The Class of 2011

We had a total of five voters this year, including the carryover. The threshold of three votes gave us four inductees this year.



Dave (4 votes): "Mr. Best Man" is seen here with 2010 inductee Klondike.



Knute Rockne (4 votes): "One loss is good for the soul. Too many losses is not good for the coach." Rock only lost 12 games in 13 years, and put Notre Dame (the football program and the school) on the map in the process.



F-Bomb (3 votes): Ooh, multimedia.



Randy Waldrum (3 votes): Coach Waldrum has been receiving votes ever since the Hall of Fame started, but his second National Championship at ND finally put him over the top.


The also-rans. Remember that the multiple vote-getters will receive one carryover vote next year.

Name	Votes	Comment
Cleveland	2	One of the best cities!
JL	2	for his epic performance at Pete's bachelor party
Kanka's Dad	2
Pete	2
Yonto	2
Anyone not named Rafael Palmeiro	1
Ellie the Dog	1	for still being alive
George Hatton	1
Joe Posnanski	1
Kanka	1	Yes, I think you should go in again like a player who later becomes a coach
Kirk Cameron	1	for reassuring us these are not the end times
Leprechauns	1
Manti Te'o	1	because he's a bad man
Muffett McGraw	1
Nachos	1
Notre Dame	1	The whole university
Pete's Dad	1	for traveling to Pete's bachelor party and spending the weekend with us idiots
Ron Santo	1
Softball	1	For bring together the Kankas and making drinking a part of the week
Taylor Swift	1
The Midwest	1

California: April 24 - May 2

by Dave and Colleen

Since Kanka and Erin’s NY adventures have now come and gone, we figured we should eventually get on with writing this long-overdue review of our eight-day, four-ballpark tour of California.

We arrived in San Francisco around noon local time on Saturday, April 24, and immediately rented a car and headed for Sonoma Valley (next to Napa). Choosing two wineries at random from our guide book, we pretended to be wine snobs for the day. The first place, Viansia, was a beautiful Tuscan building on a hill with incredible views. The inside had a foodcourt complete with tastings, and two large wine bars for tasting flights of wine. At the second stop, Benziger, we took a tour of the grounds and learned about winemaking. Their Pinot Noir was excellent, so we picked up a bottle to drink later in the trip. Colleen’s Aunt Judy lives in a very nice three-bedroom condo in SF with a view (when it’s not too foggy) of the Golden Gate Bridge, and she was nice enough to let us stay with her for three nights. On our way to her place, we stopped at Muir Woods to look at really tall redwoods (yeah, I know, I got your really tall redwood right here) and had dinner in Sausalito, across the bay from SF.


Wine country


Muir Woods

Aunt Judy and her boyfriend Tom gave us a car tour through SF and dropped us off at AT&T Park, where we saw the Cardinals beat the Giants, 2-0. Pujols’ homer in the first was all the scoring needed in this one. This ballpark is really unique. We sat in the lower level down the right-field line, just next to the wall in front of the bay where many of Barry Bonds’ steroid-aided home runs landed; also next to us was the “K” board, a strikeout counter turned one-by-one by the fan sitting closest to that K (this amused Colleen to no end). The garlic fries they serve here were certainly a highlight; just outstanding. The thousands of seagulls that descended on the field as soon as the game was over were not a highlight, as you can imagine if you know Dave. Other things to note:

• best between-inning entertainment: a video countdown of Pablo Sandoval’s top-5 choreographed teammate handshakes


• best text-message shown on the big screen: "sign Jermaine Dye"


• Colby Rasmus is really good


• Dudes wear panda hats in honor of Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval


• Dave saw a guy wearing a plain t-shirt that just read "Che Guevera t-shirt"

Outside the Giants' park


Klondike’s favorite shop

After the game, we decided to walk all the way back to the condo, which was just absurd, considering SF’s incredible hills. Oh well. But we saw a mushroom store called “Far West Fungi,” so obviously we thought of Klondike. Monday saw more hiking, as we went on an epic journey just west of the bridge, mapped out by Tom. This eventually led us to a great burger place (an oasis, if you will), but not before jumping back on the road and going back to get the car for the last bit of the journey. Monday night we went to Alcatraz, which was pretty sweet, except for forgetting the camera. Creepy as hell at night.


Hiking by the Golden Gate Bridge

Tuesday was drive-down-the-coast day. It was also our only lousy weather day of the whole trip, so we skipped the scenic coastal highway and just booked it down the freeways. Nothing else really happened, except for getting to the hotel in LA and not being able to watch the Red Wings beat the Coyotes in game 7, which did not amuse Colleen.

Wednesday morning, we took an excellent tour of the Warner Bros studios. It was really well done – 2 hours 15 minutes, on a long golf cart, through all their indoor and outdoor studio lots. Highlights:

• a big room with classic movie cars, like the Shaguar, General Lee, and two Batmobiles, among others


• they took us inside the set of "Chuck"


• the "Central Perk" coffee shop from "Friends" was left up for the tour, and we got pictures sitting in it


• the guide explained how the backlots can be transformed; there are different streets, some with shops, some with apartments, some with suburban houses, and they get changed all the time to suit the different shows and movies being filmed

On the set of "Friends"

After the tour, we walked through Hollywood to Graumann’s Chinese Theater and saw the Walk of Stars along the way. We then met my brother Michael in Anaheim for the Angels-Indians game. This was the only game we saw that the home team won – the Angels won 4-3 on a Howie Kendrick bunt base-hit in the bottom of the 9th. Our tickets were half-price, and we quickly realized why: they were down the right-field line, facing directly into the sun. Dahhhh. But the stadium redeemed itself through the use of the Rally Monkey. They showed videos of the Rally Monkey jumping up and down, wearing an Angels jersey. Hilarious! Never got old. Little kids (and Dave) went crazy every single time he was shown, because, let’s face it, monkeys are awesome! They also showed clips from movies and music videos with the Rally Monkey popping up in random spots.


Colleen with the “Hollywood” sign in the background


With Michael outside Angels Stadium

On Thursday, we made Dave’s much-anticipated pilgrimage to...drumroll please... the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library! It was awesome. Dave dubbed it "Republican Disneyland" – lots of old dudes wearing their Navy hats and old ladies with big fun hats representing my Party. They’re actually re-doing much of the museum portion, so it wasn’t so Reagan-centric, but they had a model of the Oval Office (surprisingly small) and an actual Air Force One (decommissioned in 2001) that we walked through. Very cool. There was also a small-scale White House as a doll house of sorts, updated continuously since the 1960s by a husband-and-wife team, that was pretty incredible, as well. We finished up by seeing Reagan’s gravesite. The Library sits on an incredible piece of land in Simi Valley, northwest of LA.


Dave with a statue of his hero, Ronald Reagan


Air Force One

We went to Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, where we saw the Dodgers lose to the Pirates, 2-0. It was incredibly cold and windy, so much so that we had to move seats. People were there with winter coats and blankets. Pro: Dave ate two foot-long Dodger Dogs (they were glorious). Con: it was USC Night at the stadium! We were given maroon-and-gold Dodger hats on the way in, and they played USC songs and showed video clips and such. No joke. Not so good! But the game ended in exciting fashion, as a dude ran on the field with 2 outs in the ninth and got taken down hard by security.


"USC Night" at Dodger Stadium. Great timing on our part.

After the game, we drove down to our hotel north of San Diego. Friday morning, Michael picked us up and took us around town. We went to the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple Gardens (or something like that), where people go to meditate. We had breakfast at a great outdoor place, one of the few in town that now allow Republicans like Dave to eat at (for real; there was a sign). Michael showed us the super-fancy YMCA he works at, where Olympian Shawn White comes to practice skateboarding. We saw Michael’s apartment, which is a block and a half from the ocean (Encinitas, about half an hour north of San Diego), and watched him surf for a bit. We had dinner at a great Mexican place in town, and then had a drink at a townie surf bar called Uncle Duke’s.


Dave at the restaurant that allows Republicans (note the carving in the sign)


Michael playing his ukulele

Saturday, Colleen and I stopped in La Jolla to see the seals hanging out on the beach (really cool) before spending the day going through downtown San Diego. What a beautiful place! We then saw the Padres lose to the Brewers, 9-7. PETCO Park was the upset winner for us as best ballpark – simply the nicest, coolest, and best stadium of the four we saw. It’s built right into downtown, including a park behind centerfield. There’s a little-kid play area in leftfield, where the kids play in a huge sandbox while their parents sit in bleachers and can watch the game (brilliant!) Other highlights:

• it was Chris Young Jersey Night – unfortunately, he was on the DL


• we bought a bag of peanuts from an old veteran two blocks from the stadium for less than half the price of stadium peanuts


• at one point, we realized we were living Sal’s dream: drinking Bud Light while walking Ryan Braun (his favorite) play LF from about 50 feet away

We met Michael after the game for a drink, and then the next day we headed back home!


The seal beach in La Jolla


Inside PETCO Park

All in all, a great trip, and one that we’d definitely recommend!

Notre Dame Football 2008Issue 13: Hawaii

As an experiment, I crowdsourced my bowl preview, and two brave souls responsed. My own thoughts are at the end.

In the interest of time, and because they just flow better that way, I'm leaving everyone's previews intact.

Aflac

Now, I don't study depth charts or stats to the degree that Kanka does, so don't expect in-depth position-by-position reviews out of me. I'm just a fired-up guy who enjoys a good game of football. And if I hadn't just read the most recent crowdsourced article on this site, I'd be tempted to accuse Kanka of being lazy, but I like being involved, I have some free time this weekend, and look: names in bold, integrated links -- I'm turning into a regular blogger!

I don't know anything about Hawaii's team, and I'm too lazy to look it up (see what happens when you crowdsource your articles to a group of equally lazy people?). I also don't have much to say about ND's team at this point that hasn't already been said. I just hope that Charlie isn't so focused on recruiting that he doesn't take the game seriously. Sure, the long-term health of the program is more important than a single bowl game, but I'm sick of hearing about how ND hasn't won a bowl game in 15 years, so it would be nice to get a postseason win.

Since I don't have anything intelligent to say, I'm going to do what all good football commentators do and start rambling on about intangibles and personal experience anecdotes.

This is going to be a tough environment for ND to play in. I stop short of calling it a "hostile" environment, because I'm not sure how hostile any place that has pretty girls handing out floral leis to everyone coming off an airplane can be. But seriously, this is far from a neutral location. It's essentially a home game for Hawaii, so expect to see a lot of whatever their colors are in the stands (again, too lazy to even look it up). It reminds me of the 2003 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. ND played NC State, and the stadium was full of Wolfpack fans not only because of the location, but also because NC State secured their spot in the game far earlier than ND did, giving their fans a jump on buying tickets. I expect to see more of the same here.

They're also not bringing the band. From a dollars-and-cents point of view, I can see why, but if I were still in the band, I'd be pretty upset. The bowl trip is just as much a reward for the band as it is for the team. And as an ND fan, it's great to hear "the greatest of all university fight songs" at ND football games (even though we don't call it that outside of ND Stadium). The band provides (to quote someone from some movie) what the French call a certain... I don't know what.

If any of you are lucky enough to get to attend the game, here are some useful Hawaiian phrases:
Mele Kalikimaka: "Merry Christmas"
Mahalo: I thought this meant "Trash" because that's what's printed on the trash cans at this little Hawaiian place we go to lunch sometimes, but it actually means "Thanks"
Ho'opa i lalo: "Touchdown". Actually, I don't know if that's really true. I just looked up the words "touch" and "down" and stuck the resulting translations together. Use at your own risk.
Joi'aga: That doesn't really mean anything. I just accidentally set my coffee cup down on my keyboard. By the way, they supposedly have good coffee in Hawaii.
Aloha: Both "Hello" and "Goodbye". Who invented this silly language?

Kanka: if you can turn any bit of this into a semi-coherent article, I'll be downright amazed.

Go Irish, and Merry Christmas!

Dave

ND can absolutely win this game, but since it's a bowl game, who the hell knows if we'll show up. Hawaii definitely will, but they're not that good this year. Can we control the clock and avoid stupid turnovers? That will decide the game.

With nothing left to say, I'll just include the rant I emailed Kanka a short time ago:

"I hate the game on Christmas Eve. Absolutely hate it. I can't believe the university put its alumni and fans in such a weird spot. "Go to church, spend time with family, or watch the bowl game" is pretty much the message. So odd. I'm going to Michigan with Colleen and her family tomorrow morning, and her dad's big family get-together is tomorrow night. Clearly I must watch the game, but I'd rather not come off like a totally anti-social d-bag in front of many people I've not met and who will be traveling a far distance for our wedding. Absolutely horrendous decision."

Kanka

This has the potential to be a sloppy game, as both teams have struggled with turnovers. Hawaii has thrown over 16 interceptions, but most of those have come from Inoke Funaki (INDEED). Funaki was replaced by Greg Alexander, who has a stellar 12 to 4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Hawaii uses a four receiver look almost exclusively, and Notre Dame has said will counter with the nickel for most of the game. While Sergio Brown and Harrison Smith have improved their pass coverage over the course of the year, I'd like to see Robert Blanton and/or Gary Gray play nickel/dime back, so all of Notre Dame's most talented corners can be on the field at the same time. Terrail Lambert is back for this one, so that will be a big help. (Lost in the shuffle of the 38-3 loss to USC was the fact that ND was playing without its two "starting" corners, Lambert and Darrin Walls.)

Hawaii distributes the ball pretty evenly, so everyone in the Irish pass defense will have to be on their toes at all times. But they have the talent to do it, and they also have the talent to blitz early and often against a team that is worst in the nation at allowing sacks. But ND also has to be alert for the occasional draw, something they struggled with against San Diego State in the opener.

The Warriors defense gets in the backfield a lot, led by end David Veikune. Hopefully, the Irish will keep extra blockers back to protect Jimmy Clausen. This essentially means taking the tight end and/or running back out of the passing game. But fortunately Michael Floyd will be back, so Hawaii's secondary won't be able to concentrate all their efforts on Golden Tate. Hopefully that extra protection and the dual threat of Floyd and Tate will help Clausen keep the ball away from Hawaii's ball-hawking safeties.

Look for a big game from everyone. Go Irish, beat Warriors.

Trevor Laws' Official Website

I just added a new site to the Notre Dame section of the links sidebar. A site, as Dave says, dedicated to one of the baddest men on the planet - Trevor Laws.

It's a great site, full of all kinds of stuff, including a blog, media links, and even a store for game-worn memorabilia.

Plus, you're reading this post just as the NFL combine is getting started. Laws, John Carlson, John Sullivan, and Tom Zbikowski were all on the invite list for the combine.

Trevor-Laws.com

News and Notes

• At the bottom of each post, I've added a button that will let you bookmark the post to Digg, Reddit, etc., if you're into that sort of thing.


• I also included links to the site's two RSS feeds at the bottom of each post, so please give those a try. If either of these two updates is an eyesore, please let me know.


• On Facebook? Join the KankaNation group!


• I'm hoping to have the countdown clock up again soon. Please check out this thread on the message board and chime in on who should be on this year's clock.


• Congratulations to Justin Tuck, who celebrated a 10 sack season with a huge contract extension. Oh, and he's going to the Super Bowl.


• If you believe the stories, even only to a small extent, Josh Gibson may have been the greatest ballplayer ever. So, I often wondered, why did he never make it to the Major Leagues? Sadly, Gibson died of a brain tumor in January 1947, mere months before Jackie Robinson made his famous debut.

Recent posts, in case you missed them:

• The KankaSports Hall of Fame Class of 2008


• My annual email correspondence with Dave about this year's baseball hall of fame class


• Klondike's interpretations of various crowd cheers and jeers


• Notre Dame Men's and Women's Basketball and Men's Hockey schedule


• Some Cleveland Indians news


• Zbikowski, Laws, Carlson, and Sullivan to play in next Saturday's Senior Bowl


• Notre Dame Alumni in the NFL Playoffs update

Finally, what better a day to post one of my all-time favorite Fr. Hesburgh pictures:

Dave and Kanka's Annual Baseball Hall of Fame Email Conversation

From: Dave
To: Kanka
10:28 AM

Hall of Fame announcements are today. Here's my ballot:

In:
Goose Gossage. Having not lived through his era, I didn't realize his greatness until I really started reading about him. Lots of things that can't be captured through today's conventional game.

Jack Morris. If I have to explain this again this year, then you clearly haven't been paying attention to my emails the last few years.

Close but no cigar:
Jim Rice. I wouldn't have a big problem if he got in, since he did have some dominant years, but I don't know enough about him.

Andre Dawson. He was really good, but when people say they're voting for him, they inevitably say, "he'd be a shoe-in if he wasn't hurt all the time." Umm, but he was, and it affected his body of work over the course of his career.

Todd Stottlemyre. Kidding, just seeing if you're paying attention.

---

From: Kanka
To: Dave
11:09 AM

Here's someone who's keeping track of published ballots:
http://www.meadowparty.com/blog/?p=118

Here's an abbreviated look at where I stand right now. My opinion may
or may not change over the course of the day:

In:
Gossage
Burt Blyleven - Very good for a very long period of time. I tend to
award longevity - hey, if you're good enough to stay in the league for
that long, you much be doing something right.

On the fence yes:
Morris - I know you're a huge fan. I just need to go back and check
my notes again.

On the fence maybe:
Rock Raines - Quietly put up big numbers for a long time. He won't
get in this year, but I'm curious to see how well he does.

I'm not allowed to comment since I'm on the committee, but he did play
for the Big Red Machine:
Dave Concepcion

---

From: Dave
To: Kanka
11:36 AM

Ummmm....what committee are you on that you can't discuss Dave
Concepcion?

I won't tell my grandkids someday about the greatness of Bert Blyleven
(nor would I had I actually seen him pitch, according to most things
I've read, so he's out. I dunno

---

From: Kanka
To: Dave
1:27 PM

That was a Joe Morgan reference. Every time he's asked about the Hall
of Fame, he always says, "I don't like talking about particular
candidates because I'm on the Veteran's Committee. But Dave
Concepcion should be in." It's a running joke on FireJoeMorgan.

Looking back at Blyleven's stats, he was good but not dominating. So
he's borderline too. I somehow can't find all of your old Jack Morris
emails. So in a nutshell, what's the argument again? If you're
putting him in just for the 10-inning playoff game, you might as well
induct the 74-76 Len Barker for his one perfect game.

---

From: Dave
To: Kanka
1:58 PM

Jack Morris:

254-186 lifetime, probably the best pitcher for the complete period
79-92. Yeah, borderline, but I still think he's a bad-ass

http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/morrija02.shtml

---

From: Kanka
To: Dave
2:25 PM

1979-92:

Morris: 233-162, 3378 IP, 2199 K, 3.73 ERA
Blyleven: 151-127, 2583 IP, 1791 K, 3.94 ERA

But Blyleven is older than Morris. Morris was 24 in '79 and 37 in
'92. Blyleven was the same age from '75-'88. During that time,
Blyleven: 174-151, 3126 IP, 2337 K, 3.58 ERA

Morris was a hoss, no doubt. But do we penalize Blyleven for playing
on crappier teams?

---

From: Dave
To: Kanka
2:31 PM

Alright, you got me. Although I still feel like I could someday talk
about how great Jack Morris was, while Blyleven just doesn't fell "Hall
of Fame" to me. So, to my fallback position:

"The only time I want to talk to a woman when I'm naked is if I'm on top
of her or she's on top of me."
-- Former Tigers pitcher Jack Morris on female sportswriters

---

From: Kanka
To: Dave
3:42 PM

Ah yes, I remember the quote. That puts him over the top.

If it makes you feel better, every time the Indians come to Minnesota,
both teams' announcers get together and talk about why Blyleven should
be in the Hall.

My final vote, since I'm soft:
Gossage
Blyleven
Morris
Raines

PS It's Gossage:
http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/voting_year.jsp?year=2008

---

From: Kanka
To: Dave
5:21 PM

Oh, and Buck O'Neil. Dah.

The Class of 2008

We had excellent voter turnout this year, with 10 people turning in ballots. Due to the diversity of picks, I set 5 as the number of votes needed for induction this year. Without further ado, here are the four inductees, all of whom received exactly 5 votes.,


Charlie Weis, Jr.: Charlie Jr., seen here with his family, joins his father in the our Hall of Fame. Charlie Sr., class of 2006, and Jr. make up the first father-son combo in the HOF. Junior is an inspiration to high school freshman everywhere; his hobbies include philanthropy, breaking down game film for St. Joseph's high, and hanging out with Ellen's dad.


Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC: As Andy said on his ballot, "The reasons are too numerous to list." If you haven't read God, Country, Notre Dame, Travels with Ted and Ned, or any of Hesburgh's other works yet, do yourself a favor and visit your local library right now. I don't even care if don't finish reading the rest of this column - go now! On a personal note, this is my favorite picture of Fr. Ted. And there are many to choose from. He's posed with popes and presidents. A picture of him and Martin Luther King, Jr., belting out a hymn at a Chicago peace rally, was just named a national treasure. Then there's the Time cover that I hope to have hanging in my house some day. Fr. Hesburgh - what else is there to say?


Patrick Hatton: The first recruit in what is already becoming a very impressive recruiting class of '27, Patrick very nearly made the Hall of Fame on his first try last year, missing by just one vote. The kid just turned two, and he can already yell for a loose ball, Hike Step, play trombone, and say "Kanka."


Peter Gammons: I'd like to thank Dave's influential voting block for helping to get Peter in the Hall. Without Gammons, my fantasy baseball team would probably be called Starkesquity, and that just doesn't have the same ring to it. A legendary baseball writer, Peter Gammons is one of the true inspirations for this site. I never got a chance to meet Kurt Vonnegut, and balked at my lone chance to meet Hal Lebovitz, so my next goal in life is to meet the man from the front of the $20 bill.

Here are this year's also-rans. As you can see, Fr. Sorin just missed induction. He and all of the other multiple vote getters will receive a carryover vote next year.

Name	Total	Comment
Fr. Sorin	4	Without him I probably would have ended up at a place like Penn State or Boston college... actually, with those options, I might have just skipped college altogether.
Fr. Joyce	3	Rivals Barney Rubble and Robin for best sidekick ever.
Peyton Manning	3
Sam Sanchez	3
Buck O'Neil	2	This one's for Kanka.
Erin	2	Who is sadly missing from the message board.
Knute Rockne	2	FOOTBALL!!!
Mr. T	2	Crazy Man Pick
Rebecca Rose Hatton	2	New Member Pick
Adrian Peterson (MIN)	1	Fantasy stud.
American Flag guy from the road by WNDU	1
Basil Moreau, CSC	1
Blue-Cheese-Stuffed Olives	1	Beverage Garnish Pick: http://www.dibruno.com/Detail.bok?no=608
Brady Quinn	1
Buzzwinkle	1	Drunkard Pick: http://www.adn.com/front/story/9483457p-9394676c.html
Carl Monday	1
Christopher Walken	1
Coach Jackson (hockey)	1
Crazy Moustache Guy	1	Moustache Pick: http://netramblings.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/moustache.jpg
Dave Schmitt	1	KankaMatic Champion
David Bruton	1
David Wright	1	Favorite baseball player.
EA Sports NCAA Footbal series	1	There is no off-season. This series of games has fed our off-season hunger for college football just enugh so that we don't need a straight-jacket. Has led to a great deal of creativity and has sustained such imaginary legends as Sigmund Jalepeno.
Exavier "Nook" Logan	1	Editor's Pick (Klondike let me pick one name from the Mitchell Report, so I chose a name I thought he'd like. FP Santangelo is probably the coolest name on the list, but I figured it was too French Canadian-sounding for Klondike to like it.)
Gin	1
Guitar Hero 3	1
Jerome Bettis	1
Jessica Simpson	1	She's hot and helped the Boys lose to the Birds!
Kanka's Cell Phone	1	Beep boop bop beep boop
Ken Hanlon	1	Trombone Pick: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Trombone_Association
Kerri Hanks	1
Mark McGwire	1	At least he admitted to doing Andro.
Matt Holliday	1	Helped me win a KM Baseball crown!
Michelle Weisenhoffer	1	She does flip throws, now that's cool.
Nachos	1	Mmmm.
National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)	1	Entertainment Pick
Notre Dame Stadium	1	The House that Rock Built. Greatest place to watch a game, whether from the field or stands. Keeps the old school alive with the absence of video replay boards and with the school bands playing the only music heard during the game.
Pete Rose	1	Deserves to be in A Hall of Fame!
Puck	1	Beloved dog of Andy Wolkiewicz. He was a good, loyal, and faithful dog who wore his Notre Dame dog collar with pride every day for seven straight years. Passed away unexpectedly on December 29, 2007, likely due to complications associated with epilepsy. May he rest in peace.
Ronald McDonald	1
Roy Williams (DAL)	1	Suspension for namesake penalty.
Sal	1	KankaNation Pick
Sammy Sosa	1	Hit #600.
Sean Connery	1	Classic Pick
The "enjoy" lady at SDH	1
TO	1	Favorite football player.
Touchdown Jesus	1	This is probably the most famous mural in the United States. Gets plenty of TV time on Saturdays, even if ND isn't playing at home.
Trevor Laws	1

My Managerial Debut

Due to various, well, pregnancies, I almost wasn't going to have a coed softball team to play on this summer. That was, until F-Bomb and I decided to take charge of the team. Despite being a little last minute, we were able to secure a sponsors and (almost) enough players to put together a team. Once that was settled, I spent the next few weeks researching various thoughts on the defensive spectrum and lineup optimization. You think I'm joking. As I told Dave, it's like one of my EA Sports "people I know" dynasties, but in real life. Of course, there's also the human side of things, like scheduling, "egos," and the like. (In our case, though, most egos need to be inflated rather than deflated.)

The season opener finally came this past Tuesday. Starting Monday night, I was very fired up for my managerial debut. Of course, the league decided to antagonize my anxiousness by giving us the latest possible start time - 8:30. I struggled through work Tuesday, running over dozens of lineup combinations in my head. After I got home from work at 5:30, I immediately fired up Major League in my laptop. I figured there was no better way to mentally prepare for my debut.

Finally it was time to get dressed and make the long drive out to Westlake. I got there 30 minutes early, and was thrilled to see some of my teammates already there. I had too much on my mind to warm up, so instead I made sure everyone had a contact card filled out. The game before us ended at 8:20 (early? what?), and the umpires immediately yelled for lineups for our game. Great, we were still a girl short. I scribbled down a lineup based on some of the options I had prepared in Excel earlier that day. (Again, I kid you not.)

When it came time to take the field, we were still a girl short, and the umps were in no mood to be patient. I quickly reshuffled our defense, and tried to line myself up to cover the entire left side of the outfield against a lefty batter. Of course, the batter promptly hits the ball to the opposite field. As I drifted to my right, I realized I had taken a bad route, and watched the ball sail over my head. Turning back to recover it, I hit an uneven patch with high grass. I struggled to keep my balance, but it wasn't happening. Our season began with an inside the park home run and me flat on my face. Great.

Our final girl showed up a few minutes later. I was my usual uptight self, but fortunately I had F-Bomb in full robble robble mode to keep me in line. Highlights from the rest of the game:

• Yes we were run-ruled, and yes we only scored some run, but there's some talent on this team. Look out.


• Our shortstop is a left-handed thrower, but he played fantastic defense to earn his spot.


• Speaking of defense, we still have some kinks to work out, but there's a lot of potential out there.


• Personally hitting was just as interesting as my defensive play. For my first plate appearance, I was leading off an inning. I was so preoccupied, I stepped into the box while the pitcher was still warming up... and promptly too a practice pitch square to the crown of my head. There's still a little "rug burn" from my hat on my forehead today.



I was afraid to do a Google image search of ball+face, but this isn't too bad.


• In my next at bat, I hit a trademark infield single. I beat this one out by more than a step, so either I'm getting faster, or the infielder bobbled it and everyone was too nice to tell me.


• After running out my infield single, I didn't have enough gas to make it to second when the girl following me hit a first-pitch grounder to third. I was easily thrown out at second, and on my way back to the dugout I was chided by our shortstop for not "accidentally" taking out one of the cute middle infielders with a slide. He had done a similar thing last year, and ended up with the girl's number.


• When the umps announced the end of the game, I told my team to "Shake hands and go drink!" Sounds like a great motto for this team.

Go Ironwood!

Oh, and I already have a great newfound respect for managers and coaches alike.

(Last) Weekend in Review

St Patrick's Day 2007 Edition

By midweek, things were really starting to come together. Dave was going to fly in Friday night, coincidentally on the same plane my sister would be on, for a weekend of frolic that would include F-Bomb's birthday and St. Patrick's Day. To make things better, Klondike planned to get out of work early so he could also make the drive out to the Cleveland area. On Thursday night, F-Bomb and I went on a supply run to stock up for the weekend.
Then the East Coast Weather Bias hit. A dusting of snow caused LaGuardia to shut down all commuter jet flights, including the one Dave and my sister were supposed to be on. To make things worse, everything from New York was booked until the following Monday. We scrambled to reschedule for the next weekend, but flights that weekend were triple the cost of Dave's original flight. In the scheduling panic, Klondike missed his window of opportunity to drive out here, so it looked like things were off.
After a disappointing workday Friday, I tried to salvage things at an in-office retirement party. It was an OK time, and I did make a good impression on a pair of semi-retired board members. Afterwards, I did my best to at least lock in my local friends for festivities on Saturday, so the weekend wouldn't be a total waste. Then I got the news: my dad was supposed to drive my (other) sister out to Pittsburgh for the women's basketball tournament, but the weather was looking bad and my dad was worried about making it back in time for another retirement party Saturday evening. So guess who got volunteered to play chauffeur on Saturday? Yours truly. After cancelling my new plans with local friends, I decided to call it an early night so I could leave early Saturday morning.
The drive to Pittsburgh was uneventful - and the weather was nice, by the way - and we arrived early afternoon. At that point, I decided that while I was out there, I would at least attempt to make something out of the drive and attempt to get a ticket. The athletic department liason, Charmelle, spotted me, noticed my band jacket, and confused me for a current band member. After explaining my situation to her, I mentioned that I needed a ticket. She told me that the president of the ND club of Pittsburgh might be able to help, but that she didn't have the guy's number on her, so instead she gave me her business card. One Sam Sanchez was out on the town, so I decided to wait in the hotel lobby and watch basketball until he got back. It was then that I experienced Xavier grasp defeat from the jaws of victory while sitting just outside a crowded bar of Ohio State fans. (Ohio State's women's team was not playing in Pittsburgh, so I have no idea why the fans were there.) After waiting for a few hours, I decided to give Sam a call. After a few minutes, he was able to track down the name and number of the ND Club of Pittsburgh president. I gave said president a call, and he gave me two contacts: a representative of the ND ticket office in Pittsburgh, and a contact in the Pitt ticket office who had sold the ND Club a suite. I called both and left voicemails. Maja from the ND ticket office called back first, so I decided to arrange things with her. The woman from the Pitt office also called back, and I told her that I would call her if Maja couldn't come through. But Maja was able to come through - $16 for a two-game session. Not bad, compared to the $50+ rate for men's sessions.
That took care of Objective 1. Objective 2 was finding a place to stay that night. I went with my sister and a few band kids to a corner pizza shop named Pizza Parma, and mentioned my predicament. The lone bass in our group, a guy named Matt, offered floor space, and I gladly accepted. Objective 2 was quickly accomplished.
Objective 3 was finding a place for my car to stay the night. I originally had a spot in the underground garage below the hotel, but in my indecisiveness over staying I moved it to a garage that closed at 1 AM. By the time I had decided to stay, the hotel garage was down to valet spaces only. Valet spaces were $22 compared to the regular 8. Plus, when I asked about the rate, I was told that it was charged directly to my room bill. Being as I didn't have a room, I figured I was out of luck. As I was walking back to the garaged that housed my car, I spotted another garage sponsored by the city of Pittsburgh. It had an overnight rate listed on the sign, but I walked in and asked the attendant just in case. "Yes, you can park your car here for as long as you want." Objective 3 complete.
With everything set, I settled in for a relaxing night of watching basketball in "my" room. The next morning, I threw on my "PROPERTY OF ND WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BAND" shirt and band jacket, and was able to sneak onto the band/cheerleader bus. (Interesting note: while the cheerleaders have white adidas shoes with blue stripes, the Leprechaun is given white shoes with green stripes, gold trim, and the Leprechaun logo stiched onto the side of the heel.) We rode to the Petersen Events center behind the team bus and a police escort (not as cool as the escort for the 2001 Women's Big East in Connecticut, which included a snowplow, but still) and I followed the band as far as I could until I had to separate and find my seat.
My seat was pretty nice - on the sideline, about even with the free throw line, and maybe about 10 rows up. My ticket said row "K," so I figured the 10th row was in fact the right place. But after grabbing a few hot dogs and settling back into my seat, an usher came up with a few people who thought I was in their seat. The usher checked my ticket and pointed to the extra few rows of seats on the floor. "You're down there. You got an upgrade!" When I walked down to the floor section, sure enough there was row K, although it was only about the 6th row. As I got to the section, Wendi Nix of ESPN was interviewing Melissa Lechlitner's parents. It didn't take me long to figure out that I was in the parent's section. I was stuck in the corner of the last row, with a stair railing blocking half my view, but I didn't care one bit. Muffet McGraw's husband was seated six rows directly in front of me in a green derby. Erica Williamson's brother, who could pass as her twin, was three rows in front, then Erica Barlow's family, then the Lechlitners, then me. I couldn't figure out whether I was sitting next to the D'Amicos or the Tsipises, but it really didn't matter. The woman next to me kept apologizing for her 4-year-old boy acting like, well, a 4-year-old, but I didn't care one bit. Hey, I thought it was great that he would echo the Victory March or some of the cheers after the band or cheerleaders finished.
The game was an exciting one, and it was interesting to see the different reactions from the various family members. Down the row from me, there were a few people who weren't too happy with the refs. In front of me, Erica Williamson's brother was acting as goofy as his younger sibling supposedly does. The Lechlitners were silent and motionless, save for two audible gasps when Melissa missed back-to-back free throws late in the game. But in the end it was a win, and everyone was happy.
After the game I was able to sneak to the bus with the band (it's amazing what a band jacket, and "women's basketball band" shirt, and a "if you act like you know what you're doing, people won't bother you" attitude can do for you), and it was there that I spotted Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. I hope Coach Dixon wasn't parking in his normal spot, becuase it was a rather long walk from the arena. I said hi to Coach Dixon, he returned the greeting, and then spotting who we were, he asked us if we won. From the arena, the band and cheerleaders headed to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner. On the bus, Sam mentioned that people were still needed to play for Tuesday's game. In fact, the only trombones at Sunday's game were Matt Merten and Bob Casarez, who had arrived in Pittsburgh at 4:30 that morning from the previous night's hockey game in Detriot. I gladly volunteered my services, and it was then that people asked why I hadn't played in Sunday's game. It turns out that the NCAA likes to have an official list of participating band members at least a day in advance. If that wasn't the case, Matt and Bob could have brought a trombone down for me, or I could have participated as the cowbell player. (Yes, I definitely would have called everyone I knew before/during Sunday's if I was to be playing the cowbell at a women's tournament game.) That was a moot point, and all that mattered was that I would be back on Tuesday to play bone for the second round game against North Carolina.
I picked up a full cheesecake for mini-Kanka's Super Sweet 16, which was that day, and then the bus headed back to the hotel. In the lobby, we were greeted by a very friendly "Hey guys!" from Crystal Erwin. Right before I left for home, I stopped by Sam's room, now occupied by Bob and Merten, to say goodbye. Crystal Erwin walked up right behind me, and it turned out that she was staying in the room right across the hall. I congratulated her on the game. "Thanks! Hey, you're right across the hall from us!" After I explained that it was my room, we struck up a little conversation until it was broken up by one of the managers. After saying goodbye to Bob and Merten, and reminding them that I would be back Tuesday, I headed home to plan my work schedule so I could make a return trip.
After alluding to my weekend on the message board, F-Bomb asked if he could join me. After discussions that included him, Bob, and Sam, we were finally able to work things out. It turned out that we would actually make things easier on Sam - in addition to playing, we could also pick him up in the Pittsburgh airport after he dropped off the rental van he was going to drive from South Bend. (Sam had to return to ND after Sunday's game a) to return the school van that Bob and Merten had driven from school to Detroit to Pittsburgh, and b) to bring back more band kids.) I left work a little early on Tuesday, and picked up F-Bomb in Cleveland when he got out of work at 4:30. (By the way, I was wearing my other "PROPERTY OF ND WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BAND" shirt on Tuesday.) After F-Bomb and I both took a detailed personality test that work had given him (and one that confirmed my attraction for outgoing types and creative types), we arrived at the airport to pick up Sam. Sam had us drive back to the hotel, where the band hadn't yet left for the 9:30 PM game. We were able to follow the bus from the hotel to the dropoff point next to the arena. But there we were in a bit of a jam. Where were we supposed to park? An arena traffic guy pointed to the line of cars crawling along in the opposite direction. He said that we needed to follow them, but that if we did, we'd never make it to the game on time. He agreed to let me park in a small spot on the curb between our bus and the fire hydrant, as long as we put something to identify our allegiance to the ND band in the windshield. That "something" was actually three things: a handwritten sign that said "NOTRE DAME BAND," my band jacket, and a Sam Sanchez business card.
We walked into the arena, but we were actually not allowed to watch the Tennessee-Pitt game that was going on before ours. So we were hearded onto a practice court with the cheerleaders and the North Carolina band and cheerleaders. It was there that Bob handed out part assignments for the bones. Merten had caught strep sometime between Sunday and Tuesday, so he wasn't playing. With Merten out, Bob handed me the trombone I folder. Awesome, thanks Bob. Someone found some basketballs, and a giant game of knockout was started between the two bands. The North Carolina bandos were very proud that their basketball-rich school had a few band kids who were actually mediocre enough to consistently beat our band kids. (Most of our band kids, and even most of the UNC band kids, made me look good.) The bones chose not to play, instead opting to shoot the breeze while F-Bomb scoped out the UNC cheerleaders.
As Tennessee put the finishing touches on their win over Pitt, we were moved to a tunnel just outside court and the Tennessee locker room. I'll admit it - it was kinda cool seeing Candace Parker in person and being no less than 10 feet away from her.
When we finally made it to our seats, North Carolina was warming up on our end of the court. I decided that Notre Dame might need a little help in this 1 vs. 8 matchup, so I started heckling Ivory Latta from the moment the pregame clock started. As the game went on, Latta actually gave me a few good reasons to heckle her - she chose to cover our shooting guard instead of our point guard, she cherry picked each time the Tar Heels got a defensive rebound, she was held to 3 points in the first half, and her fiery attitude almost got the best of her at one point - after being bumped around in the key on her defensive end, she got up and gave an ND player a shove right in front of one of the referees.
I recapped the game the other day, so I really don't need to go over it again. The parents' section was just to our left, and from time to time Ashley Barlow's dad (or uncle) would do his best to get the band cheering. After the game, Crystal Erwin walked by us in the tunnel, and needless to say the senior wasn't in the same friendly mood she was in the other day.
The ride home was uneventful, insomuch that neither F-Bomb (who drove much of the way) nor I fell asleep. We got to F-Bomb's place at 3 AM, and he was at work by 8. I was a bit more of a slacker. I made it home at 3:30, and blessed the fact that I told my boss I wouldn't be in until noon. Go leftover Veteran's Day hours!
The end.

Laetare Sunday

Albeit a few days late, for the second straight year Kanka's Sports Page is proud to announce the recipient of the KankaNation Laetare Medal. The KankaNation Laetare goes to the KankaManiac "whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of Kanka's Sports Page and enriched the heritage of humanity." This year the award goes to two people, thereby assuring that I'll run out of people for the award within five years. But without further ado, those two are:



Dave (seen in the corner) and Klondike

It may or may not be a coincidence that these two were scheduled to come out to the Cleveland area this past weekend (East Coast Weather Bias be darned). Dave runs KankaMatic Fantasy Football, and has contributed several articles for the site. Klondike is the proud parent of the famous football countdown clock, and several other bells and whistles on the site.

Dave and Klondike are currently planning to receive their awards, which come in liquid form and have their own glass display cases, in person at a date yet to be determined.

Bubble Watch

Notre Dame Men: The men have an RPI of 31, and 21 of the spots ahead of them are filled by at-larges. (That number changes to 22 if Butler loses tonight's Horizon League championship to Wright State, unless Butler would move below ND in the RPI as a result.) I'd say the men are safe.

Notre Dame Women: Like the men, the women are #31 in the RPI, but they have only 20 potential at-larges ahead of them. Although the women have one less at-large slot to vie for, I'd still say that they are safe as well.

Dave's Flight Watch

Three out of four sources from last week now have the men at a #6 seed in Lexington, meaning they would begin play on the 15th.

But just for fun, let's calculate the rough odds of Dave being in the air for both a first and second round game. Last week, I said that there was a 1/8 chance of the Irish being picked for a 7 PM game on March 16, when Dave is en route to Cleveland. For laziness' sake, let's say ND has a 50% chance of winning their first round game. There are two second round games at each site, and for the sake of argument let's say that one of those games will be played at 7, while Dave is flying home. That gives us a 1/8 * 1/2 * 1/2 = 1/32 chance that Dave will miss the entirety of both Notre Dame games.

(If anyone feels so inspired and has a calculator handy, here are some variables you can add for a more robust calculation: odds ND will be a 6 seed as predicted, odds that a 6/11 first round game will be played at 7 PM, odds that a #6 seed wins their first round game, odds a 3/6 second round game will be played at 7 PM, odds that Dave's flights will run on time.)

Bubble Watch

It's that time again already. Fortunately, it looks like both teams are in good shape right now.

For those of you unfamiliar with my Bubble Watch formula, here's a synopsis. There are so many at large teams taken for each tournament - 34 in the men's tourney, and 33 in the women's. In theory, the selection committee will take the teams with the 34 or 33 highest RPI rankings that aren't also conference champions (and therefore automatic bids). So, a team should be in if
(Team's RPI) - (Number of automatic bids with higher RPI) > (Number of at large bids).

ND Men's Basketball: As mentioned above, the "magic number" for the men is 34. Notre Dame currently has an RPI of 32 (despite a Strength of Schedule of 106), and there are no doubt several conference leaders/champions ahead of them, so they're safe this week. If needed in the next few weeks, I'll break down the exact number of conference leaders ahead of them to get a better estimate.

ND Women's Basketball: The Notre Dame women are in even better shape, sitting at 28 in the RPI with a SOS of 23. Not bad for a rebuilding year.

Dave's Flight Watch

As a special added feature to Bubble Watch this year, I'm introducting "Dave's Flight Watch." Dave is planning to fly into Cleveland on the night of March 16. His flight takes off at approximately 7 PM and lands at approximately 9 PM. Dave asked me to calculate the odds of being midair while the Irish play, since he always seems to have terrible luck like that.

First, the odds that he'll be midair when the women's team is playing: 0%. The women's tournament doesn't start until March 17.

Now, the odds that the men will play their first round game while Dave is sans-TV. I had a terrible time finding tipoff times for this year's tournament - or last year's tournament for that matter. So, for the sake of argument this week, I'm going to say that all sites have 1, 3, 7, and 9 PM Eastern tipoff times, and that there's no rhyme or reason for scheduling the times. (That is, the times and the seeds don't correspond.) As I gather more information, I'll refine things.

Sixteen of the 32 first round games will be played on March 16. Of those games, a fourth will be played at 7 PM. So, there's a 16/32 * 1/4 = 1/8 chance that Dave will miss the ND game in its entirety. In addition, Dave lands shortly after 9, and there's taxiing, baggage, and driving, meaning he would part of a 9 PM game. One out of 8 games will be played at 9 PM on March 16, so overall there's a 1/4 chance that Dave will miss at least some of the ND game. (Unless F-Bomb graciously DVR's it.)

Now, let's take a look at where some of the experts say that Notre Dame will play:

• CollegeRPI.com: #10 seed vs Texas at Winston-Salem. First round March 15.


• ESPN Bracketology: #6 seed vs Old Dominion at Columbus. First round March 16.


• Fox Sports: #11 vs UNLV at Lexington. First round March 15.


• Bracketography.com: #9 seed vs Michigan State at Sacramento. First round March 15.

Columbus is in the Eastern time zone, so they will have a 7 PM and 9 PM game.

Over the next few weeks, I will (or I may) refine my formula, and work out the odds that Dave will also be in the air back to New York during second round action on Sunday.