Lino at South Bend










I'm finally getting caught up on some late in the week CGS. Listen to Friday's the broadcast from Notre Dame this morning working out. As a huge Irish fan it was a thrill for me to hear Lino speak with the likes of Mark Bavaro and Reggie Brooks. Infact, my email address is an indirect reflection of my Notre Dame zeal. Years back I was in a fantasy football league and we use Yahoo Sports to run the league. I needed a Yahoo email to do it and a team name thus the Fightin' Irish became Scrappin' Germans. A funny note about this is that when we went to China to adopt a few years back, my wife and I met up with another couple from Nebraska who my wife met in a China adoption website. She thought I was a doctor. Took my email address as Scrapping ER Man. I could just imagine her disappointment if we were set up on a date. She was expecting a doctor and ended up with a cowboy. Granted, she would have more than likely been disappointed eventually. But first impressions are so important.



Lino kept saying as he was on the ND campus that he wondered if the college students knew how lucky they were. After a half dozen of these rants, I couldn't help but think Lino is unaware of his fortune. Man, someone paid for his trip to a awesome college, he was able to see and experience things that many of us would have loved too. (Sign me up for the "Creepy" Notre Dame locker room tour any day. I wonder if the fool forgot to hit the "Play like a Champion Today" sign on the way out). Granted he had to work while there but still not a bad gig.




I did have the opportunity to go to a ND football game about 14 years ago. I loved the whole experience. I know there are many who despise the program, namely, because so many other are just that passionate about it. (I am anti-Yankee for that reason). But the weekend in many ways helped me appreciate Notre Dame for all the Catholicism associated with it. For one, I ask a friend of mine who was attending ND when was Mass on Saturday because we wanted to go on Sat because we had a long drive back on Sun. He said," After the game". I said, "What time?" He said, "After the game?'" Again, I question the time. He told me that basically 30 minutes after the game Mass begins at the Basilica. Once the game was over, it was neat to see a stream of people flowing from the stadium to the Mass.



The weekend after our trip we were out for the evening and all my buds were asking me about my "pilgrimage" to South Bend. I told them it was the best vacation I ever had. Walking home from the pub that night my new bride seemed very upset with me. We had only been married about 3 months. My mind whirred with what possible dumb thing I did. (Married guys know where I'm coming from. check that, if you ever had a girlfriend or been on a date, never mind, every man knows what I'm talking about). Finally, I said "Honey, why are you mad?" Through tear filled eyes she said it hurt her that I said our Notre Dame trip was the best ever. A clearly confused me, "Well it was" A more wounded her, "What about our honeymoon?" I don't remember how I got myself out of that hole. I'm just glad none of my guys were there to witness it.

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1 Response to Lino at South Bend

  1. It's very obvious that your wife is a strong believer in the sacrament of reconciliation.