Kay and I were in South Bend for the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game on Saturday.  As we toured the campus, everyone we met greeted us with a big smile and with the words,  “Welcome to Notre Dame!”  Parents of students were  thrilled that their children were attending this hallowed university, some to the point of visible emotion.  They couldn’t have been friendlier.  Returning graduates were heard telling stories, in some cases decades old, of their Notre Dame days.   

I thought man, these folks really have the Outfluence model down pat.  They know how to treat their guests. 

We went to the bookstore to purchase a few things and there we met Joe Probst.  He was playing the piano up on the second floor balcony.  You couldn’t miss him.  There he was as we walked in the front door to the bookstore.  Do you know that he has recorded a CD on which he plays a dozen unique versions of the Notre Dame Victory March?  He played a few versions of it for us.  What a cool guy Joe is.  He was playing the boogie-woogie version and his legs were pumping about as fast as they could go, keeping time as he flew up and down the keyboard.  Joe gave me a quick lesson, invited me to sit down and play with him (I wisely declined), and then told me a few stories about Notre Dame, I bought one of his CDs and we left feeling that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you just know you’re in a good place.

Then we got to the stadium just as they were about to open the gates, and we heard the ushers gather around to sing “God Bless America.”   They sang it with such pride and such joy.  If you love your country and appreciate tradition, you just gotta love Notre Dame.

We got to our seats in the stadium.  We were in the 8th row from the field, just to the right of the goal post.  There I was in Notre Dame stadium, designed by Knute Rockne, revered initially through the  exploits of the Four Horsemen and carried forward by names like Hornung, Hanratty, Snow, Montana and so many more.

I grew up idolizing Notre Dame, just like all of my Catholic buddies who attended Holy Family School in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.  To see, 50 years later, that it truly measures up to what my childhood dreams of it were is gratifying.  Graduating from Notre Dame means something.  It’s a special place with special traditions.  People take care of each other there.   

No matter what the scoreboard said, Notre Dame was a big winner on Saturday.