For going on 20 years now, a FedEx envelope has arrived at my house this time of year with hoops ducats inside. The design has varied from elementary school kids’ drawings to pictures to logos, but it’s always been the same delivery — a sheet full of perforated tickets that can be pulled out one by one, folded up into the envelope and delivered to my door.

That is, until this year. This year was quite different. When I pulled the binder out, the first thing I thought was, “Why did they use FedEx to send me a calendar, and where are the tickets?” Silly me, they were in my hand, and delivered more professionally than most tickets I’ve seen.

The first page pair has a message from Mike Brey and a list of the schedule, as you’d expect. But the fun starts on the second page pair right after the seating chart.

As Ron White would say, we’ve got coup’ns.

First, the voucher for the season ticket holder gift. This is a better system than in previous years, and no doubt will help ensure everyone gets one.

Next, a save-the-date for the Basketball Dinner, now titled “An Evening With Notre Dame Basketball”. It’s April 17th, mark your calendars.

Then come the vouchers. Upgrades for the Naimoli Club and bring-a-friend tickets, all for non-conference games (sans Kentucky). After the tickets, combo-meal prices for the early-season games, one for each ticket you have.

You even have the ability to remove your identifying information from the booklet in case you’re transitioning it to an organization or other person/people.

Whoever put this together really had their head in the game. The presentation looks very professional. Options beyond the tickets are available and are of value to the ticketholder. The entire package is well thought out and speaks to a solid program.

I know lots of season ticket holders have been asking for things like this. Obviously someone on campus listened, and that’s always a good thing.