Thanks Chris for writing the liner notes to a very special season. My sophomore year at ND we celebrated the last national championship and I was hopeful that this "once in a generation win" would give my son JJ, an ND senior, somewhat of a poetic bookend to my ND experience. Alas.
When Benjamin Morrison went down after losing Traore and Jagusah my thinking was that our ceiling had been lowered to somewhere short of "national champions". To me those injuries were really the story of the season. I give Marcus Freeman and the staff all the credit for moving the floor up to "home playoff game with a chance to make a run" given the circumstances.
ND have been clear winners in the great 12-team, NIL/transfer, conference consolidation three-deck shuffle we've just undergone. It's a new era and we are sitting pretty. And NDWBB will get us a consolation natty in 2025!
I grew up in a house that revolved around Notre Dame football and the New York Mets. For years and years, whenever I talked with my father on the phone during the football season, he'd ask what I thought about the previous game. Before I lost him to dementia a couple years ago, some of our last moments together while he had his full faculties were spent watching Notre Dame. This past year, when the Mets were on their magical run, it made me feel connected to him in a way that is hard to quantify. Even though the Mets ended up coming up short, I was grateful for all the wonderful moments along the way that reminded me of him. I have felt that same way about this Notre Dame season. The joy this season gave me even though it didn't end with a championship is something I'll remember for a very long time.
So glad I discovered your Substack, you have added a lot of enjoyment to what was a special season thank you for all you do. Go Irish.
Thanks Chris for writing the liner notes to a very special season. My sophomore year at ND we celebrated the last national championship and I was hopeful that this "once in a generation win" would give my son JJ, an ND senior, somewhat of a poetic bookend to my ND experience. Alas.
When Benjamin Morrison went down after losing Traore and Jagusah my thinking was that our ceiling had been lowered to somewhere short of "national champions". To me those injuries were really the story of the season. I give Marcus Freeman and the staff all the credit for moving the floor up to "home playoff game with a chance to make a run" given the circumstances.
ND have been clear winners in the great 12-team, NIL/transfer, conference consolidation three-deck shuffle we've just undergone. It's a new era and we are sitting pretty. And NDWBB will get us a consolation natty in 2025!
I grew up in a house that revolved around Notre Dame football and the New York Mets. For years and years, whenever I talked with my father on the phone during the football season, he'd ask what I thought about the previous game. Before I lost him to dementia a couple years ago, some of our last moments together while he had his full faculties were spent watching Notre Dame. This past year, when the Mets were on their magical run, it made me feel connected to him in a way that is hard to quantify. Even though the Mets ended up coming up short, I was grateful for all the wonderful moments along the way that reminded me of him. I have felt that same way about this Notre Dame season. The joy this season gave me even though it didn't end with a championship is something I'll remember for a very long time.
So glad I discovered your Substack, you have added a lot of enjoyment to what was a special season thank you for all you do. Go Irish.