Do you feel like I do?
Dateline: Flint Lake, IN
Honestly, in the USA circa 2025, you can't swing the proverbial dead cat without hitting someone like that, regardless of the topic, most of all in sports.
So it was with no small irony that even before the National Championship game kicked off, Jerrence was so sure of EXACTLY how he was going to feel waking up the next day: bad.
Either due to witnessing yet another 'close but no cigar' loss to the pompous cretins from O-H-I-O or from being badly hung over celebrating a victory by the gang that everyone gave up on (including himself) four months earlier... Tuesday was gonna involve some pain.
Alas, much to his surprise, almost none of that occurred. Yes, the team lost -- but while doing so, demonstrated their trademark high character... challenging him to process not only the game (undeniably disappointing) but also the full 2024 season AND what might lie ahead.
Counter-intuitive, oui?
Later in the month and well beyond the triviality of sport, he'd been reminded by Life ("How do make God laugh? Tell Him your plans") that there are no guarantees for any of us -- and certainly not a win for the Irish just because it would've made for unquestionably the Story of the Year in college football.
In fact, he knew things rarely turned out exactly like one expects -- did Sir Alec Guinness in 'The Bridge On The River Kwai' anticipate getting shot and falling on the detonator that blows up the bridge (that he misguidedly just made his fellow POW's build), eliminating a critical Japanese transportation route? I think not.
The point is, shit happens.
Oh - you haven't seen the movie? Oops.
Rosebud.
So, as promising as the course of the season became for Marcus Freeman and the ND football program, it occurred to Jerrence that a final disappointing game should not detract from embracing the hell out of the enjoyable season that had just concluded.
And it was really, really fun.
Quote of the Season
...if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
A concept that may be difficult to grasp for the ND Nation trolls who want to continue to bitch from their couch about a particular player or coach.
Word of the Week
Attitudinally, there was disappointment, to be sure. But it wasn't all that difficult -- surprisingly easy, in fact -- for him to see the overall season as an abject success.
And it found him thinking, a little perversely, about Ernst Shackleton and the 1915 voyage of his ship, the Endurance.
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| "I think if we push really hard..." |
They didn't make it.
So on that metric, failure.
And yet, history now regards Shackleton as one of the great leaders for what he did achieve: keeping his 27-man crew alive for nearly two years after being stranded when the ship became irrevocably trapped in the Weddell Sea ice.
One might call that losing the battle but winning the war.
Jerrence pondered that for a moment: the crew's survival wasn't merely a daunting physiological achievement but an enormous psychological one as well. When all surely seemed lost and despair / desperation showed itself at every turn, no one gave up.
Least of all their captain.
Jerrence began to draw a direct line from Shackleton and the Endurance crew's experience in 1915 to Marcus Freeman and the 2024 ND football team, post-NIU loss.
Freeman's belief in himself and his team...
his manifesting a pertinacious resolve to leverage that embarrassing loss -- not as an anchor but as a path to improvement and success.
Jerrence wondered whether the magnitude of that achievement would ever be fully appreciated by the masses.
Coach (and Man) of the Year indeed.
Championship: Game Thoughts
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| Oh, Atlanta! |
Sailing 'round the world in a dirty gondola
Oh to be back in the land of Coca-Cola...
As a self-avowed no nothing (and aforementioned skeptic of those who speak in black and white terms), I offer this more as a guideline rather than a rule...
For me, there's only two immutable laws of nature when it comes to football:
- It's a QB-driven sport.
- Those teams who have really good ones, win. Often.
- It's a game of attrition. Those teams that stay healthy tend to win, often.
Another half dozen musings, both game and future applicable, filed under "the more things change, the more they stay the same":
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- Fun fact #1: Ohio St. had 14 5-stars on their roster, Notre Dame had 1.
- Fun fact #2: According to The Athletic's draft guru, OSU had 16 players with a draftable grade next April, ND had 6.
As important as player development is (see pt. 2), there's something to be said for starting with a heightened floor to the skill set you're throwing on the field.
2. Coaching matters. However the outcome of a game, win or loss, there's always a 'chicken or the egg' aspect to assigning credit (or blame). The answer usually lies somewhere in between but given the decimation of ND's two-deep roster, how can one not walk away in relative awe of the job the coaching staff did this year?
At the same time, other schools hire talented guys too -- and it's fair to say OSU's Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles had really smart game plans that we didn't handle great. It happens.
3. Experience matters. Yes, there are the occasional difference making, extra-terrestrial like Jeremiah Smith but units playing together for awhile matters. Witness Ohio State's defense: much was made of their off-season 'acquisition' of All-American Caleb Downs but did you catch that the other 10 players on their D had been together for 4+ years? Not a lot of missed assignments when you've got that going for you. And in the NIL World, not likely to see that depth of togetherness ever again.
It's true that next year, ND loses some important leadership, especially on the D, but there's a lot of talent coming back. Our turn to play that card.
4. Don't blame Gray. One man's opinion -- maybe two, given that Al Golden admitted that fateful 3rd and 11 call wasn't great -- if it wasn't Gray getting toasted, it would've been someone else (Egbuka? Tate?) getting open. We were simply outgunned vs. their WR's. Without a great pass rush, Golden was in a near impossible situation of where to choose his poison -- Gray just happened to be the fellow hung out to dry.
And yet, in the 2nd half, he was 15-20 for 190 yards and 2 TD's. And with the "do whatever the f*ck it takes" will power he'd shown all game (season) long, who knows...
Well, a girl can dream.
6. You Like me! You really like me! Of the many surprises witnessed over the course of the last season, ND becoming America's (Likeable) Team was not on my bingo card. Arguably no team inspires a more polarizing reaction than the Irish.
This recent positive sentiment is surely driven by a humble (and telegenic) coach -- and one would like to think the team's selfless, low on-field histrionics ALTHOUGH MY FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE YEAR WAS XAVIER WATTS LOOKING AT USC'S SIDELINE WHILE BLOWING BY THEM ON HIS GAME SEALING PICK 6.
And that month-long playoff period of the media finally giving the Irish their just props was pretty sweet, no?
Still, enjoy it while it lasts -- because like familiarity, sustained success breeds widespread contempt. And I, for one, see this success as the new normal (thank you, Pete B).
Just ask any Kansas Chiefs fan.
Just ask any Kansas Chiefs fan.
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One last look at the year...
Buddy's Buddy
"Together we stand, divided we fall."
Not exactly the issue in ND's loss to Ohio State -- arguably the team's ability to hang together made the game interesting (if still improbable) right up to final Ohio State possession.
Yet at the same time, no one is going to walk away believing that ND played their best. Disappointing but give the Buckeyes a little credit for having something to do with that.
So, with an eye perhaps more towards the future -- apologies to Riley Leonard who figuratively (and literally) gave his everything for the team -- one other guy feels perhaps a tad more deserving to be the season's final Buddy's Bud.
Jaden Greathouse. One might reasonably ask as to where has this level of performance has been all season -- Leonard's passing shortcomings probably having a big role in it -- it's undeniable that without him in the 2nd half of the game, Notre Dame had no shot. And without his efforts, we might've been looking at a resurrection of the 'ND always gets blown out in big games' narrative.
His stats don't quite do him justice:
6 receptions for 128 yards and 2 TD's. The first score was, essentially, ALL his effort. And the second, coming on possibly the best pass Leonard threw all year, was not exactly uncontested.
For a guy that's long been viewed as having as much star potential as anyone in the receivers' room, here's hoping this is just the springboard to a killer 2025.
Speaking of late season revelations and implications for the future, a special non-team shout out has to go to comedian Shane Gillis.
The Mechanicsburg, Pa., native and Notre Dame superfan attended the Irish's loss to Ohio State in the national championship game and vowed to do his part to raise NIL money for the school.
"It was a great season," Gillis said. "We'll be back. We got to raise some money for the Irish now. That's where my money is going. Screw my family. It's all going to Notre Dame football. I was sitting there watching the confetti for Ohio State, and I immediately called my agent and said, 'Let's book a show and give all the money to Notre Dame.' Notre Dame needs a championship."
And apparently he's recruited Jon Bon Jovi as part of his Notre Dame NIL Go Fund Me mission.
You go, girl!
RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)
At this point in the nascent post-season, one might ask oneself, "So what now?"
Good question.
As is the inevitable cycle once a season ends (for any team), changes tend to happen quickly. And ND is no different: 2025 will bring a new DC, new GM, a handful of transfer portal players going (and coming) and probably half a dozen other changes no one sees yet.
Leaving us feeling, how exactly? To each his own but there are reasons to be optimistic, starting with senior program leadership...
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Since taking over for former AD Jack Swarbrick in full last March, Pete Bevacqua has overseen Notre Dame’s men’s lacrosse winning a second national title and the groundbreaking of Shields Hall, which will become ND football’s new operations center next year. He’s extended Freeman on a lucrative 6-year deal that makes him among the highest-paid coaches in the sport. And there’s the new NBC contract, which helps fund the football team’s independence. He’s also steered Notre Dame into the transfer portal and name, image and likeness, critical real estate if football wants to make runs through the College Football Playoff the standard.
“This is not a one and done,” Bevacqua said. “This has to be the new normal for us.”
Notre Dame went 12 years between playing for a national title in football, from the blowout by Alabama in January '13 to the loss to Ohio State in January '25. It’s been 36 seasons since the Irish went all the way, the longest drought in school history. As much as it’s Freeman’s job to complete that circuit, it’s on Bevacqua to give Notre Dame’s coach the wiring to do so.
Sometimes, Bevacqua will start staff meetings with the Rev. Ted Hesburgh quote, “There is no academic virtue in playing mediocre football.” He sees no reason for Notre Dame to shy away from football success. Bevacqua talks about “alignment” regularly, a buzzword Brian Kelly wore out while explaining his move to LSU three years ago. Yet, it feels accurate around ND today, from the BoT to school president Rev. Bob Dowd to Bevacqua to Freeman.
“I don’t think anybody shies away from the fact that Notre Dame football is really important to Notre Dame. And that a rising tide lifts all ships,” Bevacqua said. “If you’re walking around South Bend or Beijing and you have that ND on, people know what it is. That has a lot to do with the reputation of the school, but it also has a lot to do with the history of this football program.”
If Swarbrick was the right athletic director at the right time, hired in 2008 as conference realignment began to dominate the sport, Bevacqua feels like the ideal follow-up. A background as the chairman of NBC Sports gives Bevacqua working knowledge of the next great mover in college sports as the topic of media rights dominates the conversation.
Aside from the House settlement and NIL, the biggest story this offseason thus far might be the ACC’s extension with ESPN and how Notre Dame fits into it, potentially playing more often against Clemson, Miami and Florida State. That’s a competitive story, but it could be a media rights one, too: Notre Dame helping the ACC create more marquee inventory that can help the league’s bigger brands stand out.
Bevacqua is comfortable with how Freeman has built the roster, pulling all levers available among high school recruiting and portal acquisition. The Irish wouldn’t have made it to the CFP’s finish line without both, from quarterback Riley Leonard (Duke) to defensive back Jordan Clark (Arizona State) to returner Jayden Harrison (Marshall) to kicker Mitch Jeter (South Carolina). Freeman talks about majoring in high school recruiting. And that’s true. He’s also made the dean’s list in his minor, if that’s how portal acquisitions should be viewed.
With that combined with Notre Dame’s Rally NIL collective going in-house and Notre Dame planning to fully fund the revenue sharing expected to come with the House settlement — that’s a $20.5 million expense — Bevacqua believes Notre Dame has everything to make Playoff runs a regular thing. And to maybe get Notre Dame over the finish line with Freeman in charge.
Source: The Athletic
February 1, 2025
Cocktail of the Month
Left to his own devices, with Defarge on her annual two week Sundance Film Festival volunteer junket, Jerrence found himself catching up on random movies he'd either never seen before and / or films long forgotten.
Jeremiah Johnson, Galaxy Quest, Rosemary's Baby -- variety is indeed the cinematic spice of Jerrence's life.
Which brings us to Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" -- perhaps never to be remembered in the upper echelon of his film directorial oeuvre but reminded Jerrence of his ultimate fantasy: the story of a writer who takes midnight strolls through Paris only to find himself transported to the 1920's where he meets (and drinks with) his literary idols including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot and other artistic legends like Picasso and Dali.
Fantastic!
Of course, Jerrence would take his Paris expatriate / English major daughter, Shea, with him -- it'd be rude otherwise. She's been known to knock back a few French 75's so she'd fit right in.
Plus, she'd bring her wingman, her Chow Chow Jack, who himself is not unfamiliar with the bars of Paris.
Jack and Ernest. Talk about a power couple.
Ernest Hemingway's
Death In The ASftyernoon
1899 -- 1961
In nearly every story, cocktails accompany emotionally fraught scenes, crystallizing character development and pushing the plot forward. Hemingway's spare prose leaves no room for set decoration; rather he deploys the concrete world, alcohol included, in service of his stories' emotional force.
The saying, "write what you know" has never applied more faithfully to a writer than it does to Hemingway, who managed to become a regular at a handful of bars around the world, and even developed his own iconic cocktails.
He drank often and amply,. but "Papa" (as he was called) remained beloved by barkeeps and proprietors for his cheery disposition and loyal patronage. Whether it was absinthe on the Left Bank of Paris, beers in Madrid, or rum in the tropics, Hemingway appreciated local libations and made himself at home in the bars, pubs, cafés and beer halls punctuating the old cities and sandy beaches that claimed him in return.
* Champagne
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Pour absinthe into a champagne flute. Top with champagne until the drink "attains a proper opalescent milkiness."
Hemingway recommended drinking 3-5 of these cocktails, slowly.
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 W
2025
January
2 Georgia W
9 Penn State W
20 Ohio State L
Wager 2024
Congratulations to Messrs. Scanlon (going back-to-back!), Cincotta and Corrigan (Mike).
Sure there was a cash prize but the real glory is in being awarded the annual Arty.
And thanks everyone else for playing along again this year!
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.
Pity, I had an especially cruel, vitriol-filled screed all teed up, directed at Ohio State Nation and its statewide, cave-dwelling fanbase.
Alas, another time.
Plan B: one last look at the SEC Superiority balloon -- two years now running that they didn't even have a representative in the championship, much less a winner -- that got popped, hopefully once and for all.
Terry's Tools.
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| The few, the proud... |
To everything there is a season.
Turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under Heaven...
But what, precisely, is God's purpose in creating the Tool?
And I'm not talking the Dillon Hall Tool -- I know their purpose (to amuse and, frequently, confuse me).
It's those tools lower on the evolutionary continuum (I know what you're thinking - lower than Dillon?) that one is baffled by...
And I can only surmise they're there to vex me while making me more appreciative of the quality of life around me.
Okay, I guess they can be allowed to live.
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And your wise men don't know how it feels
To be thick as a brick....
1) "Lockergate." It's something of case-by-case, sliding scale for me but generally in most competitions I'd rather see teams / players win games outright rather than witness a team / players losing by making a big error. Case in point: I loved seeing us take down Penn St. while at same time, having enormous sympathy for their QB's fatal final mistake. And watching Jean van de Velde's collapse... painful.
So when ND lost to Ohio State, it did not feel like a case of ND blowing the game. That particular evening, with those squads as constructed (i.e., one team significantly healthier than the other), the Buckeyes were simply better.
Asshole.
And then having that troll publicly call out the team for what he perceived as a lack of media professionalism when the kid's coaches and teammates defended him, using less than perfect Queen's English.
Fuck you, pal.
And the counterpoint -- and recipient of the 2024 Alex Flanagan Award for sideline reporting excellence while being a major babe...
Excuse me?!
Asks the Packer fan who still calls Chicago's most iconic structures the Sears Tower and the Hancock Building.
What's next? The Lord Stanley trophy becomes the Gretzky award?
Allowing for the likelihood that the coach was not totally serious -- Lord knows, he is considered be a legendary jokester and media whore -- why, Bill, why? Some possibilities:
- Pandering to St. Tahm (minority owner in the Raiders) for the next time their head coaching job opens up -- which could be sooner rather than later given Pete Carroll is older than he is.
- By opining that 'players win games, not coaches' he's suggesting those same players also lose games, thereby covering his ass when UNC goes 6-7 next year. (Well played, coach!)
- Trying out new material for a stand up act he's taking on the road.
Name of the Week
Though I'm less confident that will be case for Pig Cage and Dude Person.
Final Thought
Until next year, y'all... book your room at Chalet du Corrinella early!
