Notre Dame Bowl Trip Is No Strike, But a Spare Will Suffice

(For an more in depth look at ND's youth, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of "The Youth Manifesto" by the fine gents over at Her Loyal Sons).

This young and talented team simply has not learned how to finish games yet. Say all you want about coaches motivating players, but the onus also falls on the players to execute and want to close out games in strong fashion rather than to let their opponents creep back in.

Save for Ohio State’s heralded 1968 sophomore-led National Champions (10-0) there has not been as young as a team as the Irish that produced such amazing results (and OSU was 6-3 the year before).

I just finished reading a great book by Dr. Kenneth Blanchard and Dr. Spencer Johnson called “The One Minute Manager” that is incredibly reflective of my outlook on this situation.

One of the sections in the book uses an analogy about teaching whales to jump over high ropes at aquatic shows. Trainers don’t go out to the ocean, hold a rope high over the water and wait for a whales to jump over it for show selection.

Whales aren’t born trained to jump over ropes held out of the water, let alone to swim over ones in the ocean. They must be trained to do so. Any expectation otherwise is wishful delusional thinking.

The same line of thinking can be applied to the state of Notre Dame football. The 2008 team has not yet been fully trained to jump over the proverbial rope, yet so many people illogically expect it and demand it.

I admire the passion, devotion and faith to one’s loyalties. I too want to see ND win national titles every year, let alone be in title contention. But I know that with the parity in sports today that that kind of thinking is improbable.

I love Notre Dame unconditionally, but that does not mean I simply sit back and blindly follow administration moves, faculty hiring/firing practices, development plans, or gameday operations.

However, that unconditional love does mean I can see the larger picture that ND is more than just football. If you think otherwise then you are sadly mistaken.

Notre Dame graduates (undergrad and graduate students alike) have gone on to become some of the world’s finest doctors, lawyers, mathematicians, businessmen and businesswomen, teachers, and priests.

Yet they haven't done so because of the success of the football team. They have done so because of their hard work, commitment, and determination to best the best. They embody what it means to "Play Like A Champion Today."

Family. Strength. Courage. Discipline. Sacrifice. Respect. Humility. Faith. Ethics. Service. Love. 

Those are all values that were either learned or reinforced during my time at Notre Dame. Our Lady's University provided the foundation for individuals who are fighting to make a positive impact on the lives of many.

I am proud to be a graduate of the University of Notre Dame because of the values it represents and holds itself accountable to, not because of its football team. 

National championships and Heisman trophies are great achievements by the University, but they should not be overlooked by the greater good facilitated by its graduates, faculty, and representatives.

As Lou Holtz once said, “People don’t come to Notre Dame to learn how to do something. They come to Notre Dame to learn how to be somebody.”

If you don’t believe so, you are nobody.

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