1. Christmas. This one is obvious. We celebrate the birth of the greatest human being ever. As a Catholic, this has to be first on my list. The only mark against Christmas is that it is highly unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25, but since we don't know when he was actually born, December 25 is just as good as any other day. The only question is what day of the week is the best for Christmas. There are a few factors to consider. As a Catholic school teacher, when does my Christmas vacation start and end? I like not working on Festivus and January 2. How long is my Christmas vacation? How long is my last week before Christmas? I hate having a five-day week immediately before Christmas vacation. What days of the week are All Saints Day and the Immaculate Conception? How many days of school do I have between Thanksgiving and Christmas? What day of the week is my birthday (since it's 15 days after Christmas)? So here are my day of the week rankings for Christmas:
1. Friday- 7 days off from school, a three-day week going into vacation, school starts again on January 4, 17 days of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas, my birthday on a Saturday. The downside is being in school through Festivus.
2. Thursday- Thursday and Wednesday are the two days of the week where you might get a full two weeks off. I actually prefer not having that. Let's bang out an easy two day week on either side of the vacation rather than having those two days at the end of the year. But you don't go back until January 5, it's only 14-16 days of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and my birthday is a Friday.
3. Wednesday- Possibly two full weeks off, School ends on December 20, but that's a five-day week, 15 days of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas, back on either January 2 or January 6, my birthday is a Thursday.
4. Tuesday- 7 days off from school, you only go until December 21, easy three-day week coming back. The downside is that since the Immaculate Conception is a Saturday, I have 20 days of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
5. Saturday- only 6 days off from school, you go until Festivus, full week coming back, 18 days of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The good news is that you don't have a full five days before vacation and my birthday is a Sunday.
6. Sunday- 6 days off from school, you have a full five-day week before vacation that goes through Festivus, 19 days between Thanskgiving and Christmas, my birthday is a Monday. The good news is that you don't go back to school until January 3 and it's a four-day week.
7. Monday- 6 days off from school, a full five-day week going into vacation, 19 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, back on January 2 (which will be awful next year when the College Football Playoff games are on January 1).
Back to ranking the holidays:
2. Independence Day. We should be celebrating July 2, but I can live with July 4. It's early summer, the days are long, and we can celebrate not having a queen. Good times.
3. Washington's Birthday. It's Washington's Birthday (a day worth celebrating), not Presidents Day (a day that would not be worth celebrating). The problem is that Congress messed up the holiday by moving it to the wrong Monday. I can live with not always celebrating it on Washington's actual birthday, but Congress moved it to a Monday that is never Washington's actual birthday. I get a week off that coincides with Washington's Birthday. Lincoln's Birthday should be a federal holiday too, but that's a different issue.
4. Thanksgiving. Now admittedly, Thanksgiving is more fun than Washington's Birthday. But I'll take the birth of the person I consider to be the greatest American of all time over an arbitrarily chosen Thursday in November to give thanks. But I do like Thanksgiving. We should give thanks for all the blessings we have in this country. As much as my brother doesn't like it, we are very fortunate to live in this country. We celebrate with food, football, and family. And there's a lot of history associated with Thanksgiving. Of course you have the Pilgrims. But I'm more concerned with history since the US became independent. George Washington proclaimed a Thanksgiving holiday in 1789 to give thanks for God's protection prior to the Revolution, assistance in achieving independence, and help in establishing a constitutional government. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a Thanksgiving holiday in 1863 to celebrate the Union victory at Gettysburg.
5. Veterans Day. Memorial Day is probably more important, but Veterans Day is getting the nod for always being November 11. It started as a day to remember the end of World War I. It's now a holiday for all veterans, but I like how it's still on the day that World War I ended.
6. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It's a day that honors one of the greatest Americans ever. He was also not a president of the United States. It's good to remember that this country is much more than just who the president happens to be at a particular time. I would like it more if it was always celebrated on January 15.
7. Memorial Day. You could easily put this one higher on the list. If not for Veterans Day, I might have this one as high as number 3. But it's position on the calendar is arbitrary and we have another holiday that honors people who have served in the military.
8. Columbus Day. Whatever you think of Columbus, his arrival in the Americas is one of the most important events in the history of the world.
9. New Year's Day. This is a completely arbitrary celebration of something that doesn't need to be celebrated. January 1 being the first day of the year is arbitrary. And what are we celebrating anyway? Putting up a new calendar? Who cares? I really don't get it. I was asleep when 2017 began because it's a really silly thing to be celebrating. And I've always thought New Year's resolutions were just silly. If you want to improve your life, why do you have to wait until January 1? Just make your life better whenever you can. But going back to January 1 being an arbitrary start of the year, my year starts with the first weekend of college football (which leads into the new school year). If I want something to celebrate, the start of college football is much better.
10. Labor Day. Let's be honest, it's a made up holiday. And as a teacher on Long Island, it just marks the end of my summer. So Labor Day for me means I have to go back to work. It's not something I have any interest in celebrating.
And I don't feel like doing another post, but let me make some comparisons involving Brian Kelly. Take a look at these tables (the formatting might be weird because of some copying and pasting from Word):
Brady Hoke at Michigan
|
Brian Kelly- Last Four Years
|
|
Record
|
31-20
|
31-20
|
Major Bowls
|
1-0
|
0-1
|
Worst Season
|
5-7
|
4-8
|
Status
|
Fired
|
Still Employed
|
Mark Helfrich at Oregon
|
Brian Kelly- Last Four Years
|
|
Record
|
37-16
|
31-20
|
College Football Playoff Record
|
1-1
|
0-0
|
Top 10 Finishes
|
2
|
0
|
Top 20 Finishes
|
3
|
1.5 (24/20 in 2013)
|
2016
|
4-8
|
4-8
|
Status
|
Fired
|
Still Employed
|
Gene Chizik at Auburn
|
Brian Kelly-Last Four Years
|
|
Record
|
33-19
|
31-20
|
National Championships
|
1
|
0
|
Bowl Record
|
3-0
|
2-1
|
Status
|
Fired
|
Still Employed
|
Les Miles at LSU
|
Brian Kelly at Notre Dame
|
|
Winning Percentage
|
.770
|
.656
|
National Championships
|
1
|
0
|
Major Bowls
|
2-1
|
0-2
|
Bowl Record
|
7-4
|
3-3
|
Percentage of Seasons Ranked Top 4
|
25%
|
14%
|
Percentage of Seasons Ranked Top 10
|
42%
|
14%
|
Percentage of Seasons Ranked Top 25
|
75%
|
43%
|
Status
|
Fired
|
Still Employed
|
Les Miles Since 2010
|
Brian Kelly at Notre Dame
|
|
Record
|
63-19
|
59-31
|
Top 10 Finishes
|
2
|
1
|
Top 20 Finishes
|
5
|
2.5
|
Major Bowls
|
0-1
|
0-2
|
Status
|
Fired
|
Still Employed
|
We finally found something where Kelly wins, but it’s winning in that he’s gotten to one more major bowl than Miles since 2010, but neither have won any in that time.
Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame
|
Brian Kelly- Last Three Years
|
|
Record
|
21-15 (.583)
|
22-16 (.579)
|
Worst Season
|
5-7
|
4-8
|
Bowl Record
|
0-1
|
1-1
|
Major Bowls
|
0
|
0-1
|
Top 15 Finishes
|
0
|
1
|
Top 25 Finishes
|
1
|
1
|
Status
|
Fired
|
Still Employed
|
We had to go to Tyrone Willingham for a comparison where Kelly might win, but even if he does, it's not by much.
Kelly has been at Notre Dame for seven years. Going 4-8 in year 7 is just not good enough and there's nobody to blame for than besides Kelly. These are all his players. All of his records and winning percentages are giving him credit for the losses which have been vacated by the NCAA (Notre Dame is appealing). I don't think those wins should be vacated. Notre Dame gets punished for doing the right thing when it found out about academic misconduct. At just about any Big 12 or SEC school (probably except for Vanderbilt), those things get swept under the rug and nobody gets in trouble. So while I don't think the wins should be vacated, there have been too many academic issues under Kelly. There were the arrests this summer. And he's just not winning enough. It's time to go. And he probably would be gone if not for the fact that Jack Swarbrick gave him an extension after last season. I think Jack Swarbrick has done some things very well as athletic director. But in overseeing the football program, he has failed. It's time for both Swarbrick and Kelly to go. As Ara Parseghian said when Notre Dame was blown out by Miami to end the 1985 season, "From these ashes, Notre Dame will rise." And we will once again when we have the right athletic director and head coach.
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