May: Adolescence

 I wanna be there

Wanna go back down and and get high by the sea there.

With a tin cup for a chalice, fill it up with good red wine

And I'll be chewin' on a honeysuckle vine.

Dateline:  Naples, FL

The first time Jerrence ever heard about Signal, the communication app repeatedly in the news of late, was when his former son-in-law Biggus Dickus asked him to use the app for a video call with his daughter -- ostensibly because, as a military man, he appreciated its encrypted security benefits.

Um, she's 3.  Are you and her going to be discussing an upcoming special op?  Like what?  Raiding mommy's cookie jar?  

Hell, all she has to do is smile at Gaga and she'll be getting his credit card...

"Gaga, I made a new friend!"

It still makes Jerrence laugh.  And at the time, had he been quicker of wit, he'd have told the dipshit "sorry but you don't have that level of clearance."  

Instead Jerrence said, in the nicest possible way... 'your options are Zoom or Face Time -- choose one, Junior.'

I now, of course, regret that action -- believing had I loaded the app, there'd have been a solid chance that granddaughter Sloane could've now been on any number of Secretary Hegseth's recent calls -- she has, after all, excellent phone skills and only too willing to share her opinion.

In fact, the Houthis should be thankful she wasn't giving input -- don't let her cherubic countenance distract you from a 'terminate with extreme prejudice' dark side when she gets tired.  

Information, that's what I need

Some information. Where did she come from?

But I digress.

So, 'regrets based on infantile mistakes' seems to be a theme here -- and it harkens me back to an evening in 1963... when the Corrigans had moved from Iowa to New Jersey and were house shopping.

39 Sagamore Trail

Why my parents took the whole family on the home tour, I'll never know - perhaps they had nowhere else to put us.  

And as Fate would have it, as the tour concluded, we ended up in the kitchen where young Jerrence -- still a midwestern hayseed and the not the urbane East Coast sophisticate he would ultimately grow up to be -- spied the dishwasher.   

More specifically, the dishwasher's red 'start' button.  Intrigued and having never before seen such a contraption (what does that do, he thought), he was going for it.  

That button could've read 'Defcon 1' and the impulsive six year old Jerrence was still gonna activate.

And so, much to his mother's chagrin, he did. 

And much to his -- and the rest of the family's -- subsequent chagrin, mom insisted they wait for the dishwasher to cycle entirely through before leaving that house.   Which, by the way, was not a short amount of time, and felt significantly longer when everyone was looking at you.  

Final note:  We did ultimately buy and live in that house for 10 years before being (my mother's perception) repatriated back to Iowa.

That dishwasher haunts me still.

The point being, between Signal text groups and seductive buttons on household appliances, people of all ages do dumb shit, although 6 year olds are presumably given greater leniency than 44 year olds... but nonetheless placing in sharp relief the absence of such self-inflicted errors by ND's football program.  

In other words, feel good that adults are running ND Football. Competence is often so underrated. 

Quote of the Season

"I liked to hang around the guys that liked to have fun instead of the guys who were really good.  It was not really a good business plan.  It's very clear to me now."

                                                Gary McCord

One of the consistently favorite Masters memories of mine was whenever David Feherty and Mr. McCord -- later banned from the announcing the tournament for likening the speed of the Augusta greens to a bikini waxing -- were commentating.

With all due respect to the dulcet tones of Jim Nance, when those guys left, my favorite golf tournament's telecast lost some much appreciated personality.

Word of the Week

Used in a sentence paragraph:  With the advent of NIL, it's been a popular, if unfortunate, analogy to equate collegiate student athletes to slavery, as if they were chattel of the universities they played for.

Jerrence found it a perhaps uncomfortable comparison -- one that wasn't exactly apples-to-apples... yet not entirely off base.

Especially when it came to the recruiting cycles,  a school's respective class each year is commonly treated as a 'haul': acquisitions by the athletic programs, where each class represented a panoply of talent to be judged, rated and celebrated.

I am Spartacus!

In this instance, Jerrence preferred the gladiator analogy more than slavery...  while Maximus and his gang weren't free men, they were often compensated and could sometimes win their freedom through... anyone?  Bueller? ... winning often enough and becoming a crowd favorite.  

So they had that going for them.

Of course, they could also die.  Actually, quite often did so.  No pain, no gain. So there was that.

Jerrence began to wonder whether, as far as sport enthusiasts go, we'd made really all that much progress in 2000 years.

Off-Season Thoughts

Hello all you losers

You've got nothing to fear

This may not be the end of the world

But you can see it from here... 

Starting Year 17 of this blog, one might begin to wonder how much longer Jerrence has this in him.  As it turns out, longer that one might think, 🤔 his rambling, non-linear stream of conscious thought generation being seemingly inexhaustible.  (Just ask Defarge.)

And yet, what's happening in college athletics, between NIL (okay, no doubt overdue but, c'mon, there's gotta be some guardrails) and the Transfer Portal (annual unfettered free agency where you have to re-recruit your kids every year? Utterly ridiculous) is so antithetical to Jerrence's Old World value system... 

I mean, shouldn't an undergraduate degree, quantifiably a $100 - $400k investment (conservatively)... represent something?  

And without making the Sanders Family the poster boys for all that's askew, as loathsome as I find them, they're only playing the game by the new rules.  (BTW, Cleveland Browns, WTF?!) 

I hate it.  And it's making me sad.  And disinterested.  I don't like to be sad.   

Thankfully, there there are people who I can call on to pull me out just such a malaise.  One such hero is our very own friend of the blog and frequent Op-Ed contributor, Robert E. Rasmus, Esq.  

Herewith his thoughts...

Is having an identity the same as having an aura?

For the past few years -- actually, maybe even decades, being a Notre Dame football fan has been akin to being a Battle of Britain era Englishman.  They were the tiny nation that defeated the mighty German Luftwaffe.  That Englishman was worried about the New World Order.  How were they going to compete with the breathtaking changes which had occurred and were still taking place?  Were they too rooted in the past?  Before World War II, Britain was the world’s only superpower. Were they too wistful and nostalgic for the days when they ruled the world?  Did they have an identity in the new order of anything other than has been?  

Could they, would they be able to change and adapt?

 

Notre Dame football is similar.  While in our minds, our aura was and is golden; it had faded or was fading in many other‘s minds.  Don’t get me wrong, Notre Dame football is still relevant.  That relevancy was evidenced by the numerous articles published every year asking if Notre Dame was still relevant.  But were we, or are we yesterday’s news?  Were we similar to the aura of that idiosyncratic Englishman—amusing, quaint, nice to have around, a measure of faded power,  an institution that not only couldn’t predict or lead change, but perhaps was unwilling to evolve.  Even if willing, could we react quickly, effectively (or at all) to the changing rules of the game?

 

I think it is reasonable to assume that you readers, having experienced some of the glory days of Notre Dame athletics are proud of, not only the results, “but how we played the game”.  

We followed the rules.  The players were student athletes, not athletes playing at school.  Our players went to class and most graduated.  Our identity was that we won on and off the field.  

We were proud of our school.  Our aura was a smug sense of superiority that we played by the rules and won.  Our opponents didn’t play by the rules and lost.  

We were unique and embraced that characteristic.  The rest of the country that were not Notre Dame fans hated us.

 

Our last national championship in football was 37 years ago.  

To put that into perspective, the members of the Class of ‘79 were 31 years old.  Until last season, we really haven’t been truly competitive as relates to a national championship for 30 years.   

And no, I do not put the 2012 team as being truly competitive.  We appeared to fear an Alabama team that clearly possessed superior talent.  

At this point, you are probably wondering, “Where the hell is he going?  Is there a purpose to this Op-ed ? “

 

Under Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame has embraced and, in many respects, even lead the changing nature of college football.  However, it has and is doing so in the context of giving Notre Dame an identity.  Not only an identity, but a unique identity.  A unique identity that Notre Dame is someplace different in this changing world order.

 

This identity embraces the fact that Notre Dame is built differently.  It acknowledges the foundations of Notre Dame football and is looking to build and expand on that base.  The goal is not just competing for but winning national championships—and still doing it the right way.  Not the right way in an old-fashioned way with the old rules.  But embracing and even leading the changes in college football, while still being rooted in the concept of student/athletes.

 

A source close to someone who recently committed to the football team described the identity as follows:  “Notre Dame is really, really impressive.  One of the many things that stands out is the way Notre Dame presents itself.  They are who they are and don’t pretend they aren’t.  They live it, they talk it and they live it and they walk the walk.  The player and family were so impressed by that.”

 

So, under Freeman, how does Notre Dame present itself?  He sells the four-year decision for 40 years.  Come to Notre Dame and we will prepare you for the NFL.  If you don’t succeed in “the League”, or even if you do, the education, the friendships, the connections, and the alumni network will set you up for life.  The coaching staff does not sugarcoat as to what they are signing up.  It is going to be difficult.  They will be choosing hard-a much harder road.  You will be expected to go to class.  You will be expected to be a successful student and a successful athlete.  If we didn’t believe in your ability to do both, we would not be recruiting you.  You can come to Notre Dame and do elite things academically, athletically and set yourself up for life.

 

One notable item that I have not mentioned is NIL.  

I firmly believe Notre Dame football has embraced the changing rules landscape-and that certainly includes NIL.  When the idea surrounding NIL were first promulgated, all of us, including myself probably hated the idea.  We were rooted in the past.   In the back of our minds, we probably thought ND would not embrace the concept.  

Although Notre Dame did not readily change, once committed they have more than made up for lost time.  Our success in the portal is one example.  We continue to lose very few people to the portal.  When we do, it seems to be related to playing time.  We have also been extremely successful in recruiting people from the portal.

 

Notre Dame is extremely competitive when it comes to NIL.  However, it is doing so on a basis consistent with establishing or reestablishing our unique identity.  Many teams/collectives are throwing crazy money at players.  I am guessing that based on the “Choose Hard”,  and “Four for Forty” recruiting pitch Freeman and staff are not looking for guys solely chasing the highest bidder.  Regardless of the available cash, that probably doesn’t translate well into the team atmosphere he’s created.  It also doesn’t translate to team success on the field-Texas A&M’s 2022 recruiting class and last years Florida State’s portal acquisitions being prime examples.

 

Marcus Freeman has transformed Notre Dame football from an institution whose model could have been “Progress without Change”.  Instead, Notre Dame is in the vanguard of the modern era.  It is something altogether different from Rockne inventing the forward pass or the concept of “barnstorming.”    A century later, we are once again truly at the forefront.  Most importantly, the changes are occurring within the concept of the identity of which we as alumni or subway alumni are all so proud.  We are different.  We do have morals and values.  We do things the right way.  And once again, we are not only competing for but going to win national championships.

 

There is one downside to this change.  That downside is the outside perception of our aura is that we are now likeable (for the most part).  People not affiliated with Notre Dame or who actively want us to lose like Freeman.  They like what he represents and his character.  As we become as successful on the field as I expect,  and remain different and successful off the field with our student athletes, that aura will revert.  For many years I had a business partner who was a Penn State grad.  After Ped U joined the Big Integer, he was constantly badgering me about ND joining the conference.  My response was always, “We won’t and we don’t have to.”  His response was always, “We had to join. Why don’t you have to join a conference?’  My response was always, “We’re Notre Dame and you’re not.”

I am looking forward to our winning national championships and a return of that smug sense of superiority.  

Who cares if the petty jealousy shifts back?  We have our identity.  

Also, it is better to be hated for being good than not being relevant.

In Freeman we trust!

-------------------------

Thanks, Bob, I needed that.

Buddy's Buddy

There were many things that while alive, Buddy esteemed in others, be they human or animal...

-- humility

-- generosity

-- selflessness

-- perseverance 

-- deep ear massages

-- belly rubs

Recent circumstances being what they are, even outside of the normal football game context, two candidates therefore jumped readily to mind, for your consideration:

1) Rory McIlroy.  Recognizing that while he may not be everyone's cup of tea (for whatever reason) and he certainly didn't score any points for putting me through the emotional spin cycle of his Sunday back 9 at the Masters -- that 80 yard wedge from hell on the 13th hole was positively Jerrence-esque -- his win was testimony to anyone who's ever struggled, to the point of obsession, achieving a goal.

And it wasn't lost on me that, since the whole LIV Golf rivalry / war kicked off, Rory's been front and center, the primary face of the players representing the PGA -- and taking all the resulting grief.  And this, after turning down a personal payday reported in the ~$500M range.  

To think that didn't affect his play seems, well, unreasonable. 

At any rate, bravo Rory.  One shouldn't be surprised if he now bags a few more Majors in short order, with that the weighty Augusta monkey off his back.

2)  Steve Angeli.  Humanity often surprises me.  And usually not in a good way.  More times than not, one is waking up and reading about someone being unimaginably stupid, corrupt and / or mean spirited.  

Often, all three.

But ND Nation's near universal empathy toward Angeli's entering the transfer portal -- an emotion I didn't think most of them even had -- was impressive.  

And justified.  The kid has been the very definition of a team player over his three years... arguably leading the single-most important drive in Notre Dame's 2024-25 playoff run... at which point he was told to sit down and let Riley take over.  Again. 

That couldn't have been as easy to handle as he made it look.

I'd like to hope that coach Freeman showed a similar level of sensitive professionalism when he surely told Angeli that, at best, he wasn't assured of being The 2025 Future At QB -- and perhaps his prospects were even more definitively stated.

It ain't me, babe

It ain't me you're looking for... 

In any event, he's leaving as a Notre Dame grad and someone to be considered as highly as any of the athletes who stay full term.*

*Except next November when it looks like he'll be playing for Syracuse in ND Stadium on Senior Day.  In which case, we'll be giving him the full Jerry Cincotta / Drew Pyne treatment. 

RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)

So, despite the concerning winds of change that are occurring in college athletics right now, the theme here is that Notre Dame's leadership team is probably as well equipped as possible to meet the challenge of excelling while holding true to its core values... 

And sure, we could go to our own Trustee classmate (and friend of the blog) to confirm that confidence in the recent AD hire.  Certainly far more than any ND football beat writer, however well connected and fact-based as he may be.

But where's the fun in that?

What is your read on how Pete Bevacqua is doing to ensure Notre Dame has a “seat at the table” for playoff or other broad college football discussions? It seems like that was one of Jack Swarbrick’s biggest strengths as AD and is more important now than ever. — James M.

I wouldn’t call this my biggest concern when Bevacqua took over for Swarbrick, but it was one of my bigger questions. This is where that one year Bevacqua spent shadowing Swarbrick probably paid the biggest dividends. If there were relationships Bevacqua needed to make on the political side of the sport, those relationships were formed before Notre Dame’s athletic director was in his new role.

I think Swarbrick and Bevacqua may be described in similar terms as Notre Dame ADs. One was an attorney working during a moment of unprecedented legal change in college athletics. Notre Dame wasn’t guaranteed to have a seat at the table when Swarbrick arrived on the job, but he worked to strengthen relationships with Bob Bowlsby, John Swofford and Mike Slive to not only maintain Notre Dame’s independence but set up some of the sport’s future rules that further strengthen it.

Bevacqua arrived at a time when understanding the media landscape, particularly Notre Dame’s relationship with NBC, is paramount. It’s hard to think Notre Dame could have done better here, never mind Bevacqua’s longstanding relationship with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who spent a decade at CBS in a similar role to Bevacqua at NBC. With the revenue stresses on college athletics, a committed media partner is arguably more important than ever before. Notre Dame has an athletic director who understands both sides of that reality better than most.

Source: The Athletic

April 2, 2025

Cocktail of the Month

If anything describes The State of College Athletics According To Jerrence -- it'd be this cocktail.

Luckily it's a quick and easy concoction for all the simple folk out there.  Like me. 

I'd like to think of it as a safe, non-addictive anti-depressant for whenever one reads, well anything, on Twitter.  Or my go-to Notre Dame message board with it's septuagenarian glass-half-empty buzzkill, Mikey.

Alexander Woolcott's

While Rome Burns

1887-1943

"All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal or fattening."

                                                                     The Knock At The Stage Door, 1933

Jerrence at the 50th Reunion

Alexander Woollcott was a legendary wit, drama critic, and self -- appointed leader of the Algonquin Round Table.  

His specialty cocktail, which he crafted for a 1935 collection of celebrity recipes, combines the smack of lemon, the sweet hint of maple syrup, and the rich molasses notes of Medford Rum.

 

The result is a delightfully sharp and a pleasantly plump sip-one that recalls the smart aleck himself.

2 oz. Medford Rum

1 oz. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 dash maple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled. 

Pour into a chilled coupe glass straight up, or into a rocks glass over ice.

NOTE: Medford Rum was originally produced in New England in the early 18th century, but production came to a halt at the start of the 20th century due to the rising cost of molasses (a key ingredient in rum) as well as the blow of Prohibition.  In recent years, several distillers

have taken up the traditional method with hopes of bringing Medford Rum back to its prior glory.

Source:  How To Drink Like A Writer

Writing by Margaret Kaplan

Schedule 2025

Is that you, Sarah?

Never too soon to be contemplating next season's wager... so have a gander at the upcoming 2025 schedule. 

Personally, the game that scares me the most is the late September date at Arkansas.  And not just because of the quality of the opponent.

50,000+ liquored up Razorback fans wearing pig masks and screaming "sooooooo-ieeeee" is something even David Lynch would've considered too disturbing to put in front of an audience.

As far as SEC venues to experience?  No thank you - I've seen "Deliverance", I don't want to live it. 

August

31                @Miami             

September 

                                                  

13                Texas A&M                             

20               Purdue                               

27                @Arkansas

October  

                                                                                                     

4                 Boise St.                         

11                NC State             

18               USC                             

November 

 1                 @BC

 9                Navy                  

16               @Pitt                          

23               Syracuse                                               

29              @Stanford                                                              

December

19-20      PLAYOFF GAME!

  

Wager 2025

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Wins	ND Equivalence	Domer
12
11
10
9
8
7
6

Life Sports Imitating Art. 

Normally, one might say, "Hey Jerrence, don't you have that object-verb-subject sequence backwards?"  

Perhaps.  

But which came first?

Thus, I give you Der Gestürzte, by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, 1915-16

Schadenfreude of the Week.

A nicer, more consistently medicated Jerrence -- thank you, Martini Fridays, Margarita Saturdays, Old Fashioned Thursdays, Manhattan Wednesdays, G&T Tuesdays... 

...I find establishing a routine to be an important discipline to achieving a happy, healthy and productive retirement experience.

...um, what was I saying?  Oh yeah -- a nicer, less embittered Jerrence.

...and one who is less invested in other non-football sports' misfortune.  Sure, was I just as happy that Bryson fall apart as I was Rory won?  I must admit, almost.  Was there glee in watching Duke spit the bit in the semi-finals of March Madness? Hello, do fat babies fart?  And when the LA Lakers tanked -- again --  does it always bring a tiny smile to my face?  But of course.

But for today, counter-intuitively, I'd prefer to accentuate the positive as I ran across this little tidbit during the college b-ball tourney:

Fun fact:  Should there ever be a Jerrence Trivia game (hello, why not hasn't there been one already?) and the question should arise, who was Jerrence's favorite all-time Notre Dame sports hero?  It'd be Austin Carr.   And it wouldn't be close for 2nd place.

Always bummed that he didn't have a commensurate pro career equal to the brilliance of his college days.

Terry's Tools.

The few, the proud...

As more than a few of you have recently heard me opine, I'm increasingly struck -- 'impressed' would not be the right word -- by how cruel the world, especially the US, has become.

Exceptionalism?  Oh yeah, we're off the charts exceptional on that metric. 

So this space is going to endeavor to lighten the mood, and not take to heart the world's stupidity or thoughtlessness or vulgarity or meanness quite so personally. 

And in doing so, maybe try to identify the more benign idiots and have a laugh.  Yes, at their expense -- but still just a laugh. 

Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts. 

-------------------------------------------------

1)  Pittsburgh Pirates.   It pains me to call this franchise out, such is the storied history of a team that just always did things the right way.

And perhaps this is another example of 'this is what happens when you put a Millennial involved (totally irresponsible speculation on this blogger's part) but how else do you explain the team's decision to remove from PNC Park a placard honoring the late Hall of Famer and

franchise legend Roberto Clemente in order to make room for... advertising space?!  

And not just any product (although the big national marketers would've known to not mess with an icon's memorial space) but rather an ad for... 

Surfside (?) alcoholic drinks, a Philadelphia-based! company.  Eek!

C'mon Buccos, do better!

2) Jordon Hudson.  First of all, Bill Belichick, kudos for finding yourself a 24 year old hottie -- who's the GOAT now, Tahm Brady? Begging the question, what exactly is the male equivalent of a cougar?  

Well, with a 49 year age difference, one would reasonably think that'd make him, what, a dinosaur, a Velociraptor?  

Though she appears to be the scary predator.

And increasingly, it's looking like you might've bagged yourself a modern day Lady MacBeth in the former beauty pageant contestant,  cheerleader, and licensed cosmetologist.  

Between the stories of her forcing her way into the Dunkin' Donuts SuperBowl commercial, having HBO shut down a Hard Knocks series for UNC, tanking a CBS Morning book tour interview (she does understand that you're trying to encourage favorable press, right?) and apparently now being cc'd on all Tarheel football correspondence... perhaps it's not such a surprise that ND is cleaning up in NC recruiting).  

I do hope you have your attorneys on speed dial, coach.

I gotta tell her everything I do

'Cause if I don't, I know we are through.

I guess I'm whipped...

Pussy whipped!

3) Nico Iamaleava..   It had to happen, right?  In a sport where everything is now constantly open for litigation and therefore, negotiable, the pretense of 'amateur idealism' is just, well, naive... 

...someone had to test the "I want to renegotiate my NIL deal" waters.

Bravo, Nico. Perhaps you fancy yourself to be the Curt Flood of college athletics.  

And while you seemed to have come out on the short end of the stick financially -- numbers regarding your new UCLA NIL deal haven't seemed to be made public -- it's hard feeling too bad for a kid who took a pay cut, to 'only' $1M this year.  

 Name of the Week

The name game...

Jerrence!

Jerrence, Jerrence Bo-ber-ence

Bo-na-na fanna Fo-fer-ence

Fee-fi-mo-mer-ence

Jerrence!

I doubt anyone is enjoying this section more than I am, especially as it's become, like solar energy, almost inexhaustible.

And while I'll tease you with a future candidate -- a 2027 recruit -- who's got one of Jerrence's favorite name devices (the strategic use of the apostrophe) in his name... 

...this week's shout out actually goes courtesy of one of our newest transfers, former Alabama CB Devonta Smith, who named his son, Chrome.

Strong. Monosyllabic. Efficient (will always have more than enough spaces when filling out government forms).  And yet, intriguing -- with an air of mystery as to the name's providence...

-- Was someone a big fan of the Google web browser?  

-- Or perhaps there's an amateur metallurgist in the family and the thought of naming the lad Chromium was just too over-the-top pretentious.  

No matter.  The fact is, the now 8 month old was apparently a significant factor in dad choosing ND as his transfer destination -- and if Devonta plays anything like the last bunch of transfer DB's, we'll be loving this kid! 

Trivia!

Which American rock group took its name from a line of poetry by the mystical English poet William Blake?  

A)  Talking Heads

B)  Three Dog Night

C)  REO Speedwagon

D)  The Doors

Final Thoughts

As the joke goes, "How do you make God laugh?  Tell Him your plans."   Haha, pretty funny. Until it's your world that's getting rocked unexpectedly. 

In the last few months, we've had houses burning, Popes dieing and serious medical diagnoses being handed out... welcome to being 68 in 2025.

About that last one:   Can I ask everyone to keep positive thoughts / prayers going out to our favorite class officer, Barb (like Prince and Madonna, she only requires one name) who is going through some tough medical treatment now and would no doubt appreciate all the good vibes we can muster. 

We love you, B!

Hey baby!

There ain't no easy way out.

Hey I will stand my ground

And I won't back down...