Print Edition for the Observer for Monday, May 1, 2023

ND cheer chooses 2023-24 leprechauns

Four students selected to lead the Fighting Irish next year after rounds of tryouts

By PETER BREEN

a

ssociate news e ditor

notre dame cheerleading selected four leprechauns for the 2023-2024 school year, the notre dame leprechaun instagram account announced sunday, april 23.

a fter a multistep tryout involving open clinics, a written application, an audition video and several live performances, mcKenna englhardt, colin mahoney, Kylee Kazenski and ryan coury were chosen to lead the Fighting irish in spirit next year. since the leprechaun became

the university’s official mascot in 1965, coury said there have been 67 leprechauns in total. englhardt and Kazenski are the third and fourth women to sport the mascot’s iconic bucket hat and green suit.

Leprechaun McKenna

englhardt is a first-year from palo a lto, california studying mechanical engineering. growing up, englhardt said she competed in irish dance and was nicknamed the “little leprechaun” by her hometown friends. englhardt’s parents were the same year at notre dame, but they first met at a bar

in san Francisco 10 years later, she said.

“i grew up doing the whole notre dame thing,” englhardt said.

w hen it came time to shoot the one-to-two-minute audition video as part of the leprechaun application, englhardt said her lifelong affinity for lucky charms came in handy.

w ith a friend’s help, englhardt filmed a comical skit that hinted at her fitness for the leprechaun role because of englhardt’s irish dancing background and love for the marshmallow cereal.

SPN runs reentry after incarceration simulation

By KATHRYN MUCHNICK a ssociate news e ditor

The student policy network (spn) hosted an interactive reentry simulation saturday morning where students learned about the barriers to reentering society after being incarcerated in the state of indiana.

spn connects students and community partners for public policy research and advocacy. The reentry simulation was hosted in partnership with life outside reentry assistance, a south bend-based organization serving the formerly

incarcerated.

grace hsu, a junior studying economics and pre-health, said the project and reentry simulation have been “eye-opening.” hsu and sophomore vanshika dixit are co-leaders for the life outside project.

“i feel like a lot of people focus on mass incarceration, but don’t really think about what comes after that,” hsu said.

hsu and dixit worked with Justin mcdevitt, co-founder of life outside reentry assistance and former rector of stanford hall, to plan the simulation. mcdevitt also directs

the women’s college partnership (wcp), a college-in-prison program at indiana women’s prison, within the center for social concerns (csc).

life outside has hosted two reentry simulations in the last six months at the south bend public library. The spn project was extended from a research-focused project in the fall to organize a reentry simulation, though on a “smaller scale” than those at the public library, hsu said. during the simulation, each

see spn PAGE 4

Labor Cafe discusses labor movement struggles

By KELSEY QUINT

news writer

each month, the center for social concerns transforms the geddes hall coffee house into a forum for discussion, debate and caffeine. notre dame community members gathered Friday to discuss issues affecting workers in the spring semester’s final installment of the labor cafe.

as always, dan graff, history professor and director of the

higgins labor program, began the conversation on this week’s topic: “workers organizing everywhere a ll at once.”

“i really want to use this final session to hear what people are thinking about today in terms of labor questions. There’s lots of activity going on,” graff said.

“There’re labor market questions, and we’re just talking about the united states here. There’re inflation questions. There are all sorts of strike activity happening

saint mary’s aluma to publish second novel

By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN s enior news writer

after publishing her first novel, “The essence of an hour,” in 2021, susan Furber ‘14 is preparing to release her sequel on may 25.

Furber’s second novel, “we were very merry,” will continue the narrative of lillie carrigan as she attends college and meets the man she will eventually marry. however, over the course of several years, this relationship will unravel.

as Furber was writing “The essence of an hour,” she claims she felt a deep personal connection to its content and herself as a young writer.

second novels, primarily due to the fact she was more confident in herself as a writer after her first novel was published.

“i felt much more assured of myself going into that i didn’t feel as i suppose, as i said, as precious about it. i’ve been much more open to sharing it with people, which is something i never could do with the first novel,” she said. “The first novel was always something very closely kept to my heart, pretty much up until it was published.”

especially in the university sector right now.” graff anchored the discussion around covid-19.

“i definitely think that the pandemic has played a big role in raising awareness and public consciousness, and people talking about labor questions and essential workers. a nd the national conversation in the last few years has been much more

see labor PAGE 3

“even though the first novel is set in the 1940s, it is deeply autobiographical in many ways — or at least an imagined sense of autobiography,” she said. “i felt very precious about it. it was very precocious book.”

when she reflected back on this novel, Furber describes how much she still had to learn as a writer.

“it is, i think looking back on it, a very ‘first novel,’” she said. “i’m learning things and i don’t really know how to express things yet.”

Furber noted a distinct difference between writing her first and

From the time she wrote the first draft of “The essence of an hour” when she was still a 19-year-old saint mary’s student, Furber said she planned for her protagonist to appear in multiple novels because of the strength of her character.

“For the second novel, i always had this idea that the story would continue,” Furber said. “From the time i’ve written it at 19. i knew this character of lily and her voice was so electric. i knew i didn’t want to let her go and i didn’t want to let her story go.”

one of the new character developments in “we were very merry” is the deeper relationship between lillie and her friend mallorie. according to Furber, this type of

see auThor PAGE 4

Courtesy of Ryan Coury

Notre Dame leprechauns pose during cheer team tryouts in their green suits and Irish country hats, showing off Fighting Irish spirit.

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Child development center serves tri-campus kids

By CAROLINE COLLINS a ssociate news e ditor

The tri-campus community is home to college students, but it is also the site of the early childhood development center (ecdc), which provides early childhood education for affiliated families and members of the south bend community.

sophomore shelby Johnson works with the two-year-olds and four-year-olds at ecdc

“They color me pictures, and i [hang] them up above my desk. i’ll ask them to write their names, and it’s like a backwards ‘s.’ it’s really cute,” Johnson said.

ecdc is a non-profit early childhood program that serves children ages two through six during the school year. over the summer, ecdc offers summer camp programs for children ages two through 10.

The center was founded in 1971 and is accredited with the national association for the education of Young children.

ecdc has two sites on the tricampus: the notre dame site which is open to families affiliated with the University, and the saint mary’s site that serves both families affiliated with the University and families from the greater community.

Kari alford, the executive director of ecdc, said about 270 children are enrolled in the program between

Arts & Letters

the two sites. The center offers both half-day and full-day childcare options. The flexibility allows families to choose the option that best fits their needs, alford said.

“We really want children to be able to be with their parents or to be with their family members if they’re able to, and we also want them to have some preschool experiences,” alford said. “and so for some families, that part-time opening is really what they’re looking for.”

The center employs students from saint mary’s and notre dame. both student teachers and volunteers play a large role in the community at ecdc

alford said many students who work at the center during their time in college choose to pursue a career in early childhood education, and some return to ecdc as full-time teachers after graduation.

“if any college students are ever looking for service hours or thinking about education or the early childhood field, they can volunteer for one or two hours a week. and then if they love it, they can work for us or extend those hours. it’s a great way for them to learn about early childhood and volunteer at a nonprofit organization,” alford said.

Johnson said every time she returns from ecdc, she has a funny story or moment to share with her friends.

“i have loved being around kids, and they offer such a refreshing

perspective … they’re also endlessly entertaining,” Johnson said.

The children love playing games like musical chairs, house, doing arts and crafts and playing on the playground outside, Johnson said. most of the activities the children participate in aren’t very structured, allowing them to explore their surroundings by engaging in dramatic play where they take on roles and act them out.

during her time working at ecdc, Johnson has formed relationships with the children she teaches and has also formed relationships with their families, she said.

“The most validating thing about the job is when i have worked there a long enough time or have made enough of an impression on them that even at two or four-years-old they start to remember my name,” Johnson said.

alford said the most rewarding part about working at ecdc is getting to know the children and their families.

“early childhood is really all about [forming] relationships,” alford said. “it’s so rewarding. no day is the same. it’s always different.”

Contact Caroline Collins at ccolli23@nd.edu

Laborcon T in U ed from Page 1 focused on what was normally, over the last 30 years, not part of public discourse,” graff said.

The forum then shifted the discussion to the idea of “economic clarity” as a kick-starter, comparing present day mobilizations with those of the 1930s.

a idan creeron, a senior studying economics and history, spoke about the industry differences that might be contributing to labor movements after the pandemic.

“There aren’t many sectors in the U.s. that aren’t above where they were pre-pandemic at this point. most have had a really impressive recovery. but those places that are still lagging are the ones where the most activity is being seen. so i wonder if it’s the pressure that’s being put on the workers who are still in [those sectors],” creeron said. “education and public employment are still way below where they were … i wonder if that kind of frustration is spurring it.”

Lucia carbajal, a senior studying history, gender studies and Latino studies, brought up the role of social media in modernday activism and labor protests.

“i really think social media has played a huge role. a nd i think that’s been involved with, ‘generational activism,’” carbajal said. “it’s random, but i’ll get ads about starbucks unionization, or i’ll just get videos of teachers discussing the fact that they have burnout and that they’re not getting paid enough. Things like that. a nd this has created communities amongst themselves. but not only that, it’s spreading awareness to other people.”

e xpanding on the various “generational implications,” carbajal said she sees the desire for change even just in conversations with friends.

“We’ve made clear boundaries that we’ll establish in the future,” carbajal said. “We’re going to break those gender or those generational issues. We’re going to fight for labor issues.”

The conversation next transitioned onto the history and nature of unionizations. The effects of the labor upsurge of the 1930s are still being felt in the structure of our policies today, graff explained.

“The settlement in the United states of the labor questions of that time was, ‘unionization will be the path by which most workers can organize and get what they want.’ so, in the U.s., unlike in some other relatively wealthy countries in europe, the state continued and still does play a relatively small role in social provisions,” graff said.

“The early success of the industrial union movement in the 1930s, in some ways, suggested to policymakers, ‘oh, we don’t need the state to intervene — the labor movement can solve those problems.”

The forum also tied in connections to mccarthy-era fears

of communism. a lthough younger generations tend not to fear socialist labels, carbajal said she believes there is still a “fear from the right.”

bringing the discussion fullcircle, members acknowledged some common objections to modern-day unions. The first complaint is that unions help protect the small percentage of workers who are actually the problem, and oftentimes, a large amount of union funds are diverted to these individuals’s protection. secondly, speakers said there is a stigma around consumerism which links to the misconception that unions are always demanding more and more wages.

Junior a nnie rehill offered up her own experience encountering protests and the inevitable “collateral damage” of labor activism.

“i was thinking about this in terms of the graduate student strikes at m ichigan. i went to m ichigan for my freshman year and then i transferred to notre dame. a nd so, my freshman year i had three weeks of classes canceled because not only were my graduate student instructors on strike, but also, a lot of my professors were standing in solidarity with them,” rehill said. rehill said, on one hand, she believed her graduate student instructors deserved to be compensated better.

“at the same time, i was just wondering, ‘do people who are paying like $80,000 a year in tuition deserve to have their access to what they’re paying for taken away?’” rehill said. “but then, it’s also a good bargaining tool for the graduate students to use, where the university administration knows that will add a sense of urgency to ending the strikes.”

graff reiterated the complexity of the questions that arise from events such as the graduate student protest at the University of m ichigan.

“Who are the other stakeholders? What are the public consequences of labor conflicts?” graff said.

While the forum debated the responsibility of employers and the industry differences in bargaining power, speakers agreed that these questions remain multiplex and highly situational.

To conclude, graff expressed gratitude for graduating seniors who have been Labor cafe regulars, including carbajal, creeron and brendan mcfeely.

The three students reflected the same appreciation for graff and the forum that the Labor cafe provided.

“i’m going to miss just how topical some of the conversations are. i’m mostly interested in public policy questions. so like, this has been a nice kind of forum to think about those in,” creeron said. “not having a monthly space to think about the big overarching policy questions that interest me is going to be different.” Contact Kelsey Quint

“my friends know that if i’m going to have a late night of studying, i’ll fill up a cup of Lucky charms in the dining hall to keep me going,” englhardt said. deciding earlier to step back from competitive dance in college and applying to be a leprechaun almost as a joke, englhardt said she didn’t tell her family she was trying out until actually making the cheer team.

“it was so funny to call my parents and my siblings to let them know, because it came so far out of left field for them,” englhardt said. “i don’t think that’s what any of them expected me to say when i called.”

Leprechaun Colin

a sophomore from omaha, nebraska studying spanish and finance, mahoney is a returning 2022-2023 leprechaun.

drawn to notre dame because of traditions such as the leprechaun and dining hall rivalry, mahoney said he acts like a “ballistic missile” when inciting Fighting irish fans at sporting events.

“i have the ability to flip the switch and instantaneously go from trying to be professional, calm, mild-mannered and studious to going absolutely crazy,” mahoney said.

Whether it’s lifting in the morning with the cheer team, learning how to do a backflip, creating social media content, engaging in community outreach or speaking with donors, mahoney said leprechauns must cultivate a unique set of skills.

“i think there’s so many different avenues of personal development that the roll provides you with that i really don’t know what i can draw a parallel to,” mahoney said.

heading into year two, mahoney said he’s always looking to improve the leprechaun

Author

female friendship is not prevalent enough in the literary canon.

“it’s still not enough a part of the canon,” Furber said. “i mean, we have ‘my brilliant Friend’ for instance by elena Ferrante which is probably the best example. but female friendship and the depths of it, that to me, i love when you read a story about that, so i was really excited to write about that.”

While Furber always intended Lillie’s story to be a trilogy, she said she plans to finish the series when she is in her forties like Lillie will be in the final book, which is set in the 1960s.

“so that novel, i really want to leave until i’m that age, because these books for me are very much for questions of my own life,” she said. “Where i’m at and where my friends are at and the conversations that we are having together at that time, so i don’t know what that will be.”

even though she is waiting to

role on and off the field.

“This year, i ended up getting into 10- or 11-grade schools and elementary schools around the south bend, mishawaka and the michiana area,” mahoney said.

“Those interactions meant a lot to me.”

Leprechaun Kylee Kazenski, a junior computer science major from springfield, illinois, said she always wanted to try out to be a leprechaun during her senior year.

“a s soon as i put the suit on and got out there in front of my peers at the tryouts, it was a whole different experience,” Kazenski said. “There was no fear. it was just all pep. i was ready to go. nothing was really standing in my way.”

since arriving at notre dame, Kazenski, a first-generation student, said she’s turned to several activities to prepare for the leprechaun role.

a member of the st. a ndré bessette Welcome Weekend committee for two years, Kazenski said she has led dorm chants for first-years during move-in. she studied abroad in ireland over the summer for six weeks, is taking an irish language class and plays banjo in notre dame’s céilí band, she added.

“You don’t have to be delved into irish culture, obviously, to be way into the Fighting irish,” Kazenski said. “but i think it did really help propel me into really wanting to portray the leprechaun.”

Kazenski and englhardt both said they were honored to be among the university’s first few female leprechauns.

“it’s a unique opportunity to inspire younger girls and women here to really go out there and make their dreams happen, no matter what’s typical of that role or perceived as typical,” Kazenski said.

Leprechaun Ryan

coury, a junior finance major

finish Lillie’s story, Furber explained she is working on a third book which is independent from “The essence of an hour” and “We Were very merry.” This new book is “a feminist take on ‘Lolita.’”

“What i love about ‘Lolita’ — and it is one of my favorite novels — is the aspect of the american road trip and what happens between those two characters, between the older man and Lolita,” Furber said. “in my novel, it is a woman who is of age and a man who go on trip but it still has those very ‘me Too’ politics attached.”

Furber encouraged young writers to find out what works best for them — and not rely on other people to determine what that might be.

“it’s about finding your own pattern and recognizing it,” she said.

in addition, Furber noted an insistence that writers cannot use their professional lives as an excuse to not create art.

“don’t hide behind your professional life, that’s the biggest advice i can give,” she said. “i think i did that very much my early 20s. if you want to be a writer, or you want to be any

from Phoenix, a rizona, is another returning leprechaun from 2022-2023.

Last year, coury said leprechaun tryouts were so close that applicants were given time during the bluegold game to engage with the crowd in an added round of tryouts. Following the game, coury thought he might have gotten cut.

“i didn’t know how tryouts would go, and i was fortunate that the coaches saw something in me that i didn’t quite see in myself yet,” coury said. “Little did i know that i was embarking on the best adventure of my life.”

one of the “unspoken best parts of the job” is meeting mascots from other schools, coury said. The uniform — an irish country hat, green suit, vest and shillelagh — provides leprechauns the confidence to perform, coury added.

“Last year when i got the job, i found out on a sunday morning. We had a team meeting that evening, and then immediately after the team meeting, the seamstress was there measuring us for the suits,” coury said.

a lthough a leprechaun is inherently mischievous, coury said he embodies a more friendly, goofy and high-energy character.

“on a greater note, for what the figure means, you have the unique opportunity to not only represent the university, but you’re also embodying its mission — this idea of being a means for good,” coury said. “When you’re in suit, you are out of your own life. it’s an escape from that. but you also get to take other people out of their troubles and their worries and let them just focus on you.”

Contact Peter Breen at pbreen2@nd.edu

sort of artist, it is balancing that very true part of yourself.”

Furber continued by telling young writers they must believe in their talents, even before they hit tangible goals like being published.

“it can feel very embarrassing, especially until you feel that you’ve hit a goal, such as being published, or if you’re an artist, maybe having explicit exposition,” she said. “but it’s believing in yourself and believing that you need to carve out this time, and setting very realistic boundaries on yourself.”

Looking to the future, Furber would like to spend more time speaking to young women about how they can turn their experiences into writing, like she did as a guest at last year’s visiting Writers series.

“i would really love to connect with more, especially young women, about these stories and to empower their own voices,” Furber said. “That’s really what i’d love my whole career to be about.”

Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu

student participant was given a “life card” with a predetermined amount of money and identification status. For example, some students were assigned $200 and a social security card, while others had only $100 and no id

The students moved from station to station to complete a weekly set of tasks, such as paying rent, paying for food or getting an id. The stations included a medical center, counseling and treatment, ged and career center, a bank, an id station and more.

“a lot of people wanted to go to jail on purpose because that was almost easier than having to complete all these tasks,” hsu said.

The simulation ran in four rounds of ten minutes, with ten minutes representing a week and the entire simulation representing a month of reentering society after incarceration.

“What was interesting to me is seeing notre dame students be confused and get frustrated because that’s exactly how it is for people coming out of prison,” mcdevitt said.

“There’s never enough time, there’s never enough money. and that’s sort of the point to help students understand that.”

in addition to planning the simulation, the sPn group researched and presented on indiana-specific barriers to reentry. They focused on three categories of barriers: housing, mental health and education.

hsu said that though reentry is important broadly as an issue that impacts the community, it’s especially key for notre dame students interested in goverment and policy to understand the barriers to reentry.

“having the awareness of this issue is really important for future lawmakers and policy makers to not be discriminatory or inequitable in our law making and decisions,” hsu said.

The sPn project is not notre dame’s only research into the effects of mass incarceration, or life after incarceration. The csc oversees the notre dame Programs for education in Prison (ndPeP) — which houses

the WcP and other programs — to provide “high-quality, credit-bearing college courses that lead to undergraduate liberal arts degrees in the state prison environment.”

This research helps notre dame understand the “vast system” of incarceration, mcdevitt said.

“understanding the system that’s broken helps us both try to change it, and in the meantime, work to help people as they continue to be inside of a broken system,” mcdevitt said.

in addition to the student participants, community leaders cheryl ashe and Jeff Walker attended the reentry simulation.

Walker cofounded Life outside reentry assistance with mcdevitt and currently serves as the executive director of the beacon resource center, a multipurpose community space in a renovated bowling alley. ashe is a community organizer and regular volunteer at dismas house, a local nonprofit that provides transitional housing for recently incarcerated individuals. she’s known in the community for her commitment to helping those coming out of prison, mcdevitt said.

“anything that we could do to bridge the [notre dame – south bend divide] helps both the university and the community,” mcdevitt said. “so having leaders in the community who do this with their life come onto notre dame’s campus and set an example for students and inspire students with the work that they do helps us.”

hsu said that she hopes to return with a larger reentry simulation next year with more student participants. mcdevitt added that he would love to ask a formerly incarcerated person to come and speak at future iterations of the simulation.

“There’s a lot of education that happens outside of the classroom, and this is one of those moments,” mcdevitt said. “The more we know about how other people survive and live, the more we can live in the world in a way that matters.”

Contact Kathryn Muchnick at kmuchnic@nd.edu

SCENE-IOR SELECTIONS 2023

“JUST LIKE HEAVEN” BY THE CURE

AIDAN O’MALLEY, SENIOR SCENE WRITER

WITH GRADUATION FAST APPROACHING, OUR SCENE-IORS REMINISCE ON THE SONGS THAT HELPED DEFINE THEIR FOUR YEARS IN SOUTH BEND.

Don’t be fooled by the title: If it’s a song by e Cure, it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.

Still, “Just Like Heaven” is one of the English rock band’s very best. Frontman Robert Smith has said it was inspired by a trip he took with his thengirlfriend, future wife to a beach on the coast of East Sussex, which explains the song’s seaside imagery. But far more famous than its “deepest oceans” is the opening verse:

“‘Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick! / e one that makes me scream,’ she said. / ‘ e one that makes me laugh,’ she said. / And threw her arms around my neck.”

Four years go fast — talk about a trick. My memories of college are blurred, and not always for the reasons that you would think. ey zip past my head and dart across my eyes, and all I can hold on to are the feelings. “[‘Just Like Heaven’] is about hyperventilating,” Smith said.

“Kissing and fainting to the oor.”

“You’re just like a dream.”

But even the best dreams don’t always make sense. Senior year has been sublime, but I remember a freshman year that was dogged with doubt. Junior year was transformative, but COVID-19 stopped me in my tracks as a sophomore. I’ve loved Notre Dame, but sometimes, I’ve been lonely here, too.

And that’s what “Just Like Heaven” is about. “ e idea,” Smith said, “is that one night [of heaven] is worth 1,000 hours of drudgery.”

As I stare down an uncertain future, I’ll try and hold these memories close.

“You, soft and only / You, lost and lonely / You, just like heaven.”

I saw Maude Latour perform live during my junior year without knowing who she was at all. Before singing “Lovesick,” she asks the crowd, “Can we break our own hearts for a moment?”

With graduation steadily approaching, it’s often felt like a choice whether to be happy or sad, whether to make yourself heartbroken or not.

“LOVESICK” BY MAUDE LATOUR

ALYSA GUFFEY, SENIOR SCENE WRITER

Can a place make you feel lovesick?

“Lovesick, love you ‘til my heart stops / Love you ‘til I'm carsick, love you ‘til you're starsick.”

What struck me most about Maude’s songs was the relatability of them. She’s a 23-year-old college graduate writing about the simplicity of sitting on park benches, hanging out in dorm rooms with ashing lights and seeing someone familiar across the quad.

“Isn’t it amazing / that people connect for a minute or two / One more minute with you.”

Like so many of us, she’s grasping for words to describe the eetingness of four years. e awe of arriving and the despair of leaving.

“Cause what more is there in this life than who we become, / e places we go, and the love I have for…” you, Notre Dame.

GENEVIEVE COLEMAN, SENIOR SCENE WRITER

In January, I looked down the barrel of my last semester with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation. I worried about all the things I had to get done before graduation.

No one really explains to you how stressful these parts of life can be. But in the opening of his melodic song, Tai Verdes reminds me that even in the uncertainty, I can still nd joy.

“Living in this big blue world / With my head up in outer space / I know that I’ll be A-O A-O-K / I know that I’ll be A-O A-O-K.” ere have been a lot of moments in the several years where I questioned where I belonged on both the tri-campus and in the world.

College is a time for asking yourself big questions about where you want to invest your talents. And I think I’ve put them in the right places — this newspaper, my community and my students.

“When I see trouble come my way / I be makin’ lemonade / I know that I’ll be A-O A-O-K / I know that I’ll be A-O A-O-K.”

It’s only taken a crippling ca eine addiction, time with my friends and almost four years to gure it out.

Now, I know that I’ll be A-O A-O-K.

is is a more obscure song that has come out in recent months, but it is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful songs that has ever been released that is about female empowerment.

Performed by Norwegian-Italian songstress Alessandra, this song depicts female empowerment and how to feel good about yourself. Clocking in at under three minutes, “Queen of Kings” really brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “shout from the rooftops” in terms of female empowerment.

is song was performed at the Melodi Grand Prix in February, which is a Norwegian based music contest in order to secure a spot in Eurovision, which is an international song contest that is focused in Europe. Out of all of the Norwegian contestants, “Queen of Kings” was the one that took the spot.

NICOLE BILYAK, SENIOR SCENE WRITER

I really did like this song as a female who goes to an all-women’s campus. It really did scream empowerment to me, especially with all of the political things going on towards women. e song’s message was the most powerful to me and I think this song will hold a special place in my heart.

“IF I CAN DREAM”

BY ELVIS PRESLEY

GABRIEL ZARAZUA, SENIOR SCENE WRITER

I found out about this song from a documentary called “ e Four Falls of Bu alo.” I watched it every year, and the song coming along at the very end made it one of my personal favorites to listen to and is one the most emotional performances I have ever heard.

“Tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true”

I’m sure all of us can relate to this line, wondering why certain things have happened to us throughout college. Why we failed a test, rejected for an internship or su ered a broken heart, wondering why we can’t catch a break.

“But as long as a man / Has the strength to dream / He can redeem his soul and y.” ere certainly have been times where I felt alone in the dark, wondering if all this hard work the past four years would pay o . ankfully my friends and family helped me keep my dreams alive and keep pushing forward.

“Deep in my heart there’s a trembling question / Still I am sure that the answer, answer’s gonna come somehow.”

In my senior year I wondered if certain dreams of mine would eventually come true, but I believed someday it would all come together, and through the grace of God it did. I graduated with honors, got to be a designer for e Shirt and was accepted into art school. rough all the dark times, I nally got my answer.

INsIDe COluMN

Learning to listen

Ayden Kowalski

s cene Writer

Listening is an underrated form of engagement. While we experience encouragement to find and use our voices here, it is equally important to recognize when we need to be focused on someone else’s voice, and how this absorption of another’s message can stir us. e xactly how our quiet attention aids us and our relationships differs across contexts, but generally, by learning to listen, we deepen our understandings of our friends and ourselves.

There is great use to giving our routines and experiences a musical soundtrack. All good parties have some playlist in the background that encourages certain emotions in us. s imilarly, when we match a melancholy winter walk with uplifting yet longing songs or celebrate the first day of spring with a throbbing setlist of summer anthems, we both create a release for our emotions and connect deeper with ourselves, understanding what we feel. b reakup albums help with breakups for a reason. A personal soundtrack may sound melodramatic, but we are extremely passionate in nature, and music is an ideal exhaust value for those passions.

We often seek to listen to those people or media that affirm us without suggesting we have room for growth. There is a humility required for listening to others, accepting that they may have wisdom for us. A friend who offers to read my paper may think it is garbage, and that could be the truth. A roommate with different experiences may have derived an opposing view of the world, and there may be some truths even in a scheme I generally do not accept. b ut we also do deserve to be heard, and it is important that we form relationships where our opinions are appreciated and considered. d ialogue is critical to any relationship, and if we only speak or hear, then the relationship will probably not last long.

Perhaps the most underrated part of listening, however, is becoming comfortable in quiet and silence. There is great peace and restoration in simply roaming campus and hearing birds chirping by, unfazed by the expectations upon us for the day. In my first year, I often went by s aint m ary’s Lake to photograph the sunset, and as I routinely came to the same spots near my dorm, where the curtain of trees split apart, I formed a little sanctuary for myself, beyond the chaos of adjusting to college life. The quiet and beautiful moments on campus are reminders that the problems of college life inflate in my mind, and no test or paper can swallow up all the joy to be found here.

There is also great value of our silence in company, especially when we give someone else the space to share their stories. When we listen to others not to solve them, but to understand them, then our relationships mature. It is a human urge to reply to a tough story with advice or a joke to lighten the atmosphere, but sometimes, all somebody wants is a witness, a companion to stay up with them in the garden. I know I have felt closest to others when I have let them share themselves without my response.

When we learn to listen, we discover we listen to learn — about ourselves, our worlds and each other. We enter a cathartic chorus, a constructive dissonance or a powerful silence and always emerge more whole. The power of listening is in our weakness; we can only receive. b ut, more often than not, we will gain something worth that risk of vulnerability.

You can contact Ayden at akowals2@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

This clip from the 2009 movie “Inglourious b asterds” can help define my attitude as we begin m ay 2023.

“Well if this is it old boy, I hope you don’t mind if I go out speaking the King’s” is probably not what my editor really wanted to read as we wrap up a great year at The o bserver. b ut today marks the end of an era. As of this week, my column in this issue of The o bserver marks my final published piece as a student writer for v iewpoint, and with this being my final published piece of the school year, the reality of my educational career coming to an end for the foreseeable future has finally sunk in.

o n m ay 21, I will graduate from n otre d ame’s one-year mb A program. As a three-year graduate of holy c ross c ollege and a graduate of the msm program, my five-year plan has been an eventful one within the tri-campus. While a premeditated but unique plan, my path has taken me through highs and lows that have not only opened me up to the best of notre d ame, but to the best of myself as well. And I can’t believe it’s over. b ut as I soak everything up during these last three weeks of school, I believe that this final v iewpoint column can offer a great outlet for reflection on why I have come to call n otre d ame a second home. God willing, this will be the place I will continue to call home for the rest of my life.

Upon reflection on my childhood, I don’t see how my educational pathway could’ve been any different. n otre d ame was my dad’s dream school throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, and those dreams became reality when he was accepted into the class of 1989. m y dad’s experience was one for the ages, as a stint in student government saw him meet President r eagan and a senior year road trip climaxed with a national c hampionship victory at the Fiesta b owl. m y dad’s love for n otre d ame carried over after he met my mom, as my parents were engaged at the Grotto in the summer of 1996. Quite a cliche, I know, but are there any better ways than that to invite a future spouse into the n otre d ame family? Probably not. The story goes that my mom saw an angel that very night at the Grotto, and after the ways that providence has held our lives together, there’s not a doubt in my mind that she did that day. And so, after my parents were married in the spring of 1997, future plans were certainly hatched in order to introduce any future children to the greatest c atholic institution in the United s tates of America.

m y first formal memories here on campus switch between summer trips and terrible c harlie Weis-led football games some odd 15 years ago. b ut no matter the context or the timing, these memories are all remarkably foundational and pleasant. As a young family of seven (and later eight), we would take brief summer trips here to m ichiana. We would pay a small fee to stay in the dorms overnight, enjoy the beach at s t. Joe Lake and later hit h olland, s t. Joseph and n ew b uffalo on our way back to c hicago. s hortly after this, my dad started to get tickets for football home games, and slowly but surely, our family became a staple at n otre d ame s tadium. And while the on-field product was a fraction of what it is today, band concerts on the steps, s outh d ining h all candlelight dinners and the rise of e ddy s treet c ommons all act as hallmarks of how our experience has been transformed over the years. And through the good times and the bad, these experiences slowly transformed into an atmosphere that mirrored our home.

s o fast forward 15 years, 70 football games and a completed education later, my thoughts on n otre d ame have rarely changed. While I have come to understand the University’s bi-partisan politics and had to cope with an undergraduate admission rejection, my position remains the same as my 12-year-old self. The University and the surrounding tri-campus are home, plain and simple. h ow many people who have had the opportunity to pursue higher education degrees can say that with a straight face? h ow many people who have attended higher education institutions can actively say they are in touch with the spiritual fiber of their university? I would argue that if anyone repeats “Yes” to what I just wrote, they probably attended the University of n otre d ame.

m y attachment to the 46556 zip code is definitely heightened by these spiritual fibers, as these fibers address and indicate the people we want to know and the people we want to be. o ur institution is a structure that truly encompasses this spiritual excellence in everything we say and do. The Grotto, the b asilica of the s acred heart and our shared vision and purpose all stand out to make notre d ame a destination for c atholics.

As I write and reflect on this, divine providence actually helped me to remember this fantastic piece published in notre d ame m agazine in the fall of 2014. I would highly recommend reading John s haughnessy’s ‘77 words for yourself, but I will attempt to do them justice with the s parknotes version. After a triumphant Irish victory over r ice that Labor d ay weekend, John was confronted with a situation in which he responded with a c atholic call to action. After the game, r ice’s kicker, a devout c atholic, needed to get to the Grotto before the team buses left the stadium. John helped with the rest. he writes:

“ The urgency in the young man’s voice — plus the two questions he asked — immediately grabbed my attention … In a tone that was both polite and urgent, he asked someone in our group about the location of the Grotto, and if he could get there and back in 20 minutes. It struck me that he didn’t just want to get to the Grotto, he needed to get there. As someone who believes my life has been blessed by the intercession of m ary, I felt touched by that need. And so, in a split-second reaction that I can only credit to the holy s pirit, I told the young man, ‘Let’s go. I’ll take you there.’ Then we both began running. I just hoped I could keep up with him.”

John truly understood the spiritual urgency of this situation when understanding the young man’s devotion to the b lessed m other. And in this brief 20-minute encounter, identity, devotion, fellowship and understanding are all shared between two complete and utter strangers, brought together through a shared purpose, identity and strength. And to c atholics who seek this deep relationship and intercession with the b lessed m other and the s acred heart of Jesus, encounters like these are just the beginning of possibilities that exist here at o ur Lady’s University. And it is because of encounters and experiences like this that I am proud to be a n otre d ame graduate, and I am excited to see what the future has in store.

Stephen Viz is a one-year MBA candidate and graduate of Holy Cross College. Hailing from Orland Park, Illinois, his columns are all trains of thoughts, and he can be found at either Decio Cafe or in Mendoza. He can be reached at sviz@nd.edu or on Twitter at @StephenViz.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Stephen Viz Poor stephen’s s crapbook

‘Jesus was a Jew’

Blake Ziegler

News with Zig

“Jesus was a Jew.”

That sentence convinced me not to transfer after one semester at Notre Dame. Being a Jewish student was initially a culture shock, even if I had already been in Catholic education for seven years. Our university’s Catholic identity seemed inaccessible to me, as if I was missing an essential part of the Notre Dame experience. I felt like I wasn’t truly a part of our community, and it pained me to consider leaving.

When I shared my concerns with a priest on campus, his reminder of Jesus’s religious identity showed me that I was wrong. Being Jewish doesn’t mean I’m excluded from the Notre Dame family. In fact, Jesus being Jewish means that Judaism and Christianity share a special relationship. The latter stemmed from the former, and we can see remnants of Christianity’s Jewish roots in liturgy, especially the Catholic mass. Regardless of our differences, Judaism and Christianity (as well as Islam) have even more similarities. Even if I wasn’t Catholic, my Jewish identity still shows I have some connection to our university’s Catholic mission. I’m glad to say that after four years, that sentiment rings true.

In my final column, I want to reiterate my call for Jewish-Christian dialogue and, more broadly, interfaith solidarity at Notre Dame. Over my time here, I’ve worked to advance the interests of Jewish students and promote interfaith dialogue. I’ve written on this topic a lot since then. I’ve coordinated with campus groups and many Jewish organizations to show that religious life can thrive on a Catholic campus through interfaith dialogue. I speak from experience to the transformative opportunity interfaith work can have on an individual and the community. I’ve witnessed firsthand on this campus the strong bonds, deepening of faith and bridges that are built through interfaith interactions. We have a unique opportunity as a top-tier university with a religious mission to hold these kinds of conversations. We can have sincere, thoughtful dialogue that strengthens faith while breaking down prejudices against each other. If we are truly a university committed to the spiritual development of its students, then that opportunity must be available to all students. That’s how we meet Blessed Basil Moreau’s call that “while we prepare useful citizens for society, we shall likewise do our utmost to prepare citizens for heaven.”

I don’t merely speak on the grounds of religious pluralism or democratic values to justify interfaith cooperation at Notre Dame. I can also point to Church doctrine. A key document from the Second Vatican Council was “Nostra Aetate” which formalized the Catholic Church’s stance towards non-Christian religions. It states that the Church “rejects nothing that is true and holy” in other faiths and calls for sincere dialogue between Catholics and non-Catholics. It particularly emphasizes this cooperation between the Catholic and Jewish communities to cultivate the “mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues.” Later Church documents call for Catholic educational institutions (e.g., Notre Dame) to integrate “Nostra Aetate” and related statements on interfaith dialogue into their curricula. The Vatican has also released guidelines for implementing its teachings on cultivating interfaith relations, including dialogue, liturgy and education.

Per Church teaching, part of Catholicism is engagement with other faiths. Notre Dame’s Catholic mission necessitates a similar mandate, especially with Judaism. My advocacy for interfaith relations isn’t anti-Catholic. It’s central to the University’s Catholic identity.

This call for interreligious dialogue between Jews and Catholics isn’t new at Notre Dame. Our community has a rich tradition of Jewish life despite what one may suspect about a Catholic university. Notre Dame’s archives show Jewish students contributed significantly to campus life, including being members of the football team. The late Rabbi Michael A. Signer, former Abrams Professor of Jewish Thought and Culture, was a notable scholar and key advocate for Jewish-Christian relations.

Our history also features a staunch defense of Jews in the face of bigotry. While president of the University, Fr. Hesburgh scolded two students who had bullied a student for his Jewish identity enough for him to leave Notre Dame. Fr. Hesburgh threatened the students with expulsion if they didn’t convince him to return. Thankfully, all three graduated. After his presidency, Fr. Hesburgh was also an original signatory to a statement denouncing acts of anti-Semitism towards Jewish students on college campuses. In recent years, the Jewish Club and other groups have worked diligently to continue this tradition by holding its annual Antisemitism Awareness Week for the last three years.

My hope is that this column contributes to the encouraging interfaith dialogue on campus. Although I’ve focused on Jews, my plea extends to people of all faiths so that any student may participate in the benefits of interreligious cooperation. Every student deserves the opportunity to express their religious identity and explore their spirituality.

Now, this column shouldn’t be taken as a complete endorsement for the current state of interreligious dialogue on campus. There are certainly obstacles to overcome. There should be more resources and opportunities for Jewish and other non-Catholic students, especially in developing policies to promote all faiths on campus. While fostering interfaith dialogue is the beginning to solving those problems, we must act on the initiatives born from those conversations. Again, interreligious cooperation doesn’t mean compromising Notre Dame’s Catholic identity. It is how we uphold that Catholic mission.

Thank you, Notre Dame, for allowing me to explore my Jewish identity. I’m grateful to groups like Campus Ministry, the Ansari Institute, Jewish Club and more for promoting interfaith dialogue on campus. In particular, I’m appreciative to the faculty, staff and fellow students I’ve conversed with over the years on these issues. Judaism and Christianity may disagree on the question of the Messiah, but there’s little doubt as to the potential benefits of the dialogue between the two faiths. I’ve witnessed this beauty at Notre Dame and hope that it continues for all faiths represented in our community.

Blake Ziegler is a senior at Notre Dame studying political science, philosophy and constitutional studies. He enjoys writing about Judaism, the good life, pressing political issues and more. Outside of The Observer, Blake serves as president of the Jewish Club and a teaching assistant for God and the Good Life. He can be reached at @NewsWithZig on Twitter or bziegler@nd.edu.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

My favorite Bible verse

Andrew Sveda Church and State

For my final column, I would like to share my favorite Bible verse: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15 ESV).

The eternal Son of God, “through” and “for” whom “all things were made … and in [whom] all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17), came into the world for a specific purpose, one that was decided before creation itself: “to save sinners.” God came to bring salvation. We so often treat this with a yawn, as something simply to be expected of God as an owed right. But rather than deserving heaven, we all — no exceptions — deserve hell. “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

It is not that we simply aren’t perfect, though that is what God demands (Matthew 5:48, Galatians 3:10), and to deviate in one way is to “become guilty of all of” (James 2:10) God’s law and to deserve God’s curse and eternal condemnation. It’s that man is utterly evil and wicked. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls anger, murder and lustful thoughts adultery (Matthew 5:22, 28). We don’t understand how terrible the things we do every day and every hour are, and even the most cursory glance of one’s life reveals the blackness and utter corruption of their heart. The sin that man loves is precisely what God hates (Luke 16:15, Romans 1:32). The natural man is anything but deserving of heaven. Instead, he is an enemy of God (Romans 5:10) and a “[child] of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). Sodom was such an evil city that it was wiped off the map by “sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven” (Genesis 19:24), yet Jesus told the cities that saw “most of his mighty works” but “did not repent” that “it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you” (Matthew 11:20, 24). Let this be a sobering warning for all who do not believe in Jesus yet study in a country filled with Bibles and churches. While this should make us despair of any ability to save ourselves, whether by our own works, service or piety, it should not make us despair of hope of salvation, for we read that “Christ Jesus came … to save sinners.” He has come to save us from the wrath of God and the punishment our deeds deserve! Dear reader, are you a sinner? Are you an ungodly wretch, who has rebelled against the Lord all your life and are without any hope of salvation except by Jesus’ atoning death that “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)? You can be saved. Is your only qualification that you are a terrible sinner? Then you qualify to come to Jesus for salvation, for it is “not … the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13) that Jesus came to call and save. Come to Him as a sinner. Do not hide your sins, but come to Him in all your uncleanness, and He will wash you “white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). “ … [W]hoever comes to me I will never cast out,” Jesus says (John 6:37). How do we come to Him? By believing and trusting Him and His finished work

alone as wholly sufficient to cleanse us of our sins and reconcile us to God, bringing nothing in our hands but simply clinging to the cross alone. As the Bible says, “Now to one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:4-5).

“But,” you say, “you don’t understand how terrible I am. How can there be any hope for me?” You are quite right that you are a terrible sinner, but, again, we read that “Christ came … to save sinners.” He “bore our sins” (1 Peter 2:24) — all of them (Colossians 2:13-14) — in our place. He has “[removed]” them “from us” “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12), and we now stand completely reconciled to God (Romans 5:10-11). Christ is the wholly sufficient sacrifice (Hebrews 9:12, 10:10-18), and those who believe in Christ “have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19), not because they aren’t sinners but because Christ died for their sins, and they now stand righteous in Him. But if that does not satisfy you, Paul calls himself the “foremost,” or “worst” (NIV), of sinners. This is not false, pious deprecation. It is true. That’s why he says God’s mercy to him “as the foremost” serves as “an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16), that they would not despair but have confidence that, if God has saved the worst of sinners, He can save them, too. Remember the tax collector who “went down to his house justified” (Luke 18:14) despite his miserable past. Indeed, the Bible is filled with terrible sinners coming to Jesus and finding salvation. Do not despair, then, but say with John Bunyan to the voices telling you to hide from Christ because of your sin, “I am Magdalene, I am Zaccheus, I am the Thief, I am the Harlot, I am the Publican, I am the Prodigal and one of Christ’s Murderers: Yea, worse than any of these, and yet God was so far off from rejecting … me, (as I found afterwards) that there was music and dancing in his House for me, and for Joy that I was come home unto him.”

Oh, that you would believe in Christ, and that those who are Christians would praise God for their own great and wonderful salvation and that of all their brothers and sisters! And would Christians find hope, peace and comfort in seeing the heart of Jesus in this verse, knowing that their Bridegroom loves them in a way “that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19), not just in their conversion, but throughout every moment and turn of life, until we are with Him in glory.

Andrew Sveda is a senior at Notre Dame from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, majoring in political science and theology. In his free time, he enjoys writing (obviously), reading and playing the piano. He can be reached at asveda@nd.edu or @SvedaAndrew on Twitter.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

sheikh: Light the beam

Isa Sheikh

notre dame news e ditor

“When you go traveling to visit cities, do you ever go to s acramento? Is that ever on your bucket list?”

That’s a joke made by London b reed, s an Francisco’s mayor, on an nbc s ports broadcast ahead of Game 6 in the Kings-Warriors round one playoff series, as she confidently predicted the round would end that night. It didn’t, as the Kings forced a game seven, winning in such an impressive feat that I honestly thought this s ports Authority would feature a good deal of b reedesque gloating and far less eulogizing.

b ut here we are. All through the series, I’ve texted my favorite teacher from high school each game.

“ s uper sad and a horrible way to end the season,” he texted tonight in response to my simple frowny face. And while darkness seems like an easy resort at the moment, there are often alternative options.

s acramento has long been a joke in the minds of outsiders, as evidenced by b reed’s josh. b ut so have the Kings. After amassing the most consecutive losses in nb A history over the past two decades, the team’s literally been relegated to a s aturday n ight Live punchline. “We live in cities you’ll never see on screen / n ot very pretty, but we sure know how to run things,” Lorde sings on “Team.” And when I hear it, I think of the anachronistic quiet beauty of our city, those bends I’ve known my whole life and yes, those washed-out Kings murals.

b ut something in the air of Golden 1 c enter changed this year, in a season that earned the Kings a new style of attention, winning c oach of the Year and c lutch Player of the Year.

They entered the playoffs ranked third in the western conference, which is still astonishing to type out.

After a 16-year playoff drought, our team pulled through and gave the reigning champions a run for their money. And while all credit goes to the incredible team, the phenomenon of a Kings fandom taking its first sip of success after being parched for most of my life is something else. The city that fought to the death a decade ago to prevent losing its team, that is

told endlessly that it’s on no one’s bucket list, reawoke in the image of a bright purple beam that shot from the center of the city up to the heavens. The “light the beam” mantra was a new innovation, courtesy of the team’s owner, a stroke-ofgenius piece of marketing that added something to represent the new moment.

There was immense drama in the seven games we watched at the edge of our seats, from d omantas s abonis being stomped on the chest by d raymond Green or elbowed in the eye, or the thrill of watching s tephen c urry miss two consecutive free throws. When Kings fans took the 90 minute drive to go watch away games and learned that c hase c enter did not allow the team’s classic cowbells, they pulled out their phones with the team’s app, loaded with a virtual cowbell. The sense of an underdog on the rise was contagious, hard to shake off from the sports movies we’ve been programmed by our entire lives. At moments, glory felt inevitable. And perhaps, despite the loss today, the sea change this season was itself glorious.

Last semester, I sat in my dorm room without the sufficient channels to watch Kings games but watching their progress on my Twitter feed. I wanted few things more than to return to downtown s acramento, to see the beam in the sky from miles away as we drove away in the valley’s flat landscape. I found some cheap tickets for the day I was set to return and excitedly bought some to take my siblings. Unfortunately, my case of not-like-other-girls syndrome led me to once again buy a train ticket across the country, and delay after delay made it so that I was still stuck in n evada as the game was set to begin. I called my siblings an Uber in a moment of fleeting cell service and resigned myself to the less-than-pleasant meal they served us.

And then, another miracle came down and I was in s acramento with time still left in the game. After frantically negotiating with a hotel clerk to watch my luggage, I ran up the stairs of the stadium, surprising my siblings in their seats way up, high above the court. e ven the cheap seats at this largely insignificant game

see sheIKh pAGE 10

games in 2022. Like Justin Ademilola, Lugg will face a strong challenge trying to make the b ears out of minicamp. The mini-camp invitation does not guarantee him a contract, though it is an opportunity to make an impression.

DL Justin Ademilola (uFA to the Green Bay packers)

Ademilola declined a potential additional year in college to enter the nFL draft process with his brother and was rewarded with a post-draft deal in Green bay. Ademilola was a constant rotational piece on the Irish line this year, often swapping in for Isaiah Foskey at the vyper position.

despite not receiving the same consistent reps as other members along the notre dame front seven, Ademilola finished third on the team in quarterback pressures in 2022. over the course of his five-year career he accumulated 9.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and 108 tackles. most of that production came in Ademilola’s final two years with the program, when he cracked the rotation fulltime and played in 12 or more games each season. Prior to 2021, Ademilola had never ended a season with more than 15 tackles. he more than doubled that number

each of his final two seasons.

LB Bo Bauer (uFA to the Seattle Seahawks)

bauer’s notre dame career came to an unfortunate and unexpected end in october when he suffered a season-ending knee injury at practice days after the shamrock series, a game in which he made a critical fourthand-goal stand. A captain on the 2022 team and a member of last year’s national Football Foundation hampshire honor society and notre dame Father Lange Iron cross Award winner, bauer was a solid, reliable presence in the Irish linebacking core dating back to 2018.

bauer was the rare Irish player to receive consistent playing time from the beginning of his collegiate career. he made doubledigit appearances in each season he played in except for his injuryshortened 2022 campaign. he led last year’s team with 47 tackles, also recording four TFLs, 1.5 sacks and an interception. seattle also took a linebacker in the second round, drafting Auburn’s derick hall 37th overall.

DL Chris Smith (uFA to the Detroit Lions)

A 2021 First Team All-Ivy Leaguer at harvard, smith was solid but not spectacular in his lone season with the Irish. smith appeared in all 13 games, making five starts. he finished with

17 tackles, 10 solo and a forced fumble. That being said, detroit is an intriguing place for smith to go. The Lions are a team on the rise but finished last year with one of the league’s poorer defenses. Their d-line was not a positive exception to this rule, ranking 26th in the nFL per Pro Football Focus. It does include some intriguing pieces, such as former Irish star Julian okwara and 2022 no. 2 overall pick Aidan hutchinson.

K Blake Grupe ( uFA to the New orleans Saints)

Like smith, Grupe also spent one season in s outh bend, arriving after an incredible career at Arkansas state. Grupe too had a good but not great year with the Irish, making 14 of 19 field goals (73.7%), as well as all 49 of his PATs. he was 6-10 on 40-49 yard field goals, with his longest kick coming from 47 yards out. The Irish have not produced a consistently solid n FL kicker in recent years, so Grupe will try to be the exception to the rule. The saints’ kicker last year, Will Lutz, had the secondworst success percentage of all n FL kickers last year (min. 20 attempts), so there’s at least a chance the six-year saint and 2019 Pro bowler could lose his grip on the starting job. Whether Grupe is the one to take it from him is another story.

notre dame softball swept by no. 4 Florida

By J.J. POST Associate sports e ditor

n otre d ame softball endured a tough weekend, losing to Florida s tate in a three-game sweep in s outh b end.

The series’ first game would prove to be the biggest heartbreaker for the Irish. n otre d ame jumped out to a quick lead on the fourth-ranked s eminoles, going ahead 4-0 at m elissa c ook. The Irish had a chance to expand the lead further, but senior infielder Joley m itchell’s two out rb I double was chalked off due to junior infielder c arlli Kloss leaving second base early.

The would-be 5-0 lead would quickly become pertinent. Florida s tate would chalk up four runs of their own in the top of the sixth inning, tying the game. Then, in extras, the s eminoles would push ahead. A calamitous fielders choice rundown turned into a 12-minute umpire

review that resulted in a Florida s tate runner on third with two outs. A wild pitch by freshman reliever m icaela Kastor scored the runner soon after, and the s eminoles had the lead for good.

Games two and three were decidedly less close. The Florida s tate bats ran wild against n otre d ame’s staff, chalking up 11 runs in game two and 12 in game three. A particularly brutal fourth inning defined said game three rout. The s eminoles plated eight runs before the Irish could stop the damage. Florida s tate put their first five batters on base.

A strikeout gave n otre d ame one out, but the s eminole offense kept on clicking. Three consecutive singles followed a two run home run.

The Irish offense proved a stark contrast to Florida s tate’s explosion. m itchell’s double in the fourth kept n otre d ame from being no-hit, but that proved to be the only production the

Irish could muster.

While errors didn’t decide the game, they were an uncharacteristic problem for n otre d ame on s unday. The Irish committed four, three of which directly resulted in s eminole runs.

The sweep now puts notre d ame in a precarious position heading into Acc tournament play. The Irish currently sit on the nc AA Tournament bubble. A win over the highly-ranked s eminoles would have done a lot to help the team’s position. notre d ame instead will have just a single out-of-conference game against c entral m ichigan and then an unfavorable Acc Tournament draw to prove themselves to the committee before selection day.

notre d ame softball will be back in action Tuesday against c entral m ichigan. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast on Acc network e xtra. Contact

Happy Birthday: engage in the activities and pastimes that make you happy. Take charge of your life and change what is no longer working for you. by helping yourself, you’ll be setting an example for others. Trust and believe in yourself and your ability to initiate what needs to happen to feel good about yourself and look forward to what lies ahead. your numbers are 5, 11, 23, 26, 33, 42, 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Anger isn’t becoming. channel your energy into something meaningful. Take the initiative and make home improvements that will improve your living arrangements. Invest more time and money in yourself and what you have to offer. make healthy living a priority.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): relax and enjoy friends and family. someone you respect will offer a different perspective regarding something that interests you. stick to a budget, and you’ll avoid debt stress. If you use your imagination, you’ll find a cheaper way to get what you want.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A positive attitude will encourage you to trust and believe in yourself instead of letting someone play games with you and point you in the wrong direction. focus on what makes you happy and take measures to protect against harmful interference.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): make a difference. get involved in something that will benefit your community or encourage you to get back to basics, pastimes and people who make you smile. Pay attention to those offering insight into what’s trending, and invest in your future.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): follow the money. generosity may make you feel good, but debt doesn’t. Pay attention to how you earn your living and handle your cash. someone will be happy to take advantage of you. Trying to buy friendship won’t help you gain respect.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): don’t pressure yourself if it jeopardizes your health or emotional well-being. Associate with those who pick you up, not put you down. look at what’s possible and be honest about what you can offer. share your intentions and pursue your goals.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Pamper yourself, attend a reunion or research something to improve your health or overall appearance. feeling good about your appearance will up your game and make you more attractive to someone of interest. romance is on the rise.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): look at the possibilities and discuss your thoughts with anyone affected by your decisions. you’ll gain momentum if you convince loved ones to support your efforts. Protect against anyone trying to scam you, and avoid health risks.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): you can make suggestions, but don’t force your ideas, opinions or beliefs on others. go about your business, engage in fitness or activities that offer adventure or an outlet for your pent-up energy. Physical fitness and self-improvement are in your best interest.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take control and make things happen. Invest in yourself, your home and your future. Pay attention to what things cost and how you can crunch the numbers to get what you want. verify the information you receive and listen to your heart.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Take a pass where risky investments are concerned. don’t let the hype someone feeds you make you ignore common sense. Pay attention to living a healthy lifestyle, free of stress. congregate with like-minded people you can trust.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Pay attention to where your money goes. don’t overspend on luxury items. reach out to someone you can share memories with, and you’ll gain insight into how others perceive you. Invest in something that offers security and peace of mind.

Birthday Baby: you are benevolent, insistent and energetic. you are protective and loyal.

irish start slow offensively and fall behind early, only for the bats to become white-hot in the middle innings. in saturday’s 12-2 shellacking of Florida state, it happened again. after winning close Friday and watching Fsu softball do the same, Link Jarrett’s squad felt great heading into saturday. The good vibes picked up right away in the first, as James Tibbs skied a leadoff homer. nander de sedas crushed another in the fourth, putting Fsu ahead 2-0. all the while, seminole starter conner Whittaker looked impeccable in his first three innings. but notre dame made serious adjustments in the fourth.

Prajzner opened the inning with a flyout, but the irish scored five before recording the next out. They racked up six consecutive hits, getting the barrel to everything in sight. The first big blow came from graduate catcher vinny martinez, who launched a go-ahead, three-run shot down the right-field line.

on the next four pitches, sophomore outfielder dm Jefferson and coetzee added another in with back-to-back doubles. Junior catcher danny neri then kept the train moving on an rbi single to right. When the dust settled on the inning, notre dame led 6-2.

now pitching with the lead, graduate starting pitcher blake hely settled in masterfully. he retired his final 10 batters, striking out eight in his second consecutive seveninning start.

Though it didn’t feel like it, Florida state was still very much in the game. notre dame’s offense put that idea firmly to rest with a six-run eighth. sophomore third baseman Jack Penney stole the show, hammering a grand slam and adding an equally impressive bat flip. With the four-piece, Penney became the first irish hitter to 10 home runs in 2023. Just like that, the irish had blown the game open and were well on their way to a 12-2 win.

Game three: Irish overcome pitching woes with second offensive explosion despite considerably damper conditions, notre dame’s offense

Sheikh

con T inued F rom Page 9

were packed, the room electric. Last time i had been up there, on the night before i took the sa T, courtesy of free tickets i had gotten from work, those seats were largely empty. b oth of those nights were nonetheless unforgettable, watching c hickFil- a packages float down from the rafters and the fireworks on the court, the faces i still remember from the Jumbotron and the absurdity of a Kings halftime.

i ’ve been accused of being a bandwagoner, and it’s probably true. i ’ve never been a huge sports fan of any sort to be perfectly honest. b ut perhaps it’s because the Kings gave s acramentans — even

rolled right along into sunday’s game. in the first, graduate first baseman carter Putz tagged a 420foot homer to the opposite field. an inning later, martinez belted his ninth dinger of the year to leftcenter field. With both being solo shots, the irish were out to a 2-0 lead. however, just like saturday’s affairs, the early lead evaporated quickly.

Facing graduate starter carter bosch, Florida state got to work in the third. vincent stroked a runscoring single to right, setting up deamez ross. on the first pitch he saw, the center fielder slammed his first career home run, a threerun job to right. after that, bosch only saw two more hitters. but his replacement, freshman caden spivey, excelled in relief. he pitched 4 2/3 innings, conceding just two runs and allowing notre dame’s offense to soar.

Takeoff occurred in the bottom of the fourth when coetzee stepped in with two men on and driving sleet falling from the sky. The right fielder mashed a ball right through, homering to center and handing notre dame a 5-4 lead. That sent Fsu starter carson montgomery to the showers, allowing the irish to attack an already thin seminole bullpen.

Though Florida state briefly leveled the score in the fifth, Putz powered notre dame to a lead that would last. after Prajzner singled to lead off, he sent his eighth roundtripper to right-center again.

From there, notre dame never looked back. Prajzner, Putz and coetzee combined to drive in five between three singles in the sixth. The ‘noles tried to make it a game late, but junior relievers ryan Lynch and sammy cooper slammed the door for a 12-8 victory.

With the result, the irish now hold a 25-17 overall record. Their 13-11 acc mark ties boston college for second place in the atlantic division. meanwhile, Florida state (15-27, 6-18 acc) continues to dwell in the division’s basement. notre dame will face bowling green at 6:00 p.m. at home Tuesday before a crucial visit from nc state this weekend.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu

those like myself who grew up in d ubs city — something big to be excited about. s omething really big; as we know well in c alifornia, the end of a drought is nothing to laugh at. a t the game i chose to attend instead of last-minute cramming for the most stressful test i ’d ever taken, the unbridled joy we felt as a city taught me something else, something i can’t quite put into words. Perhaps the consumerist, saccharine sports slogans i ’ve always mocked have an answer here. m ore cowbell. b eam Team Forever.

Contact Isa Sheikh at isheikh@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

there’s no feeling quite like the end of a lengthy drought. a few big late-inning swings on a fateful sunny sunday in Knoxville, and 21 years of baseball demons in south bend were exorcised just like that.

5. ZeLO series — Tom Zwiller

“i built it and all the decisions made were intentional and wellthought-out. it back tested incredibly well last year … georgia won the title and alabama finished second, mirroring the results of the actual season. always a good sign.”

i’m cheating a little here by giving this slot to a series of articles rather than a specific one. as someone who is big into analytics, it blows my mind that someone my age is able to create not just a fully functional college football predicting model, but a pretty accurate one to boot. That’s exactly what Tom did throughout the 2022 season. Look forward to even more ZeLo coverage this fall — i know i am.

4. The 6,500 souls that built the 2022 FIFA World Cup — Olivia Schatz

“i am not blaming the fans … rather, i hope that it will make people think just a little more than they did previously on the graves that the World cup is built on.” often, the most serious thing for a college newspaper’s sports department to cover is a football loss to a mid-major school,

something that could *never* happen to notre dame (curse you, marshall). This thoughtful piece really shows olivia’s range as a writer. it is incredibly well-researched, well-written and more than well-worth reading. unlike a lot of articles, this piece does a fantastic job of letting readers think for themselves, but making sure they are aware of everything they should know about the black eye that was the host city of an otherwise spectacular World cup.

3. ‘One of those special moments’: Irish knock off No. 4 Clemson 35-14 — Liam Coolican

“When junior quarterback drew Pyne lined up in victory formation and the clock ticked toward zero, fans and students alike spilled onto the field in jubilation.” The word jubilation is incredibly important here. The 2020 upset win over clemson felt like more of a relief than anything. That semester was so hard that something — anything — had to go our way, right? The 2022 version, however, was more blissful. no stressing about double overtime or cFP implications. Just a game full of iconic and little moments (see below) to not just enjoy, but celebrate together. Liam’s article wonderfully captures the significance of all of it.

2. ‘I just did it for my team’: How the 1995 title shaped Kate Markgraf’s mentality — Mannion McGinley

“in all of these roles, markgraf took on larger leadership roles than she may have thought she

would originally … her advice? if something scares you, go after it.” as someone who grew up cheering for notre dame, i felt like my knowledge of notre dame sports history was pretty solid. but not knowing the story of Kate markgraf and notre dame’s 1995 women’s soccer championship was definitely a blind spot i’m happy to have filled in. mannion tremendously tells the team’s story and markgraf’s growth as both a player and a person, the latter of which is what sports are all about.

1. ‘Call duo until you can’t speak’: How the Irish used selfless football to forge their identity — Aidan Thomas “but the irish aren’t trying to be what they’re not … rees and the irish aren’t keeping it a secret. They want to physically dominate their opponent.”

Personally, my favorite sports stories to read are the ones that take one small little detail and show their importance in the broader picture. Without context, the quote in this headline means basically nothing. but aidan does a stellar job of showing how these six words from then-offensive coordinator Tommy rees defined not just notre dame’s high-water mark of the 2022 football season, but the evolution of the team — and the people who made it up — as a whole.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Three i rish players selected in n FL draft, seven sign as free agents

By Observer Sports Staff

The 2023 n FL draft took place from Thursday-s aturday in Kansas c ity. Three i rish players were taken in the sevenround process, with seven more signing shortly after the draft’s conclusion as undrafted free agents.

TE Michael Mayer (Drafted No. 35 by Las Vegas Raiders)

a fter a curious slip out of the first round, notre dame’s record-setting tight end landed in a strong situation in Las vegas.

The r aiders traded starter darren Waller this offseason and signed veterans austin hooper and o.J. howard. mayer should compete for the starting role and the chance to become a top target for new quarterback Jimmy Garropolo.

mayer set just about every notre dame tight end record while in s outh bend, including the single-season and career marks for receiving yards, receptions and touchdowns. he led the i rish in receiving yards the past two seasons, notching 67 catches for 809 yards and nine touchdowns this past season.

mayer’s best game of the 2022 season actually came at the r aiders’ a llegiant stadium, when he collected 11 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns in notre dame’s shamrock s eries win over bYU in Las vegas. despite his many accolades and being ranked the top tight end in the class by many ranking services, mayer was the third player drafted at his position, slipping to 35th

overall. Utah’s dalton Kincaid (25th overall) and iowa’s sam Laporta (34th overall) heard their names called prior to mayer.

DL Isaiah Foskey (Drafted No. 40 by New Orleans Saints)

a fter i rish fans had to wait until the second night of the draft to hear mayer’s name called, they didn’t have to wait much longer for the second i rish player to be selected. Just a few picks later, defensive end isaiah Foskey went to the new orleans saints with the 40th overall pick.

Foskey could easily have turned pro after his junior year, and was long projected to be a first-round selection after leading the team with 10 sacks to go along with 52 tackles in 2021. he elected to stay for his senior year, however in large part because of marcus Freeman’s promotion to head coach.

he originally joined the i rish as a four-star recruit from de La salle high school in c alifornia. Foskey played sparingly as a freshman, appearing in just three games and notching five total tackles. h is playing time increased substantially as a sophomore, collecting 20 total tackles including five sacks on the year, before bursting onto the national scene as a junior.

some pundits thought Foskey took a step back this year, but he still racked up 10.5 sacks to lead the team by a wide margin once again. he’ll have a chance to be a difference-maker on a s aints team that desperately needs pass-rush help. o utside of aging star cameron Jordan, the

depth chart is thin at defensive end for the s aints. Foskey will have a great chance to make an impact in his first season in the superdome.

OL Jarrett Patterson (Drafted No. 201 by Houston Texans)

o n s aturday, offensive lineman Jarett Patterson became the third former i rish player off the board in the 2023 n FL d raft. The h ouston Texans selected him 201st overall in the sixth round. i n five seasons at n otre d ame, big number 55 played in 49 games, starting 46. Patterson served as a team captain in each of the last two seasons, transitioning from center to left guard in 2022. Finishing his college career without a sack allowed, Patterson collected a merican Football c oaches a ssociation s econd Team a lla merican honors after last season. With his selection, n FL teams have now drafted 10 i rish offensive linemen in the last ten years.

Looking to restock the offensive line, the rebuilding Texans also nabbed Penn s tate center Juice s cruggs in the second round. They also took their potential franchise quarterback, o hio s tate man c .J. s troud, at second overall. h is protection will be key as h ouston looks to add a new name to the already long list of young, starstudded a F c signal-callers. i n h-Town, Patterson will work with new offensive line coach c hris s trausser. h e spent the past four seasons with the i ndianapolis c olts

and former i rish star guard Quenton n elson.

DL Jayson Ademilola (UFA to the Jacksonville Jaguars)

a demilola joined the i rish in 2018, along with his twin brother Justin, and was an impact player on the interior defensive line for the next five seasons. The n ew Jersey native was a day-one contributor at n otre d ame, recording 17 tackles and helping the i rish reach the c ollege Football Playoff as a true freshman. h e continued to serve as a key rotation player over the next two seasons, combining for 36 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss.

That production led to him becoming a full-time starter in 2021, a position he would hold for his final two seasons in s outh b end. a demilola took full advantage of his new role, posting 78 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks across his senior and graduate seasons. h e was a standout in n otre d ame’s 2021 s hamrock s eries win over Wisconsin, finishing with two tackles for loss along with a sack and a forced fumble.

a fter signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent, a demilola has the opportunity to secure a roster spot on an exciting team that reached the playoffs last season and appears to be on the rise. d efensive line was an area of need for the Jaguars, and the high-end quickness and explosiveness that made him an effective pass rusher with the i rish

gives him a chance to carve out a similar role at the next level in Jacksonville.

S Brandon Joseph (UFA to Detroit Lions)

Though Joseph went through the draft without hearing his name called, the safety was quickly snatched up by the d etroit Lions. Joseph, who spent his first three years at n orthwestern before transferring to n otre d ame played 32 games in his collegiate career. h e amassed 10 interceptions and had one sack, according to c ollege Football r eference. Joseph was ranked the 19th overall safety by es P n , and the 224th prospect in the draft.

The n orthwestern- n otre d ame product will not be the only rookie to join the Lions secondary. d etroit also took a labama s afety b rian b ranch early in the second round. b oth b ranch and Joseph join a strong Lions secondary. Featured on the depth chart is ss c .J. Gardner-Johnson had a productive season with the e agles, netting six interceptions. r eturning to the F s Lions is Tracy Walker iii Walker iii only played three games before tearing his a chilles against the v ikings.

a lso returning to d etroit for his third season is cb i featu m elifonwu, who played in ten games last year.

While Joseph will likely not start for the Lions, he is a solid backup and should expect to play throughout the season, while learning from veteran players ahead of him on the depth chart.

OL Josh Lugg (UFA to the Chicago Bears)

The c hicago b ears offered Lugg, a versatile and important part of n otre d ame’s defensive line, a rookie minicamp invitation. The invitation came shortly after Lugg went undrafted in the 2023 n FL d raft. Lugg spent 6 years with the Fighting i rish, joining the team in 2017. h e did not appear in any games his freshman year, and appeared in 13 games on special teams during his sophomore season. h e started 5 times his junior year, and made nine appearances (but only 3 starts) in a senior season that saw n otre d ame go to the c ollege Football Playoff.

a fter 4 years of changing roles, Lugg blossomed at right tackle in his final two graduate seasons with the i rish. h e started at right tackle in all 12 games he played in 2021, and did the same for all 13

bAsebAll

Irish spoil Link Jarrett’s return with dynamic series win

By TYLER REIDY Associate sports e ditor

notre dame baseball was in a tough spot after Friday night’s game. After sweeping then-no. 8 virginia and climbing 17 spots in the rPI rankings, the team had just dropped two winnable games — first at michigan state, then at home against Florida state. With a time change for saturday’s game, the Irish had just 15 hours to get right and avoid a losing streak.

They did just that, reminding former head coach Link Jarrett of the primary reasons for their 2022 run to omaha with him: potent offense and spotless defense. With Jarrett coaching in the seminole dugout, notre dame scored 24 runs in the weekend’s final two games, never committing an error across the entire three-game set. It all amounted to an impressive bounce-back and a 2-1 Irish series win.

Game one: seminoles outclutch the irish for tight win

With their former skipper back in town, notre dame’s veterans may have gripped the bats a little

spOrts AuthOrit Y

too tight Friday night. down a run in the final three innings, Irish graduate students misfired on several tying opportunities. As a result, the team lost 3-2, ending Florida state’s 12-game road losing streak.

excellent starting pitching marked the game’s first half, as FsU’s Jackson baumeister squared off with notre dame graduate student Aidan Tyrell. on 106 pitches, the former struck out nine and allowed one run in six innings. meanwhile, Tyrell gave his team seven innings of three-run baseball.

The scoring started in the third when Tyrell walked a pair to bring up Jaime Ferrer with two outs. Ferrer ripped a double to the leftfield corner, scoring both runners. In the fifth, notre dame initiated a loud response. on a 3-2 count, freshman second baseman estevan moreno slammed a solo home run to left. It was his seventh blast of the year, and it cut the seminole lead to 2-1.

Florida state rebuilt its two-run advantage in the seventh, striking again with two outs on a colton vincent single. As FsU transitioned

to the bullpen in the bottom of the frame, notre dame pulled one back. Graduate outfielder brooks coetzee rocketed a leadoff double to right, and moreno singled him home for his second rbI of the night.

From there, notre dame’s missed opportunities told the story, marked by an inability to read the breaking ball. Graduate infielder Zack Prajzner closed the seventh by striking out with the tying run at second. The same fate befell coetzee with two runners on in the eighth. In the ninth, a two-out FsU fielding error gave the Irish life, but Prajzner struck out again with a man on second. by the night’s end, notre dame had gone 1-for-15 with runners on base, not once recording back-toback hits. drew Kirkland earned the seminole save, pitching 2 ⅓ scoreless innings.

Game two: Contagious hitting fuels irish blowout

A handful of notre dame’s conference wins at home have followed the same formula. The

McGuinness: My 10 favorite Observer sports articles of 2022-23

McGuinness

It’s been a long, great year of notre dame sports. so much has happened since we all arrived on campus back in August. here at The observer, we covered it all. And though I’m definitely a bit biased, I feel confident in saying we covered it pretty well. There will be more to come as some of the spring sports continue their seasons. on both the lacrosse field and baseball and softball diamonds, there are hopes of deep postseason runs. but today, our final day of production for 2022-23, is a time for reflection. so, we’ll/I’ll toot our/my own horn for just a moment as I look back on my 10 favorite observer sports articles of this crazy, exciting year of athletics at notre dame — and beyond. 10. A-O-K again: the song and story that ended the phillies’ 11-year wait —

Andrew McGuinness

“There have always been happy

memories. but they felt a bit hollow without a happy conclusion to pair them with. Therefore, the ending was always going to be special.”

In case you didn’t read the headline, this is not a ranking of our 10 best articles of the year — just my 10 personal favorites. There are so, so, so, so, so many better articles that we put out this year that are better than this one — part of the reason I don’t feel terrible about this pick is that choosing between them is basically impossible. but I waited 4,014 days to see the Phillies return to the postseason, and somehow, their clinching game didn’t just live up to my wildest dreams — it exceeded them.

From both a baseball and personal perspective, this song and everything that happened the night the drought ended was just “so sweet,” and that was all I ever needed from the team that defined my childhood.

9. ivey needed to be near-perfect sunday to capture ACC. she was. — J.J. post

“Ultimately, Ivey has shown that she values trust in her young squad above all else. And sunday, that trust resulted in a championship.”

This wonderful column by J.J. does a fantastic job of detailing just how difficult of a situation niele Ivey was in during notre dame’s final regular season game, when the Irish lost star sophomore olivia miles with the conference regular season championship on the line. It also perfectly captures how well Ivey handled the moment, and the exciting implications that has for her and the Irish as a whole going forward as they look for better health and more success in 2023.

8. something special about super bowl sunday — Olivia schatz

“You might have lost hundreds of dollars in betting. but, you also had spent a night filled with laughter, and sometimes rage, that you will never get back.”

The best articles are the ones that you can relate to your own personal life. It’s all but impossible

to read this article by olivia and not think of your own special super bowl memories. For me, it’s standing on my couch back home, hugging my sister on her 20th birthday as our beloved eagles celebrated their first super bowl five years ago. For olivia, it’s connecting with good friends back home.

There’s a popular tweet that says, “The point of sports is to be sad in a group,” which I think is half right. To me, the point of sports is to have a group to feel whatever you want — happy, sad or anywhere in between — a truth this article tells beautifully. A super bowl 57 that involved all of the above for me, a bittersweet eagles fan, was undoubtedly better because I spent it with friends.

7. singing with the ultras — José sánchez Córdova

“As I moved into the section, I found an usher who I thought might help me. ‘Where is seat 29?’ I asked in French. ‘no seats, go anywhere,’ he replied.”

reading this article by José will

place you in one of the most iconic and unique places to watch a sports game — the supporters’ section of a high-stakes champions League match. The pacing of this article, much like a high-level football play, is so brilliant. It’s a perfect example of showing, not telling, something that is incredibly hard to master. That makes how well José pulls it off all the more impressive.

6. 7th inning homers stun Volunteers, send irish to first College World series since 2002 — Andrew McGuinness

“And yet, at the moment of maximum doubt, the Irish had none.”

All the Irish did to reach their first college World series since 2002 was stun capacity crowds in two of three games on the road against no. 1 Tennessee, rallying from 3-1 down in the seventh to cap their rapid rise in Link Jarrett’s threeyear tenure by reaching the sport’s biggest stage. Like with the Phillies,

SOFIA CRIMIVAROLI | The Observer

An Irish batter swings during the Irish’s first game of three against Florida State on Friday. The Irish won the series against the Noles. see bAsebALL pAGe 10

Andrew

sports e ditor