Congrats ND Football

Congrats, Fighting Irish of Notre Dame University,

Today you beat a branch of the Armed Services in football. Thank goodness too, you were really getting beat up by those college teams you have to play and could finally get out of that losing streak. At least for three Saturdays a year you can take a break from college scholarship sponsored football and play cadets from the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

I regret to inform you that for these three weekends I will be cheering for your opponents. You see, I have had more family and friends in these three institutions of learning than those I know who have graced your classrooms. They get recruited to their academies as you do to your campus. However, in addition to sports training, they will go through boot camp and be put into active service. All have enlisted willingly and none had parents paying for them to attend. In fact I’m sure it cost the parents more in sleepless nights and prayers when the troops are called to duty.

When you have a few bad seasons your coach’s contract gets bought out or he’s fired. When the service men and women have bad seasons loved ones don’t return home alive. I’m sure they have better things to concentrate on than defending a goal line when they are preparing to be sent to defend our country.

The door of the Basilica on your campus sums up the order of loyalties in a four-word stone inscription: God, Country, Notre Dame.

My loyalties and respect for the first two will always come before your football schedule.

I’m all for recreation, so I’m glad your team gets to go up against our troops. I hope it is an honor to look into the faces of your opponents knowing they will be responsible for defending your freedom. In the spirit of recreation I can’t wait till you get to play more branches of the Federal Government in order to pad your win record and inflate your egos a little more. Who knows, maybe the Postal Service will scrimmage you soon. I hear the IRS is looking to put together a team too.

Looking forward to all your glorious wins ahead,

Signed,

American citizen, South Bend, Indiana native, and ND fan