Sitting Around Thinking

March 12, 2013

GUNS

Memory of Bishop D'Arcy

February 7, 2013

My fondest memory of the late Bishop John D’Arcy had nothing to do with the church even though it occurred within yards of the most famous church in the world. 

Manti Redux

January 25, 2013

In the days after the Manti Teo story broke I was having trouble getting something from the back of my mind to the front.  Where had I heard some of this before, something about phone calls and someone dying and somehow it was connected to Manti?  

No Retreat, No Surrender

December 19, 2012

There are two grade schools within three blocks of my house and I drive by one or both nearly every day. Last Friday I drove by one of those schools late in the morning, came home, turned on the computer and found the first reports of the massacre in Newtown. It took a few minutes for me to make the connection between what I just read and what I just saw on my drive.

Plenty of Shame

December 10, 2012

At the very same moment one evening last week I heard my wife shouting at the television the same thing I was at the same time, “what are you doing?”

Manti Te'o Notre Dame's 'special son'

November 30, 2012

There is nothing objective about this column. It is very personal and it comes from the heart and facts are facts – in many ways Notre Dame has been a part of my entire adult life.

Go figure

October 25, 2012

Count me among those neither outraged nor shocked by Richard Mourdock’s rape comment this week. Why?  Because it is hard to be outraged when you are not shocked to begin with. 

All the Young Dudes

October 2, 2012

We will get to the Dudes at the end of the column but first some local matters.

Notre Dame and the ACC

September 19, 2012

I wanted to wait a few days to see how I really felt about Notre Dame’s new association with the Atlantic Coast Conference. After all it really did come out of the blue, the Vatican and the CIA working together could not have kept the big news this quiet. 

The Temple of Bruce

September 6, 2012

Call it the ultimate triple-header. A buddy of mine, lets call him Todd, will go to see Bruce Springsteen Friday night at Wrigley Field, drive back to South Bend for the Notre Dame-Purdue game Saturday afternoon and then, with a plan in hand, head back to Wrigley Field for the second show.

Notre Dame in 2012

August 20, 2012

A while back I was on a hot streak predicting the outcome of Notre Dame’s football seasons. A couple of years I was dead on with the final record. Last few of years I was real happy not to be a betting man because I would be even more broke than I am. Last year I said anything less than 10 and 2 would be a disappointment. Obviously I was disappointed and even more so with the outcome of the bowl game with Florida State.

Pig in a Poke

August 14, 2012

There is no doubt in my mind that Paul Ryan is a good choice for the Republican ticket, at least right now. Ryan is smart, personable, has a good life story to tell and appeases the far right of the party. That is most important heading into the convention because the party base has not exactly had a love affair with Mitt Romney. And while Romney has been all over the map philosophically during his political career, no one can accuse Ryan of changing course. Ryan also is savvy. He has proven he can run circles around more senior members of the house on both sides of the aisle. Just ask John Boehner.

Common Sense!!!!

August 3, 2012

I was so stunned when I read the lead story in the August 2^nd South Bend Tribune that it took me hours to start writing this.  Indiana’s Attorney General, Republican Greg Zoeller, has asked a federal judge to strike down much of Indiana’s new immigration law. “It is basically a willingness to admit to the court that some parts of the law are unconstitutional” said Zoeller. 

Christmas in July

July 25, 2012

“Now is not the time to talk about that.”  I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard those words or similar words or even the lack of words over the last week.  With a few exceptions from the usual suspects, that is the political response in the wake of the Aurora theatre shootings. Of course this is not the time, because there has been no time for that in recent years. And there won’t be a good time in the years ahead, no matter how many nuts get their fingers on deadly triggers.

As Rome Burns

July 19, 2012

At least Nero played the fiddle while rome burned.  But us?  Apparently we can’t even read a thermometer.  While evidence of climate change piles up around us like withering piles of corn stalks our esteemed leaders are only allowing us to head right into the abyss.

Let's Get Healthy

July 10, 2012

A few of my friends have been on me lately because I have not written a column on the Affordable Care Act. So I will because I am an avid supporter of the laws of our land, so much so that I might volunteer as president of the John Roberts fan club.

Heroes and Villains

June 28, 2012

For me one of life’s great joys is meeting someone new with a story to tell. That happened again for me while on vacation in Central Europe, a part of the world I have always wanted to see and at least get a small taste of its remarkable history, both good and bad.

Good For Him

June 14, 2012

I have always liked Jeb Bush and I would be willing to bet a dollar or two that he would have been the one Republican, above all others, the Obama White House did not want to get the GOP presidential nomination.  JB would beat Obama and I would have been willing to raise the stakes on that bet.  But now, even if Mitt Romney suddenly decided he would rather fly to the moon than run for president, Jeb Bush would not get the nomination.  He has committed the cardinal sin of speaking out loud about the current state of his party.  And he said it in front of a room full of reporters.  He went so far as to say that his dad and the GOP sainted Ronald Reagan would hardly fit in with today’s orthodoxy in the Grand Old Party.  He questioned the party on its stances on immigration, deficit reduction and partisanship and working towards compromise on major issues our country faces.   In other words, common sense.  None of this seems radical to me but to the no-compromise conservative activists running the party these days it is political poison.  JB was no sooner out the door of the Manhattan hotel where he gave the speech when Grover Norquist, the un-elected head of the party, starting taking pot shots at him.  Norquist basically said JB has not run for office in ten years and therefore is out of touch.  Ten years and already out of touch?  Wow, what took so long?

Tale of the Tapes

June 6, 2012

This column will by necessity be short because no one is talking about who was doing the talking. As of today the story of who said what that was caught on tapes at the South Bend police department has a very distasteful ending.  The police chief, a good man by all accounts, has been demoted and a dispatcher has quit. And in the wake of the Feds deciding there will be no indictments the tapes in question are under public scrutiny lock and key. There may be plenty of legal mumbo jumbo to back that up, but it is very unsettling to many people in South Bend.

Holy War

May 29, 2012

Holy War.  That was the headline emblazoned atop the Huffington Post last week just hours after a number of U.S. Catholic entities, including Notre Dame, filed suit against the provision in the health care law concerning birth control. And, just in case they did not make their point, just below the headline were two side-by-side color pictures: President Obama on the right and the mural of Jesus (aka touchdown Jesus) on the Notre Dame Library. I think I got the point.

In the News (and Out)

May 20, 2012

The South Bend Tribune deserves a pat on the back for trying to do the right thing, but only time will tell if it will bring to an end something that had often turned vile, mean spirited and, at times, hateful and racist.

Tommy Rees

May 8, 2012

April’s Notre Dame Spring Blue-Gold game was the 30^th I have worked and about the 40^th I have attended, and still there was a first. It was the first time I have ever heard a player booed at the spring game, which is no more than a glorified scrimmage. The player was quarterback Tommy Rees. I couldn’t believe it, but maybe if I had spent a little more time on line reading various Notre Dame fan forums I could have easily believed it.  Then again I would rather have a root canal than spend a lot of time on line reading fan forums, because some of these people are not exactly real fans. They are either overly-possessed about Notre Dame football or, in a minority of cases, hate anything and everything Notre Dame.

Bad Girls?

April 30, 2012

If you grew up in the 1950s and went to a Catholic grade school, there probably isn’t a one of us who doesn’t recall, with trepidation, a nun who was – to be kind – a holy terror.

Dick Clark

April 19, 2012

Dick Clark accumulated a lot of critics over the years. Somehow they came to the conclusion that he was often pandering to lowest common denominators in his various television presentations.

The Mayor and the Chief

April 4, 2012

I always liked now former South Bend police chief Darryl Boykins. I thought he was a cop’s cop and a guy who is very proud of his profession. A couple of years ago we were on the dais together for an event on the west side. You could tell he was a no nonsense kind of man, and he sure looked good in his dress uniform.

Dirty and Dumb

March 21, 2012

I have been harping on this subject for so long it is hard to believe that someone in a position of authority hasn’t at least done something or told me to shut up and just live with it.

Rush!!!

March 6, 2012

First a note to those friends and acquaintances that have not already asked me what I think of Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous comments last week. Save yourself the time, because I really don’t care what he says. Limbaugh has always been a blowhard who uses the distance and security of a radio station as his shield to be a loudmouth bully. And he remains someone who is preaching to his own choir, largely made up of old white men. And I have nothing against old white men since I am getting older and I am white.

Tone Deaf

March 1, 2012

Mitt Romney won the Michigan Primary because, by rule, someone had to win it.

We Are ND?

February 20, 2012

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team has exceeded all expectations so far this season. How long that lasts is up for discussion on local sport radio, but going into the season I did not hear or read anything but pessimism.  Their leading scorer and Big East player of the year last season was gone; their best returning player went down early and is out for the season. Even I will admit at the start of the season I thought a finish somewhere in the middle of the Big East would be about the best they could do and even that prediction might have been a bit wishful.

Sitting Around Thinking

February 10, 2012

The compromise announced Friday by the Obama administration on birth control as part of health care seems reasonable to me (point of clarity, I am Catholic), but in this political season, reason doesn’t seem to be a top priority. Before the change, of course, I had a thought. First, did you know it costs a health care provider far less to offer birth control than it does to provide care in the case of unwanted pregnancies and some of the unintended health consequences?  Far less, actually. So why can’t a Catholic institution offer a base plan that does not include birth control, but the employee does have the option of personally contacting the insurance provider to have it added. It is then up to the insurance provider to decide if adding the option of birth control changes the employee’s contribution to the health care plan.

Just Plain Rude

January 27, 2012

I can’t remember the last time I missed a State of the Union address. Even if it was a President I often disagreed with on policy, I still watched. Even if I disagreed, at least I would have some idea where the President was coming from.

This and That

January 17, 2012

I see where the South Bend Tribune is running a four-part, front-page special report on tattoos. Feel free to comment and tell me I am misguided, but that is a lot more tattoo news than I need. It also sounds like something a local TV station would run on its newscast during one of those so-important ratings periods. I don’t know, maybe the print and TV folks combined consultants.

Remembering Lefty

January 4, 2012

There could be no more fitting tribute to Charles “Lefty” Smith than something that occurred probably within hours of his death.

Top 10 of 2011

December 30, 2011

When all was said and done, 2011 turned out to be a good year for new music and I found that the best of the best was strung out from the beginning of the year right into a late discovery for me in December. Also,  I barely had to argue with myself. No trying to squeeze 12 into 10 or somehow coming up with a distant number 9 or 10. I liked these 10 clearly above the rest.

The War on Christmas

December 22, 2011

Even if we were not paying much attention, we know it is another election cycle because the desperate are bringing some of the same old garbage out of their cans. That includes the War on Christmas, which has now been around almost as long as the war in Iraq.

Hang Up

December 15, 2011

For all of us cheering the National Transportation Safety Board’s call for a ban on hand-held cell phone calls and texts while driving, we might want to stop clapping and start calling (please not while driving), writing, e-mailing and just shouting to our neighbors to offer some support. It is one thing to make a common sense decision; it is another to make it the law of the land. Rest assured that powerful forces are already at work with a slew of lobbyists and millions of dollars to make sure this never happens. Had the NTSB done this say fifteen years ago maybe we would have a fighting chance, but the use of cell phones by drivers has become so commonplace that I am afraid it has become a terrifying part of the landscape. And that landscape is very dangerous.

Yes, He Can

December 6, 2011

Teddy, Ike and The Gipper have to be rolling in their graves. Seriously, or is it stupidly, that as I write this Donald Trump will host and moderate a Republican presidential debate. Not only is this beyond any scope of respectability, one has to wonder how you can fit the egos of Trump and Newt Gingrich in the same room, auditorium or even a stadium. This is so absurd that you must question if presidential politics has become nothing more than a silly TV reality show. If it somehow works then the democrats in 2016 might as well sign on Michael Moore as their host du jour.

This and That

November 28, 2011

Flub-A-Dub

November 17, 2011

I watched one of the Republican debates last week. Really I did because I no longer can stay up late enough to watch Saturday Night Live. And why should I stay up that late when the parodies on SNL cannot live up to the real thing. If Daffy Duck were running he would be able to hold his own against some members of the current gaggle of candidates.  In their defense I admit there are so many debates on the calendar it is a wonder someone hasn’t turned into a political version of Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

It Is Almost 2012, ND Fans

October 28, 2011

Notre Dame pulled out all the stops Saturday night and still lost to USC. By all the stops I mean how they tried to jazz up the stadium or, in this case, rock up the stadium. And they still lost to USC and did not look very good either. So that is all the proof you need that Notre Dame need not do like most other big time football programs on game day. Let tradition reign!  Lets keep doing like we have always done it.

Hand Writing on the Wall

October 17, 2011

Like many of you I have been reading with interest the series of reports in the South Bend Tribune about alleged fraud involving signatures on petitions tied to the 2008 Indiana Primary.

Moneyball and Baseball

October 3, 2011

Only two sports have over the years have led to a significant library of very good movies: boxing and baseball.  Now you can add Moneyball to the list of baseball-themed movies to that library. In fact, for a number of reasons, it may very well stand up as one of the best baseball movies ever.

Dead Is Forever

September 27, 2011

I have long opposed the death penalty and always will.  There is no “social” issue that is more important to me.  In part my opposition is based on religious beliefs and even more so because I do not believe the state should lower itself to the very lowest elements of society, and killers are just that.

School Is Out

September 20, 2011

There is nothing collegial about big time college sports. There hasn’t been for a long time, and the situation is only getting worse. The weekend stealth bomber decision by Pittsburgh and Syracuse to bolt the Big East for the ACC sets the bar of greed in this arena to a new high. There can be no question now that the tail is wagging the dog. And please, let’s not kid ourselves; it is about greed, and greed is about lots of money.

The Tree of Life

September 12, 2011

If a good movie does not play at your local Cineplex but instead shows up at either the Vickers Theatre in Three Oaks or the Browning Cinema at Notre Dame, you can make a couple of assumptions. First, the movie is not going to make much money, and it will not be a film for everyone.

Notre Dame Football 2011

August 29, 2011

A few years back I was on streak in predicting the outcome of the Notre Dame football season. One year I picked the winner of every game in advance of the season. I can tell you that was pure luck because in recent years I have not done as well. So keep that in mind as I write my notes for 2011. Also keep in mind that while I have been to every home game since 1963 and have been the PA announcer now for 30 years, I have never been to a practice, wouldn’t know the coaches if they wandered into my backyard, and I do not hang out at the athletic department. I just love to work the games on Saturdays.

The Local News Loophole

August 16, 2011

Long before I left local television news, management could not have emphasized more the importance of their web sites. This was the future, they said, and we all needed to get on board. Since I left the emphasis seems to be even stronger; why else would they have the on-air people mention their web sites at every possible opportunity. Obviously I have seen “the future” by writing this column exclusively for WSBT.com.

Clueless in Washington

August 8, 2011

So I am watching Bill Maher’s last show of the season Friday, and he had an unusual panel: three people who never screamed at one another – two rather tepid liberals and a rather tepid Tea Party guy. I have no idea where he found all of them in this day and age. In any event, Bill throws out a toss up question along the lines of would the Democrats be better off if Hillary Clinton had been elected. After a bit of musing the tepid three and Bill all said something tepid, maybe they would be.

Bubba

August 3, 2011

I want to say a few words about the great Bubba Smith who died on August 3^rd.

Real Deal Making in Washington

July 31, 2011

There was a terrific announcement in Washington last week, one that brought people together for a worthy cause that will benefit all of us, the economy and our environment in the long run.

The New Irish Heroes

July 24, 2011

Ireland loves its heroes, even those like Michael Collins who met his end at the hands of fellow Irishmen.  Collins was never more popular than he was at his funeral. The response was overwhelming, just like the response last week to the comments of Ireland’s Taoiseach, or Prime Minister. Using words like dysfunction, disconnection, elitism and narcissism, Enda Kenny was not talking about the opposition party but instead the culture of the Vatican which he accused of downplaying and managing reports of the rape and torture of children in order to uphold its own power and reputation, a reputation that is already tarnished.

The Arrogant Professor

July 19, 2011

I thought it best to wait a while to decide if I should comment on the speech by Notre Dame law Professor Nicole Stelle Garnett as reported in the July 9^th South Bend Tribune. It seemed so arrogant and outrageous to me that I thought I might be overacting.

Cleveland Rocks

July 12, 2011

In the early 1960’s and really for years beyond, the newspaper business was not exactly an upwardly mobile profession for women. The same could be said for broadcast journalism when I started several years later. Just about the best a woman could do was to be a helping hand to the old timers, give them their paychecks or make sure they had enough booze and cigarettes. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but not by much.

The Big Charade

July 6, 2011

With the debt ceiling and budget talks in Washington taking center stage you would think mature adults in positions of power would do the right things. Oh, wait a minute. Doing the right thing really isn’t a priority in Washington anymore. It is all about getting either re-elected or getting your party back in power.

Just Be Like Mitch

June 27, 2011

Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn attended Notre Dame.  He might want to come back for a little refresher course in local and Indiana politics.

Like a Spirit in the Night

June 20, 2011

Or at least that is how the story goes when a still struggling rock and roll band met The Big Man, and the change was made uptown. 

The No Blame Game

June 15, 2011

I hate it when my day starts out the way today did.  I pick up my South Bend Tribune (6/16) and read a story that makes me shout, “Are you kidding me.”

It Is Serious Now

June 14, 2011

Now a brief check of news from overseas.

How Bad Are They?

June 6, 2011

I just finished reading the column by my friend David Haugh in Monday’s June 6^th Chicago Tribune. Seems my pal is calling for the Chicago Cubs to immediately trade Carlos Zambrono or possibly hang him from the tallest tree in Cook County.

Don't Go West, Young Man

May 31, 2011

"Go West, Young Man..." When Horace Greeley printed those words he was talking about what awaited farmers and their families in the fertile valleys of parts of the west. Thousands of families took up that mantra, accepted the challenges of actually getting there, and set themselves up with a new life for generations.

Slan Agus Beannacht Leat

May 22, 2011

I thought about titling this piece “Hell Freezes Over” but couldn’t come up with it in Gaelic, and when I called a cousin whose Gaelic is far superior to mine he was at a pub and I couldn’t wait that long to start writing.

If Mitch Runs

May 15, 2011

If Mitch Daniels runs for President he has the potential to be a formidable opponent for Barack Obama. But Daniels has a problem. He has called for a political “truce” on social issues. That is not going to happen with the growing, far-right takeover of the Republican Party.  They are looking for purification and will welcome only true believers.  Obama’s re-election team has to be praying that the party flies off the hinges in the primaries and nominates a Palin or a Bachman or a Santorum or even a Gingrich.

Political Notebook

May 8, 2011

If everyone in South Bend with a political yard sign had actually voted, the turnout would have been quite impressive. As it was, the turnout, in my view, was a sad commentary. This is a pivotal time for South Bend, and there were numerous candidates worth our time, attention and votes.

A Common Bond

May 2, 2011

It is both a sad commentary and reason for hope. In a nation widely fractured and that fracture seemingly growing with every two-year election cycle, we came together for the time being last week.  Of course it took one of the most devastating weather tragedies in our history to make that happen. The storms that raked the South had all of us hoping and praying for the best, knowing all along it was not going to turn out that way, and it did not.

Gay Marriage

April 24, 2011

America crossed a threshold in 2011.  For the first time, according to a CNN/Opinion Research survey, a majority of us approve of gay marriage. It was a slim majority (51%), but that number is sure to grow because 60% of those polled who are under 50 years old said they approve.

Bye-Bye, Barry, Good-Bye

April 19, 2011

Did you know that Barry Bonds has not retired from baseball?  That means the five-year clock on his wait to the Baseball Hall of Fame has not started ticking.  Barry will just have to wait and wait and wait because it will never happen and that is sad – sad for baseball and for the best Hall of Fame in the USA – but there is not an ounce of sadness for the all-time home run king (and holder of several other records).

Happy Tax Day, Everyone

April 14, 2011

My father, who spent his career as an accountant with US Steel, had a sign in his office that read, “The only good accountant is an honest accountant.” So I guess that’s why my wife and I have our taxes done by a very nice and very honest accountant here in South Bend. Of course, honesty is the best policy, but when the final numbers come in, and I see what we are paying Uncle Sam, my first thought is we could underwrite the first day of invading yet another country, as long as it is small and does not have much of an army.

The Toll Road Stinks

April 10, 2011

When Governor Mitch Daniels “leased” the Indiana Toll road – and I was still doing these commentaries on the air – I did not know what to make of it. The problem for me was the staggering numbers: 3.8 billion dollars over 75 years. The Harvard School of Business wouldn’t be able to do a spread sheet on that one.  So, I decided since I would probably not be around when the lease expired. I would just be happy if the Toll Road became a better driving experience.

The End is Near, Cubs Win, Cubs Win!

April 3, 2011

In my world there are only two seasons a year, winter and baseball season. And it wouldn't be baseball season unless I could take a few good-natured jabs at my pals who are Chicago Cubs fans. However, as you read this keep in mind I am a die-hard fan of the perennially miserable Pittsburgh Pirates.

Que Es Todo Sobre El Dinero

March 29, 2011

Sometimes an important story gets lost because the media is just plain lazy. Sometimes it happens because the media is doings its job well elsewhere. So while much of the national and international media focused on the multi-tiered disaster in Japan and the slow demise of a brutal dictator in Libya, it can be forgiven for barely glossing over an important cultural and legal story here at home.

She Filled the Silver Screen

March 25, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor was not a great actress. She didn't have to be because she was a great movie star. There was no one like her before or since. She had beauty, charm, presence and a certain composure that cannot be measured. Oh, and those eyes! Yikes, she could take over a movie with just those eyes.

Falling To Pieces

March 23, 2011

When you look at America's greatest achievements of the 20th century it is easy to overlook two of the most impressive and daunting. The first was getting electricity to nearly every nook and cranny in rural America, and the other was building a highway system that could get people to every nook and cranny. Tens of thousands of hard-working Americans were responsible for getting those massive projects to fruition, and two great Presidents were largely responsible for having the foresight and will power to push those agendas along, Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.

Lazy Bums

March 17, 2011

As we now know from the latest polite American discourse, our teachers, especially our public school teachers, are a bunch of lazy bums.