Normalcy Isn't Enough

So on Friday there was breaking news in South Bend, all TV channels and shows here were interrupted... Fire at Jefferson Street Apartments again? Maybe a gas leak and there is danger in the area? Or heaven forbid a funnel cloud has been spotted and coming our way...

Luckily it was none of those dangerous things, it was just some Notre Dame Football players that got caught cheating in class again. Yes again. It took over all the local news, front page of the paper, top news report on every channel... They all went live to a press conference where obviously nothing was confirmed, nor denied, and of course the most important part of all news was that... football would still go on as scheduled. WHEW. That is breaking news.

Front page on Saturday, and of course front page on Sunday. The headline is what interested me more than anything...

"(Coach) Kelly Aims for Normalcy"

Normal for the ND Football lately has been drunk driving while home on break, cheating on tests, fighting cops in South Bend, sexual assault, staff member dying in dangerous practice conditions, fake girlfriends, and now cheating again. Last time a player cheated, he left school for two semesters, got readmitted and will be starting in a couple weeks. So why are you surprised more players are cheating? Clearly cheating on tests is a minor violation, and will be rewarded with a one year vacation, and a starting a position when they return. Sign me up for that, dream come true. I won't even go in on all the other violations and issues.

Return to normalcy is what we are targeting? I once bragged on a quote from Father Jenkins that says, "Never let them say we dreamed too small". As a lifelong GVSU (Go Lakers!) Fan, I expect more from you Coach Kelly, as a newer South Bend transplant I want to say that I expect more from you ND.

So how about we aim for better, how about we aim for what made Notre Dame great... How about we aim at being GREAT. On the field, and OFF the field.

Want to know why I am really mad? On Friday, a group of local students came together at La Casa de Amistad to count teddy bears. Bears that were raised to help care for the unaccompanied minors traveling dangerously to come to the USA for a chance at the American Dream. We got media there, actually we got a ton of media there... All the TV stations and our major newspaper.

What we didn't get was lots of air time... why? Because of some breaking news from ND. So Coach Kelly, you owe me what you gave at GVSU, nothing but the best and a true legacy, and you owe this important issue some airtime.