One of my earliest childhood

memories is that of my Dad, class of '58, bringing home a brand new TV console a few days prior to the MSU "Game of the Century" in 1966 (he must have broken our family's then modest "bank" on that purchase). His parents were NY-Irish, subway alums, whose dream it was to send their children to ND, and my grandmother lived long enough to see her grandchildren matriculate there as well - to her it meant they, as children of Irish-Catholic immigrants, had finally "arrived". Dad took me to my first game against Northwestern in Chicago in 1970, along with my Mom and my older sister. It was always a family tradition to watch the televised games together - always Dad, Mom, my two younger brothers, and my four sisters (if the latter promised to keep the questions to a minimum), living and dying, TOGETHER, with our team. The mood in our home on fall Saturday nights was dictated by how the Irish had fared in their game that day. I and three of my siblings graduated from ND or SMC, and another of our brood matriculated at SMC for a year. The way I see it, my parents integrated Notre Dame, it's history and the traditions it stands for, into the fabric of our family in order to assist them in instilling into their children the values that they deemed to be important. ND football is about more than "just football" to my family - it has served as a symbol and an idea of what we all should strive to become, and represents the values it takes to be that person.