Notre Dame Stadium

goirish.jpg
Originally uploaded by ..Sally..

The first time I stepped foot in Notre Dame stadium was almost twenty years ago: October 24, 1987. Notre Dame played USC that day, and happened to be in the middle of an eventual 11-game winning streak against the Trojans. The streak continued that day, and I'm sure the win was important to me at the time, but more than any specific play in that game, I remember entering the stadium itself.

My brother was an athletic manager at Notre Dame. His senior year, he was lacrosse manager, and his roommate was one of the football managers. Their positions afforded me -- a thirteen-year old nobody -- certain privileges. Not only did I get a tour of the fabled locker room on Friday night, slap the Play Like A Champion sign, and watch the painting of the helmets --- but I also entered Notre Dame stadium, on gameday, through the home locker room.

This is like going into the Vatican through the Pope's entrance.

This entrance was likely more necessity than anything else. My brother's plan was to sneak me into the student section without a ticket of my own. In a wonderful lesson on rules-meant-to-be-broken, my first entrance into the Stadium remains a highlight of my long career as a Notre Dame fanatic.

Twenty years after I first visited, Francis made her debut. (really second, but she doesn't remember the first, being only 3 months old). She was a great fan. She stayed for the whole agonizing game. She cheered. She craned her neck to see. She demanded to be lifted during play. She was a credit to Notre Dame fans everywhere, and I am proud to be her father.

Beau

THIS VIDEO IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE BECAUSE OF A COPYRIGHT CLAIM BY CARSON PRODUCTIONS (against youtube.com, not me).

[Read the poem yourself, and imagine Stewart reading it on the Tonight Show. Does anyone think Carson's estate lost a single dollar because of this video being on youtube? I think the opposite is more likely; watching this snippet might have encouraged me to go out and buy the Carson box set.]

Just look at me: reduced to tears listening to an 81-year old Jimmy Stewart read a poem about his dog Beau on the Tonight Show. Watch this video and appreciate the unabashed sincerity of the great actor.

I waste a lot of time wishing that things were as good as they used to be. I don't want to be one of those guys who's always saying, "back in my day . . ." First of all, I'm not old enough, but it does seem obvious that certain things just aren't what they used to be. Take entertainment. We used to have Frank; now we have Justin. We used to have Marilyn; now we have (had) Anna Nicole. Then: Cary Grant, now: Marky Mark. Before all you people who prefer not to live in the past jump on me and point out all of the talented artists around here, I concede their talent. It strikes me, though, that the most popular people now are a far bit less something than the most popular people then. For whatever reason, Mr. Johnny Carson comes to mind when I think about this something.

It's not just that Johnny sits by as Jimmy reads a long, heartfelt poem about his dog. It's that he does it without conveying the slightest bit of patronizing indulgence. Like viewers, he was genuinely touched to be sitting there, listening to this aging statesman of an actor read a poem he wrote about the passing life of a dog.