Put Down the DaVinci

As promised, I finished reading The DaVinci Code last night. After my early disappointment that Timmy Kovach was not featured, I managed to get through the last page with my sanity and faith still intact. Don't all sigh with relief at once.

I'd like to address what I believe are the three main parts of the work: The Story (the method of telling and overall plot lines), The Codes (the cryptographical aspects of the plot), and The Stuff (1 guess).

THE STORY

Lots has been said elsewhere about the shortcomings of the story from a literary standpoint -- transitions, paragraphing, formulaic style, etc. I believe his main problem (which almost led me to put the book down multiple times in the first 30 pages) is he's a horrible expositionist.

All stories need exposition, with backstory and supporting details introduced in such a way that the story still flows naturally but the reader can appreciate and understand the depth of the story and characters. Sometimes this is done within the character diologue and sometimes without it, but if it's awkward, it detracts from the reader's enjoyment.

Dan Brown exposits like a Mack truck through a puppy farm. Irrelevant details are introduced in jarring ways. Did they have to take 10 reading minutes to get to the Louvre so I could get his opinion about French architecture and the introduction of completely minor details that would be blown up into exaggeration later? What's the purpose of a quarter-page paragraph concerning the main character's claustrophobia to support a two-sentence uneventful trip in an elevator that had no bearing on the story? How many times can you reference your previous book in the first two chapters? If we didn't find out, it certainly wasn't due to Brown's lack of trying.

Conversational exposition fares no better because it's seeded with sudden bursts of details expressed in unreported diologue. In between one character's comments in the conversation, we get a paragraph describing what the other participant replied and why with no direct quotes. Don't tell me what the character was concerned about, tell me what she said to express that concern. It's like listening to half of a phone conversation but twice as annoying because you don't expect that dynamic while reading a book.

A second enjoyment-detraction for me was an excess of plot twists. Clive Cussler (whose early work I very much enjoy) was known for these, usually about three quarters of the way through a story. The difference here is Brown's twists are harepin and in some cases border on deus-ex-machina, my second-least favorite plot device. You can also see them from more than a couple pages away, and he sometimes has to rely on vague earlier paragraphs for the logical underpinnings. The French inspector who chases them throughout the book suddenly becoming the protagonists' champion in a "knew it all along" way? The name change at the end and living sibling? Like me at every high school dance I attended, lame and awkward.

THE CODES

This is the aspect of the book that kept me reading after those attempted put-downs in the first 30 pages, because Brown does an excellent job weaving it into the story.

Cryptography has always been an interest of mine, ever since my great-aunt used to give us little "code quizzes" at family parties. Brown's use is very deft, introducing possibly complicated constructs in an easy-to-read manner. I found myself trying to figure out the clues as I progressed through the story, sometimes stopping for five or so minutes to consider the meanings or going back to read previous paragraphs or holding the book up to a mirror.

Given the mathematical and lingustic aspects of cryptography, it's an easy subject in which to bog down your reader. Brown avoided this pitfall by making the puzzles engaging, and he gets a big thumbs-up from me for the effort.

THE STUFF

Ah, here we are at the heart of the crux of the gist of things: Dan Brown borrowing plot points from a Kevin Smith movie. Apparently Linda Fiorentino wasn't available this time around, or she can't speak French.

There's all kinds of things I could say here, but I'll do it this way:

Do I believe there are some "inconvenient truths" that the Catholic Church doesn't emphasize or downright hides? Yes, but I don't feel that way due to antipathy towards the Church. Rather, I feel that way because organizations both secular and not have been doing things like that since long before the Miracle of Bethlehem. The Catholic Church is, IMO, neither the only nor the biggest violator in that regard.

Do I believe the male hierarchy of the Catholic Church has a vested interest in reducing the role of women? Yes. Sorry, but there are too many old white guys sitting in the seats of influence, and they've made enough dumb mistakes to lead me to believe this is probably another one of them.

Based on those two things, do I find Brown's story plausible? Nope. Because he took those minor concerns out of my cranium and went skipping merrily off to Crazytown. Mary Magdelene's bones? You're off the map there, Flower Power. I suspect the book contract stipulated vaginal/pentagramical reference quotas, but (as with so much else in the work) can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

I found DVC to be too agenda-driven to resonate with me theologically. Similar to when I read Bernard Goldberg's "Bias" and was put off by all the gratuitous "Dan Rather sucks" interjections, Brown's repeated demonizing of Opus Dei (an organization I still consider wacky) and the Vatican hierarchy (ditto) seemed petty. Regardless of who ended up being the bad guy, I'm not sure Brown's portrayal of either of those organizations was fair, although I think both helped Brown out by overreacting to the work.

I guess my final analysis will depend on how much of the story dovetails with actual events. I know there are pro and con sites, articles and books out there, and I plan to do at least a cursory investigation of them to make that determination for myself. Further bulletins as events warrant.

OVERALL

Having read the book, I doubt I'll see the movie. I know all the possible twists, and the thought of a long-haired Tom Hanks trying to pull this off gives me the heebie jeebies. And as I noted, I've already seen "Dogma".

The book is a mixed bag. Once you get through the slow beginning, it's a relatively engaging read if you enjoy cryptography and can keep from drowning in the "goddess" talk. It's probably worth getting from the library if you're going on a trip.

It's the "Last Temptation of Christ" of the 2000's -- conservative angst over something that really isn't all that earth-shattering.

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No More Identity Crisis

Basking in the glow of Jimmy Clausen's oral commitment to Charlie Weis and Notre Dame, Irish fans have all but forgotten the recent years of offensive misery. Before Weis came aboard, Notre Dame's attack was the subject of richly-deserved ridicule by rival schools and even among its most ardent supporters.

Bob Davie's offensive philosophy was a well-placed punt, while Tyrone Willingham brought Bill Diedrick and the bubble screen to South Bend. Top flight recruits stayed away in droves, and Brady Quinn took a vicious pounding as he searched in vain for an open receiver.

In order to appreciate Weis' impact on the Irish offense, a quick statistical comparison between 2005 and previous five years is particularly enlightening. During the 2000-2004 seasons, Notre Dame averaged 23.5 points per game. This number grew by more than 50% to 36.7 under Weis.

The total offense comparison for the same period is equally impressive. The Irish gained 5728 total yards last year after averaging 3850 in the five previous seasons, while the yards per game statistics are 477 and 326, respectively. The average increase under Weis is between 46 and 49%, depending on how you slice the data. Third down conversions also rose from 35% to 49%.

In the passing game, the 2005 squad racked up 3963 passing yards as compared to an average of 1920 under the last five autumns of Davieham. That's better than a 100% improvement. What may be even more impressive is that Quinn threw 32 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions in 2005, while the totals for 2000-2004 are 58 TDs and 57 INTs. Quinn also completed 65% of his passes last season, while his predecessors could manage only 51%.

Despite these compelling numbers, the depth of Notre Dame's offensive futility prior to 2005 cannot be fully understood unless you saw the Irish play. Quarterbacks were shuffled in and given the hook with alarming regularity, and wobbly third down passes either fell harmlessly to the turf or were caught two yards short of the first down marker. The two minute offense was an entire rosary of Hail Marys. Irish fans wondered why the team could not emulate Michigan or even Purdue, and now we can't wait to play them.

Clausen opted for Notre Dame because he wants to prepare for a productive career in the NFL. There is nothing surprising about this given the history at Notre Dame, except that recent Irish quarterbacks were destined to play on Sunday as wide receivers.

I have no objection to the fact that Clausen chose the Irish for football reasons, calling it a "business decision." I'm sure some purists winced as Clausen did not include the obligatory mention of academics in announcing his choice of schools, but it's actually a welcome sign that Notre Dame has become a destination of choice to football prospects with legitimate professional aspirations.

Over the previous five years, star athletes at the skill positions have seen no connection between the Irish offense and the NFL. Not only has Weis altered that perception, but his cutting edge attack has elevated Notre Dame from the Stone Age to the hot program for blue chip athletes who can read and write.

It happened so fast in reality, but the rebirth of Notre Dame Football could not have come soon enough for those who endured the recent, tortuous past. In order to appreciate where we are about to go, let's not forget the overall mediocrity and utter futility of where we've been.

After Midnight

A man needs a little madness, or else he never dares cut the rope and be free.

Nikos Kazantzakis

I don't claim to be a marketing genius -- that's my sister's job. After all, she's the one who has to keep friends and respect after telling people she's related to me.

But working in a family business for a lot of summers has given me an idea or two about how to get people excited about a product. And one product on the "let's get people excited" list that jumps to mind immediately is Notre Dame basketball.

We've discussed the Joyce Center crowds, timeout advertisements, music selection and the like to death on the Pit the last couple of months. SBDomer's post covered that ground in great and quality detail, so I'm going to stay away from that and talk about something that bugged me last year.

Midnight Madness. Or should I say, the lack of any.

Thanks to the NCAA going against type and making a sensible rule change, schools can now start practice in the evening prior to the first allowed day rather than having to wait for the exact stroke of midnight. A lot of schools took advantage of that change, having 7pm events that plenty of families could attend.

ND, however, did not. And I found that frustrating, considering how packed the campus was that night. They had tens of thousands of people in the stadium for the Southern Cal pep rally, and tens of thousands more looking for something to do that Friday evening. A rollicking event might have been a good way to kick off the season. Fall Break or no, an opportunity was there and missed.

As always, I'm a solutions-oriented kind of guy. So here's my idea.

Looking at the football calendar, the Irish are off the weekend that encompasses October 15th, the traditional hoops start date. With Fall Break, an event to start the actual practice open would be, most likely, a bad idea.

But a weekend later, the UCLA Bruins make their first football trip to South Bend in 40 years. No school is intertwined in ND hoops lore more than UCLA, and here they are on campus on a trip unusual enough that it will probably attract a quality crowd.

That, my friends, is opportunity not only knocking but trying to kick the door in.

So why not have a traditional Midnight Madness hoops event to commemorate the UCLAns visit that Friday night after the pep rally? Invite the hoops alums back to campus, particularly guys like Austin Carr and Dwight Clay who have a special connection to UCLA. Have dunk and free-throw contests, a scrimmage, and let's see which player can do the best immitation of Mike Brey. See if you can get Bill Walton to come -- he and Digger can have a loudest-sportcoat-sudden-deathmatch, or maybe just stare at each other for an hour. Jim Harrick can do a run-in and hit Digger with a chair. Circus Maximus, indeed.

And most importantly, market the living bejesus out of it. Send notes to all the basketball season-ticket holders, and maybe let them in to a special event (e.g. autograph session) beforehand. Everyone who receives a football ticket to the UCLA football game should get a flyer in their envelope saying there's going to be this family-oriented event. Ads in the South Bend Tribune, on television, and on signs all over town and campus should be, at least, ubiquitous.

Sure, the crowd may end up small. But you don't know what's going to happen until you do it, and they really need to do this. Someone needs to grab the program by the scruff of the neck and swing it around a little bit. Get the blood flowing. Drop an ice cube down the back. Regardless of how the season ends, let's start this one with some noise and enthusiasm.

What's the worst that could happen?

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Clausen Is Irish

Jimmy Clausen, the most highly regarded quarterback from California since John Elway, turned down the Trojans to come to South Bend and play for Coach Weis. The 6-foot-3, 207-pounder, has thrown 88 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions in his past two seasons at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, Calif., his team averaging 53 points a game. He is 27-0 as a starter, has completed 68 percent of his passes over the last two years and has thrown for 7,234 career yards. Clausen said competition from other quarterbacks wasn't a factor in his decision. "Honestly, I think it pretty much just came down to coach Weis for me. Any high school quarterback would want to play for coach. There's something about him. He's from New Jersey, so he's got a little swagger to him... I want the #1 recruiting class in the nation. There’s a lot of guys here today and I’m going to try to talk to them…I look forward to doing whatever I can to help us win the national championship."
ESPN, The Magazine story

"The Shirt"

Fiddling While Hoops Burns

Those of you who follow my writing know I beat the improve-the-physical-plant drum loudly and often. Some of you regard it as some kind of excuse mechanism for Mike Brey, and no amount of explanation has proven able to dissuade you of that idea. So if you are of that camp, you may as well stop reading now because I'm not going to say anything you're going to want to hear.

Having said that, I may as well attempt the caveats again. No, the quality of facilities provided by Notre Dame to its basketball programs doesn't affect the day-to-day workings of those programs. It doesn't determine offensive and defensive philosophies chosen by Mike Brey or anyone on his staff. It doesn't help the players perform better on offense or defense. It doesn't add any points to ND's totals in a given game, nor does it subtract from an opponent's totals.

What it does is say to people outside the university how the program is valued. It says to the coaches and players in the program how much their contributions are worth to the community at large. It says to the fans of the program how much the university values their interest.

And it could be that in the near future, the opinions of all those groups will become very important to the not-so-near future of this program.

North Carolina State University is looking for a new basketball coach, and Mike Brey's name has come up associated with that search. I can't speak to the exact interest or lack thereof they'd have in Mike Brey (although I believe it is there), nor can I speak to the exact interest or lack thereof Mike Brey would have in them (although I believe it is there).

But if it were to come to pass that Mike Brey would leave Notre Dame to take that job in the next two weeks, I also strongly believe Kevin White or whomever was in charge of finding his replacement would find the going very rough if they targeted someone of recognized quality. And that is why even people who aren't enamored of Brey's performance at ND need to take notice.

ND would have a lot to explain to any potential candidate for an open head coaching position, such as why they talked about improving the facilities for more than six years and have done nothing. Why in the wake of three straight NCAA appearances and the first Sweet 16 for the program in almost 20 years, no improvements to basketball's practice or playing arenas were even hinted at, while the football program, in the wake of a decade of underachievement and embarassments both on the field and off, got their stadium improved and expanded and their second state-of-the-art practice facility since 1986. Why they demand championship-level performance on the court while making the coach's job difficult off the court.

In short, why they should expect any candidate to take them seriously.

Sure, they could promise the moon in an effort to entice someone. But even if they decided today to move forward with the facilities improvement, it would be at least one year before the first shovelful of earth was moved, and most likely two or three years before any coach or players would have something tangible to use. In the meantime, it would all be promises, and thanks to the lack of movement on those facilities in Brey's tenure, it's logical to believe a coaching prospect of the desired quality would look at those promises with a jaundiced eye. Nothing validates a promise like a bulldozer in action, and that's not going to be available in the near future no matter what the next two weeks bring. And as North Carolina State's search has shown so far, not all coaches are motivated by money.

There are probably coaches who would take the position anyway, given that it would represent such a large step up from where they currently are. But are those candidates of the measured quality you would want at Notre Dame? I think Billy Taylor, for example, is an excellent person and a good coach, and if he moves on to the Penn job in the next couple of days, it'll be a very worthy step up for him. But there is no way he's ready to take the reins at Notre Dame. He doesn't have the game experience, he doesn't have the recruiting experience, and he doesn't have the level-of-competition experience. If Billy Taylor or Scott Drew or any other coach from that level of experience is at Notre Dame as head coach in the next 18 months, the situation for the Fighting Irish will be very very precarious, and after the Decade of Duty Dereliction in the 1990s, such a situation could be very very bad for this program.

Whether or not Mike Brey ends up at NCState, this is an illustration of the problems the Notre Dame basketball program could face in the near future. The school's inaction on the facilities front these last six years have left them with very badly damaged credibility in the eyes of the coaching fraternity, particularly if Brey departs of his own volition.

The time to correct that is now, because whether Mike Brey is enticing recruits with visions of those new underway facilities or they're being used to entice his replacement, they're going to be very needed. And whether that's this time next year or whenever, ND can't afford to be caught without a chair when the music stops.

If it happens now, it may already be too late to correct.

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Notes from the Geetar: Lost in the Angst

I'm still trying to figure out how to implement the "NftG" heading in this thing. For now, I'll use it for compendium-like posts that lack a central theme. Like that doesn't describe half my work.

With all the hand-wringing recently about the need or lack thereof for coaching staff changes and the deplorable state of ND's basketball facilities, some other things have been going on.

How Finicky is Morris?

The news that Tim Morris is seeking a transfer from Stanford pricked up a few ears in Irishtown. ND finished a close second to the Cardinal in 2002 when the wingman made his college choice, and reports indicate the Irish have stayed on his mind. Our favorite Bootie had this to say:

He asked, and Stanford complied, for his release to be sent to five schools - most or all of which were also active with him when he was recruited four years ago out of Whitefield Academy outside of Atlanta (Ga.). Morris had his release sent to Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Georgia, North Carolina State and Florida. All of those schools now have permission to speak with him, though no official visits have yet been scheduled.

In his final decision in the spring of 2002, Morris chose Stanford over Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. While the other four schools are closer to home, the early money is on the Irish. Morris was very fond of Mike Brey and had a hard time saying no to Notre Dame when he was originally recruited out of high school.

Mike Eubanks, "The Bootleg"

While it's nice to see a former Irish target coming home to roost, this move is far from a slam dunk. If Morris is making his move in the interest of playing time, an already-crowded Irish backcourt might not be the place. Then again, he would provide senior leadership in a currently very-small class and perhaps help move the scholarship loads back into balance.

2-in-4 No More

In a move perhaps expected now that the NCAA owns the NIT, the association's Management Council has recommended the 2-in-4 rule, which limited a team to two appearances in exempted preseason tournaments, be scrapped. It will be voted on at the next NCAA meetings and is expected to pass easily.

The shout you just heard probably came from the organizers of the Guardians Classic and other such events, who have had a devil of a time attracting prime talent the last few years while the heavy hitters were under this stricture. This will enable them to drastically improve the quality of their events, although the rule that prohibits teams from appearing in a given event more than once in four years still applies.

Back on the homefront, this definitely affects the Irish. ND is currently scheduled for the Preseason NIT next season and the Maui classic two years later. I would expect a Guardians visit to be tossed into one of the open slots now that ND can do so without penalty.

This one goes to Ele ... er, 28

Another recommendation by the Management Committee that will be voted on not only raises the number of games each season from 27 to 28 but also removes the requirement that the conference count their post-season as one of those games. In effect, this will allow schools to schedule two more games per season, although there may be a cap of 30 games instituted for schools that play in fixed-games tournaments (e.g. the Maui Classic, where everyone plays three games win or lose).

For Irish fans longing for a return to the schedule of old nemeses, this is welcome news. It's easier to squeeze the UCLAs and Michigan States of the world into the docket when you don't have to give up potential home dates.

You Can't Always Get There from Here

John Calipari decided to remain in Memphis rather than take on the open position at North Carolina State. Early reports cited compensation issues, but ESPN's Andy Katz contends the main issue was Calipari's lack of confidence that he could provide the number of wins against Duke and North Carolina the school's administrators and fans would demand.

Here we have an ACC program firmly committed to basketball excellence. They have a rabid fan following. Their facilities are five years old and gorgeous. They were willing to give Calipari a raise of almost half a million dollars from his already impressive salary at Memphis and give him plenty of money for assistant coaches. In other words, the school is doing everything it can to make itself attractive to top-notch coaches.

And yet Calipari turned them down for a reason over which they have no control.

A message, perhaps, to those who continue to believe Notre Dame can snap its fingers and get any basketball coach it wants, especially without doing some of the things NC State did (and ND can do if it chooses).

My Dinner with Charlie

Alright, it's more like my dinner with Charlie and 2,000 others. But I got the most vivid reminder yet why Charlie Weis is such a good fit at Notre Dame, and far be it from me not to share it with those who weren't able to dine with us. In deference to him, I waited more than "two or three hours", so let it not be said I'm inconsiderate.

In a lot of ways, the 2006 version of the ND Club of Chicago's Rockne Dinner was typical: the company was excellent, the drinks flowed freely, the service was great, the food was mediocre, and the overall experience was more than satisfactory for ND fans of all ages and shapes. But it was the differences that stood out for me last night ... differences that really brought an end to the eight-year reign of Davieham.

First, the coach was there. That might sound odd considering how long the Rockne Dinner has been going and how much of a tradition an appearance by the coach has been. Bob Davie, for all his flaws, never missed, which was one of the few points in his favor accumulated in his five years at ND. But Tyrone Willingham didn't see fit to continue that tradition, and I believe he made only one appearance at the dinner during his tenure. While appearances by people like Mike Brey and Muffet McGraw and Randy Waldrum were good, let's face it, this crowd comes to hear the football poobah share his thoughts, and recent crowds had come away disappointed.

Charlie Weis, though, knows what side of the bread the butter is on. Though knee-deep in spring football, this was his second trip to the Sheraton in his short career. Not only that, he announced early in his speech he had decided, given the large number of alumni in the area and the size and tradition of the event, to make the Rockne Dinner his one alumni appearance every year. To say the group was thrilled would be an understatement.

Second, the people were there. Again, that might sound odd considering how long the Rockne Dinner has been going and how many alumni are in the Chicago area. But the 2,000+ in attendance last night was the largest crowd in Rockne Dinner history. My father, who remembers the early events in the Plumbers Hall featuring corned beef, cabbage, and buckets of beer, can attest to the increase in crowd size. That can only mean good things for the Chicago Club's scholarship fund, for which the Rockne Dinner is the primary fundraiser.

Third, the people were quiet. Long-time attendees of the Rockne Dinner know the tradition, questionable as it may have been, was the only people who got undivided attention were the priest saying grace and the football coach giving the homily. Although it hasn't been the norm lately, it was very out of vogue this year, with Aaron Taylor exhorting the crowd early to lend its ears in full to all the speakers. And lend they did.

Which may be due to the fourth change, the large numbers of women in attendance. Once again, I return to my dad's recollections from the Plumbers Hall, which describe the Rockne Dinner as a mostly stag affair. Even after its moves to larger venues like the Hilton Towers and the Water Street Sheraton, it remained a guy thing. But the last few years has brought out more than the usual share of the fairer sex, and while some may complain about the shift in atmosphere as a result, I find it hasn't detracted at all from the quality of the event and may, in fact, be improving it.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Kevin White's State of the Union and Jim Flanigan's Lou Holtz reminisces notwithstanding, Charlie was the man we all came to see. And in a 20-minute speech, he reinforced once again why he is more likely to succeed in this job than the two men who preceded him in the position.

He's one of the gang.

No, that doesn't mean he's Caucasian. Bob Davie was Caucasian, and he was doomed to failure from the get-go. No, that doesn't mean he has a respect for what Notre Dame stands for. Tyrone Willingham did that, and he was doomed too.

It means Notre Dame is, to Charlie, not just a job, but an adventure. And every coach, regardless of sport, who has succeeded at Notre Dame has understood that.

When you hear him talking about how "wrong guys", as my mother would call them, don't fit in at ND, you know he understands that. When you hear him talking about how he describes the Grotto and other campus landmarks and their personal meaning to him, you know he understands that. When you hear him talking about how happy he his that his charitable works have borne much more fruit since arriving in South Bend, you know he understands that.

Charlie spoke for about 20 minutes last night, and not one X or one O was dispensed, disected or otherwise discussed. No updates from practice. No depth chart analysis. No one had a knee or an elbow or was a "special player". And we weren't asked to clap once.

No, this was Charlie and the Notre Dame Experience. Charlie waxing philosophic about what Notre Dame means to him. Charlie showing the folks at the tables he lives and dies with Notre Dame just as we do 24 hours a day, with that bleeding not stopping when the whistle blows and the crowd hits the Toll Road.

In other words, Charlie saying he's just like us. And nothing's better than the knowledge that one of us is at the helm in South Bend.

Does that mean success is guaranteed? Of course not. Gerry Faust loved Notre Dame with every ounce of his heart and soul, and we know how that ended up. But Charlie also brings moxie and football experience to the table, which puts him more in the Parseghian/Holtz mold.

Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham may know a lot about football. But they didn't know a lot about the Notre Dame Experience, and that as much as anything killed their coaching careers in Rock's House. They chose to bemoan ND's high standards at Rockne's grave and work on their handicap when they should have been working on halfbacks. They didn't make themselves one of the gang, so when the time came to march up to the gates of Hell and knock, no one was with them.

Charlie's got an army ready to kick the doors in. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

Vagina Dialogues

I realize this isn't sports related, but disingenuity in all its forms makes my brain itch. There is nothing that makes me more crazy than people who participate in a negotiation claiming a desire to see all parties satisfied when in reality what they want is 100 percent of their own wishes fulfilled.

Which is why the aftermath of Fr. John Jenkins' closing statement on the Vagina Monologues controversy is contributing to my already deep sense of cynicism towards my fellow human space travellers.

While Fr. Jenkins' prose is engaging and well thought out, to expedite my sharing of ideas, I'll give you a quick summary. After watching the play and talking to people associated with it, he sees no reason to ban the VM's from campus. However, he would expect (as with any performance on campus) the performance to have the Catholic view represented, as it was this year through post-play diologues. The goals of the play -- an incorporation of a positive self-image by women and the elimination of violence against them -- must be supported, and it is possible to do so via other means such as the Loyal Daughters alternative put together by the VM's Notre Dame organizers.

(One quick interjection here -- kudos to those organizers. While everyone else was getting wound up by the propriety or lack thereof of yelling the word "cunt" at total strangers, these people knew that the end was much more important than the means and put together an alternative they felt would accomplish the same goals while removing ammunition from the critics' arsenal and ensuring the message, not the profanity, became the story. That's what I call setting aside ego and having the right priorities. Well done.)

A Catholic university, Fr. Jenkins says, must remain true to its spiritual mission, but running away from controversial topics does not further that mission. Rather, the context of Catholicism and its relationship to those topics must be explored so both sides can understand the Church's position. That understanding is done via dialogue, not prohibition.

To be clear, I have no dog in this particular hunt. I'm far from the world's most conservative Catholic, but my faith has never been fragile enough to warrant fear of exposure to ideas such as the VM's. On the other hand, I have a very positive image of most of the women in my life, am not inclined to raise a hand against any of them, and am not in posession of a vagina, external or otherwise. Therefore, I doubt I'll be making time to see it.

I compare it to the furor over The Last Temptation of Christ -- a marginally compelling artistic expression exploded into hysteria by uninformed protesters focused on minor aspects of the work. I also think Notre Dame, as a private, Catholic institution, has the right to exhibit or prohibit anything it wants, and it's not like they'd lock the doors of the dorms to prevent anyone from going over to IUSB to see it. The whole thing is stupid and overblown.

(Interjection #2 -- for those of you who haven't read it, NDNation's resident satirist, Bacchus, did his own take on the VM controversey, which, if you're like me and think the whole thing is ridiculous, you'll probably enjoy)

As a relatively dispassionate observer, I found Fr. Jenkins' statement wonderful. He has many constituencies to honor, and while Jesus said one cannot serve two masters, I think Fr. Jenkins gave everyone what they really wanted. He's not going to run away from icky things and hide behind censorship, but he's not going to allow those things to run roughshod over campus without the Church being able to have its say. Both sides get the opportunity to present their argument where there's disagreement, and each will bolster the other where they agree.

Solomon and the baby, Alexander and the Gordian Knot, Jenkins and the VM's. Well-handled and time to move on, right?

Ah, but now we have the outside protagonists in this little debate, who are more than enough to draw my attention and derision. Both claim to have the best interests of all at heart, but both really can't see past the ends of their own hang-ups. They are the ones making this story go and my stomach churn.

In the red corner, the conservative wing of the Catholic Church, who, obviously unclear on the concept of what a university is supposed to do, wanted nothing less than the unceremonious catapulting of the VM's from the Notre Dame campus. Bishop John D'Arcy, praetor of the Ft. Wayne diocese that includes Notre Dame, was quoted as being "very disappointed" that Fr. Jenkins did not act in the "All right, Devious, don't move"-esque manner he had expected. Given Fr. Jenkins' higher level of conservatism and attention to Ex Cordae Ecclesia than the man who preceded him in his office, Bishop D'Arcy no doubt expected a more draconian response than he received.

In the blue corner, the intellectual libertarian movement, for whom any slight incursion on their right to share every random synapse with the universe at large results in a debilitating case of diaper rash. Under the administration of the aforementioned precedessor to Fr. Jenkins, these folks were given carte blanche. Events that didn't exactly toe the Catholicism line such as the VM's were allowed expression as they saw fit, and if anyone was going to try to apply a filter of appropriateness and decorum to their philosophy, well, that just wasn't going to do.

But in this fight, both sides hit the canvas.

The previous policy was not a good solution. If a school is going to be Catholic, it must remain true to its Catholic roots, which means it cannot endorse or otherwise promote events that go against Catholic teaching without any sort of caveat or clarification of their position. If the intelligensia expected this new administration was going to sit on its hands and not accomodate the Church's needs in all this, they were painfully naive. Freedom of speech is not an absolute, since we're not allowed to yell "fire" in a crowded theater, and the right for someone to express himself via throwing a punch ends at the tip of my nose. A private entity like Notre Dame has every right to exercise some level of control over the things that happen on its campus. Excessive previous indulgence obviously blinded these people to the appropriate levels of response, because complaining about this level of control is ridiculous.

But if the previous policy was wrong, a campus closed to non-Catholic ideas is just as much so. If a school is going to be a school, it must remain true to the exploration of ideas. Unchallenged faith becomes a function of inertia rather than a vital part of the lives of Catholics. If Notre Dame is not equipping its students with the intellectual and spiritual wherewithal to explain the place of the Catholic Church in a world of Vagina Monologues and Queer Film Festivals, then those students are being shortchanged. And they're not going to attain that knowledge or ability if they're walled off from anything remotely controversial.

My fondest wish in all this is for all the participants to going back to what they should be doing. Bishop D'Arcy should show up at Graduation to remind us all he's there, and otherwise keep his nose out of the day-to-day operations of the school. The intellectual ministers without portfolio should get back to the message and purpose behind the VM and stop getting the giggles from yelling profanities in public venues.

And Fr. Jenkins should get back to running Notre Dame as he sees fit. Because from what I've seen so far, that fit is pretty damn good.

Defensive Improvement

Tom Zbikowski recently said that Notre Dame will go as far in 2006 as its defense can take it. I happen to agree with this, and spent some time thinking about how we can extract improvement from this much-maligned unit.

Nine starters will return this season, and it’s doubtful that an incoming freshman will become anything more than a second teamer. Wholesale position switches aren’t likely, either. Therefore, our defensive improvement is going to have to come from the current players.

The 2005 squad had several deficiencies, and it’s not clear just how they will be overcome during a single off-season with few personnel changes. On paper, the pass rush looks to be anemic, we are undersized and lack depth at DT, two experienced LBs must be replaced by players with limited experience and the entire front seven lacks speed. The corners generally played well in 2005, but not at a championship level. The safeties competed hard and made some plays, but they also gave up far too many.

So, then, where is the improvement going to come from?

The defensive line will start Chris Frome and Victor Abiamiri. In a perfect world, Frome will fully recover from his knee surgery and move to the strong side. Abiamiri will overcome the leg injury that slowed him last season and finally reach his tremendous potential as the pass rusher he was recruited to be. Ronald Talley should be a reliable third option, but it’s not clear who will be the fourth man.

At tackle, Trevor Laws and Derek Landri should improve with another year of weight training under their belts, but the staff will need to develop depth. The candidates are all question marks, including Dwight Stephenson, Justin Brown, Patrick Kuntz and Derrell Hand.

Once we get past the starters and Talley, the DL situation is downright scary and the pass rush is still wishful thinking. It’s up to the coaches to extract the maximum from the starters and get some of these Willingham recruits to develop as competent reserves. Difference making reinforcements won’t necessarily arrive in 2007, either.

At linebacker, the rumored move of Maurice Crum to the middle would be a bad sign. It’s a mystery to me that the physically gifted Mitchell Thomas has been unable to make his presence felt, and a repeat of that failure in 2006 would be an indictment of both the player and the coaches. Although I do not think MLB should be manned by a freshman, we could see Toryan Smith taking snaps there this season. Other candidates are Scott Smith, Nick Borseti and Steve Quinn, but there is no clear favorite right now. To me, the development of a quality starter at this position will be a litmus test for Rick Minter.

There are a few options at outside linebacker, where a combination of speed and toughness is required. Joe Brockington and Anthony Vernaglia have some of the former but we’ll have to wait and see about the latter. Incoming freshman Morrice Richardson in an intriguing prospect, but he spent his high school career at defensive end and it may be 2007 before his best college position is clear.

Unless Mitchell Thomas is suddenly ready for prime time, this is a lackluster group on paper.
The secondary is the one area where I expect to see measurable improvement. Mike Richardson and Ambrose Wooden will get better under Bill Lewis, and both Zibby and Chinedum Ndukwe cannot help but improve their ball skills. If I were Charlie Weis, I would order Brady Quinn to throw a ton of play-action passes in practice.

Unlike the defensive line and linebacker situations, there are a number of talented kids that can push the starters and add quality depth to this secondary. It’s also not a stretch to add the names of the freshman corners to that list. Darrin Walls and Raeshon McNeil jump in the mix with Terrail Lambert, Leo Ferrine, Ray Herring, Kyle McCarthy and David Bruton to provide a solid talent base of interchangeable parts. If that’s the good news, the bad news is the secondary will indeed have to be better because the pass rush still figures to suck.

In total, the defense can be improved in 2006, but much depends on the individual strides made by key players Abiamiri, Thomas, Wooden, and both safeties. Minter must find a pass rusher, depth along the DL and a MLB if the Irish plan to be legitimate championship contenders in 2007.

God Speed, Coach Ray

I first met Ray Meyer in the Spring of 2002, when I interviewed him for Echoes on the Hardwood. At the time, he was probably the most famous person I’d ever had a full conversation with, and since he was one of my first interviews, the whole process was a little intimidating for me. But he couldn’t have been nicer or more accomodating, and the breadth of his memories about his time at ND in the 1930s and his experiences coaching for the Irish really opened up that period for me, which was helpful considering how few alumni from that era were available to interview.

Every time I saw Coach Ray after that, he went out of his way to say hello, tell me how much he enjoyed the book, and ask me how sales were going. He certainly didn’t have to do that, but typical of the good man that he was, he did it anyway, and I really appreciated it.

Trying to think of a way to memorialize Coach Ray on the event of his passing, I figure the best I can do is let him tell his own Notre Dame story. So the following are excerpts from our interview four years ago about how Notre Dame affected his life and how much he loved the place.

God speed, Coach Ray. We’ll miss you.

I was always a fan of Notre Dame. Growing up where I did, it was a big part of the community.

I was 12 or 13 years old, and was a pretty good baseball player. We were playing for the state championship at Wrigley Field, and Kennesaw Mountain Landis came down into our dugout to have his picture taken with our team. I was the only one that didn’t have socks on, because I couldn’t find any. They asked me “how come you don’t have on any socks?” I said “That’s Notre Dame style.”

Fr. O’Rourke was the priest over at St. Agnes’ Parish in Chicago, and he had me coaching his teams when I was in high school. He always wanted me to go to Notre Dame … he was a Notre Dame lover … so he drove me down there. Moose Krause met me there and took me to George Keogan’s house, and he told George that I was a great player. So I ended up getting a scholarship because of Moose. It wasn’t the last nice thing he did for me, and was the start of a great relationship.

George Keogan was a little tough to play for because he got very angry when things went wrong. At first, I didn’t know how to take him. But he’d rip the hell out of you if you didn’t play well.

He was also meticulous about his players. You had to be well dressed if you were going out; every button had to be done. If you didn’t have your hair cut, you wouldn’t come out on that floor. One time I cut my eye during a game, and he was saying, “Get him off, he’s getting blood all over the floor.”

But we had a great ballclub in the years I was there. I think we lost 6 games total my junior and senior years. I was playing with guys like Paul Nowak and Johnny Moir, who were two great ballplayers. Moir could jump over the moon. At that time, you very seldom see someone break out and break to the basket; they’d lob the ball up to the rim, and he’d get it and dunk it. Nowak was 6’6”, which was like a giant back then.

It was during the Depression when I graduated, and I was out of work. Keogan had me scouting for him – he’d give me about $25 or so, I don’t even remember. He always told me, “You’ve got a good mind for basketball. You should coach.” And I’d tell him I didn’t want to coach.

He kept on me, though, and told me one day, “I made an appointment for you at Catholic High in Joliet. You’ve got the job, all you have to do is go out there and talk to these people.” I told him I didn’t want to go, but he said he’d promised them I’d go.

I went out there and they offered me $1,700 to coach their team at Catholic High. I told them, “No, I need $1,800. I’m married.” They wouldn’t give it to me, so I went home.

That night, I got a call from the President of Notre Dame, asking me if I’d come back there and coach. I asked him what had happened, and he replied that George Keogan had had a heart attack that afternoon. Well, I wasn’t working then, so I drove down on Monday and coached the basketball team. Then I took them to Marquette Tuesday to play. So that’s how I got in at Notre Dame – pretty much by accident rather than by design.

As I said, I wasn’t serious about coaching. I didn’t think I’d like it. But after two years at Notre Dame, DePaul came to see me. When they came down to South Bend, it was Jim Enright and Arthur Morris. Enright refereed the game that night, our last game of the year. And after the game, they caught me in the room and Morris offered me the job at DePaul.

I went in to talk to George Keogan before I did anything. He said, “You’re going up there as head coach. You can always come back to Notre Dame, but you should explore this and try to find out if you really want to coach or not.” So I went to DePaul.

Notre Dame has been very good to me all of my life. Every time they changed coaches, I think I was offered the job. Once they had Arch Ward from the Tribune come to me. We had lunch together, and he was trying to persuade me to go back to Notre Dame. Another time, Moose Krause flew up to my basketball camp up in Wisconsin and offered me the job. Those were a couple of times that I remember.

But the reason I never went back was that I started at DePaul, and they were very good to me in the sense that they gave me a chance to coach and put me out on my own. I liked the kind of a boy I was getting there – never a great ballplayer, but always someone from the area.

But there were a lot of times I regretted never going back. Back then, I though it was so easy to recruit for Notre Dame. You’d have all the nuns and priests recruiting for you. When I was an assistant at Notre Dame and went out to watch kids or called about them, the reception we got was so great. Vastly different than with DePaul early on — DePaul was all local, and we didn’t have a national name. Notre Dame had a fantastic name.

I remember I was in a hotel in Detroit, and Hunk Anderson came by to see me. I was in a really little room. He picked up the phone, called the front desk, and said, “What the hell do you mean giving a coach from Notre Dame a room like this?!!?” They immediately switched me into a big suite with flowers and everything.

Coaching at Notre Dame was very nice. A lot of times, they’d come up to your room and say, “I know you’re in town for a game, and I heard you need a car,” and they’d loan you a car. Everybody was so nice. Notre Dame is unusual that way. I never went to another school, so I don’t know what they do. But if you went to Notre Dame, every Notre Dame person in the country is your friend. That’s a unique situation.

Every time I went back to Notre Dame, they couldn’t have been nicer. And they continued to help me out. I talked about my relationship with Moose, but I loved Fr. Joyce too. He was always there when I needed anything.

In the early 1970’s, DePaul wanted me to sign a paper saying I wouldn’t give scholarships. So we pretty much had an intramural team, and we were playing teams like Kentucky and UCLA. We didn’t have any talent, and we were getting killed. I couldn’t recruit the way I wanted to. It was embarassing.

I was at a Notre Dame banquet in Chicago, and I ran into Fr. Joyce. I was driving him to the South Shore station afterwards, and he said, “You seem really down. What’s wrong?” I said, “Well, I don’t know if I want to continue coaching or not.” And I told him the whole story about how I couldn’t give scholarships and they were nickle-and-diming me.

He told me “I’ll take care of it.” He wrote me a letter describing what all the other schools were doing with recruiting budgets and scholarships. I walked in, threw it on our president’s desk. He said, “OK, we’ll give you what you need.”

There were so many Notre Dame games at DePaul, it’s hard to pick a favorite. The Notre Dame series became the biggest game on our schedule. At DePaul, it was always a very big thing. It was great for the Chicago fans. We built up a lot of friends down at Notre Dame by playing them down there and them playing up here.

It was difficult – we had a small gym at DePaul that sat about 5,000, and we couldn’t get the big schools to come in. Nobody would come in to play us there. So most of our games were played at the Chicago Stadium. But Keogan and Moose Krause, Johnny Jordan, Johnny Dee, and Digger all brought their teams in.

One of the first ones, way back, some ND player threw one in from about 75 feet with about one second to play and we lost. That would be the 43-44 season or such. That was the only time we were behind in the ballgame.

We lost in double-overtime after we’d won 26 in a row. That’s when they went crazy. Tripucka was rolling around on the floor — I’ll never forget that. Wilcox hit a really tough shot from the corner to put the game into overtime.

The one that really helped DePaul was the one where we were losing by about 6 points with 30 seconds to play and we won. It was 1977 or 78 … I don’t remember all the names, but we had Bradshaw. We pressed them and pressed them, and we fouled of course. There was one kid from Notre Dame who was leading the team in scoring … had an 80 percent average or something. I told our kids, “Don’t foul him, foul everybody else.” Then they went and fouled him. But he missed the free throw. Corzine gets the rebound, throws it to mid-court. Garland takes one dribble and shoots it. And I’m sitting on the bench thinking, “It’s good”. And it went right in.

But the aftermath was something. I got a letter from a priest in Buffalo, New York, saying, “I won the game for you. When you were behind, I took the St. Vincent DePaul statue and put it on the TV. And that’s how you won.” I got a letter from a nun from someplace that said, “When you were losing, I knelt down on the floor and said a prayer for you. And that’s how you won.” It was the first time I’d ever gotten fan mail.

I remember Joe kicking that car during that period. We were in the huddle. I didn’t know anything, but all of a sudden, I see the car fly. He stepped back and gave it quite a kick. Wow, he didn’t expect the wrath of the students. They were all over him. Joe was an unusual character. He couldn’t run and he couldn’t jump, he could just beat you.

I remember the 1978 tournament game so vividly. The trainer didn’t show up to tape the kids, so they had to tape each other. You only had one hour to practice, and our kids came up to the floor one at a time because they were taping one another. We were playing 3-on-3, and as the kids came up, we’d add more. Ramsey threw a low pass to Corzine and dislocated his finger. They put a big splint on it. He still played, but he wasn’t effective. It was like playing with one hand. You were talking about the car earlier … well, in that game, Joe Ponsetto kicked a camera.

Since I stopped coaching, I go back there for basketball games and a couple football games. They’ve been very, very good. They couldn’t be better. Every one of the coaches have been so very, very good to me every time I come down. I get Notre Dame shirts all the time. I took my family down to Notre Dame, and we went around while I tried to find the buildings I’d lived in. My relationship with Notre Dame has always been good. Fr. Hesburgh and Fr. Joyce couldn’t be nicer to me. One time when Gerry Faust was coaching, Fr. Hesburgh had me come down and give the [pre-game] pep talk.

I really love all my associations with Notre Dame. That’s something that will always be with me. I’ve said it all the time – and I’m probably not the only one who’s said it, it’s probably a trite expression – you can leave Notre Dame, but Notre Dame never leaves you. I’m not aware of what goes on at other schools. But I just think that if it’s like Notre Dame, it’s a lot of fun.