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Volume 56, Issue 34 | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
A Carroll Christmas returns after hiatus Carroll Hall’s signature holiday event to feature karaoke, cookie decorating, horse-drawn carriage By AIDAN O’MALLEY Scene Editor
This Saturday, Carroll Hall w ill host its signature holiday event, A Carroll Christmas, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Started in 1998 as a replacement for the Carroll Haunted House, A Carroll Christmas takes its name from the classic Charles Dickens novel, “A Christmas Carol.” “It just came about because, as our name suggests, it might be a natural fit,” said junior Will Forsen, president of Carroll Hall. “We kind of sw itched up the order there.” 2020 sw itched up the
order, too. Due to the adjusted academic calendar of the fall semester, residence halls closed before Thanksgiv ing — leav ing no time for A Carroll Christmas. “It was not wholly unexpected,” Forsen said. “If we weren’t allowed to have dances, there’s no way we were going to be allowed to have Carroll Christmas.” That’s because the event tends to draw large crowds. “Freshman year, we probably got around 800 people,” Forsen said. This year, he estimated there w ill be a few hundred. “It should be a good year see CARROLL PAGE 3
Senate discusses CCC funding By HEAVEN CARTER News Writer
The student senate kicked off their last meeting of the fall semester Wednesday evening on the second floor of the LaFortune Center. The agenda for the meeting consisted of a presentation from the Class Coordination Council (CCC) on funding and a debate regarding the need for the presence of priestsin-residence in dorms.
Student body vice president Matthew Bisner opened the meeting with a prayer. Senators then heard an update regarding ND Central — a new program that seeks to help students stay informed about events on campus so they can be more involved. Starting January, students leaders will be able to enroll in the system. From that point on, the usage see SENATE PAGE 4
SMC to sponsor writing event By CRYSTAL RAMIREZ
Associate News Editor
The Michiana Writers’ Center, a local communit y organization, w ill host its annual Get Inked Teen Writing Conference on Saturday. The annual conference, which is usually held in person at Saint Mar y’s College, w ill be held online for a second time due
NEWS PAGE 4
to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference is open to students from 7th to 12th grade and w ill feature breakout w riting sessions, key note speakers and four young adult ( YA) authors. Education professor and Get Inked founder Kathy Higgs discussed the benefits and drawbacks of hosting see INKED PAGE 3
viewpoint PAGE 7
Courtesy of Vaibhav Arora
A horse-drawn carriage will transport students from the Grotto to Carroll Hall ahead of A Carroll Christmas. Carroll traditionally lights up a large “C” made of Christmas lights across the front of the building.
Pangborn Hall residents build new community By ISABELLA VOLMERT
Assistant Managing Editor
A sign in the foyer of Pangborn Hall reads “Go and Do Likewise” in the style of the iconic “Play like a Champion Today” sign located inside Notre Dame Stadium. Fr. Bill Dailey, the rector of Pangborn, said he put the sign up to establish a motto and mission for the newly re-established dorm. “Once a tradition is begun at Notre Dame, it can feel just as much a part of tradition as the lady on the dome,” he said. After more than five years of serving as transitional housing, Pangborn Hall is once again a permanent fixture of residential life. This past semester has seen the residents, hall staff and hall council of the re-founded men’s residence hall come together to build a Notre Dame dorm identity and start their own traditions. Griffin Laszlo, a sophomore computer science major and president of Pangborn Hall, said there was a sense of uncertainty at the beginning of the year before the residents began forming floor identity and hall council committees. Since
Scene PAGE 9
then, he has seen a significant change in attitude in the residents that are now a “tight-knit community.“ “Seeing kids proud to be in the dorm couldn’t satisfy me any more,” Laszlo said. “Originally, it was all Joe and I. The biggest thing was that turning point where kids were able to see us getting so excited about it that it made them want to be excited about it.” A former member of the Gateway Program from Sea Girt, New Jersey, Laszlo said he and vice president Joe Oberlies decided to run to “make an impact” on the dorm’s residential culture and the larger perception of Pangborn on campus. “I want an excited reaction when I tell people what dorm I’m in,” Laszlo said. “We are the underdog on campus.” A major factor in building the dorm’s sense of community this year was the large number of Gateway students and Driscoll Scholars that transferred into Pangborn, Dailey said. Attending the Moreau First Year Experience class and sharing the Gateway program
M soccer PAGE 16
experience gave Pangborn residents “a little bit of a head start … they were plugged into Notre Dame academically and socially,” Dailey said, who was a resident of Pangborn Hall during his first undergraduate year in 1990. Dailey said he has never “sugar coated” to the residents that Pangborn has a reputation for being an older, cinderblock building dorm. However, he said their attitude was what could change that. Hence, he started the tradition of hitting the sign by the front door. “‘Go and do likewise’ is a theme of neighborliness and community and is our rallying theme individually and collectively as a dorm,” he said. Laszlo said Dailey’s commitment to Pangborn’s community has made a significant impact on the success of the hall council and culture in the dorm. The dorm’s current makeup of 115 residents consists of a majority of first-years, with less than 20 upperclassmen. With the capacity to hold 171 residents, Dailey expects the dorm to be see PANGBORN PAGE 4
hockey PAGE 16
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TODAY
The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
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“LeBron James.”
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sophomore Flaherty Hall
junior Pasquerilla West Hall
“Amanda Seyfried.”
“Selena Gomez.”
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“Fran Lebowitz.”
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The holiday season is right around the corner, and Notre Dame is getting into the holiday spirit! With just one week before finals, residents of Dillon Hall are showing their excitement by covering their doors and walls in wrapping paper and Christmas lights.
The next Five days:
Want your event included here? Email news@ndsmcobserver.com
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
“Educational Inequality” online 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lecture with professor Anna Haskins.
Glee Club and Symphony Orchestra Concert Leighton Concert Hall 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Ticketed event.
Basilica Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart 10 a.m. and noon Gather for mass in person or online.
The Ferrell Manuscripts 102 Hesburgh Library 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Spotlight Exhibit, six medieval manuscripts.
German Christmas Bash Geddes Hall Coffee House 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. Christmas celebration.
Noel Miller Standup Comedy Special Mendoza’s Jordan Auditorium 7 p.m. Free, ticketed event.
Carroll Christmas Carroll Hall 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. Carroll’s signature event, featuring a horse-drawn carriage.
Winter Wonderland Pop-up Morris Inn 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Featuring food, drinks and live music.
Humanitarian Impact online 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Debate of humanitarian impact of economic sanctions.
Voting Rights Reform Hesburgh Center Auditorium 12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m. Perspectives of the U.S. from Europe.
News
Carroll Continued from page 1
after a brief hiatus,” Forsen said. “Looking to not rebuild, but just keep building off the momentum we had.” Junior Vaibhav Arora, the main commissioner for A Carroll Christmas, said the event, which is free to attend, begins well before guests arrive on the west end of St. Mary’s Lake. “We have a horse carriage which brings you to the door of Carroll all the way from either the Grotto or the start of the lake,” Arora said. “So for everyone complaining that Carroll is too far, you can’t use
Inked Continued from page 1
Get Inked online. “It [has] been in person ever y year but last year and this year, and [t he] online sw itch has been bot h a blessing and loss,” Higgs said. “With it being online, fewer students in t he area are coming, but we have a nationa l and internationa l reach.” Get Inked is meant to be an inclusive, safe space for teens to work on t heir w riting w it h like-minded peers and published authors, Higgs said. She said she started t he conference back when she f irst came to Saint Mar y’s because she wanted to prov ide young w riters w it h more resources than she had when grow ing up. “W hen I was a teen w riter, t here weren’t opportunities like t his,” Higgs said. “You k now, t here’s t hings for students who are in band or drama or sports, … but there rea lly isn’t any t hing for young w riters. I rea lly wanted it to be what the teens
ndsmcobserver.com | Friday, December 3, 2021 | The Observer
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that as an excuse anymore.” The festivities will continue inside Carroll itself, where visitors can sing karaoke, decorate sugar cookies and sip hot chocolate. Guests can also take pictures with firstyear Carroll residents dressed as Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves. “We have a great group of freshmen,” Forsen said. “Thirty-nine really involved guys. I’ve already heard them arguing amongst themselves which one wants to be Santa.” “You could hypothetically be locked in a room by the Grinch and you have to find your way out,” Arora said. Another new addition is Carroll Christmas sweaters
that were designed by Arora and will be available for purchase. The evening will end with the lighting of a 40-foot Christmas tree on the Carroll Lawn. Rector Eric Styles will lead guests in prayer before a first-year resident delivers a speech ref lecting on the Carroll community. “We are known to be the closest dorm on campus,” Arora said. With an approximate capacity of 102 students, Carroll Hall is certainly the smallest. “And that’s portrayed through the words of the freshman himself, who outlines his experience through the first few months of college
and how the community really helped him build himself,” Arora said. The tree is accompanied by a large “C” — made of Christmas lights — that hangs from the front of the building. “It definitely brings in the Christmas spirit,” Arora said. “It’s a really great start to the month of December.” But Arora also emphasized the role of A Carroll Christmas in the greater campus community. “It gives us an opportunity to show people that Carroll is a dorm on campus,” Arora said. “We just want people to actually come in and see what living in Carroll is like. We are a community and we have our
own traditions, and we just want to share that.” Forsen also ref lected on what the event means to Vermin — the affectionate name for the men of Carroll Hall. “When we light that Christmas tree you take a step away from the party for a second and look around and see the people you know and the people you want to know,” Forsen said. ”And just kind of thinking, ‘How grateful am I that I’m here?’” “A Carroll Christmas is the single most joyful event of the semester,” Forsen said.
who attend it wanted to be.“ As for the planning process, Higgs ack nowledged the support of Campus and Communit y Events staff such as assistant director of externa l events and communit y relations Gabriella Ma x well and director Richard Ba xter. “I think we were blessed because we have Gabriella Ma x well at Saint Mar y’s, and she rea lly understands how to host events on Zoom,” Higgs said. “So, last year, she sat w ith me and rea lly supported me through that process, and w ithout her and Richard Ba xter helping us to sw itch to Zoom last year, there’s no way we would have been able to host it last year.” Higgs said she is excited to reach a larger audience by going v irtua l this year again, noting that it is one of the opportunities that hosting the event in person does not prov ide. “It’s been a blessing in some regards to hav ing it online because our capacities larger,” Higgs said. However, she said a big
setback from mov ing to a v irtua l conference is the lack of net work ing and creating communit y. “At the end of the day, I a lways ask, ‘W hat do you want us to change? W hat do you want to do differently? ’ A nd they a lways want more,” Higgs said. “At the end of the day, when we’re on campus, they don’t rea lly want to leave. They want to stand around and ta lk to other w riters their ow n age.” Higgs emphasized the importance of finding communit y as a young w riter and of seizing opportunities like Get Inked. “Writing is such a solitar y thing,” Higgs said. “It’s nice to have a communit y, a group of people like ourselves, people who are … interested in the same thing.” A nother benefit to going v irtua l Higgs mentioned is the access to authors and possible guest and key note spea kers. “The other thing about it being online that has been a blessing is [last year] we were able to [bring] Chris
Crutcher who is a rockstar w riter,” Higgs said. “He donated his time and we never would have never been able to have him, but because it was COVID he donated his time and t hen we were a lso able to get ot her award-w inning aut hors last year where in the past we’d only had one each year.” Higgs expressed excitement for t he opportunit y to bring in more aut hors t his year. “So, we’re stick ing w it h that [v irtua l] again t his year and we have four aut hors again, which is just incredible,” Higgs said. “If we had to pay to f ly a ll t hese people here and house t hem, it wouldn’t be possible, so that’s t he blessing of t he online t hing.” The conference w ill start w ith a w riter’s marat hon, which Higgs describes as “an opportunit y for t he teen w riters and t he adult w riters who are presenting to gather toget her in a w riting communit y.” “Ever ybody w rites to [a] prompt for a set period of
time,” she said. “So, it’s ver y short, like 3 minutes. Ever ybody w rites to t hat. A nd t hen we draw anot her prompt.” Higgs describes t his start of t he conference as a warm-up. Follow ing t his section t here w ill be a variet y of brea kout sessions, workshops and t wo key note presentations. The fa ll semester has been a busy time for Higgs, but she said t he work she and ot her facult y, staff and students have put into t he conference is a ll wort h it. “[It’s] such an emotiona l t hing because I feel like — what’s t he one t hing I do t hat I can see t he impact immediately? The students just need it,” Higgs said. “They just need to be in a room w it h ot her w riters and t hey need t he opportunit y to be ta ken seriously as a w riter.” W hile t here is a $70 dollar registration fee, Higgs notes t hat for a w riting conference t his is relatively low and t here are many aid options for participants who may need assistance. “So, my goa l w it h it was to keep [t he cost] as low as I possibly can, but still be able to bring in t he aut hor and be able to support t he [conference],” Higgs said. Higgs shared her excitement over t he opportunit y support young w riters. “This year we have somebody in New Zea land participating, which means t hat for her t he conference w ill be starting … I t hink midnight, so she w ill be stay ing up a ll night for t he conference,” Higgs said. “I would say it’s tota lly wort h it because of t he motivation, students stay up a ll night to w rite, she added. “You k now, t hose are t he k ind of people you want to ma ke sure you’re supporting.” Those interested in signing up for t he conference can still do so by registering on t he College’s Campus and Communit y Events website.
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NEWS
The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
Staff details food repurposing processes By RYAN PETERS Associate News Editor
College campuses throw out on average 22 million pounds of food each year, according to the Food Recovery Network. With North and South Dining Halls serving thousands of meals each day, Notre Dame is no stranger to food waste. During the 2019-20 academic year shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the two dining halls and Center for Culinary Excellence (CCE) churned out more than 284 tons of food waste and leftover food, according to data provided by the Office of Sustainability. So what does the University do with all of its excess food and scraps? The Office of Sustainability and Campus Dining have constantly been searching for ways to minimize the amount of food that ends up in landfills for years, acting senior director of sustainability Carol Mullaney said. There are currently four primary means of repurposing excess food and waste from the dining halls and CCE, Campus Dining director of supply chain and sustainability Cheryl Bauer said. Nonprofit collects and donates leftovers to community organizations
The first process is a South Bend-based not-for-profit group called Cultivate Food Rescue regularly picks up untouched leftover
Pangborn Continued from page 1
filled next year. How to create tradition
Laszlo said he faced the task of building a new dorm community, a prominent feature of life at Notre Dame, through “listening to the opinions of others” and then “following through.” To begin their mission, Laszlo and Oberlies started researching old traditions. They found in the 1960s, the dorm hung large comedic banners on the building in support of the football team on game days. The hall council quickly took up this tradition and it became a staple of this year’s football season. The banner committee’s first work was featured on the @fightingirish official Instagram account. While hanging banners is an old tradition, game days have also quickly become the rallying space for making new traditions. The residents started practices of jumping in the lake before the first home game and partially shaving their heads. Both Dailey and Laszlo were proud of the growth of the hall council and the events they have hosted this year, such as cookouts and Saturday’s upcoming SYR, especially since they built the hall government a few weeks into the fall semester.
food a few times per week, Bauer said. Cultivate has partnered with over 100 pantries and community organizations in Northern Indiana and distributes the food to its partners. A student group called Food Rescue used to pick up and donate the leftover food to community organizations, but during the pandemic, Campus Dining switched to having Cultivate pick up all the leftover food from the dining halls and CCE because it is easier for them to transport larger amounts of food and they have a more streamlined process, Bauer said. Food Rescue still collects and donates leftover food from retail outlets around campus, such as Au Bon Pain. In 2019-20 and 2020-21, Cultivate collected 29.7 and 24.5 tons of food respectively from the dining halls and CCE, according to data from the Office of Sustainability. Cultivate also partners with athletics and collected and repurposed more than 20,000 pounds of excess food from Notre Dame Stadium this year, according to a University press release. Massive ‘InSinkErator on steroids’ converts food waste to energy
The second means of repurposing excess food from the dining halls is converting the food waste into clean, renewable energy via the Grind2Energy system. The University implemented the
Typical hall elections at Notre Dame take place in the spring semester. First-year Quinn Kurland, a finance major from Libertyville, Illinois, said his experience in Pangborn has been different than it would be in other residence halls, considering there are few upperclassmen. “But we’ve all come together so well,” he said. “There’s such a strong sense of community and that’s the best thing about it for sure.” Kurland spoke highly of the hall’s recently formed government and its successful efforts to raise money through its game day concession stand. “Everyone has leadership roles, everyone is super involved,” he said. “We started traditions and everyone’s just super proud to be in Pangborn.” History
Built in 1955, Pangborn was the University’s 15th residence hall and was converted into a women’s dorm in 1992. In 2016, the Pangborn community moved into newly constructed Flaherty Hall and Pangborn became a “swing dorm,” where residents stayed for a year while their home dorms were renovated. Walsh Hall was the first to temporarily occupy Pangborn, followed by Badin Hall and Morissey Manor. From 2019 to 2020, Pangborn served as
system — which can take almost all food waste — in 2019, first by installing a system outside of the CCE and later outside of both dining halls. “Grind2Energy is basically like your disposal at home in your sink. It’s just massive and an InSinkErator on steroids,” Bauer said. “Because it will take the tops of pineapple, it will take beef bones, and it pulverizes them and turns them into a slurry, or a liquid with the solids suspended in it.”. The slurry is then pumped into trucks and transported to an anaerobic digestion facility at Homestead Dairy in Plymouth, Indiana — located about 35 minutes south of campus. The anaerobic digestion recovers water and captures methane, which can then be converted into renewable energy such as electricity or compressed natural gas. The resulting solid and liquid byproduct can be converted into dairy bedding and fertilizer. Campus dining currently does not have enough staff to use Grind2Energy this semester due to the labor shortage, but Bauer hopes they will be able to begin using the system again in the spring. In the COVID-shortened 201920 year, the dining halls and CCE put 254.6 tons of waste through the Grind2Energy system, according to the Office of Sustainability. That number dropped to 82.2 tons during the 2020-21 school year due to alterations to food serving caused by the pandemic.
interim housing for female students who were then given priority housing in newly constructed Johnson Family Hall. During the 2020-2021 school year, Pangborn served as a home for female transfer students and students who could not go abroad due to the pandemic. In early May 2021, the University announced the closure of Zahm Hall’s community and its changed status to swing dorm. It was then announced that Pangborn was to become a permanent men’s residence hall. Dailey said he looks forward to seeing how the students bond even more next year when the traditions will be in their second year. As the newly revived dorm’s first semester concludes, Laszlo said he is looking forward to hosting alumni guest speaker events — including basketball star and former Chicago Bulls president of basketball operations John Paxson — next semester, in addition to building an online Pangborn alumni network and choosing a signature dorm event. “I’m really looking forward to next year and seeing another freshman class in there,” Laszlo said. “For them to be able to see what we built … I can’t wait to see the place packed. It’s going to be a lot of fun.” Contact Isabella Volmert at ivolmert@nd.edu
Local farmer feeds livestock with scraps, Campus Dining repurposes leftovers itself
Additionally, a local farmer who used to be a butcher at the University often comes and picks up scraps to feed to livestock on his farm in Michigan, Bauer said. The final common means of repurposing excess food is simply reheating it and serving it again. “If there’s a whole pan of chicken breasts left, we’ll dice those up for the salad bar,” Bauer said. “That’s one that almost would never get donated because we have something that we can do with it that’s a very acceptable way to use it.” Dining hall changes hope to limit waste
One change in the dining halls targeted at limiting waste is that trays are no longer offered. Because meals were served in to-go containers last year, there was no need for trays. And while these containers were originally being thrown away, program manager for sustainable operations Greg Koehler even found a way of repurposing the containers with food residue on them. Koehler discovered that the containers could be sent to a plant in Indiana called Brightmark Energy that could convert the containers into low-sulfur diesel fuel through a process called pyrolysis. The containers are now gone, but the trays also remain gone. Koehler said the dining halls are no longer
Senate Continued from page 1
of this program will open up to the rest of the student body. CCC president Maddie Tupy gave a presentation regarding club funding. “CCC is a branch of the Student Union with the mission of helping clubs succeed; we help fund clubs with funding, consulting, event programming, transitions and many other things,” Tupy said. Tupy went into the logistics of spring 2021 funding allocation. She further explained what made the spring 2021 allocations different from previous years. After the CCC presentation, a resolution to recognize the need for priests in all residence halls was brought to the table. This resolution stirred many questions and debate among senators. Lewis Hall senator Madeline Kosobucki, one of the authors of the resolution, spoke on the benefit of having priests in all residence halls. “Having a priest-in-residence contributes to the community atmosphere of each residence hall, which is a unique aspect of our campus residence life system,” Kosobucki said. This was a controversial topic among members of the senate. Farley Hall senator Annika Barron said she surveyed residents in her dorm, asking them whether they felt the need for a priest.
providing trays in part to encourage students to take less food and because there is not enough staff to clean them. Bauer said she expects the amount of waste generated by the dining halls to continue to go down this year because of changes to the menus. This year, more build-yourown meals, such as sandwiches and quesadillas, are offered than usual, especially at lunch. “Anytime you have a build-yourown option, the chance of having a waste that you would have a hard time reusing diminishes greatly compared to hot prepared dishes,” Bauer said. “It doesn’t create a lot of waste that cannot be reused because those things are kept at cold temperatures or hot temperatures, so they’re always food safe.” The shift to more build-your-own meals is also a result of the labor shortage, as those types of meals require less preparation, Bauer said. With several adaptations to the dining halls and innovative ways to repurpose excess food, Mullaney said the University is always looking for ways to reduce waste. “We’re always open to looking at new ideas and trying to capture more of it. I mean, in an ideal world, right, we would have a solution where we could capture 100% and no food waste goes into a landfill,” Mullaney said. “That’s what we’re striving towards. There’s a lot of work to get there.” Contact Ryan Peters at rpeters5@nd.edu
“In light of the question, it seemed like most people were kind of neutral about having a priest-in-residence, with some people feeling very strongly that they didn’t want a priest,” she said. Duncan Hall representative Christian Quilon, one of the authors of the resolution, questioned the survey results. He asked how many Farley residents had responded to the survey. Barron said around 30 members of her residence hall had filled out the survey. Quilon said he considered that a small sample size and thus unrepresentative of the thoughts other students in the Notre Dame campus may have. Some senators spoke up, saying that although it was a small sample size, those who answered the survey cared enough to do so — and as women living in a dorm, their voices should be heard. The debate continued and solutions to the issue were offered during the discussion. Some members said priests should be assigned dorms — that they should have their own individual offices and should be available to students who want their spiritual guidance. Ultimately, the debate was directed to a close and the proposition was tabled to the Department of Faith Services. Contact Heaven Carter at hcarter2@nd.edu
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The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
The consent of the governed
Inside Column
Everything is a social construct David Henry Allison Thornton
Corrupting the Youth
Photo Editor
I was in a meeting w ith my senior comprehensive adv isor not too long ago when she pointed out a sticker I have on my laptop: “Ever y thing is a social construct.” W hen she read it, she couldn’t stop laughing. Then, she proceeded to ask why I would have a sticker that said this. My answer was because when I was a first-year at Saint Mar y’s, I was placed into a 300-level anthropolog y class about how other cultures v iew and describe gender. The conclusion that we came to in ever y class was that ever y thing is a social construct. Now, some might ask, “W hat even is a social construct? ” My answer would be “Ever y thing,” but to be more specific, according to the Webster Dictionar y, it is “an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a societ y.” For example, it could be ever y thing from how we as a western societ y v iew gender to what is the correct way to behave in public. They are all ways of thinking developed by humans and accepted into ever yday life. One of the biggest things I like to talk about is time. Now, time is a measurement in the world of mathematics. But if you think about it, time doesn’t ex ist. Instead, humans created it to maintain order and put a label on the movement of the Earth rotating around the sun. W hen I was in high school, I used to talk about this w ith my friends and they would get so angr y w ith me. They reasoned that it does ex ist because they could look at a clock and read numbers. Therefore, since they saw it in a physical form, it had to be authentic. As a rebuttal to this argument, I asked how they thought early humans kept time. But who knows, maybe our ancestors had their way of “telling time.” Some would argue that science could be a social construct. We all know that science is factual, but I like to discuss how people interpret science and react to it. The way we receive information and interpret science is a social construct. How we learn new things is a social construct, school is a social construct. A lthough science is to the point and factual, societ y constructed the way humans process information through being taught how to process certain things. As an anthropolog y major, we talk at length about social constructs in just about ever y class. It is the way our societ y functions. We are all heav ily inf luenced by each other. Humans are incredible creatures. I love learning about new cultures and developing different ways of thinking than the western world I grew up in. Study ing how other people live has always fascinated me. The biggest takeaway from my anthropolog y courses is to have an open mind about ever y thing. Because of social constructs, we are taught to think and feel specific ways about race, gender, sexualit y, etcetera. At the end of the day, we are all human. We all have our ow n experiences in life and it is our job to listen to others and reconstruct social values for future generations to see humans expect all people for who they are. In my opinion, that is the only way for humans to succeed. You can contact Allison at athornton01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
“... Governments are instituted among Men, deriv ing their just powers from the consent of the governed,” Thomas Jefferson claimed in the Declaration of Independence. This claim, that governments are legitimized by the consent of the governed, is an important one because it is nothing less than the moral justification for ever y law and institution our government establishes. For being such an important ideal of our political system today, I feel that the notion of whether or not “the governed” have actually consented to their government goes largely unexamined. The general reluctance to question this belief, or the ease w ith which many dismiss challenges to it, makes sense, as Americans are constantly told that we are among the freest people on Earth. To even consider that the foundation of our societ y might be coercive and authoritarian would then be to think of ourselves as no better than the dictators and despots we are constantly warned against. Of course, the average American experiences greater day to day freedoms of choice than the average North Korean. But, we were born into the United States just as much as they were born into North Korea w ithout anyone asking where we would like to live. We may get to vote for our political leaders, but there was never any point in time where we explicitly agreed to live in and abide by the rules of the United States. I do not recall signing any social contract, and I have yet to meet someone who does. A likely objection to this line of reasoning is to point out that, unlike North Korean citizens, we Americans have the right to leave the United States and go somewhere else. They reason that because we have this right to leave but nonetheless still decide to stay means that we implicitly consent to the government that ex ists here. This argument is about as old as democracy itself. In ancient Athens, the philosopher Plato w rote a work called the “Crito,” where Socrates, after being condemned to death by the cit y of Athens, argues w ith another man named Crito as to why it would be unjust for him to f lee the cit y and avoid execution. Socrates imagines what the Athenian laws, if they could speak, would say to him. He imagines that they would object that even though it was the laws of Athens that nurtured him from youth, they never once forbade him from leav ing to live elsewhere. Furthermore, the laws argue that they would also not stop him from taking his propert y w ith him if he chose to leave. Thus, the laws argue that Socrates need not have agreed to them in words because he already agreed to the laws in deed. A lthough at the time “Crito” was w ritten there was no conception of a government based on consent, the argument that consent is implied by not leav ing was still being made. Despite the force of this argument, there are a few reasons to be skeptical. My first objection to this argument is that it presupposes the legitimacy of the government. The clearest way to see this is to ask why a person that doesn’t like the government has to leave? The government, if truly based
on the consent of the governed, should be abolished if people no longer consent. The fact that a person that does not consent is expected to leave means that we already accept that people have consented to that government. Other w ise, why would we expect someone to leave if they do not agree? Therefore, this argument is premised on the idea that the government is already justified. Another objection to the argument in the “Crito” is to point out that the implied consent from not leav ing a government comes only from the fact that the person in question thinks that particular government is the best of the alternatives. Being the best does not mean that it is morally good. To use an analog y, imagine different governments as different board games. Normally, indiv iduals are free to stop playing a board game whenever they w ish to. In that case, it would be fair to say that indiv iduals consent to the rules of that board game because they could simply leave whenever they want and go make up their ow n rules for their ow n game. But w ith governments, while we might be free to go and play a different board game — we might decide to go play checkers rather than chess — we are unable to not play a board game. Furthermore, it might be the case that there are no good options. Imagine that each available board game requires players to stand barefoot on top of hot coals while they play. In this hy pothetical situation, where there is no alternative w ithout hot coals, it would be absurd to claim that players have implicitly consented to standing barefoot on hot coals. Returning to the real world, we should notice that it is basically impossible to live any where w ithout a government, and that governments might all contain features — like hot coals — that we find objectionable. And both of these objections are to say nothing about the difficult y of mov ing to a different countr y. To become a permanent resident in another countr y — although the process w ill var y by countr y — one would need to go through the process of applying for a v isa, finding a place to live, possibly learning a new language and being prepared to leave family and friends behind. Gaining citizenship in another countr y is likely an even longer process and not even guaranteed. A ll of this is to say, we should not fool ourselves into thinking that our laws and institutions derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed. The laws and institutions that we have are not ones to which we have independently consented, but have instead inherited. In the absence of the consent of the governed, we must find a different moral foundation for governance or admit that there is no moral foundation at all. David Henry is a sophomore majoring in the Program of Liberal Studies with a supplementary major in ACMS and a minor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Originally from Minnesota, David lives in Baumer Hall on campus. He can be reached at dhenry3@nd.edu over email. The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
Letter to the Editor
Finding myself I’ve thought this over for months, and now, I think I understand. I believed it was love. I really did. It felt like the movies: a meet-cute when I wasn’t expecting or anticipating any type of romantic relationship, spending the chilly fall nights riding our bikes around Notre Dame and watching the seasons change with the stars, being there for each other when we encountered the inevitable challenges of the first year of college. Until it wasn’t. He told me about all of his problems with his parents and siblings, his difficulties with his faith journey and vocation discernment, as well as his self-esteem and acceptance challenges. I was there to support him through all of his rants and tears and frustrations. But my problems didn’t have as much of an importance to him. My problems were irrelevant. My problems (homesickness, loneliness, perfectionism, learning my independence) were so small compared to everything else. And I believed that. He told me he loved me for the first time when he was crying about how he didn’t feel good enough to be in college. I remember that night so clearly. It felt perfect. Almost. I saw him almost every day. He didn’t like the COVID-19 protocols my campus had, so most times I would go over to see him. I wanted to go see him. I never thought I was the only one putting in all the effort. He always said how beyond grateful he was that I was there for him. How he
had never met a woman who loved him so much. Because I did. I loved him. Until things started to change. It started with FaceTime calls where he would give “constructive” criticism about my character. How I didn’t need to talk over him, even though he would be the one interrupting me. How I needed to be better on introducing him to my friends. How I needed to go to Eucharistic Adoration and confession more. It turned into criticizing my driving (even though he had gotten his license only a month earlier), making me feel like I was selfish for wanting to see him, spending more time with friends and not telling me, and giving up on promises. It came to a head at the end of March, when it took him two weeks to admit he’d slept with the girl he told me not to worry about. He was apologetic at first, but he wanted to leave the past in the past. He refused to take a break, as I had been advised to do, because we could grow from that. We, not him, because I was also at fault too. Right? After a couple weeks he acted like it hadn’t happened. I was hurting so badly. I had never been cheated on in my life, and I was expected to continue on with my life like it didn’t exist? I should’ve known then. I was treated horribly for the next few months. I was always put after his friends. He didn’t have enough time for me. He wanted me to drive him every where since he didn’t have a car. He was rude
to my family and constantly acted like a know-itall when it came to anything about the Catholic Church. He focused on the physical part of our relationship, and even though I told him how much I didn’t want it, I felt like I had to so that he would be happy. I felt stupid, used, unwanted. I cried almost every day, wondering where I went wrong. It was all my fault. My fault he was unhappy. My fault he cheated on me because I wasn’t doing enough. My fault I wasn’t a “good Catholic.” My fault the relationship wasn’t what it was the first month we were together. Everything was my fault. This past summer was particularly difficult on my mental and emotional health. I was so attached to him that my emotions were dictated by his falling short of promises and distancing himself more and more. Most days I was on the verge of tears. Then he decided to end the relationship on his own. School had just started. And I was expected to pick myself up and continue on like nothing happened. Just like always. I made the decision to get help from others. I wanted to love myself again. I wanted to live for myself and not another person. I wanted my feelings to be acknowledged, not repressed. I wanted myself back. And now I have that. Lauren Davis Saint Mary’s College class of 2024 Nov. 22
Moral Therapeutic Deism and Notre Dame: a match made in heaven? Alexa Schlaerth Soapbox Symposium
Is the Catholicism we see practiced in campus spiritual life today consistent w ith the traditional values and practices of the Catholic Church? Or have we strayed to a new and different belief system, more suitable to the modern practitioner? Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) is a rev isionist version of what traditional Christianit y practices. In Christian Smith’s “God, Religion, W hatever,” we get an outline of the core tenets of this modern and informal tradition: 1, God exists and watches over us; 2, God wants us to be “good”; 3, the goal of life is happiness; 4, God has a minimal presence in our lives until He needs to troubleshoot a problem; 5, good people go to heaven. W hile relatively basic, these central beliefs encapsulate some important aspects of Christianit y well and misunderstand others. It’s clear that MTD offers a much more casual approach to belief. God here is seen as a deity (technically heretical), but this is a tempting lens to use. God is like a big brother — He’s cool w ith
us and w ill give us guidance when we need it, but w ill leave us alone when we don’t. With this kind of moral f lex ibilit y, it naturally follows that teens/Gen Z/our generation fall into the trap of adopting MTD as their personal theolog y. In other words, I think it’s accurate to say that MTD is among the dominant ideolog y for “believers” in this generation. I can’t speak for all 2000s babies, but I think the intent is often rightly-motivated. Religion gets a bad rep these days, and today’s youth are tr ying to reconcile a progressive and sometimes intolerant modern movement w ith thousands-of-years-old religions. MTD offers adolescents and young adults a much more palatable and permissive belief system than is traditional. And this alternative to the traditional institution of the Catholic Church offers a huge draw to more and more young Catholics. As such, it poses what some would consider a “threat” to traditional belief systems. But this new-wave spin on Christian belief is valuable in its ow n right. It ref lects many of the shared values of younger Christians: tolerance, individualit y, kindness. W hile I acknowledge the link between my generation and MTD, it remains unclear to me
whether this relationship is just between MTD and youth today or rather if it’s MTD and youth in general. Is it just a phase, and if so, w ill we grow out of it? My gut feeling is that some version of MTD is common among youth in general, as it offers a mode of theological ref lection that is somewhat superficial and allows the practitioner to make their ow n decisions. During adolescence and young adulthood, this seems to be what we want. I do believe, however, that as we get older and w iser, some former MTD kids w ill see God’s truth. On the universit y level, it seems we are inching ever closer to Moral Therapeutic Deism. And that may not be a bad thing. W hether our generation grows out of MTD or not, there’s something to be said in favor of “tr ying on” the belief system. Alexa Schlaerth is a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame pursuing degrees in Chinese and philosophy. As an Angeleno, Alexa enjoys shopping at Erewhon Market, drinking kombucha and complaining about traffic because it’s “like, totally lame.” Alexa can be reached at aschlaer@nd.edu over email. The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
Inside Column
Unexpected smiles Hannah Hebda Viewpoint Copy Editor
We’ve all heard the cliché “be the reason somebody smiles today,” but how often do we take the time to stop and think about what made us smile today? I had a professor at the beginning of the semester begin our first discussion section by asking us to share an “unexpected smile” from the week. For a moment, no one knew what to say. My classmates and I sat there in complete silence as we all racked our brains tr y ing to remember something positive that happened during the week. Then, the stories started coming. Ever yone shared a unique stor y about how someone complimented their outfit or how a professor made a joke that he thought was funny but no one else did. As ever yone shared these moments of unanticipated happiness, I realized how often I forget to stop at the end of my day and think about the small moments of joy that made my day just a little bit better. This isn’t a groundbreaking realization, but now it’s a common practice of my day to take a minute and think about what my
“unexpected smile” was. As college students, it’s easy to w ish the days away, wanting the weekend to come faster. Now, as the end of the semester approaches, we are doing the same thing: Eagerly awaiting w inter break and for classes to finally be over. But are we so focused on the future that we aren’t taking the time to stop and think about the day we just had? Are we so an x ious about our imminent final exams, essays and presentations that we aren’t taking the time to recognize the positive moments of ever y day? As human beings, we have so many different experiences that shape our lives in meaningful ways, but we often fail to notice them. It’s an easy task to just take a moment and find a little joy in your day, and now, more than ever, it’s important to do that. Even more, we should stop and think about what we are doing to make other people smile ever y day. Are you holding the door open for someone as they’re leav ing a building? Maybe you’re sending a text to check in on a family member or you’re hav ing dinner at the dining hall w ith a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Even on a bad day when it doesn’t seem that way, there are plent y of reasons to smile.
So, I challenge you to take the time at the end of your day to stop and ref lect on what made you smile unexpectedly and what you are doing to make others smile unexpectedly. W hatever it was that made you smile today, that little moment of joy brightened your day, and that’s important to recognize. We all have the power to spread some positiv it y amidst the stressful few weeks we have left here on campus. Let’s focus on the good of each day and know that, while we w ill be happily spending time w ith loved ones over the holidays, we are all here together right now at Notre Dame, pushing through the rest of the semester together, and we can contribute to small moments of happiness that make life better for ever yone. Remember that there are an infinite number of reasons to smile during the day, and just as many ways to make somebody else smile. I inv ite you to take some time to think about this as we finish out the semester. I’ll even ask you now: W hat was your “unexpected smile” today? You can contact Hannah at hhebda@nd.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
A right to an education Mary Ellen Woods MEWsings
As I have noted in earlier columns, I am back on campus as part of the Inspired Leadership Initiative program (ILI). We study together as a group of Fellows and also take classes in a w ide range of fields of study w ith undergrad and graduate students. Earlier this semester, in my wonderful sociolog y class — professor Amy Langenkamp’s “Social Inequalit y in American Education” — we learned about two rival school districts: one predominantly Black, under-funded and failing, the other majorit y white, w ith reasonable funding (no school district is ever well-funded), yet profoundly broken. Our learning focused on the early reporting of Notre Dame alumna Nikole Hannah-Jones ’98 and Ira Glass in “The Problem We A ll Live With” — episode 562 of the This American Life podcast, published July 31, 2015. In this episode, through tapes of a local school board meeting recorded by the St. Louis Public Radio station, we hear a stor y of the extraordinar y efforts of Black students and their families in the failing school as they attempt to continue their education despite the efforts of local politicians, educators and parents. I am grateful to Hannah-Jones for her work as a journalist in bringing attention to the problem of discrimination in education. In short, the Normandy high school lost its state accreditation after many years of not meeting academic standards. The new designation — unaccredited — allowed Normandy students
to transfer to Francis Howell. Francis Howell was neither a short bus ride to Normandy nor welcoming of the prospective transfer students. The podcast demonstrates in v iv id language the perspectives and prejudices of the unwelcoming parents. They didn’t want their white children to suffer “v iolence” at the hands of the transfer students; and were concerned that their “awardw inning school district” would suffer from what they called the lack luster academic performance of the incoming young people. Keep in mind that despite their strong opinions, not one of the parents on tape offered a single fact or statistic to support their claims. Fortunately for the new transfer students, the Francis Howell teachers banded together and created a new student welcome program that allowed a number of them to succeed and even f lourish at their new school. Despite being allowed to transfer, hav ing some students thrive and actually achiev ing the hope of integration, “the powers that be” were not finished. The Normandy parents had to go to court to protect their children’s right to an education at Francis Howell. These parents filed a lawsuit in defense of their children and, ultimately, their right to an education. And it is here, in court, that the second Notre Dame alumnus enters the picture. Judge Michael Burton ’82 was called on to determine if Normandy was still “unaccredited,” if the school district had properly followed its ow n procedure and, finally, if the students had the right to be at Francis Howell. Judge Burton — who is also a Fellow in the ILI program — ruled in favor of the former Normandy
students. And, though the podcast format does a superior job of ref lecting the animus of the Francis Howell parents, Burton’s w ritten decision and the unsigned “love letter” he received after his decision are a perfect testimony to the students and their case. From Burton’s decision: “Plaintiffs (Normandy students) simply seek a decent education.” Ever y day a student attends an unaccredited school, the child could experience harm that cannot be repaired. Earlier this week, Judge Burton joined us in Prof. Langenkamp’s class to share his role in this decision and to further defend the Normandy students. I am grateful to Judge Burton for his friendship, his work and to both him and Nikole Hannah-Jones as Notre Dame alumni for their central roles in this situation. They honor us in their fight for the educational rights of the Normandy students. (Nikole Hannah-Jones watchers w ill note that her early work focused on racial segregation in America, particularly in education. She was recognized w ith a MacArthur Foundation fellowship — commonly called a “Genius Grant” — for that work.) Mary Ellen Woods is a graduate of the Notre Dame class of 1980. She has returned to campus as a Fellow in the Inspired Leadership Initiative (ILI). As an undergraduate, she lived in Breen-Phillips and now lives off campus. Her columns appear every other Thursday. A longtime resident of Chicago, she can be reached at mewoods80@nd.edu or @MEWsmuses on Twitter. The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
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CLAIRE REID | The Observer
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The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
By JUSTIN GEORGE Scene Writer
It has been brought to my attention that many of you have been watching the wrong Christmas movies for the majority of your lives. Fear not, dear reader! It is not too late to change your festive film viewing habits. Here are a handful of my favorite Christmas movies that I think don’t get nearly enough attention. While I would love to include “Die Hard” on this list, it is a canonical Yuletide favorite which unfortunately disqualifies it from this list. ‘Fanny and Alexander’ (1982) This one is a commitment to watch, I’ll admit, but nothing compares to immersing yourself in the world the Ingmar Bergman built for “Fanny and Alexander.” Featuring cinematography by the incomparable Sven Nykvist, this film is a feast for the eyes unlike any other. The plot follows a brother and sister as they navigate growing up, grief and an abusive stepfather. It’s not the most cheerful film, but it is one of the greatest films ever made. That being said, the first 90 minutes of the film are pure cinematic joy, perfectly capturing the feeling of being a child on Christmas Day. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999) Stanley Kubrick’s final film is not only a brilliant psychological drama, it’s also a Christmas movie!
By JP SPOONMORE Scene Writer
I instinctively avoid animated Netflix Originals. They often follow one of the two art styles they can afford, and their stories are constantly moody. For me, I see no point in starting one when an identical one comes out a week later. Dropping entire seasons of similar shows, one after the other, clutters the catalogue, leaving me in an expanding void of exchangeable conflicts and characters. But “Arcane” is different. Not like a “Oh, this one has good characters, though!” but more of a complete revival of animated streaming shows. All aspects of the production are executed with full dedication: the scale is an exponential leap, both in technique and potential; the 3D animation is jaw dropping in its fluid energy, committing to multiple aesthetics and rhythms without hesitation; and the world constantly grows, bringing new color and light to each scene with boundless opportunities for future installments. The choice to release weekly was smart, but it was the evolution of the story in act-structures with the episodes that really shined. There’s a lot of pros to episodic releases, mainly that it keeps the show in conversation much longer than a full-season dump, but “Arcane” attempts a middle ground, which I think falls short in its season finale. I think Netflix is still skittish when it comes to the weekly releases, them being the only streaming service
This film follows a man and a woman, played by Tom Cruise and Nichole Kidman, as they deal with marriage issues, infidelity and a masked sex cult. Beautifully shot, brilliantly acted, thought-provoking and disturbing film about the complex intersection between marriage and sexuality. It takes place on Christmas and there’s a Christmas tree in nearly every shot. It counts. ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ (1944) This classic musical follows a year in the life of Esther (Judy Garland) who is in love with John (Tom Drake), the boy next door who hardly notices her. Over the course of the film’s runtime, Esther’s attempts at courting John eventually lead up to the two attending a Christmas ball together. If nothing else convinces you to watch this film, watch it for Garland’s rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” ‘Carol’ (2015) “Carol” is one of the most beautiful films of the past 10 years. The film follows Therese (Rooney Mara) and Carol (Cate Blanchett) as they navigate their feelings for one another and try to keep their affair a secret over the course of the 1952 Christmas season. “Carol” is an intimate glimpse into a side of Eisenhower-era America that is seldom, if ever, represented on screen. The winner of numerous awards, “Carol” is a masterclass in all aspects of filmmaking and stands as one
of the most visually and emotionally impactful films I have ever seen. ‘Tangerine’ (2015) Perhaps the most nontraditional Christmas film on this list, “Tangerine” follows a transgender sex worker who discovers that her boyfriend (who is also her pimp) is cheating on her. A film about family set against the backdrop of Los Angeles’ Tinseltown on Christmas Eve, this is a Christmas movie through and through. “Tangerine” is the directorial debut of Sean Baker and was independently produced and shot on iPhone 5S, which is absolutely amazing to consider when watching the film due to the ravishing cinematography on display in this film. ‘Black Christmas’ (1974) Did you really think I’d make a list without a horror film? Nine years before Bob Clark made “A Christmas Story,” he planted the seeds of the seasonal slasher genre with “Black Christmas.” The film follows a group of sorority sisters who start to receive mysterious phone calls. After a local girl is murdered and one of the girls in their sorority disappears, the sorority begins to suspect that a serial killer is on the loose. Smart, stylish and thrilling, “Black Christmas” is a perennial favorite for fans of the genre.
that doesn’t do it, which I think is wasted potential. “Arcane” splits its story into three acts. The first takes place when the main characters are kids, and the later two take place after a time jump of several years. The transition from Act 1 to Act 2 was fantastic; the beginning culminates in a tragic ending that catapults into the start of the real story. The transition from Act 2 to Act 3 was less of an impact, though. It just continues with the same conflict, with only a few shifts in character focuses. One character in particular suddenly asks for empathy, and I just didn’t buy it at all. His quick humanization crippled Act 3, but the emotional wake was still decent. Everything revolves around the characters and how they stand against each other. The dynamic shifts in each episode as more is uncovered, leaving a winding path of big dramatic reveals to enjoy. Most of these lead into a fight scene, all of which are the highlight of every episode. Each one has its own stylistic twist that affects the visuals and choreography. Driven by the characters, their individual arcs clash into each other, making the energy pop as the story twists in new directions. The most surprising part of the show is definitely the music. It’s a unique collection of artists and styles to say the least. At the very beginning is the Imagine Dragons opening title sequence that is both catchy and edgy in a charming way. Then there’s a long list of punk and techno in the soundtrack to match the Undercity tone, which helps flesh out the neon punk world efficiently. But the strangest musical appearance is Sting, out of
nowhere. His original song — for this show — creates the most emotional and climactic scene in the whole season. I keep listening to it on repeat. That’s how good it is. I know nothing about “League of Legends” lore, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the characters and world. Will it inspire me to play the game or delve deeper into its characters? No. But I’ll get excited when the next season releases. This show is more than just a video game adaptation, it exists on its own. There are probably references tucked into the corners that I missed, but they never elbow themselves into the story. Anyone can go in blind and experience the same excitement as a lifelong fan, which is the smartest choice the creators made in crafting this show. As a beginning point of established heroes and villains, I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Contact Justin George at jgeorge3@nd.edu
Contact JP Spoonmore at jspoonmo@nd.edu
“Arcane” Director: Pascal Charrue, Arnaud Delord Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Spisak If you liked: “Love, Death, and Robots,” “Game of Thrones”
CLAIRE KIRNER | The Observer
Classifieds
ndsmcobserver.com | Friday, December 3, 2021 | The Observer
Crossword | Will Shortz
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Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Streamlining your life will make it easier for you to get where you want to go. Concentrate on your budget and what’s important to you to ensure you can maintain the lifestyle that puts your mind at ease. Stop worrying about what others do and think; start pleasing yourself. Aim to attract people who share your ethics and goals. Your numbers are 5, 12, 21, 24, 33, 35, 43. ARIES (March 21-April 19): KCheck your financial situation, and update investments, contracts and any other paperwork that is about to expire. Staying on top of your responsibilities will help ward off falling behind at a time that’s crucial that you have everything in place. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Do your homework. If you jump into something prematurely, it will lead to regret. Take care of your physical needs to avoid weakness, injury or illness. Be on the lookout for someone jealous or eager to make you look bad. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Set your sights on what you want to happen, and press forward. Talks will bring you closer to your goal, and suggestions will enhance your chance to lead the way. Pace yourself, and don’t promise more than you can deliver. CANCER ( June 21-July 22): Don’t be shy; express your thoughts and feelings, and you’ll come up with an extraordinary plan that will make you look like a genius. Don’t risk your health and well-being because someone is not abiding by the rules. LEO ( July 23-Aug. 22): Emotional anger will cause a stalemate with someone who can influence your lifestyle moving forward. Whether at home or work, do your best to get along with everyone. Think matters through and answer intelligently, and you will gain respect and support. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Put your heart and soul into what and who is important to you. Too much talk and not enough action will frustrate the ones you love. A physical show of affection, interest and leadership will encourage your desired results. Romance is encouraged. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take matters into your own hands. Signify what you are doing, and delegate what you expect of others to reach your target. Opportunity depends on you and how you handle others as well as situations that surface. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll be stuck in a difficult situation if you let your emotions take over. Concentrate on what’s essential, and take care of matters that will encourage the best outcome. Change is required. Causing a disruption will stifle your progress. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Pick up the pace and make every move you make count for something. Don’t wait for others to catch up; set the standard and head to the finish line. Use brainpower to excel, and you will outmaneuver anyone trying to sideline you. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Pay attention, focus on detail, lock in what you want and don’t stop until you reach your goal. Change begins with you. Make a move that will put an end to any uncertainty you harbor. Peace of mind is the ultimate destination. AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Choose your words wisely. An emotional argument will distance you from someone you love. Look for a positive way to express yourself, and it will help you get your way without a fight. A suggestion hidden in a compliment is favored. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Joint ventures aren’t in your best interest. Overpaying for something, taking on too much debt or promising more than you can deliver will drag you down. Ask someone who has more experience, and you’ll receive sound advice. Romance is encouraged. Birthday Baby: You are responsive, generous and determined. You are impulsive and expressive.
Sudoku | The Mepham Group
Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek
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The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
Hockey Continued from page 16
The Irish won just twice at home last year by three or more goals; they’ve done just that in every home game except the one aforementioned overtime defeat. Tough they’re going on the road for just the third time this year and have a pedestrian 2-2 record away from Columbus, Ohio State should pose a challenge to the confident Irish. “I look at them very similar to us,” Jackson said about the Buckeyes. “They got picked 7th in the conference (pre-season), which I was a little bit surprised with. They have pretty good balance upfront, and that’s something we have as well. They’ve gotten more production from their defense. And their one question coming into the season’s been answered by a freshman goaltender.” It may only be December, but if the classic “offense wins games, defense wins championships” holds true, expect both of these teams to continue their strong starts to the season. Jackson himself said, “I expect both of them to be close games and probably low-scoring games.” Both teams allow fewer than 27 shots per game. The Irish lead the conference with a 94% penalty kill, followed closely by the Buckeyes’ 75% mark. While their offenses are also potent, both teams are more than capable of shutting down any opposition. “They’re gonna probably be a lot stricter defensive team than we’ve seen over the last couple weeks,” Jackson said. “That’ll create a different challenge than playing Wisconsin or Michigan.” It isn’t just the defense keeping scores down, though; this series pits two of the Big Ten’s best goaltenders against each other. Ohio State’s .936 team save percentage leads the Big Ten; Notre Dame’s .925% mark ranks third. Graduate transfer Matthew Galajda has been everything the Irish could’ve hoped for and more, posting a sparkling .943 save percentage and winning seven of eight starts. Backup goalie junior Ryan Bischel also has a solid .908 mark in five starts this season. On the other side, Ohio State is led by their starting netminder Jakub Does. As Jackson referred to, Does is sporting a strong .931 save percentage and has played in all but one of the Buckeyes games this season. The freshman is looking like a potential steal for the Montréal Canadiens, who took him in the 5th round of the 2020 NHL Draft. However, both teams are more than their netminders. Ohio State doesn’t have a true go-to scorer to lean on for offense; nobody on their team is above a point-per-game pace or has more than four goals, but outstanding depth has allowed them to be second in the Big Ten with 3.70 goals per game,
just 0.01 ahead of the Irish. Nine different Buckeyes are scoring at least a half-point-per-game rate, with Georgii Merkulov and Boston Bruins prospect Mason Lohrei leading the way at 10 points apiece. Blackhawks prospect Jake Wise is just behind them with 7 points, while Toronto draft pick Ryan O’Connell is an important part of the Buckeyes defense. With the Slaggert brothers drawing the attention of every team’s top defenders after their tremendous 202021 campaigns, forwards like junior Max Ellis, sophomore Ryder Rolston, and junior Solag Bakich have been freed up for breakout seasons. All three are tied for the ND team lead with eight goals, while Ellis is fifth in the Big Ten with 18 points and third with an impressive 1.38 points per game. Ellis was also named the Big Ten’s first star of the week on November 23rd (the last time the Irish were in action) for his stellar performance in Notre Dame’s consecutive overtime wins at then No.1 Michigan. Ellis scored the overtime winner in the first game, then recorded the first hat-trick of his career in the second, the first by a visiting player at Michigan since 2006. Ellis became the first Irish player to be named the conference’s first star of the week since senior forward Graham Slaggert on January 19, and joined Galajda as Notre Dame players to be recognized as a star of the week this season (Galajda was 3rd star on October 26 and November 16). “(He’s) now showing he can shoot the puck as well,” Jackson said while comparing Ellis to former Irish player and current member of the Buffalo Sabres organization Andrew Oglevie. “He’s made good gains in his strength. He’s taken a good step his year but I think there’s still room for growth from him.” That’s a scary thought for opposing defenses and goaltenders to ponder. Notre Dame’s back end is a much larger part of their attack than the Buckeyes. Four Irish defenders are scoring at more than a half-point-pergame pace, led by senior Nick Leivermann with 10. By comparison, only one Ohio State defender is currently above that mark this season, the same amount the Irish had last season (with Leivermann clearing that mark). It’s a testament to the confidence and talent of Notre Dame’s back end that can produce offensively while also playing outstanding defense. Notre Dame and Ohio State drop the puck in Compton Family Ice Arena at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. You can stream both games on NBCSports.com or the NBC Sports App. Friday’s game will be broadcast on NBCSN, and Saturday’s can be seen on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Women’s Basketball
Irish eye UConn showdown Observer Sports Staff
Playing their second true road game of the season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team triumphed over Michigan State, 76-71, on Thursday night. The Irish, ranked No. 24 in this week’s AP Poll, improved to 7-1 on the season with the victory in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. The Spartans fell to 6-3. This victory sets the Irish up for a thrilling road battle this Sunday against No. 2 UConn, as Notre Dame gets a true measuring stick battle. The Irish’s lone loss came on a neutral court in overtime to Georgia, but they followed it up with an upset of then-No. 16 Oregon State. They’ll look for another ranked win over a historic rival this weekend.
Irish take down Spartans Notre Dame dispatched a pesky Michigan State team in a game that stayed close throughout. The star of the contest was freshman guard Sonia Citron who poured in 29 points. Fellow freshman guard Olivia Miles was two assists shy of a triple-double, posting an impressive 11 points, 11 rebounds and eight assist efforts. Notre Dame started slowly in a game that started with a hightempo offense. However, down 23-15 in the final minute of the first quarter, Citron and senior guard Dara Mabrey drilled shots from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to two points. The Irish rode a 9-0 run to a seven-point lead in the second quarter, although
the Spartans stuck around. At halftime, Notre Dame led 36-34, thanks in part to a series of turnovers that kept the Irish scoreless for the final three minutes of action. Notre Dame never trailed in the second half, but their lead was never truly comfortable. Michigan State didn’t score for the first 3 minutes and 48 seconds of second-half action, allowing the Irish to balloon their lead to 45-35. However, a 12-4 Michigan State run again brought the Spartans knocking on the doorstep of the lead. From there, however, it was the Citron show. With Notre Dame leading 4947, Citron was sitting at just eight points on the day. However, she took over in the end of the third quarter, scoring eight points in the final three minutes. The Irish led 55-50 and then expanded it to 65-55 in the early stages of the fourth. The Spartans scratched five straight points out, but Citron buried a triple to keep the pesky hosts at bay. She went on to make four free throws down the stretch, as Notre Dame outlasted the Spartans 76-71.
Showdown in Storrs The UConn-Notre Dame rivalry has many chapters, although Notre Dame has been going through a bit of a program rebuild. However, at 7-1 and back into the Top 25, the Irish are ready to try and take their third win in five tries against the Huskies. The last meeting was lopsided, as UConn won 81-57 in
December of 2019. However, the Irish have won the higher-profile games as of late, with Final Four victories in 2018 and 2019. That being said, Notre Dame hasn’t won a regular-season game against UConn since March 4, 2013. Since then, it’s been six straight regular-season losses against the Huskies for the Irish. The Irish’s balanced scoring has been the hallmark of their season in 2021. Five players are averaging at least 11 points per game, paced by sophomore forward Maddy Westbeld with 14.5 points per contest. Westbeld and junior forward Sam Brunelle lead the team with 7.9 and 8.3 rebounds per game, respectively. However, things won’t come easy against UConn. The Huskies are only 3-1 this season, having played just four games. However, they figure to improve to 4-1 with a Friday night tuneup against unranked Seton Hall. Their most impressive win was a ranked road victory, 60-53, over No. 13 South Florida. Their only loss is to No. 1 South Carolina. The Huskies run through sophomore guard Paige Bueckers who averages 20.5 points per game. She also leads the team in assists with 26 in four games. Senior guard Christyn Williams complements Bueckers with 17.3 points per game. Notre Dame’s battle is a noon tipoff in Storrs on Sunday. The Irish won’t play at home again until December 12 against Purdue University Fort Wayne.
men’s Basketball
Squad falls to Illini 82-72 Observer Sports Staff
Monday night, the Irish (3-3) took their third loss of the season this time to the Fighting Illini (52). The State Farm Center was almost sold out, with 14,097 of the 15,544 seats filled. The Irish took the first lead in Urbana-Champagne, 10-9. It came courtesy of two 3-pointers from senior forward Nate Laszewski and a post-turnover score from senior guard Cormac Ryan. Each team went on their own seven-point run after that — the Illini first, bringing their tally to 16. That run lasted until 11 minutes before the end of the half. Then, Irish senior guard Trey Wertz changed the momentum. The Irish took their turn at a 7-0 run but despite that, the Illini took a 41-34 lead at the half. During the second half, true freshman guard Blake Wesley
took charge. He scored 11 straight for Notre Dame despite Illinois maintaining their lead. Wesley had 24 points on the night, leading the Irish. He was followed by senior guard Dane Goodwin and Laszewski, who had 15 and 13 each. The Irish cut the Illini lead to five points twice within the last six minutes but it wasn’t enough to pull out the win. Despite the loss, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey acknowledged the bright moments and his team needs to work on. “We had our moments,” Brey said. “I thought we were a little better offensively at times. We’re certainly learning about our group. But we couldn’t really get enough stops to make it more than a two-possession game in the second half.” Now, to close out the week, the Irish will open ACC competition against the Boston College Eagles.
Notre Dame will be coming off two straight losses and have lost three of the last four when they face Boston College. During the Maui Invitational, the Irish went 1-2, falling to Saint Mary’s College, 59-62. Then, they beat Chaminade 90-64 before ultimately falling to Texas A&M 67-73. The Eagles, on the other hand, snapped their three-game losing streak after beating Columbia and South Florida in their last two games (7360, 64-49 respectively) which snapped their three-game losing streak. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 26-12, and are 11-8 at Boston College. This Friday, the Irish will head into the game attempting to break both their own losing streak and the Eagles’ win-streak, extending their series lead. The tip will be at 6:00 p.m. at Conte Forum and the game will be on the ACC network.
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sports
ndsmcobserver.com | Friday, December 3, 2021 | The Observer
13
FANTASY CORNER
Observer Roundtable Week 13: Conference Championship games By SAM OUHAJ, J. J. POST and JAMISON COOK Sports Writers
Conference Championship week is here! The following matchups have huge implications for the playoffs going forward and, with all top five teams playing this weekend, someone is bound to drop out of the playoff race. It is set to be an exciting weekend and we cannot be more excited here at The Observer’s Roundtable!
NCAA Games of the Week No. 1 Georgia @ No. 3 Alabama No. 2 Michigan @ No. 15 Iowa No 9. Baylor @ No. 5 Oklahoma State
Sam Ouhaj — Sports Writer I could not be more excited for this matchup. All year long, we knew that when it came down to championship weekend, it would be Georgia vs Alabama in the SEC. While we all thought Alabama would be the powerhouse this year, it actually turned out to be Georgia. Sure, their offense is not out of this world, but Georgia’s defense is among the best I have ever witnessed. Alabama has had a few close calls with lower opponents by letting them hang around. However, Georgia is
not a team you can simply hang around with and if Alabama cannot figure things out offensively, they are going to get annihilated.
Georgia 28, Alabama 17 After what felt like centuries, Michigan had finally done it — they beat Ohio State. I was shocked by the Wolverines’ upset over the Buckeyes. Michigan running back Hassan Haskins had a field day against an Ohio State defense that has been subpar at best; his matchup against the Hawkeyes will not be easy. Iowa has a top-three defensive unit in college football, and if it were not for their lackluster offense, they would most likely be in the College Football Playoff. As much as I want to think Michigan should not face any issues, I have a feeling Iowa is going to be the heartbreaker and shock the world during championship weekend.
Michigan 24, Iowa 28 The Baylor Bears vs. The Oklahoma State Cowboys for the Big 12 championship is a matchup I never expected at the beginning of the season, but here we are. After OSU battled back against Oklahoma to win it in the last minutes, the Cowboys are now ranked fifth in the nation. However, something both of these teams have in common is a win over Oklahoma. Paid Advertisement
The Baylor Bears played the Cowboys better than OSU played Oklahoma, which is why I believe this game is going to be close. If the Bears win, they won’t get into the playoffs, but they could create some chaos in terms of bowl seeding which I am all for. I have the Bears winning a close one.
Baylor 38, Oklahoma State 35 J.J. Post — Sports Writer This is a really interesting litmus test for both teams. Georgia has been dominant all year; no team has even come close to beating them since week one. They truly are the undisputed No. 1 team in the rankings right now. But, on the other hand, they also haven’t played a real contender yet this season. Due to no fault of their own, Georgia’s schedule didn’t end up including a single top 20 team as marquee matchups. Their week one clash with Clemson ended up meaning far less than before, and their in-conference slate failed to produce the SEC’s three other top teams this year. Alabama is the opposite end of that conundrum — we know what they can do against top 20 teams… and it’s not all that much — they’re a relatively unconvincing 2-1 against the top 25. Despite loads of talent and the best coach in the sport, it just hasn’t clicked for Alabama this season.
They’ll come out hungry for sure — they have plenty of doubters this year, and a win in primetime over the Dawgs would lock up both a playoff spot and plenty of national title momentum. But at the end of the day, I think Georgia is the more impressive team overall this season, and I think they edge out a tense one.
Georgia 24, Alabama 20 This may not be the most fun game to watch this weekend, and it also will not be the most interesting. Iowa shouldn’t be slept on — their defense is excellent, but their offense has plodded through the season as a serviceable, and often an unimpressive, unit. They’re more than capable of pulling an upset here in the right circumstances. But at the end of the day, it’s difficult to ignore Michigan’s massive momentum (riding high on the backs of the rivalry win over Ohio State they’ve been waiting years in Ann Arbor for) and star talent (Aidan Hutchinson should be a top five pick lock), which should be enough for them to power through the Hawkeyes and seal their spot in the playoff.
Michigan 30, Iowa 17 The Big 12 Championship is traditionally the most fun game of championship weekend. And that particular competition is usually not close. Three of the last four Big 12 titles have produced games with over 50 points of scoring, and the one exception was last year which went for 48. But this year might be an interesting change from the tradition of high flying shootouts. Oklahoma State’s defensive unit is one of the best in the nation, and Baylor’s has proven stout as well. Baylor is an interesting test for the Pokes — the Bears have played contender killer on more than one occasion this season, downing both top 15 BYU and Oklahoma. Notre Dame fans will be hoping hard they can make it three Saturday, but I think Gundy and Co. come prepared and pitch the complete game they need to close out their season… mainly because I don’t want to jinx my own Notre Dame hopes.
Oklahoma State 34, Baylor 27 Jamison Writer
Cook
—
Sports
A week ago I would have thought that this SEC Championship game would be an instant classic. After Alabama’s performance against Auburn this past week, however, I am not so sure this game will be all that competitive. The Crimson Tide looked horrendous against Auburn: not scoring until the fourth quarter and only putting up 10 points in regulation. They struggled to stop Auburn’s backup quarterback, who couldn’t run on his injured ankle, and they honestly wouldn’t have won this game had Auburn’s
running back not gone out of bounds with 1:47 remaining in regulation. Saban will probably get his team to perform better next week, but if Alabama can’t score on Auburn, they definitely won’t be able to score against Georgia. The Dawgs defense will make life hell for Bryce Young and the rest of the Bama offense and control the line of scrimmage all day long. Georgia will be the undefeated No. 1 seed in the CFP, and Bama will have to wait to see who else loses next week.
Georgia 27, Alabama 16 It would be classic for Jim Harbaugh to finally win a big game and beat Ohio State, only to fall to lowly Iowa in the Big Ten Championship a week later. However, I don’t think Iowa is quite good enough to pull off this upset. Michigan RB Hassan Haskins put the Wolverines on his back last week against Ohio State, and the Buckeyes simply could not stop him. I would expect Michigan to rely on Haskins once again this coming weekend, and I don’t think Iowa will be able to do much about it. The Wolverine defense, led by Aidan Hutchinson, should limit the Hawkeyes offense as well. As much as it pains me to say, it looks like Michigan will be making their first appearance in the College Football Playoff. The Michigan -1 0.5-point line seemed like a lot at first, but they did beat Ohio State by 15, and I think the Wolverines will cover comfortably in this one.
Michigan 31, Iowa 13 Oklahoma State showed some true grit in their comeback win over Oklahoma this past week and the Cowboys have already beaten the Bears once this season, but this should be a close game. If OSU can win, they will likely jump Notre Dame and land in the College Football Playoff — provided that Georgia beats Alabama — making this a massive game for the program. QB Spencer Sanders has been getting it done through the air and on the ground for the Cowboys, and RB Jaylen Warren has notched a 1,000-yard season. Baylor has a similar duo in QB Gerry Bohanon and RB Abram Smith, but Bohanon has turned the ball over less. This should be a high-scoring game, and I think it will come down to the final possession. I haven’t watched a ton of these teams play this season, but I do know that the Big 12 usually does its best to keep itself out of the CFP every year. For that reason, I’m taking the Bears.
Baylor 30, Oklahoma State 28 Contact Sam Ouhaj at souhaj@nd.edu, J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu and Jamison Cook at jcook22@nd.edu
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“Yeah, it’s nice. It’s always nice when you can play the important games at home,” Quinton said. “And obviously the homefield advantage — w ith the fans and the weather, it’s been a lot of fun. There’s no better way to close it out; just got to keep it rolling.” On the other side of the pitch, Notre Dame’s balanced attack has proven an asset in postseason play. The Irish have scored 10 times since the ACC tournament began, w ith the scoring divided among an impressive seven goalscorers. Such a stat is a testament to Notre Dame’s depth up front and at attacking midfield — between senior for ward Jack Lynn, sophomore for ward Daniel Russo, freshman forward Matthew Roou and graduate transfer midfielder Dawson McCartney (among other options), head coach Chad Riley won’t be at a lack for goal-scoring threats while picking his starting lineup or making in-game substitutes. In short, Notre Dame is a balanced team that doesn’t rely on any one player, strength or tactic to get w ins. From long throw-in scrambles, to long shots, to wellexecuted counterattacks, the Irish are capable of beating teams in a w ide variety of ways. Add in a hard-working midfield that’s able to contribute in all phases of the game, and a rocksolid defense that has yet to break even once this postseason and rarely broke in the regular season, and the Irish have a legitimate championship formula in South Bend. A team built like the one Chad Riley has built is extremely hard to take dow n in elimination games, and the program is on the cusp of reaping the rewards. That team structure has the Irish just 90 minutes away from a trip to the College Cup (which would be Notre Dame’s first since the program’s only national championship in 2013). The Irish w ill take on Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. Saturday at A lumni Stadium. The match can also be streamed live on the ACC Network.
10:08 p.m. Two hours pass without a word from Kelly or any official source, while Irish nation scavenges for answers. Then, Kelly reaches out to the team in a text: “Men…Let me first apologize for the late night text and, more importantly, for not being able to share the news with you in person that I will be leaving Notre Dame. I am flying back to South Bend tonight to be able to meet with you in the morning but the news broke late today and I am sorry you found out through social media or news reports. I will have more to share when we meet tomorrow at 7 a.m. but for now, just know that my love for you is limitless and I am so proud of all that you have accomplished. Our program is elite because of your hard work and commitment and I know that will continue. I will share more in the morning when we meet. Again, my sincere apologies for not being able to be the one to share the news directly with you. Coach Kelly.” Kelly’s text was his only contact of the night, as the wild events left the Irish program in a wild state of disarray. Approximately 11:00 p.m. Former Irish walk-on Mick Assaf starts a Twitter Space, opening the floor for current, former and recruited Notre Dame players to share their thoughts on the stunning news. Former quarterback Ian Book, tight end Cole Kmet and wide receiver Chris Finke are among the speakers. 11:22 p.m. 2022 tight end commit Eli Raridon says during Assaf’s Twitter Space, “The majority of us are still 100% locked in if Marcus Freeman is the guy.” Raridon also notes that top 2022 wide receiver recruit C.J. Williams has been pretty quiet. Williams has not decommitted, but the Mater Dei product is still actively visiting several California schools. Also in this Space, Kyle Hamilton and several former Notre Dame football players endorse Freeman as their vote for head coach, citing familiarity with the coach despite his recent arrival. “Coach Freeman came in and it felt like we knew him for years,” Hamilton said.
Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu
Tuesday 7:00 a.m. Kelly hosts the morning meeting, telling attendees: “But there comes a time where you look in your life for another opportunity. And I felt like it was time in my life for another challenge. And I saw that opportunity in a very short window and felt that it was best for me and my family to pursue a new challenge.” The audio, later leaked to Twitter, revealed that Kelly’s talk to his players lasted 3
minutes and 42 seconds. 7:11 a.m. After the very short speech, Kelly walks out of Notre Dame’s football facility in silence, climbs into his car and drives away. He is escorted off the Notre Dame campus by a couple of Notre Dame police cruisers with their lights off. 9:02 a.m. LSU breaks its silence with a press release and video graphic announcing Kelly’s hiring. Here, LSU confirmed Kelly’s deal: a 10-year, $95 million contract, plus incentives. This came nine days after Kelly said it would take a $250 million check for him to leave Notre Dame. During the same press conference on Nov. 22, he also affirmed that he could not imagine leaving Notre Dame under his own volition. 10:00 a.m. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick holds a press conference to address Kelly’s departure. It is here that Kelly’s leave gets its first piece of context. “There was a Freudian slip or two along the way that grabbed my attention,” Swarbrick said. “Whether that was intentional or not, you felt like it was somebody who might be open to a different opportunity.” Swarbrick was also asked about next steps. He noted that he was not planning on naming an interim coach, and if he did, that individual wouldn’t be a candidate for the full-time job. “I don’t see interim head coach as a promotion,” Swarbrick said. “It’s someone to make some decisions that need to be made in that capacity. My confidence level in our staff gives me some time to make that decision.” 2:10 p.m. Notre Dame loses their first commitment in the post-Brian Kelly era. Devin Moore, a three or four-star safety, depending on the recruitment site, decommits from the Irish and reopens his recruitment. Moore is still paying attention to the Irish, however, having liked one of Notre Dame Football’s tweets announcing the return of defensive line coach Mike Elston. 4:00 p.m. Pete Sampson of The Athletic reports that Notre Dame will be meeting with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to try and retain the 29-year-old on staff. Sampson also reported that LSU offered Rees approximately $400,000 more than his contract with the Irish. 5:48 p.m. Notre Dame’s official football Twitter account tweets a video of strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis talking with the team for a little under two minutes, announcing he will be staying in South Bend. “Whether it’s in the College Football Playoff, whether it’s a New Year’s Six Bowl ... we are going to destroy whoever we play next,” Balis said. “This is
where I want to be. I want to die here.” Several former and current Notre Dame players lauded Balis’ talents, labeling him one of the most critical members of the Irish staff. Defensive lineman Kurt Hinish kept his thoughts simple, replying to the tweet with a two-word message: “The BEST.”
Wednesday 1:00 p.m. Brian Kelly holds his introductory press conference with LSU. During the 37 minutes of talking, Kelly expands on his reasons for coming to LSU. “I came down here because I wanted to be with the best. You’re looked at in terms of championships here and I want that. I want to be under the bright lights,” he said. Brian Kelly faces a challenge in rebuilding a program in a downswing, as LSU is 11-11 over their past two seasons. This comes after the Tigers won a national championship in January of 2020. 8:05 p.m. Per his sources, Matt Fortuna reports “Tommy Rees is expected to inform Notre Dame his intentions to stay with the Irish as OC.” 8:13 p.m. Pete Sampson confirms that a key stepping stone to promoting Freeman was retaining Tommy Rees as offensive coordinator. 8:29 p.m. Notre Dame posts footage of Rees telling his players, in person, he will be staying in South Bend. “I wanted to be able to get in front of you and tell you guys that so you guys knew it,” Rees confirmed to the team in that meeting. “This is where my heart is. ... I care too much to leave this place,” Rees said. “We have work to do this year. ... Let’s go win a f*cking national championship.” 9:14 p.m. Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel tweets Marcus Freeman will be the new Notre Dame head coach, closing the tweet with “New era, new vibe in South Bend.” 10:09 p.m. First reported by Mike Singer of Blue and Gold Illustrated, sources confirm that running backs coach Lance Taylor will remain with the Irish. With freshman Logan Diggs an emerging star, in addition to a bevy of other young contributors in the running back room, this was huge news for the Irish. 10:11 p.m. Pete Thamel tweets that the process to “get an offer together” for Marcus Freeman as head coach will unfold over the next 72 hours, beginning Wednesday night. 10:32 p.m. Defensive line coach Mike Elston confirms he is staying with Notre Dame via Twitter: “Notre Dame is home!! 12 years and counting!! Let’s ride fellas!!” Elston remaining in South Bend was particularly newsworthy, as he had been on
Brian Kelly’s staff since 2004.
Where are we now? PostWednesday Irish coaching breakdown Staying at Notre Dame Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, running backs coach Lance Taylor, tight ends coach John McNulty, defensive line coach Mike Elston, defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman (with an expected promotion to head coach), cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens, safeties coach Chris O’Leary, director of football performance Matt Balis
Leaving Notre confirmed
Dame,
Head coach Brian Kelly
Uncertain status Wide receivers coach Del Alexander is currently out recruiting, and there has been no decision on his status. Offensive line coach Jeff Quinn and special teams coach Brian Polian have not made final decisions, although their exits are considered more likely.
Thursday evening 9:17 p.m. The “Inside the Garage” podcast, hosted by safeties Kyle Hamilton and KJ Wallace, cornerback Cam Hart and wide receiver Conor Ratigan, posted a Thursday night episode discussing the whirlwind of events in the Irish football program. Although the move hasn’t been officially announced by the school, the players spoke about the promotion of Freeman, the culture of the program and plenty more. Hart noted: “[Freeman] does really well at understanding the situation when we don’t have to be crazy serious — we can still be locked in but not as tense.” Hamilton agreed with Hart’s comments, adding, “When Freeman came in, he brought this enjoyment out of us. He has a great mix of business and fun — it creates a really good culture.” As the podcast wound down, the current Irish players recounted the wild events of the past few days, discussing how it created an even tighter bond among the players, which they referred to as “The Brotherhood.” Hamilton summed up his thoughts succinctly, also issuing a sentiment that mirrors current sentiments across the Irish football community. “In conclusion, it was a wild two days. We were on the brink of things falling apart. We’re ready to go on a run again. ... This lit more of a fire under us. A lot of people are still angry ... Don’t let us play LSU in the next few years.” Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu and Mannion McGinley at mmcginl3@nd.edu
sports
ndsmcobserver.com | Friday, December 3, 2021 | The Observer
15
FOOTBAlL COlUMN
Capece: Dear Brian Kelly Colin Capece Assistant Managing Editor
Dear Brian, I was having such a great evening until you showed up. Feeling fully rested and recovered after a wonderful Thanksgiving break with family and friends, ready for the last sprint of the semester before final exams, knowing that Notre Dame is likely to make a New Year’s Six bowl game when the dust settles on Sunday, I was just doing my homework, chatting with some friends, minding my own business. It was safe to say that for the moment, I was at peace. But then you dropped an atomic bomb on all of it. Out of nowhere, at 7:51 p.m. on a Monday night, you sent this entire campus and the entire college football world into a complete frenzy. No one, not even your confidant and biggest supporter athletic director Jack Swarbrick, knew that you were about to commit the most heinous crime in Notre Dame football history. This is hands down the most monumental event in my time as a student at Notre Dame. For the last 24 hours, I have yet to pick up my phone without someone texting or tweeting me about you. I can’t remember a time when I walked through the hallways in DeBart, and every single conversation I overheard was about the same thing. Your sudden departure hits close to home for me in more ways than you probably realize. For the majority of my life, you’ve been the Notre Dame head football coach, which means that you’ve piloted the team that I grew up watching religiously every fall Saturday. From a fan’s perspective, it feels like you’ve disrespected a family member, and I won’t stand by quietly without a response. You’ve also been the head coach for the last four seasons, which means I have written about you extensively in these pages. From a student journalist’s perspective, you’ve given me the biggest story of my lifetime, and I won’t let the opportunity to give some analysis pass me by. It’s taken me the last day to formulate my opinions and collect my thoughts, but now that you’ve landed in the Bayou, I hope this piece somehow makes Paid Advertisement
its way to you. This column includes my personal reactions to you jumping ship for LSU, an analysis of your coaching career at Notre Dame, what your departure means for this year’s Irish moving forward, and what I think your future holds. To help me out, I’ve enlisted the help of none other than Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.
“You betrayed me, and I know that you’ll never feel sorry” These lyrics from Rodrigo’s “traitor” capture exactly how I feel about you right now. How could you leave at a time like this? You said it yourself following a win over Wisconsin in September, which put you ahead of Knute Rockne as the winningest football coach in Notre Dame history, that you will be remembered as the Notre Dame coach that won the most games without a national championship. If you haven’t noticed, Notre Dame is on the brink of securing a third college football berth in the last four seasons. If things break the right way on championship Saturday, the Irish are likely the fourth team in. As associate sports editor Aidan Thomas pointed out in his last column, this might be Notre Dame’s best shot to win the school’s first national championship since the 1988-1989 season. The Irish are peaking at the perfect time and would head into the playoffs with a full head of steam after throttling Georgia Tech and Stanford. The Georgia team that Notre Dame would most likely play isn’t 2018 Clemson or 2020 Alabama. Notre Dame matches up much better with the Bulldogs than they did with the teams they played in their previous two trips to the CFP. I understand that the early signing period for head coaches in college football makes for a difficult situation when other opportunities open up, but how can you give up on this program now, when everything you’ve preached about for the last 12 years is right in front of you? Your players are six days away from figuring out their playoff fate. They have worked every day since the spring to build the foundations of a team that can vault itself into the realm of college football’s elite. These players have committed their academic and football careers to this university after you went and recruited them. You have built relationships with them that have helped shape them into the people they are today. How, when everything you’ve promised them is on the line, do you send them an eleventhhour text message, reportedly meet with them for 11 minutes and call it a day? These players, this team, these recruits, this
fanbase, everyone deserves better, and all you did was spit in our faces with this cowardly move. I know, for a fact, that you don’t feel sorry about this. In your Monday press conference 10 days ago, you said it would take a fairy godmother, a $250 million check and your wife’s approval to leave the Notre Dame job. LSU signed you for a heck of a lot less than that, but still the richest contract for a head coach in college football history. As someone who serves as a leader, it’s disheartening to know that all you’ve ever cared about is yourself, and that at the end of the day, you’ve let money and status be your guides rather than what’s best for the young men you serve. I understand you said you wanted to explore a new opportunity, but you sure didn’t give your best effort to see the one you had already started to fruition. Not only did you quit on the program you helped resurrect after the miserable final three seasons of Charlie Weiss, but you’re taking the ship down with you. Trying to poach defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees as bowl season approaches is a classless move that can only be made by someone with no moral compass like yourself. Your legacy won’t be the coach who surpassed Knute Rockne. Instead, it will be the guy who tried to self-destruct the program on his way out the door.
“I knew you were trouble when you walked in” T-Swizzle’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” describes what I always knew about your abilities as a head coach. The first time I was in the same room as you wasn’t at a post-game press conference, but actually a Dunne Hall event in South Dining Hall. Much like Tuesday’s player meeting, you spoke to us for about three minutes. The words I’ll use to describe that speech were pompous, uninspiring and laughable. These words also characterize in part your time at Notre Dame in my estimation. Pompous is an apt word to describe your offensive strategy. After getting blown out by Nick Saban in the 2013 BCS National Championship game, you vowed to reshape your program using the Alabama Crimson Tide as your model. That meant recruiting an offensive line that could punish people in the trenches and running backs that could tote the rock thirty times a game. And you have no doubt succeeded. Notre Dame has become a factory for churning out NFL offensive linemen, and four- and five-star running backs are eager to come to South Bend. But it’s not 2013 anymore, and air-raid offense is king in the CFP era. The most
recent national championship winning Alabama team is evidence of that. However, you never seemed to want to make the adjustment. The development of young and speedy wide receivers was never prioritized until this year when Lorenzo Styles and Deion Colzie finally got involved. Four- and five-star quarterbacks and wideouts flocked elsewhere. Notre Dame could never find a way to stay competitive in games where the Irish fell behind because the offense was never built to do so. Your inability to adapt your stay in front of the chains offense doomed us in games against better competition. Uninspiring is a word that describes your leadership. Never once did I get the sense that you were a player’s coach. That’s not everyone’s style and that’s perfectly fine, but a coach does need to be able to connect with his players. Many current members of the team have said that Notre Dame is more than a coach, and that they chose this program for other more important reasons. Swarbrick said himself that “It’s not Brian Kelly’s culture — it’s the culture built by the 118 young men on that team.” All of this is showing me that players did not care for you in the same way you said you cared for them in your final message, which someone leaked to the media. When I look around college football, I see successful coaches like Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Ohio State’s Ryan Day who don’t have the personality of a rock. Players want to run through a brick wall for them because they treat their players like they’re their own sons. You never showed me you had the desire to do that at Notre Dame. Laughable is also how I’ll remember you. Next to Saban and Swinney, you seemed like you were stuck at the kids table while the grown ups got to have all the fun. In New Year’s Six bowl games, playoff matchups and conference championship games, you never seemed to have your team prepared. Let’s be honest, most of those games weren’t competitive because the moment was always too big for you. The coaches that are remembered in this sport are the ones who rose to the occasion and found a way to deliver for their team and for their school on their day of reckoning. You won’t be remembered as a hero because you shriveled under the bright lights.
“Now we’ve got bad blood, you know, what used to be mad love” What does your Judas-like betrayal mean for the 2021 Fighting Irish moving forward? Bad Blood, my favorite song on 1989, my favorite Taylor Swift album, has the answer. I’d be
remiss if I didn’t give you credit for all of the good you’ve done for the Notre Dame football program. The Irish have been a model of consistency with five straight 10-win seasons. The team has also been the paradigm for academic achievement in college football and players have exemplified what it means to be successful student athletes that are actively involved in their communities. Before Monday, for the most part, it was mad love in Irish Nation for the team and for their head coach. But you decided to throw that all away and give a huge middle finger to the administration that stood by you ardently after going 4-8 in 2016 and missing a bowl for the first time in 6 seasons. And baby, now we’ve got bad blood. Supporters are rallying around this group of players more than I have ever seen in my lifetime. I can guarantee you that this Irish team will play with more fire and tenacity than they ever did under you, whether they land in the CFP or not. You just gave one of the most talented rosters in college football the extra motivation it needed to get over the hump against college football’s elite if they even get the opportunity. Hopefully you haven’t damaged this team’s resume enough to keep them out of final four, because that would be a damn shame. This team will win in the postseason out of spite for you, not because of you. Wouldn’t it be poetic justice if the guy who couldn’t win the big game has to watch his former team bathe in the national championship confetti from his couch?
“Good 4 u Brian, you look happy and healthy” Rodrigo’s all-time summer bop “Good 4 u” is the only way to close a piece that made me so irate. I hope you’re happy, Brian, because I don’t think it’s going to get all that much better for you at LSU. Not only is your buzzkill persona going to make it difficult for you to recruit against SEC powerhouses in their backyard, but you now get to play Nick Saban every single year. Boy, I really can’t wait to watch you get rolled by the Crimson Tide over and over and over again. I’m confident that you’ll find that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, and crawfish doesn’t taste nearly as good as you thought it would. Not to mention karma’s a you-knowwhat. Good riddance, Brian. Please never come back. Your old friend, Colin Contact Colin Capece at ccapece@nd.edu
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The observer | Friday, December 3, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
Coaching carousel
HOCKEY
Full timeline of chaotic Kelly fallout By AIDAN THOMAS and MANNION McGINLEY Associate Sports Editor and Sports Editor
This week on the coaching carousel has been more of an adventurous Ian Book scramble than a carousel ride for Irish fans, players and recruits. The Observer’s Sports staff laid out everything that’s happened so far, and what these pieces mean moving forward.
Monday evening 5:21 p.m. The Athletic breaks that LSU has shown interest in Brian Kelly as a head coach option. Approximately 7:45 p.m. Brian Kelly leaves wide receiver recruit Tobias Merriweather’s house, as assistant coaches do the same at different recruits’ houses across the country. The news of Kelly’s expected departure breaks shortly after. The Athletic’s Matt Fortuna later reported one coach was leaving a recruiting meeting when his phone got an alert of the news. Reportedly, that coach had a colorful response
No. 8 Notre Dame looks to extend winning streak
to how the news made him look. 7:51 p.m. Reports break from Yahoo Sports national college football writer Pete Thamel: Brian Kelly is expected to go to LSU. 8:28 p.m. Freshman wide receiver Lorenzo Styles tweets “Smh..” without any further context. 8:29 p.m. Senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy tweets as well, writing “Chase the bag, business first I get it. Best of luck.” 8:58 p.m. One of the first recruits to break his silence on the matter, 2022 strong safety commit Nolan Ziegler tweets “Crazy news but you know I’m still locked in. We will move forward and keep building this championship team. Let’s do this thing.” Ziegler tagged defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and senior defensive analyst Nick Lezynski. In his only Twitter action Monday through Wednesday morning, Freeman liked this tweet from Ziegler. see CAROUSEL PAGE 14
By ANDREW McGUINNESS Sports Writer
GRACIE LEE | The Observer
After COVID canceled last Friday’s scheduled matchup against Boston College, wellrested No. 8 Notre Dame (10-30, 4-2-0-2-0 B10) will face host the No. 18 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-4-0, 4-2-0-0-0 B10) this weekend. The unexpected bye week creates an interesting dynamic of rest v. rust. “I’ve always been concerned about bye weeks,” Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said. “You don’t wanna lose that momentum.” That momentum is sky-high for the Irish right now, who are winners of six straight. Notre Dame hasn’t lost a game since Oct. 30 and hasn’t been defeated in regulation on home ice yet, with their lone defeat at Compton coming in overtime on Oct. 21 against RIT. The Irish have outscored opponents by a whopping 30-7 margin on home ice this season, a stark contrast to last year when the Irish were just 5-11-1 at home.
Irish junior forward Solag Bakich takes the puck after a Holy Cross player falls. Notre Dame swept Holy Cross 5-2, 4-1 on Nov. 4 and 5.
see HOCKEY PAGE 12
ND MEN’s SOCCER
Notre Dame men’s soccer prepares for national quarterfinal clash with Pittsburgh By J.J. POST Sports Writer
This Saturday, Notre Dame men’s soccer w ill face off against Pittsburgh in what’s set to be a thrilling national quarterfinal. The Irish and Panthers have a deep histor y this season, as the two have squared off tw ice already in both regular season as well as ACC tournament play. Notre Dame took home both matchups, dow ning the Panthers 1-0 in double overtime at A lumni Stadium in October, before later going on the road and doubling the earlier scoreline to notch a 2-0 w in in the ACC semifinals. Head coach Chad Riley commented on the challenge of welcoming the top-5 Panthers to the stadium, as the Irish tr y and take dow n their conference
foe for the third time. “Pitt’s a good team. The cool part is that the guys are really excited to play them,” Riley said. “They’re a good team, but they’re really excited about the challenge and about playing them here.” The pair of w ins won’t be the only thing sending the Irish into Saturday’s clash in high spirits, however. The team has been red hot since the start of postseason play, having now won six straight matches. The team also hasn’t lost at home in 10 matches, w ith their last defeat at A lumni Stadium having come far back in non-conference play against Michigan State. The most vital aspect of the Irish’s run to the quarterfinals has been their stout defense. The Irish were the ACC’s best defensive
team over the course of the regular season, but the back line has kicked it up a notch further come time for elimination games. Notre Dame hasn’t conceded a single goal since the start of the ACC tournament, marking an incredible run of 560 minutes in open play w ithout allow ing the opposition to score. Perhaps even more impressively, the goalless streak extends to penalty shootouts as well — even in the teams’ conference quarterfinal shootout victor y over Louisville, the Cardinals had all three of their spot kicks saved or missed. Senior defenseman Philip Quinton spoke of the defensive success and getting to play NCA A tournament games at home: see M SOCCER PAGE 14
GRACIE LEE | The Observer
Irish senior forward Tyler Shea dribbles the ball, preparing to pass during Notre Dame’s 4-0 home win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 4.