I have a dilemma. Two hours before Notre Dame's biggest game in a dozen years, I've developed selective amnesia. I can't remember any of the words, or even any of the tune to Southern Cal's fight song. Under normal circumstances, this would be wonderful news; even though I can't remember the song, I do remember that I hate it. Most Domers, I think, would agree, that to delete that tune from your memory would be second only to winning the National Championship. If not second, it's certainly in your top ten ND wish list. However, here's where the dilemma comes in. I still like to sing my own little cavalcade before the games, with the fight songs that I learned with the Glee Club as a student. It's my own post-grad tradition, and I'm sure many former clubbers out there could itentify with it. But today, my cavalcade fell dead right after "all hail, our old Purdue..." I couldn't even transition into "The march is on..." to the sound of thunderous cheering and clapping (in my mind) because that awful piece of music was forgotten.
So, I decided to call one of my friends, someone I have enourmous musical respect for and someone I knew would appreciate the gravity of the situation. He could help me in this dilemma and he would be able to remind me of the terrible tune if I needed him to. When his phone rang and rang and finally went to voice-mail, I was unusually relieved. I was worried he might launch right into it when I told him I had forgotten it. I know in a couple hours I'll hear the USC fight song about a hundred times, so I've decided to wait till then to subject myself to the torture of that memory. In the meantime, I will forego my traditional solo cavalcade. Having spent four years at Notre Dame, I do not lightly break with a tradition, even one that only matters to me, and I understand that should the game turn out like others in recent years, I will have to shoulder a large part of the blame. However, I'm willing to risk it for even a few precious minutes of not knowing the USC fight song.
half-time addendum: Well, that blissful reprieve from Fight On... is over, but a 7 point lead at the half makes it easier to take. I meant to do it earlier, but my prediction for the game was ND 42-35 USC and I'm gonna stick with that. I admit the green jerseys worried me, but since I've been so excited about the last three appearances, let's hope this trepidation is a good sign.
GO IRISH !!! BEAT Trojans !
half-time commentary on the commentary: The Guglielmino Athletics facility looks great. From the NBC segment I'm not really sure why it's not just called the Guglielmino Football facility, but anyway. I just wanted to point out that anything located to the extreme east of anything, isn't "in the heart" of anything. i.e. the "Gug" is not in the heart of the Notre Dame campus.
post-game wrap-up: Well, we did a good job of shaking down the 'thunder' (Lendale White), but we couldn't quite bottle the 'lightning' (Reggie Bush). Bonnie Coach Charlie did a good job of waking up the echoes, but when the green jerseys saw that shirt that Joe Montana was wearing, they must have thought they were in a weird dream and those particular echoes went back to sleep again. If anyone can find a picture of that ridiculous outfit, please send a link to it here, so everyone will know what I'm talking about, in case they didn't see it.
