Fight Song Friday: Michigan State Week

I'm on vacation this week, so I don't plan to go into too much depth regarding this week's football foe. All I can say--as I told the Michigan State fan I ran into while at the beach in New Jersey today--is that I can't handle watching my team lose to another opponent from the state of Michigan, so they better show up ready to play tomorrow. Fingers crossed. If the outcome doesn't live up to hopes and expectations, you can expect some commentary on the state of the program and the coaching situation. Hopefully it won't come to all that. For now, as always, Go Irish! Beat Spartans.

Tuesday Tunes: Whitney Houston

This week, we are making a departure from the traditional pop/country scene to focus on a true American standard: the Star Spangled Banner. Singularly, this song represents all that is patriotic in our nation. Played before every U.S. sporting event, the Star Spangled Banner provides a brief moment of time for reflection, focus, and thankfulness for the gifts, security, and opportunities we have as Americans.

Because this song is so important to our country, it is a great honor to be asked to perform the national anthem in front of an event crowd. Many celebrities, military heroes, athletes, and professional singers have had this opportunity, and most have embraced the moment and lived up to the challenge of singing a very difficult song. (Others have not, but I don't intend to focus on those folks here.) There are some truly iconic versions of the national anthem (Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock rendition comes to mind), but none are as overwhelmingly breathtaking as Whitney Houston's 1991 performance at Super Bowl XXV.

Keep in mind that in addition to the song's technical difficulty for a vocalist, there is the added pressure of deciding how one will sing the anthem. Ask almost any American, and he or she will give you a solid opinion on whether the Star Spangled Banner should be sung straight (as close to the way John Stafford Smith and Francis Scott Key wrote it as possible) or jazzed up with embellishments (while taking liberties with the melody). Personally, I am more of a purist, so I appreciate those who deliver a solid, on-pitch, traditional anthem. Houston does this flawlessly and effortlessly, with just a few of her own brilliant nuances. I have honestly never heard another version that even comes close to hers. Just watching a nearly-20-year-old recorded version gives me goosebumps and brings tears to my eyes. I can't imagine what it must have been like for those who saw the performance live. Listen to it a few times, and try not to feel patriotic and proud to be an American. It can't be done. THAT is how to sing the Star Spangled Banner. God Bless America.

Fight Song Friday: Michigan Week

As my fellow Fighting Irish faithful are acutely aware, it is Michigan Week. This week exemplifies what true college football rivalry is all about. Some people dispute the importance of the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry game each year, so allow me to remind everyone why it matters. Given the historical context of this rivalry (as long ago as 1887, Michigan brought football to Notre Dame and taught the Irish how to play the primitive game) and the present-day implications of the wins and losses in this rivalry (Michigan and Notre Dame are both vying for the highest all-time college football winning percentage, separated by less than 1%), these two teams are what some have called "natural enemies."

Now, I fully support a heated rivalry between two comparable programs. In any rivalry, you would expect a fair amount of good-natured taunting between fans of the opposing schools. Hopefully there is some intelligent banter and enough collective knowledge for well-reasoned football debate. The fierce loyalty and pride that alumni and fans feel for "their" teams, coupled with the purity of competition and love of the games themselves, are what make college sports so exciting. Where I begin to have an issue with the natural competition is when "rivals" turn into "enemies." The word "enemy" implies a certain amount of actual hostility and hatred for an opponent. Enemies don't just want to win over an inferior opponent, they want to maim and destroy in the process. Enemies don't practice sportsmanship; they compete with reckless abandon and neglect all decency.

Obviously, this slant toward chaotic violence can be curtailed on the playing field by coaches, officials, and other players. In actuality, the most distressing enemies are the fans themselves. They can become so deluded into believing that their entire worth as human beings hinges on the successes or failures of their football teams, that they lose all sense of right and wrong and become actually wretched individuals. While I can respect the history and strength of the Michigan football team and University, it is the football fan base that I truly see as a threat to public decency and an "enemy." (Note that this assessment will be completely reversed when it comes to discussing USC as an opponent. A future post...)

The link above lists the outcomes of all the games in the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry history. Note the 38-0 thrashing that Notre Dame took from Michigan in 2003. I was at that game in "The Big House" as a visiting Notre Dame fan. After about 5 plays, it was obvious that Notre Dame was not going to "shake down the thunder" that day, so I tried to remain low-profile and clapped politely whenever the Irish did do anything well. I attempted to respect the fact that I was in someone else's stadium, and I kept my mouth shut. In exchange for my reserved enthusiasm, I was treated to 4 entire quarters of verbal insults and drinks thrown on and around me. Not one Michigan fan welcomed me or tried to showcase the school in a positive light. Instead, they harassed not only me, but also their own team's players whenever they believed a play didn't work as well as it should have. As I left the stadium and crossed a major intersection to return to my car (and get the hell out of Ann Arbor), I was taunted by the police officer who was directing traffic...on his megaphone. I found this to be a particularly classy move, and at that moment I vowed never to return to Michigan Stadium.

I am a very passionate Notre Dame supporter. I get fired up when outsiders try to break down the school's mission, tradition, and values without understanding one lick about what they are degrading. I've been there...seen it from the inside. I've known the players as classmates, friends, athletes. I've worked practices, conditioning drills, games, in a thankless job that I loved. I understand school pride. In fact, you will be hard-pressed to find a prouder alumni and fan base than that of Notre Dame. But I will never treat anyone who visits Notre Dame as poorly as I was treated simply for supporting a sport I enjoy. I'll stick with rivals, not enemies.

This year's Michigan-Notre Dame game should be close and come down to the wire, and I can't wait for kickoff. May the best team win. Go Irish.

Tuesday Tunes: Black Eyed Peas

This week's Tuesday Tune is not an anthem of mine. Nor is it a musical masterpiece. In fact, the song is rather silly, but whenever I hear it, I cannot keep myself from dancing a little bit. It is that damn catchy. It's also quite good for listening to while running or working out. It has attitude, and I like it. The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow!" is energetic and funky, much like all of the Black Eyed Peas' previous hits, and once you hear it, you'll want to hear it again. And again. Check it out for yourself...and start dancing!

Fight Song Friday

Most people can't wait for summer to arrive. I, on the other hand, cannot wait for it to merge into fall and become the most glorious sports season of them all: College Football Season! Last night marked the official start of the college football season with a couple of Thursday night matchups, but tomorrow is when the rest of the teams hit the field and begin the 13-week march toward the goal of playing in a post-season bowl game. I will undoubtedly write subsequent posts about the splendor and goodness that is college football, as well as observe the downfalls of a sport focused almost entirely on the regular season with virtually meaningless and arbitrary prizes to win in the post season. Those posts will hopefully have much more intelligent and well-reasoned analysis, but for now, I will simply leave this for everyone to enjoy. Go Irish.