Saturday November 20, 2010
The Fighting Irish and the Black Knights of Army returned to christen the new Yankee Stadium just yards from the legendary original site of great clashes between the powerhouses of former eras. Of course, it was 1928 when ND was trailing at halftime when Knute Rockne delivered the immortal “Win One for the Gipper” speech.
And 1946 has been called the “Game of the Century” when undefeated #1 Army hosted #2 undefeated ND. The hard-fought 00-0 tie ultimately secured another National Championship for Coach Frank Leahy and the Irish. That game featured 4 Heisman Trophy winners! They were Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis from Army, Johnny Lujack from ND…and can you name the fourth?
Yes; ND’s Leon Hart was the 4th Heisman winner (a lineman, yet!) Mr. Hart was the father of our ND ’79 classmate and also a Varsity football player Kevin Hart (successful architect inMichigan; aspiring actor)
Leon Hart
Kevin Hart
The Big Apple was electric on Friday with ND fans from throughout the country. Regis Philbin headlined the luncheon at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. He interviewed Heisman winners Lujack and Pete Dawkins from Army and Coach Brian Kelly. That evening, the traditional ND Pep Rally was staged outside the Lincoln Center with former ND star and current NY Giants Justin Tuck assisting MC Don Criqui. Tuck reminded Coach Kelly that he still had a year of college eligibility remaining.
Former ND Center John Scully ’80 was there on the keyboards. Everyone knows Big John as the composer of “Here Come the Irish”. He debuted his newest number, “Our Lady of the Lake”. John and I are friends through his predecessor at ND at the Center position–#56 All-American Dave Huffman. John sent me the link to his song. Here it is:
There were plenty of former ND players around town—many to honor Lou Holtz on Thursday night and his “Coach for Life” dinner find-raiser—Rod West, Ned Bolcar, Steve Beurlein, Ricky Watters (known by all Philadelphia Eagles fans for one of the most infamous lines ever when questioned in his first game as an Eagle why he “short-armed” a ball when going across the middle:
“For who…for what?”
On Saturday morning, St. Pat’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue was jammed with Irish fans—presumably mostly Catholic. Fr. John Jenkins celebrated the Mass and the homily was just the right length for the throng to walk to the heart of Times Square where “The Band of the Fighting Irish” and the ND Cheerleaders entertained fans in the jammed-packed bleachers and in the barricaded quadrant at 46th & Broadway. It was bright, sunny and festive. And we were very close to the “D” train and our trip to the Bronx.
The unofficial gathering spot was the legendary “Stan’s Sports Bar”. It was absolute mayhem in there. Packed body-to-body with ND fans from all Classes. But everyone watched their watches in anticipation of touring the new Yankee Stadium.
It was a beautiful night in the Bronx and the new Yankee Stadium was decked-out to host its first college football game between two storied programs.
The stadium was obviously configured for football and felt very comfortable as a near-Home Game. It was a sell-out at +80,000 fans.
Flags for each school, the U.S. Flag and the game ball were delivered by four parachuting members of the Black Daggers who landed squarely in the center of the field. Team Captains for the ceremonial coin toss were Lujack and Dawkins and Hank Steinbrenner—whose recently deceased Dad George was a big proponent of bringing this game back to Yankee Stadium.
Our band was there in full force (434 members) and our Fighting Irish came charging out wearing Green.
The Irish looked great is every phase of the game to prevail 27-3. The fans were supportive and vocal throughout.
Everyone left the Stadium feeling very good for this team (on a roll) and very much looking forward to playing at USC the next weekend…and hopefully onward to a Bowl game.
GO IRISH!