View From Bennett Avenue

This is a bit late, but I was readying a piece on Utah's move to the Pac 10 on Sunday when the idea of spending more time with my family became much more appealing. Being celebrated for my own paternity made me think of my father, of course, who is never too far from my thoughts.
As I have mentioned here before, Dad introduced me to college football. Although I remember watching Rose Bowls and the like as a youth, and my first live game pitted Army and Lafayette, the world of college football revolved around Notre Dame. My father became a fan after watching Knute Rockne All American as a young child, and then became a passionate follower during the great run of Frank Leahy. Like many other members of Notre Dame's Subway Alumni, those years stamped my father as someone who felt that Notre Dame should be in the running for a national title on an annual basis. And as he entered his teen years Notre Dame was in the middle of their great run from 1946 through '49, when they went 36-0-2 and won AP national titles for 1946, '47 and '49. So while Notre Dame could not keep up that pace, they did have my father hooked.
And so by the time I was born in 1964, in the middle of the glorious first season enjoyed by coach Ara Parseghian, I had no choice but to be a fan of the Irish. Like my father I came of age during a nice run by the Irish, with titles in 1966 (okay, so I do not remember that one), 1973 and 1977. I too was hooked. Tom Clements, the quarterback from 1972 - '74--was one of my first sports heroes and my youth was spent rooting for Steve Niehaus, Ross Browner, Bob Golic, et al.
Unlike my father, though, I had time to appreciate the entirety of the sport. Given the choice between a televised match-up between an undefeated Oklahoma versus a one-loss Texas or a solid Notre Dame playing a struggling Purdue, my Dad would pick Notre Dame every time and would stick with the game even if the Irish opened a big lead. I would listen with him to the radio broadcast but sneak into the living room to watch the more important game. Still, the majority of my time was spent listening to the Irish game on the radio as that was bonding time for the two of us.
As the fourth of five kids, it was crucial for me to enjoy these games with my father, especially with how busy he was with work, politics and local organizations. And that remained so into the 1980s despite my being busy with school and then work. We were able to enjoy one more run to a title together, in 1988, before my father passed away in April of 1989. The Irish have not won a national championship since.