It's A Miracle

A Reuters photographer captured Attorney General Holder's halo on film.

St. Eric Holder the new patron saint of gun runners, judge shoppers, and government employees with memory lapses, especially those called upon to testify before Congress.

''You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday",- Gordon Gee

Untrustworthy Catholics on a Saturday afternoon

Mr. Gee some schools would also say that "those damn Catholics" cannot be trusted on Saturday afternoons in the Fall.

Gordon Gee is the President of Ohio State University.

''The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they're holy hell on the rest of the week,'' Gee said to laughter at the Dec. 5 meeting attended by Athletic Director Gene Smith, several other athletic department members, professors and students.
''You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that,'' said Gee, a Mormon.
The Big Ten had for years courted Notre Dame, but the school resisted as it sought to retain its independent status in college football. In September, the school announced that it would join the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports except football and hockey but would play five football games each year against ACC teams.
In the recording, Gee referred specifically to dealing with the Rev. Ned Joyce, Notre Dame's longtime executive vice president, who died in 2004.
''Father Joyce was one of those people who ran the university for many, many years,'' Gee said.
Gee said the Atlantic Coast Conference added Notre Dame at a time when it was feeling vulnerable.
''Notre Dame wanted to have its cake and eat it, too,'' Gee said, according to the recording and a copy of the meeting's minutes. - By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS (AP Legal Affairs Writer)  The Associated Press

Father Jenkins of Notre Dame has accepted Mr. Gee's apology concerning his remarks about the late Father Joyce, and Notre Dame.

I do not find Mr. Gee's remarks particularly upsetting as a Catholic. In fact there is some sweet irony in his complaint about Notre Dame not joining the Big Ten.

In 1926 Notre Dame applied for membership in what would become the Big Ten as we know it today. Notre Dame was refused admission for several reasons, such as disdain for Catholic higher education, anti-Catholic bigotry, and the accusation that Notre Dame did not have control of its' football program.

Director of Athletics for Michigan, Fielding Yost was the chief architect of denying Notre Dame admission to the Big Ten. Coach Yost was far more serious in his anti-Catholicism than Mr. Gee.

"Notre Dame’s first win against Michigan came in 1909, a win that caused the Detroit Free Press to write “Eleven Fighting Irishmen wrecked the Yost machine this afternoon. Three sons of Erin, individually and collectively representing the University of Notre Dame, not only beat the Michigan team, but dashed some of Michigan’s greatest hopes and shattered Michigan’s fairest dreams.” Yost, ever gracious in defeat, cancelled the next year’s game and then refused to schedule Notre Dame for the rest of his career at Michigan. Which meant that Notre Dame didn’t play Michigan again until 1942, when Yost was gone and Elmer Layden and wartime restrictions put the local rivals together once more." - Her Loyal Sons blog

The Holy Cross fathers had to battle with Knute Rockne on many occasions but they had more control over the Notre Dame football program than Big Ten members had over their football programs in the twenties. This is still true today.

Murray Sperber has written an excellent book titled Shake Down The Thunder The Creation Of Notre Dame Football. This is not a book that simply details glorious wins and heartbreaking losses. Mr. Sperber was given complete access to Notre Dame archives and it is a history of the good and bad of college football in general, and Notre Dame in particular. Murray Sperber is a professor from Indiana University.

Notre Dame has a national following. Coach Yost of Michigan in his attempt to kill the Notre Dame football program only made it stronger. Whether your team belongs to the Pac 12, Big Ten, ACC, SEC, or name your conference, you only have a regional rivalry. Alums gathering at sports bars around the nation to watch a sattelite feed of their alma mater does not constitute a national following. Notre Dame is either loved or hated, but ESPN, NBC, CBS, and ABC love televising Notre Dame football. They all know that both the Notre Doters, and the haters will be watching.

What really upsets Mr. Gee and The Big Ten is that they need the national exposure and the revenue that Notre Dame could bring to the Big Ten. The statement that Mr. Gee made that; ''Notre Dame wanted to have its cake and eat it, too,''  would have been much funnier if he had said; we want Notre Dame's cake and we want to it eat too.

Good night Columbus.

http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2012/09/19/the-hand-that-rocks-the-cradle-why-we-hate-michigan/

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/apnewsbreak-osu-head-jabs-notre-163627789--spt.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/column-guys-running-college-sports-002243434--ncaaf.html