early and often against an Air Force defense that couldn’t keep their offense in the game. Seven members of the Irish squad scored touchdowns.

Turnovers were key. Air Force fumbled on their first play, after a 29-yard gain, and the Irish would turn that into a score. A sensational interception would turn into another touchdown. Notre Dame wouldn’t be stopped after that, finishing with a comfortable 59-33 win.

Sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns:

Senior running back Jonas Gray led Notre Dame on the ground with 69 yards and two scores on just seven carries:

And those military members had a great day to see a game.

Notre Dame Stadium is a different atmosphere from the familiar SEC. They still have the old wooden bench seats — this part of the experience we could improve upon — but it is hard to argue about much else. The marching bands are crammed into the corners of the field. Some 80,000 people stayed until the end. During the breaks they announced award-winning teachers and departments on campus. There was no piped-in music and no jumbotron to distract you from the actual event. Cheerleaders took to the field during media timeouts, to keep the crowd in the game.

At the end of the game Notre Dame’s team ran to the student body and sang their alma mater. And then they turned, crossed the length of the field and stood behind the Air Force team as they sang with their band and fans.

You can take all of the NFL-minor league stuff straight out of the SEC. This is what college football should be like.

Tailgating in South Bend has nothing on what we’re used to. And the fans are generally a sedate bunch. A gentleman next to me quietly asked a young man standing in front of him to sit down. And he guy did, without complaint.

These are Midwestern people and Midwestern values.

Frank Julian, the lawyer, said he still had people bringing him tickets to donate until just before kickoff. In the end he almost had more tickets than military. That’s not a Midwestern thing. Gameday is an easy project to like and is becoming a big hit on college campuses nationwide.

These particular men and women weren’t recognized by the public address announcer today, but others were. The people in Notre Dame Stadium are proudly patriotic. Air Force being there helped, the (awesome) stealth bomber flyover wasn’t bad either. Taken as a whole, you count this as a special day in a beautiful place.

More pictures and details tomorrow.

adventures / family / Friday / iPhone / photo — Comments Off
7
Oct 11

Going north for the weekend

“Do you have the bug that’s going around?”

The setting was a pharmacy in northern Tennessee, where the over the counter drugs are behind the counter. (Your identification insures you are not a drughead, but rather just have a mild medical issue you’d like to shake.) I’d just gone on a mini-rant to the things I would like, including breathing, Sudafed, an improvement in my throat’s general condition and the ability to breathe.

I did have this particular bug, virus, crud, infection or allergies. I did not explain that I didn’t have the local variety, but had rather contracted this elsewhere and was considering adding to the local scene’s viral joy if she didn’t give me the Sudafed.

She was a very lovely young lady, pleasant and chipper. She wished me well. She wanted to chat. I wanted to medicate, tired of not breathing, I’d come to think of those two tiny pills as the miracle elixir. It’ll take many doses, but give me the things, let’s not discuss microbiology.

We’re traveling, clearly. The goal is South Bend for a quick weekend. This is a nice trip, schmoozing on behalf of a non-profit, seeing a friend, perhaps catching a football game.

Watching a game at Notre Dame Stadium will be a treat. It’s a long-time goal that has suddenly materialized as a possibility. How many of those do you get in life? You have an idea of something you’d like to experience at some point in the future. Then, one day, you turn around and suddenly you could be doing that this weekend.

Life is good.

Except for the sniffles.

Saw this at a Chick-fil-A along the way:

Ice Cream was booked, apparently. Actually, they call all of their dairy-based dessert-like substances Ice Dream. I’ll leave it to you to examine their ingredients and tell me why.

Because of the throat pain I indulged in a milkshake. I recommend the peach. Sadly the banana pudding version has been removed from your list of choices.

Spending the night at one of the family outposts. My step-brother was there, ready to set out for his next trip. He travels for a living, which sounds like a lot of fun when you’re in your 20s, as he is. Now, in my 30s, I’m thinking of our trip and realizing “This would have been better at 24.”

Why do we let this happen to us? Why does it take so little time?

Tomorrow, something from South Bend. And then Sunday we’ll be on the road again. Lots of windshield time this weekend.

history / photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
5
Oct 11

Obituaries

Steve Jobs has died. I learned about it on a machine he’d touched when it rolled off the factory floor in Asia. I’ve watched with bemusement at the hyperbole rolling around amongst the Apple fans in their grief.

Yes, Steve Jobs was a brilliant entrepreneur. Yes, he has made computing simpler for many people. Yes, people love his products. Yes, Apple, under Jobs’ influence, has done a great deal for my industry. There are counterpoints to that argument, too, however. Jobs was also a driving force in the entertainment industry and others as well. Some of his accomplishments are without modern peer.

Of course, his family and friends are mourning a great loss. The Apple world is in fits over who can grieve the most.

So far tonight I’ve seen Edison, Michelangelo, Ford and “This generation’s Disney” comparisons.

Truly, I want to bury a time capsule to be opened in the year 2511 and asking people if our descendants have heard of a guy named Steve Jobs. Because five centuries later people still pack rooms to see this guy’s work:

^{Not created with a touchscreen}

Steve Jobs biography is not my chosen field, but let’s consider societal loss against corporate success, Jobs has always taken his share of criticism for an apparent lack of charitable contributions. (Making your children happy via Pixar doesn’t count.) It is possible he looked at Bill and Melinda Gates and other philanthropic billionaires as self-serving publicity hounds while doing countless good deeds without fanfare. Until this news comes out, however, I’m sticking with “Titan of industry dies young” rather than “Jobs in iHeaven.”

My condolences to the Apple fanbase remain, however.

Appropriate remembrances are due in the loss of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth who also died today. Shuttlesworth was one of the last three surviving founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

One of the leaders of the Civil Rights movement in the South, he survived at least three murder attempts and refused to be silenced. While his contribution was not singular, he was a part of changing our society in real, human terms in oppressive times.

Perhaps there should be an app for that.

cycling / iPhone / Monday / photo / Samford — Comments Off
3
Oct 11

The mole men are working on the transformer

The sun was low, the shadows were nice and long. I rode 24 miles into the evening twilight. I do enjoy a good ride in mild weather, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to attack a hill that perpetually defeats me.

Should have known better. But since I didn’t know better at least the hill was decent enough to clue me in right from the start. The excellent MapMyRide gives me excellent data on that hill, where it starts and where it ends. From there I can also look at how long the actual distance between the beginning and end of the hill. And I am a wimpy rider, really.

But maybe the local road makers are trying to pull a fast one on MapMyRide and Google Maps. Yeah, that’s the ticket. I feel much better about myself now.

Except for that part where I cut off a pickup truck. The driver had the decency to not honk the horn, or even run over me — I bet it was tempting, and you wouldn’t have blamed him. It was a matter of not seeing him as I glanced over my shoulder while needing a lane change. I moved and suddenly he was there and I was there and the truck was kind enough to give me a little space.

So, if you are or know the driver of a white truck who was complaining about a yahoo on his bike this evening, please pass along my apology and gratitude.

The best part about it was that the next stretch of rode after that is a strong progressive ride. I found myself thinking If he changes his mind and comes this way I’ll be gone!

Because I can outpace a truck, right?

There’s a lack of oxygen in the brain when you’re on the backside of a ride, I’m convinced of it. There’s simply no other way my mind — a thoroughly practical (if silly) and literal instrument — thinks up half the foolish things it does.

The next thing is to develop some speed. As I say, I am a wimpy rider. Now I want to go fast. Or, as I like to think of it, a good earnest and even medium speed.

I neglected to share this:

Because the world needs to know about my light fixtures. Bought this for The Yankee, on special request. Installed it with minimal mutterings. And was delighted to learn, once it was suspended in the ceiling, that the thing actually worked. There was a brief second, an elevated level of cognition perhaps, where it didn’t seem to work right away. The mutterings would have intensified, but the lights lit, the fear was gone, and now we have a moon and stars installation. Note the little moon guy that holds it all together.

Plus!

If you leave it on long enough, and then turn it off …

That is the dying embers of the glowing magic. For the first few moments it sheds enough light to illuminate a small room.

Class prep grading, reading, laundry. The usual Monday stuff otherwise.

The power was out this morning. That was riveting. Seems there was a scheduled maintenance. Ours is a below ground neighborhood, so we never see the hardworking power workers. Maybe they outsource that sort of thing to the mole men.

There’s a contract negotiation you don’t want to miss.

Alabama / Auburn / football / friends / iPhone / photo / weekend — Comments Off
1
Oct 11

Game day: South Carolina

Auburn is on the road. That means it is watch party Saturday!

The Tigers won something of a stunner, downing 10-ranked South Carolina in Columbia, 16-13. Frustrating, sloppy game. Auburn should have won by something like a score of 26-13. They should have also lost. A young team was growing up, right there on television.

They sure are fun to watch.

Alabama also mauled Florida. They look like a complete team. Scary stuff.

Watch parties are awesome, though. Brian came down for the weekend. Our old friend and my former boss was in town for a soccer game and he stopped by.