I don't know why, but I had a good feeling all day today. I kept thinking of the Knute Rockne speech that I put on facebook: "Today is the day we're gonna win." It was our biggest game since 1993. And I believed.
I wanted Bob Stoops after Charlie Weis was fired. He could have been a king, but he decided to stay in Oklahoma. When he turned down the job, I wanted Brian Kelly. I feared that if we didn't hire him, he'd go to Michigan and be great (they probably would have hired him a year later). It's working out pretty well for us. Kelly outcoached Stoops tonight. Oklahoma started the game playing a fast-paced no huddle offense. They were getting good yardage against us whenever they went with that. Whenever they slowed it down, we had the advantage. Why slow it down, Bob? You may have lost tonight, Bob, but least almost one out of every two of your players will graduate.
As for Kelly, I wanted him fired. Not for Navy and Tulsa in 2010. Not for South Florida, Michigan, and USC in 2011. When we unveiled the uniforms for the Miami game back in August, I posted on facebook that I wanted him and Jack Swarbrick fired. I wasn't joking. I still hate those uniforms with ever fiber of my being, but I can live with truly awful uniforms for one game a year if Kelly wins like this.
Then there's Manti Te'o. I remember finding out on signing day during my first year as a teacher that he was coming to Notre Dame. I gave all my kids high fives when I found out. I've always liked him as a person, but he didn't live up to the hype in his first three years. He was really good, but not great. This year he's been more than great. He's the best player in college football. He might not win the Heisman Trophy, but he should. More important than being a great football player is that he's a great human being. He is my favorite player on the team (which is saying something considering Louis Nix is on the team) and my favorite player of all time. He has five more games as a college football player and he deserves to win them all. Whatever happens for the rest of the season, nothing will change how I feel about him. I just hope he doesn't end up on the Patriots, Dolphins, Raiders, or Cowboys next year.
My students know that I love sports. They've also figured out that I dress by mood (just like George Costanza). One of my students that isn't a baseball fan figured out that the Giants won Game 7 of the NLCS by the way I was dressed the following day. She told me she would go easy on me for the rest of the week. I also have to start reading the Hunger Games because I made a deal with her that I would start reading the books if she started watching Notre Dame football. She can thank me later. I told one of my students that I could live with the Giants winning the World Series if Notre Dame won the National Championship in football. That's saying something because they're my second least favorite professional sports team. I don't know if I would say the same thing about the Lakers (I guess I would have to make that deal, but I would be really really conflicted about it). I also told my students that we'd have a party if Notre Dame won the National Championship. I think this was after the Michigan State game. I didn't think it was a realistic possibility at the time, but it might be now. I'll gladly live up to that if it happens.
Tonight was our biggest win since Florida State in 1993. We were cheated out of the National Championship that year, but I hope Brian Kelly teaches the team a lesson about what happened the following week. There really is no excuse for not being 11-0 headed into the Los Angeles Coliseum the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Tonight was an amazing night. Keep winning. Go Irish! Beat Panthers!
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