I fought the law
And the law won...
Dateline: Flint Lake, IN
It's not secret that I believe The Cosmos speaks to me. This, of course, is coming from the guy who thinks the house cats talk to him.
And don't get me started on those trash talking chickens. The one named Cruella is particularly irritating. If she wasn't, now, a productive egg-laying member of the household, she'd be the primary ingredient in Kay Corrigan's family favorite chicken casserole recipe.
But I digress.
"Sit around the hearth, children, and I'll tell you the tale of The Great Dillon-Grace War over a hot bowl of..."
Know this: Every battle has its patriots. As well as its martyrs.
Someone who is willing to 'take one for the team.' Who, with steely resolve, knows what has to be done. And executes, personal consequences be damned.
Even if it means ending up, metaphorically, getting hoisted on his own petard by the Dean of Students.
So it's good to know that when vandals from the south advance, only a few truly recognize it's "Repel! Repel! Repel!" time -- and by any means necessary.
(And does anyone actually think a firecracker could 'damage' a Dillonite -- physically or mentally -- any more than they already were?
Now, the fact that Dillon somehow received war reparations for attacking Grace Hall only
shows what savvy negotiators they were. No wonder so many of them turned out to be excellent lawyers and financial managers. As for their warfare-related acumen -- hey, let's attack a high rise, they'll never see us coming -- well, it's safe to say no one in that dorm was gonna be splitting any atoms, military tactics-wise.
shows what savvy negotiators they were. No wonder so many of them turned out to be excellent lawyers and financial managers. As for their warfare-related acumen -- hey, let's attack a high rise, they'll never see us coming -- well, it's safe to say no one in that dorm was gonna be splitting any atoms, military tactics-wise.
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| Go away, Big Red... or I shall taunt you a second time! |
Hell, one viewing of Monty Python And The Holy Grail should've taught them that.
So next week, we have new Vandals from the South approaching.
Hoosier Nation, prepare to be similarly received.
And the question becomes this: who on the Irish is going to be their selfless patriot, their Ungie?
Quote of the Week
Mr. "Google Me. I Win Wherever I Go..." and, now apparently, the Coach of the Year, Curt Cignetti does love to talk.
I don't know if the new, tricked out athletic facilities even have bulletin boards any more -- perhaps they have video monitors running on a loop -- but coach Cignetti could have his own Netflix limited series for all the stuff he says.
Gotta believe it's caught ND's attention.
Word of the Week
There were many impressive student leaders back then, just as there is athletic leaders now.
There's also a fair amount of 'dare to swim against the tide' bravery on display, even if, in the late '70s era student that courage was manifested in a more recalcitrant attitude than perhaps today's football team (and its leadership) demonstrates.
On one hand, more than one defiant class of '79 student -- who may or may not have led a food fight in the campus cafeteria -- probably found his actions identified to the Dean of Students office.
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Brief digression:
Q. Did the university have a dedicated workshop just for replacing the constantly broken South Quad guardhouse gates?
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Yet, ND Football's very existence as a committed independent in the NCAA ecosystem has been viewed in pretty much the same way:
To them, we are that irritant student with a stubborn, unwilling attitude to 'get with the program' and sit at the cool conference kids' table.
Too freaking bad.
Playoff Pre-Game 11 Thoughts
Get ready
'Cause I come...
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| The Committee, "so Bama is out, right?". |
2. It's probably not gonna matter -- it's gonna be cold for everybody.
- Today's forecast says windchill in the 10-15F range by kickoff, with a reasonable chance of snow throughout the day.
3. I understand conference champions getting automatic playoff bids. I don't (now) understand them getting automatic byes.
- One would expect this to change next year, yes?
5. If the pressure is on ND to win a playoff game (and it is), it should be exponentially greater for 'Big Game' James Franklin.
The Brackets
RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)
Rarely, does this blog provide any information of actual value.
But Mr. Sampson's mailbag of this week might provide some genuine insight re what one can expect to see next Friday night.
Specifically, will we have to potentially endure an in-stadium crowd that isn't overwhelmingly pro-ND?
Short answer: not likely.
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Historically, Notre Dame has had trouble keeping its home stadium blue and gold for games of this caliber. Ohio State last year was a major improvement, but playing an in-state opponent having its best season ever in a playoff game seems like an even harder test. What, if anything, can Notre Dame do to mitigate the problem? – Josh B.
Some of the mechanisms Notre Dame used for the Ohio State game are in play here, mainly that College Football Playoff tickets never went to market. Anecdotally from the stories I’ve heard from fans who did win in the lottery, they seem to be $1,500 donors and up. Or they went to season ticket holders, which makes the CFP access by far the biggest perk of having a season ticket to Notre Dame Stadium. So, those are the basics.
But the biggest methodology Notre Dame can use here is there’s no historical comparison for this game. Will there be more Indiana fans in the stadium than if Notre Dame was hosting SMU or Clemson or Tennessee? Of course. The Hoosiers’ season and the proximity to South Bend makes that a sure thing. There will probably be a few Indiana fans in the Notre Dame student section considering the crossover between schools. Still, we’re talking about a first in Notre Dame football history at a place that doesn’t do a lot of firsts. And the fan base seems to have latched onto that based on the ticket prices on the secondary market. They’re running double or triple the other first round games.
It’s also worth comparing the Notre Dame teams that had “red invasion” games. The Notre Dame team that lost to Nebraska in overtime early in 2000 was coming off a 5-7 season when the fan base had basically quit on Bob Davie. The Notre Dame team that lost to Georgia in 2017 was coming off a 4-8 season as the fan base began to turn on Brian Kelly. And the Notre Dame team that lost to Cincinnati was a tough watch in every way.
This Notre Dame team is 11-1 and has won 10 straight.
If playing the first home playoff game in the new 12-team era with a team the fan base seems to fully support doesn’t get people to not sell their tickets, nothing will. Because in the end, that’s the only fail-safe approach to keeping the red out.
It’s on the individual fans, not the university itself.
As of Friday morning, there are more than four times the ticket listings for Tennessee at Ohio State (4,400+) on SeatGeek as Indiana at Notre Dame (1,000+). SMU at Penn State is 4,000+ and Clemson at Texas is 3,000+ in terms of ticket listings for sale on SeatGeek.
Hypothetically, let’s assume all 1,000 of those ticket listings for Indiana at Notre Dame are blocks of four tickets. And that Hoosiers’ fans buy all 4,000 of those tickets to go with their 3,500 allotment. That’s a roughly 90/10 split of Notre Dame/Indiana fans. Hardly a sea of red.
Source: The Athletic
December 13, 2024
Cocktail of the Month
Christmas time.
A season of giving and festive, yuletide revelry.
And in Jerrence's household, significant holiday libations.
Starting with eggnog.
Edgar Allan Poe's
Eggnog
1809-1849
Like whatever creature sunk its teeth into the famed poet and playwright, this eggnog, passed down from the Poe family, has bite -- but more likely to leave you slumped in an armchair than encephalitic in a gutter.
Serves 8
* 1 cup sugar
* 5 cups whole milk
* 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1 1/2 cups good brandy
* 1/4 cup dark rum
* nutmeg, freshly grated, for garnishing
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Stir together egg yolks and sugar in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, warm 3 cups of whole milk over a low heat. Whisk 1 cup warm milk into egg mixture, slowly so as not to scramble. Add milk and egg mix back into the saucepan, stirring until combined.
Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream. Stir off heat until mixture is cooled. Add remaining 2 cups of whole milk, brandy and rum -- stir to combine. Top with nutmeg.
Drink to your telltale heart's desire and then, as quoth the Raven, "drink some more."
Source: How To Drink Like A Writer
Writing by Margaret Kaplan
Schedule 2024
August
31 @Texas A&M W
September
7 Northern Illinois L
14 @Purdue W
21 Miami (OH) W
28 Louisville W
October
12 Stanford W
19 @Georgia Tech W
26 Navy W
November
9 Florida State W
16 Virginia W
23 @Army W
30 @USC W
December
20-21 Indiana
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| Operators are standing by... |
Wager 2024
Thanks again,everyone, for participating this year. 15 entrants still alive -- to be decided via a simple pick the 11 game playoff bracket and we'll see who does best.
Sadly, no literary / pop cultural questions to answer. You've all -- well, mostly all -- have proven yourselves to be skilled operators of the Google machine.
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table...
A poem which, come to think of it, may've inspired that very first Linipalooza...
Finally, all those whose names aren't highlighted below, I don't think I received the $25 entry fee. If you could send it to me sometime before January, I'd appreciate it.
Venmo is @Terry-Corrigan.
Wins | Director - ND Equivalence | Domer |
12  Christopher Nolan | The Nick Saban of the film world - Nolan is Mr. Swing For The Fences Big Idea Guy, even if every effort isn't always a home run. But they are undeniably ... epic. Just like a 12-0 season. | Kevin C, Lini
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11  Martin McDonagh | Hello, he's Irish! Solidly predictable for always being really, really good. And as his reputation has been burnished, the star talent in his cast has followed. Sound familiar? | Jerrence, Daryl Jim S, Tim C. Jerry C, Mike C. Greg R., Bob S. George, Raz, Ted, Bob J. Peter, Tim S., Dave M |
10  David Fincher |
Pretty much a stud in both film and TV formats. Always interesting, albeit with palpably dark undertones... one is never sure how the story is going to end up. Much like a 10 win season will feel like. | Pat B, Mike B. Bill, Sloane, Alex Phillip, Randy
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9  Yorgos Lanthimos | Do I always understand what's going on his films? Nope. |
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8  Richard Linklater | Perhaps the product of recency bias - I quite liked 'Hit Man' - Linklater's films fall for this blogger into the "nice-fun-I see an interesting insight" category. They just don't feel especially memorable. Like we'd view an 8 win season. | |
7  Wes Anderson | When does quirky/idiosyncratic become tiresome? When you feel like you're watching - again - an inside joke that you're not included in. Anderson attracts an an all-star cast that no longer seems to add up to the sum of their parts. In a word, disappointing. | |
6  Lars Von Trier | Uncomfortable. Unpleasant. Disturbing. Often off the rails, his films might be 'art' but it's tough to call it many people's definition of entertainment. | |
Schadenfreude of the Week.
How does one populate a schadenfreude section when there are no games to actually celebrate?
Oh give me more credit than that.
But I am lazy. And it's been a long year so consider this my attempt at economizing.
1) UConn. We're talking Women's basketball.
As this blog has previously stated, I'm surprisingly not a particularly passionate Geno Auriemma hater.
Ever since Muffet retired and their rivalry (enmity?) dissipated (maybe), the ill will from the two programs has similarly appeared to have lessened.
(It's probably been helped that UConn is no longer the 800 lb. gorilla of the sport and Geno's ego has diminished accordingly.)
Still, ND beating them remains a very big deal. By all acounts, the Joyce Center rocked, a bunch of WNBA players / ND alumna returned and the Irish's double digit win was no fluke.
5'6" Hanna Hidalgo is the real deal.
2) SEC! SEC!
Terry's Tools.
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| The few, the proud... |
THE Ohio State.
The gift that keeps on giving.
With apparently, a state-wide holiday cornucopia of twits.
Sorry, Dr. Bob. Sorry, Judge John. Sorry, Barb. But your state leadership is making Indiana look intelligent.
And I didn't think that was possible.
Understand that this presumed bill would only apply to the Buckeye's stadium. So if you're playing the Cincinnati Bearcats, the Ohio Bobcats, the Kent State Golden Flashes or any other team in the state of Ohio... feel free to plant flags, flowers, or if you're a Corrigan, a beloved pet.
The Ohio electoral process at work.
2) De'Vondre Campbell. Now I get why the Packers cut him last year.
The scene: 3rd quarter of the 49'ers Thursday night game against the Rams. Tie score. Mr. Campbell is told to go into the game.
He (presumably) politely declines.
"No thanks, I'm not feeling it today. In fact, think I'll just head to the locker room. Did you notice it's raining out?"*
*Blogger speculation.
Meet soon-to-be former 49'er (and possibly, ex-NFL) LB De'Vondre Campbell.
Name of the Week
Geography matter too -- he grew up in south Jersey, 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia, that city of Brotherly Love.
He had parents who must've believed quite strongly in the adage, "that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
He must've been very popular with the other children in the playgroup -- and their parents:
"Hey mom, can I bring a friend over for a sleepover?"
"Sure, honey, what's his name?"
"Jihad."
"Um, let me talk to your father first..."
Alabama LB (and future 1st round draft choice of the Detroit Lions).
Lucky for Mr. Campbell, he's really good at football.
And more fortunate for him that we live in an age of extraordinary tolerance where everyone accepts, nay celebrates, an individual's difference.
Especially when they're playing for our favorite team.
Final Thought
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