Print Edition of The Observer for Monday, February 6, 2017
Changes unveiled for 2017 football season
University announces changes to football ticket pricing
By ALEX CARSON and RENEE GRIFFIN
when football fans return to notre dame stadium this september for the 2017 season opener against Temple, they’ll notice plenty of changes brought about by the campus crossroads project. The long-debated video board will make its debut, seats will be wider in the lower bowl, wi-Fi will work throughout the stadium and the visiting team will enter through a new tunnel in the northeast corner.
but despite all the aesthetic
Band to move off field into student section of stadium bowl
By RACHEL O’GRADY news e ditor
when the irish kick off their 2017 football season, the band of the Fighting irish will no longer be alongside them on the playing surface, the university announced saturday morning. instead, the band of the Fighting irish will become part of the student section, creating what rob kelly, associate athletic director of ticketing, premium and technology, calls “one student voice.”
“The rationale for moving the band into the student section was really two-fold,” kelly said in an interview with The observer on
SMC hosts First Year Parent’s Weekend i ncoming editor-in-c hief names supporting staff
By COLLEEN ZEWE news writer
p arents from around the country traveled to s aint
m ary’s this weekend to spend time with their daughters for the annual First year p arent’s weekend.
p arents received an invitation to the weekend in d ecember for this year's event, which had the theme of w inter.
The schedule was planned by the first year class council, including class representatives k assy a costa and m ichelle l ester, with the assistance of k aren Johnson, vice president of student affairs, and Jennifer Terry, executive administrative assistant for student affairs.
First year p arent’s weekend is an important event for the class of 2020 because this is many first years' first time being away
from family for so long. a ccording to a costa,parents were able to give input on what events they wanted to see during the weekend through Facebook and email.
The weekend kicked off with a reception Friday evening, where freshmen and their parents received gift bags with mugs.
most of the day s aturday was taken up by bowling, go-karts and mini golf at the s trikes & s pares e ntertainment c enter in m ishawaka.
“For a lot of girls, this will be the only time that they get to share the campus and s outh b end community with their parents,” l ester said. l ater in the day, parents and students attended a workshop put on by the c ollege’s c areer c rossings
see weekend PAGE 5
Observer Staff Report
Juniors katie galioto, marek mazurek, rachel o’grady and megan valley will help oversee The
observer’s editorial board next year, incoming editor-in-chief ben padanilam announced Thursday. galioto will take on the
managing editor position, the paper’s no. 2 spot, while mazurek, o’grady and valley will all serve as assistant managing editors. galioto, who studies political
science with minors in business economics and Journalism, ethics and democracy, most recently served as the paper’s news editor last semester. she hails from minnesota and is currently studying abroad in rome. on campus, she lives in walsh hall.
during her time with The observer, galioto has covered a variety of campus issues, including sexual assault, the 2016 presidential election and the espn lawsuit against the university and notre dame security police (ndsp).
“i think The observer is an invaluable part of the notre dame and saint mary’s community,” she said. “i’m excited to work with this team over the course of the next year to continue to provide topquality reporting on topics that matter to our readers.”
mazurek hails from mishawaka, indiana, and studies history, with a minor in Journalism, ethics and democracy. over the past year, mazurek served as sports editor, covering the football and men’s basketball teams. mazurek resides in carroll hall.
“i’m really excited for the year ahead,” mazurek said. “our goal is
to keep our readers informed and engaged and our staff will continue to work to accomplish this. it’s a privilege and an honor to serve The observer in a leadership role.”
o’grady is a junior majoring in political science, and most recently took over as news editor while galioto is abroad, having served
as associate news editor prior to that. a native of the city of chicago, o’grady currently resides in ryan
LAUREN HEBIG | The Observer
a ssistant managing e ditor and news writer
panelists discuss future of a merican liberalism
By NATALIE WEBER news writer
on Friday, panelists gathered in the oak room of south dining hall to discuss the future of liberalism, as well as the future of democracy, in an event sponsored by the potenziani program in constitutional studies, the constitutional studies minor, the department of africana studies, and the notre dame college democrats.
The panelists included Tim roemer, former indiana congressman and former u.s. ambassador to india, rogers smith, professor of political science and associate dean for social sciences at the university of pennsylvania, and dianne pinderhughes, chair of africana studies and professor of political science at notre dame.
roemer said american democracy has been in crisis for the past 15 to 20 years because of low government approval ratings, increasing polarization and flaws in the u s. democracy.
“in the last election, 70 percent of the american people thought the country was going in the wrong direction,” roemer said.“congressional approval ratings are in the teens, some in the single digits.
“imagine that — 8, 9, 10 percent approval rating. you’re in company with the leader of north korea and cockroaches when you are at 9 or 10 or 11 percent popularity.” according to roemer, divides along partisan, socioeconomic and geographical lines have also contributed to a crisis in u s. democracy. roemer said democrats
need to imitate robert kennedy and unite diverse groups in the working class.
“we need to get back to that time of inclusive messaging,” he said of kennedy.
roemer said he also was concerned about american democracy because the economist intelligence unit “downgraded” the u s. from its status as a full democracy to that of a flawed democracy.
“we are now with estonia, chile, south korea,” he said. “we are not that beacon to the rest of the world for what they all want to be like. so we have work to do.”
smith said liberals must respond to president donald Trump’s nationalism with their own narrative about american identity.
“…[in] this historical moment, and perhaps for decades to come, i think it is still necessary for those who seek to win authority to shape national policies in progressive directions, to build coalitions on shared accounts of national identities and purposes, what i call national stories of peoplehood,” he said.
smith said liberals should try to emulate the abolitionist movement of the civil war era.
“my argument today is that if liberalism is to have a future in the age of Trump, liberals and progressives must explicitly advance a rival vision of american national identity, one first set forth by the antebellum, anti-slavery constitutionalists,” he said.
“This rival vision argues that the nation’s first obligation is to its citizens, but it also insists that the nation exists in order to
serve a still higher purpose: the gradual securing over time of the basic rights of the declaration of independence for all people, of all colors, everywhere.”
pinderhughes discussed the effects of Trump’s policies on american democracy and african americans’ relation to liberalism.
she said african americans occupy a “distinctive space” in american politics, with the majority voting for democratic candidates — though african americans also critique liberalism.
“The fact is, whether political activists, academics or the man in the street, many african americans point to the presence of racist politics and policies that did not very sufficiently [work] to make a change in their lives, even when the president is a democrat or the governor is a democrat,” she said.
pinderhughes said Trump disregards the “rule of law” – laws and policies designed to check the president’s arbitrary power — and will have a long-term impact on american democracy and civil rights. according to pinderhughes, ignoring the rule of law undercuts the efforts african americans have made to have their civil and political rights recognized.
“if there’s no rule of law for some people, there’s no rule of law for anyone,” she said. “That includes african americans. so, the assumptions that people have been operating under are being challenged.”
Contact Natalie Weber at nweber@nd.edu
nd hosts model un
By MEGAN VALLEY
a ssociate news e ditor
more than 170 students from nine midwestern high schools traveled to campus this weekend to participate in the notre dame model u n.’s (ndmun) inaugural high-school conference.
“it’s been really a dream of the club for, really, as long as the club has been around,” senior secretary-general Zachary mastrovich said. “september of 2015 was really when we decided to make that dream become reality.
“at that point, we were looking for venues, started talking to all the legal offices, spoke to some website and registration programmers and did everything we could to prepare — we gathered about 40 notre dame students to help out, trained them if they needed it.” high school student committees were allowed to sign up according to three levels of difficulty, depending on their experience: beginner, intermediate or advanced.
“we are a beginner conference, but we knew some of the schools
we were inviting had some really advanced delegates, so we wanted to make sure we had committees right for them,” mastrovich said. “so we broke down our committees into three levels ... with the advanced committees being crisis-based.”
The advanced committees were constantly in contact with a “crisis committee,” who would constantly change the scenario to test the students.
“The crisis committee will say, ‘a bomb is about to go off in a major city,’ and so you would go back to the crisis committee with your plan and they would say ‘ok, you did this, but here’s what’s going on now,’ and it’s a continually changing process. so we had two committees like that the crisis staff focused on.”
The beginner and intermediate committees were more focused on the delegates forming resolutions and groups, although mastrovich said that was still a part of the advanced committee’s challenge.
mastrovich said the ndmun conference was a success and the club was already planning on
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Tuesday. “The first and foremost is safety. so, ensuring that both student-athlete and band member safety in the event of an unlikely incident, which there has not been a specific one, but the specter of that is something we fear as administrators. we’re put in the care of student-athletes and members of the band, and given all the other changes we’re making, it seemed like an opportune time to make these changes.”
senior kim Forbes marches onto the field at notre dame stadium. The band will relocate for the 2017 season, moving from an on-field location in the northeast corner of the stadium to the front of the student section.
caitlyn Jordan | The observer
senior kim Forbes marches onto the field at notre dame stadium. The band will relocate for the 2017 season, moving from an on-field location in the northeast corner of the stadium to the front of the student section.
The band will now straddle the area at the very front of the freshman and sophomore sections at the wall between the end zone and the corner, kelly said.
“The second reason for positioning the band within the student section is to sort of create one student voice, whether that be through the instruments of the band or the vocal chords of our lively student section,” kelly said.
The change is consistent with the plans for the rest of the field, kelly said.
“in the south end zone, we’re moving all of the field-level seating as well,” he said. “so there’s about 450 seats there that are also coming out, for the same reason.”
paul browne, vice president for public affairs and communication, said the move was not the result of any “catastrophic incident.”
meeting next week to plan next year’s.
“it was an incredible experience,” he said. “i was lucky enough to be the secretary general and watch everything come to life. we met there a couple hours early to make sure everything was set up right and schools started arriving and it was like, ‘wow, this is a real thing, it’s actually happening.’ it was cool. i found it very rewarding.”
as part of the planning process for next year, mastrovich said the club would like to invite more schools to make the conference more diverse than it was this year, which had schools from indiana, illinois, michigan and wisconsin.
“we’re always looking for more help,” he said. “we want to continually grow this conference so if anyone has any experience they can reach out. kylie [ruscheinski] is running it next year. if anyone wants to get involved, please reach out and we’ll help get you involved.”
Contact Megan Valley at mvalley@nd.edu
we just really believe was the right thing to do and we needed to do it.”
w hile the stadium’s capacity will decrease, from 80,795 to a number around 78,000, the availability of student tickets will not change, kelly said, because notre dame does not cap student tickets.
“if anything, we may see a slight increase in space [occupied by the student section],” kelly said. “in my time here and to my knowledge, we’ve never capped the availability of student tickets. in fact, over time, because of the nature of student seating … we were able to sell single-game seats in parts of the student section in the end zone that weren’t being used. so what we’re going to do is push that back, so some of those student tickets won’t be sold and then that will allow for the band to come in as well as allowing for the student section to expand and spread out.”
season tickets for students will decrease in price for the 2017 season, from $245 to $240, and while they will include seven games, tickets are priced for six games, according to a release from the university.
“it became very important to us early on that the student ticket price was the least expensive ticket in any given offering,” kelly said. going forward, browne said he hopes to utilize the stadium more.
“The architects were saying, ‘we want to keep notre dame as a campus as much as possible where people can walk one venue to another,’ and the stadium itself was maybe being used six, seven, eight times a year,” browne said. “in terms of pedestrian traffic — except for those few occasions — it was actually an obstacle that you’d walk around to get somewhere else.”
The idea was to create about a dozen different, new locations on campus, browne said, and they decided to consolidate it into one place.
“There have been guys running into [the band], and people have been knocked down and there have been no serious injuries, but it’s a concern that that could quickly turn very bad. so it’s not like there have been incidents, but so far so good, so let’s keep it that way.”
kelly said safety has always been a top priority.
“we are tremendously thoughtful about what happens on game day because any time you bring 80,000-plus people together, the eyes of the world are upon you,” kelly said. “This is something that
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office titled “surviving sophomore year,” which aims to help students plan for their second year, when students declare a major and discern their career.
a mass in the church of loretto on saint mary’s campus was also offered saturday.
saturday concluded with a cocktail reception and dinner at the gillespie center, which college president Jan cervelli attended. The reception also included a
“we wanted to think about changing the stadium from being an obstacle to being a place where people were going, where things were going on,” browne said. “That extends to using the stadium itself for things other than football.”
That would include events such as concerts, browne said.
“it’s going to be a whole effort to explore those opportunities,” browne said. “it will be used for venues other than football.”
Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu
photo booth.
“That's what most of our work has went towards, planning, so i'm just glad we'll get to see it all planned out,” lester said. according to acosta, First-year parents weekend was a chance for students to show their parents what life is like at the college.
“parents weekend is important,” she said. “it allows the students to show their parents what they have accomplished here at saint mary's.”
Contact Colleen Zewe at czewe01@saintmarys.edu
Tickets
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alterations, the biggest change to the notre dame gameday experience might come somewhere else: in fans’ bank accounts.
Traditionally, notre dame has charged the same price for any bench seat in the stadium bowl, no matter whether that seat is in the lower or upper bowl, at the 50yard line or in the corner. That will change in 2017, however, with the university announcing saturday morning that it will break from that decades-long practice to institute a new tiered ticketing system.
instead of a single price for all bench seats, there will be eight general-admission price points moving forward — four in the lower bowl, four in the upper — for each irish football game in notre dame stadium. The result is a decrease in the get-in price, dropping from $75 for any seat against nevada to $45 for three opponents next season: Temple, miami (ohio) and wake Forest.
“There’s almost a question of fairness to give the people who have seats that aren’t as in much of a prime location a lower price than those who are on the 50-yard line,” university spokesperson dennis brown said in an interview with The observer on Tuesday.
The cheapest seats will be in the upper bowl’s end zone, where single-game tickets will cost $45, $65 or $95 based on the opponent — georgia and usc will be the most expensive in 2017 — while the most expensive seats will be in the lower bowl’s three middle sections, with
tickets costing between $145 for the cheapest games and $250 for the marquee opponents.
season ticket plans will follow a similar structure, with those seats starting at $400 — plus a $750 required gift — in the “upper end” sections, rising to a $3,000 ticketand-gift cost in the “lower prime” areas. Though the irish will play seven times at home this year — due to the lack of a shamrock series game — season tickets will be priced for just the standard six games.
students will see a minor decrease in their costs, too, with the price for student season tickets dropping from $245 to $240.
while seat prices along the sidelines are increasing, the decreases in the corners and end zone means notre dame won’t be adding revenue under the new system.
The university had three key concerns, rob kelly, assistant athletic director of ticketing and technology, said: an affordable get-in price, an affordable season ticket and staying revenue-neutral against last year’s figures.
“There were three goals … that we really wanted to hold to as we thought about constructing this model,” kelly said in the interview. “one was holding an affordable price point that would ensure access for as broad as possible a population to the notre dame family. The second was continuing to be able to offer a deeply discounted student season ticket. and the third was that, regardless of the changes that we were making in the bowl, that we strived to keep the revenue from the bowl revenue-neutral from the 2016 season.”
paid a dverT isemen T
Ticket prices will stay the same for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, kelly said.
The change in ticketing structure will also affect the lottery system; kelly said winners for games will be given a time to enter the system, with the choice of not only a price point, but also their specific seat.
“This may be the most significant change that we’re making in the process, is that with this coming year, participants in the lottery won’t just get to express a preference, you will actually select your seats,” kelly said. “given the new technology that we’re deploying, you will have the opportunity to select your seat location and preferred price point, based on availability.”
season ticket members will gain new benefits in 2017, including free parking in white Field and complimentary entry to the blue-gold game on april 22.
while the majority of the seating changes will take place in the lower bowl this offseason, the upper bowl will see changes, too, with an increase in ada-accessible seating.
“because we have an increasingly older demographic in our fanbase, we’re finding the needs for accessible seat locations is increasing,” kelly said. “and we’re removing all the aluminum temporary benches, or stands, in the upper bowl to make way and make accommodation for additional adaaccessible seat locations.”
season-long seat holders will have the opportunity to stay in the same location or relocate to a new section to get to a desired price point — and since notre dame
caps season tickets at 50 percent of capacity, kelly expects no issues with ticket holders being able to sit where they want to.
“if there was any change in your seat, it would likely be nominal,” kelly said. “if you’re on an aisle, we tried to keep you on an aisle. if you were in the first row, we tried to keep you in the first row. There were very few exceptions to that — because the seats that we pulled out, we could just pull out from the middle of the bench and then close everything in around it.”
The actual seats ticket holders sit in will be different, though. The wooden benches in the lower bowl will be ripped out and replaced with dark blue steel benches to match those in the upper bowl. The new seats will be two inches wider than their predecessors, expanding from 16 inches to 18, matching the width of the upper bowl’s seats.
Though the process of removing and replacing the benches will not be complete by the blue-gold game in april and commencement in may, kelly said there will still be enough seating for the university to hold both events in the stadium.
The first opportunity to see the fully-finished stadium renovations will be in august, at the culminating event of the notre dame Trail pilgrimage celebrating the school’s 175th anniversary, vice president for public affairs and communication paul browne said.
an added benefit to the seat replacements is that season ticket holders will be able to buy pieces of the old wooden bench planks as a keepsake of the pre-crossroads notre dame stadium for their homes.
another change will be visible around the playing surface itself, as all on-field seating will be removed to increase player safety, kelly said. That means the on-field seating behind the south end zone will be removed, while the band of the Fighting irish will move to the front of the student section.
The new tunnel, added in the northeastern corner of the stadium for visiting teams to use entering and exiting the playing surface, will also contribute to the aesthetic changes fans will see in september. all in all, capacity will decrease as part of the renovations — from 80,795 to a number near 78,000 — with around 7,000 seats being lost from the bowl and roughly 4,000
ME, AMEs
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h all. d uring her time at The o bserver, she has covered a wide breadth of topics, including the inner workings of the n otre d ame student government and the 2016 presidential election.
“ m y time at The o bserver has been one of my most meaningful experiences at n otre d ame, and i ’m excited to take on a larger role this coming year,” o ’g rady said. “ we’ve got a great team, and i ’m looking forward to tackling the next year together.” valley is a junior majoring
added in new premium seating areas, according to kelly. while season ticket holders may stay in the same seat location, their seat numbers will not remain the same. notre dame stadium’s sections have historically been numbered such that one aisle runs down the middle of a section — meaning that seat 1 was in the middle of the section, not on the aisle — but in 2017, that will change, with one aisle serving two sections. as a result, seat 1 will always be on the aisle, and section numbers will shift a half-section counterclockwise, with sections 1 and 101 behind the north goal posts. of course, there are many changes fans will probably notice before the numbers of their seats — chief among them the 96-by-54foot high-definition video board on the stadium’s south side.
The board will play live game action, important replays and spots about university achievements and initiatives, including the award-winning “what would you Fight For?” series — but no advertisements. brown noted the university “gives up a lot of money” by not opening up advertising opportunities, but the decision was made to help the stadium retain a collegiate feel.
other major technological changes include more than 150 video monitors placed around the stadium, a high-quality audio system, ribbon boards with game information, stronger cellular service and working wi-Fi on a stadiumspecific wireless network, kelly said.
while the tailgating and football tradition fundamental to notre dame will remain the same, kelly expects these updates, along with many smaller ones — renovated restrooms, new concourse and concession decorations — to greatly improve fans’ overall gameday experience.
“The notre dame gameday experience is something we obsess over, in a good way,” kelly said. “we think about every interaction, from the usher telling you, ‘welcome to notre dame,’ as you walk in, down to what do the graphics look like on the concessions cups, to what does the field look like? details are important.”
Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu and Renee Griffin at rgriffi6@nd.edu
in the p rogram of l iberal s tudies and e nglish. s he hails from Flushing, m ichigan and lives in Flaherty h all. d uring her time at The o bserver, valley served as a ssociate n ews e ditor and covered the 2016 presidential election, sustainability on campus and the review of the core curriculum, among many other topics.
“The o bserver has been such an important part of my time at n otre d ame, and i ’m really excited to see what we can accomplish over the next year,” valley said.
g alioto, m azurek, o ’g rady and valley officially begin their new roles m arch 19.
InsIdE ColuMn
To the woman who shaped me
This weekend, i received a letter that transported me back to my childhood.
b e it a coach, nanny or teacher, we all know one special person who helped shape us into talented young adults — the one who provided fond memories, taught valuable lessons and ultimately acted as a third parent. For me, that person was my babysitter, p atty.
e very morning starting at the age of 1, my mom dropped my siblings and me off at p atty’s home. w hile my mom worked, we played and grew up in p atty’s blue ranch in the woods. w hile other kids she babysat came and went with the passing seasons, we stayed in her care for several years. h er home became our second home.
m ost of my childhood memories take place somewhere in p atty’s basement. i t’s cabinin-the-woods vibe provided us children all we needed to have fun with our imaginations, as p atty decorated with deer heads, fleece blankets and leather recliners. i remember p atty comforting me on the recliners after the movie “ m atilda” made me cry. s he kept a huge stash of candy in her coat closet, and stealing from it with my twin brother is probably the reason we both have sweet teeth now. i passed many milestones at p atty’s house, from my first words to learning to swim.
p atty’s teenage children provided quality entertainment. h er son ran around the house yelling curse words, and p atty chased him with the dreaded “wooden spoon” while my siblings and i laughed until we cried. h er teenage daughter showed me her makeup and drew on my hands with those early-2000s glitter gel pens. s he gave me hand-me-downs from l imited Too. i ’d play pc games on her computer and feel grown-up, like a real-life l izzie m c g uire.
p atty has a heart of gold, and she often took in abandoned or hurt baby animals she found on her property. s he treated them like people and nourished them back to health.
p atty cared for all the kids she babysat like they were her own, giving them hugs when wanted and discipline when needed. s he gave us all of her attention every day no matter what went on in her personal life. p atty taught me compassion, nourishment and love.
m y favorite activity at p atty’s was sitting at her tiny, made-for-kids desk and creating storybooks. i wrote, illustrated and stapled together hundreds of them. a t p atty’s desk i discovered my biggest passion to this day: writing.
This weekend, p atty wrote me a letter that filled my heart with joy. s he said she felt so proud i was making my dream of becoming a professional writer a reality. The funny thing is, i wouldn’t have that dream without her. s o thank you, p atty, for shaping me into the woman i am today.
Contact Colleen Zewe at czewe01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
lETTErs To THE EdITor
Lessons from non-native Spanish speaking
The great irony of learning a new language is that you know you sound slightly “off” (read: horrible), yet you still have to practice to improve. To me, speaking s panish as a non-native speaker often seems frustrating and silly, but in this sense, i believe i am like the typical n otre d ame student — afraid to show weakness, uncomfortable with not being the best, nervous to be vulnerable.
i recently returned to the u. s . after almost seven months in s panish-speaking countries where communication and self-expression did not always come easily. w hile i now consider myself moderately fluent, i accept the fact that i have quite a ways to go. a nd, above all, i understand that i need to continue putting myself out there to get better; i need to try words out, ask for help on my accent and open-heartedly take feedback. To be concise, i have to be vulnerable. i only wish i had developed this skill earlier.
a round this time last year i was just a sophomore: one year younger, a few pounds lighter, naively content with the direction of a merican politics and noticeably unhappy with my surroundings. i t sounds crazy, but amidst incredible friends, professors and opportunities, i found myself increasingly overwhelmed by an unknown pressure — a force molding me into someone i am not, the sense that i have to maximize my time here — to use the resources of nd ; make life altering decisions (correct ones, for that matter); and all the while, sleep well, eat well and exercise daily. you might know the feeling.
i distinctly remember one Tuesday afternoon sitting by a window in g eddes, looking at the permacloud and thinking to myself, “ h ow did i get here? h ow did i end up with a seemingly amazing life but an internal demon? w hy can’t anyone see through me?” i had not spoken with anyone in many days. a bout three days later i dragged myself to s t. l iam’s, where i started my road to recovery after what had been months of depression. i t was
hard ( ... continues to be) and the feeling of loneliness remains vivid.
i ’ll admit that i was embarrassed to tell my best friends about my mental health, to even confess to my loving roommates that perhaps i was not as happy as i let on. For some reason, i just could not allow myself to be vulnerable when vulnerability would have counted the most.
i will be completely transparent: i am nervous to be back on campus. i am slowly becoming comfortable with admitting this, but unfortunately, i have come to associate n otre d ame with stress and exhaustion; after so much time, i can only imagine how my body and brain will react to the changes. a nd, now, i can’t help but wonder how different my mindset would be had i admitted to my struggles before they manifested themselves physically last year. p erhaps i would be more positive about this semester, or just maybe i could have avoided all those months of emotional absence.
To be a student who also feels like a human, like someone with dignity, balance, joy and a desire to learn — that is what i want for myself and for all my peers this semester. b ut, i believe that this can only happen if we agree to be more vulnerable with one another; to be more willing to express our frustrations and negative thoughts in a healthy way; to be okay with not being the best; to accept our a merican accents and inability to roll “rr”s.
it is never too late to start being vulnerable with those around you. i , for one, am committed to opening up more and admitting to my thoughts. w hat i have come to realize is that behind the busy schedules of the n otre d ame community, there are so many people waiting and wanting to help you. we simply need to get uncomfortable.
Freezin’ for a reason
h ave you been withdrawn from uv rays and are tired of dressing up in bulky, unsightly winter clothes? The men of s iegfried are, and they cannot wait to shed their clothes even if it’s cold outside. o n w ednesday, the r amblers anticipate a major vitamin d increase as they will be dressed scantily clad once again for the most important fundraiser found on campus for the s outh b end c enter for the h omeless.
For the 11th consecutive year, the burly lads of s iegfried h all will brave the February wintery cold to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the s outh b end community who do not have the privilege to own a home. d ressing in shorts, T-shirts, flip-flops, speedos and even less, the men of s iegfried will be spreading their mission throughout campus in classrooms, sidewalks and dining halls in order to elicit donations for the c enter for the h omeless.
a ll joking aside, homelessness impacts hundreds of thousands of people across the u nited s tates every year. i t disproportionately affects our nation’s veterans and causes irreparable damage to the bright futures of many children. d uring these cold winter months, homelessness not only puts those who suffer from it at an economic risk, but also a physical one. o ver the last 11 years, we’ve been freezin’ for a reason: to raise money to support and aid the homeless in our s outh b end community. w e cannot do this
without your help.
w e are calling upon you, n otre d ame, to recognize that we are extremely fortunate, and because of that, our community needs to assist those who do not have the dorms or meal plans that we hold. s acrifice a few m ain c ircle cab fares or a few u bers to Finni’s so that we — as a community — can fight for those who sacrifice every day just to make ends meet. i f you are strapped for cash w ednesday, d ay of m an has an online donation site where you, friends and family can all donate to this worthy fundraiser. l ook for the link shared on the d ay of m an Facebook event page and please share it. The r amblers are taking one day to stand with our brothers and sisters in the cold in order to bring this opportunity of service to you. p lease sacrifice a few dollars to contribute to the mission. b e cold. b e bold. b e a man.
Lauren O’Connell junior Feb. 4
Colleen Zewe news writer
Isaac Althoff junior
Michael Hernick junior
Patrick Davis sophomore
i mperial naysayer
For some reason that i cannot grasp, g eorge o rwell’s name has been in the news much lately. a pparently this has something to do with “1984,” his 1948 (see what he did there?) novel of a future dystopian b ritain (completed in 1948, first published in June 1949, for you e nglish majors in the crowd). This followed his earlier work, “a nimal Farm,” which recast totalitarian rulers and subjects as animal protagonists. w hile popularly known for these literary works, o rwell was a working journalist, and wrote a number of perceptive essays and reviews for the o bserver (not this one, but rather the b ritish weekly newspaper).
i n giving advice to aspiring journalists, o rwell championed clarity of thought and precision in writing: “a man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. i t is rather the same thing that is happening to the e nglish language. i t becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” w hat would o rwell think about a world shaped by clickbait, soundbites and Twitter storms?
o rwell also took that whole “speak truth to authority” aspect of journalism seriously and summed it up in a famous quote: “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations.” w hile there is a place for public relations, journalists who ‘blunt their pencils’ to maintain access or avoid a nasty tweet are falling short of their professional standards. i f someone, say as
a spokesman for the party in power, were to lash out at journalists as constituting “the opposition party,” then as heralds of truth, the journalists should bear such a title with pride and accordingly note the strained relationship of the accuser to the truth.
a nother name that has popped up recently is that of the r oman senator i ncitatus. a ccording to the historian s uetonius, i ncitatus lived a privileged life in a home crafted of marble, and slept in an ivory bedroom with purple blankets. r oman historians savored additional details of i ncitatus’ luxurious lifestyle: s uetonius related that the senator wore an elaborate jeweled collar, and c assius d io revealed that i ncitatus ate meals mixed with gold leaf. These details might be enough to shock us with the profligate display of wealth and bad taste among r ome’s upper classes, but there is an additional aspect of this story that has amazed even casual students of r oman history — i ncitatus was a horse.
i ncitatus has two notable appearances in r oman history, and the first may be of even more current resonance than his turn as a senator. Thrasyllus of m endes was a mystic who served in the court of the r oman emperor Tiberius. h e infamously prophesied that Tiberius’ great nephew c aligula had no more chance of becoming emperor “than of riding a horse across the b ay of b aiae.” c aligula ascended the blood-drenched throne as consul and emperor in 37 a d s oon thereafter, he ordered a line of grain barges to be moored alongside each other in the b ay of b aiae between the cities of b aiae and p uteoli. e ngineers laid a bridge on the barges spanning the two-mile wide inlet (undoubtedly to cries of “build the bridge, build the bridge”). c aligula could not swim, so he rode i ncitatus across the bridge while wearing the breastplate of a lexander the g reat, putting his
Balance
to one side or the other: as one end goes up, the other goes down. n o saw is zero-sum; the tilt is continuous.
doubters in their place in an over-the-top show of power. h e proclaimed himself a god and placed himself above all earthly laws.
c aligula also did not think much of the r oman government. i n order to show his contempt for the r oman s enate, especially its efforts to limit his power, c aligula named i ncitatus to the s enate. s enators pointed to this action, and c aligula’s further plan to appoint i ncitatus as co-consul, as proof of c aligula’s insanity. a s a result of this outrageous act, and well-known incidents of personal debauchery, c aligula’s reign was cut short. h istory has labeled c aligula one of the worst rulers of all times, but for all his bombast and claims of divinity, his time on the throne amounted to but four terrifying years.
c aligula’s action in making a senator of i ncitatus, whose name means “at full gallop,” is emblematic of the damage that an individual with unchecked power can inflict on institutions and a nation. c aligula’s provocative actions, made at full gallop with the sole goal of demonstrating his authority and contempt for anyone who sought to limit his power, have echoed through centuries as the surest sign of the despot. Today, we look to institutions with constitutional charters and protections — the courts, congress, the press — to reign in galloping leaders who serve their own dreams of glory rather than the nation’s citizens. i f we fail to restrain such chaos, then any claims of greatness are as appealing as the glitter in i ncitatus’ poop.
Ray Ramirez is an attorney practicing, yet never perfecting, law in Texas while waiting patiently for a MacArthur Genius Grant. You may contact him at patrayram@sbcglobal.net
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
i want to talk about Trump and is , but first i want to talk about nicer things like playground toys and pie.
i magine a single seesaw: a narrow beam resting on a pivot at its midpoint; as one end goes up, the other goes down.
n ow add another seesaw perpendicular to the first. a nd keep adding saws the same way you would halve slices of pie, cutting in straight diametric lines from crust to crust.
i t should now look as if you drew several dozen straight lines through the center of a circle connecting opposite sides and then erased the outer circle.
n ow you have the static image; let’s make it dynamic and set the seesaws in motion. e very saw can rotate 90 degrees on its pivot in one plane to one side or the other. i f all the seesaws teeter really fast in both directions you can see a blurred sphere.
i nstead of children-sized seats at either end of each beam, imagine opposing ideas: religion and atheism, government and anarchy, wealthy and poor, solitude and community, home and travel, pride and humility, specialization and diversification, order and chaos.
e veryone has their own web of seesaws. e ach saw indicates where they stand on an issue, tilted
a person’s web is a snapshot of their beliefs at the time. s ome have seesaw webs like flat snowflakes (balance). a nd others have a bundle of sticks pointing in all directions (imbalance). a nd still others have snowflakes with just a few tilted sticks.
b ut our webs are not static. i n flux, each saw tips as we learn about the issue. F. s cott Fitzgerald wrote, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
b ut most people can’t function this way. m y friend d an says, “ h umans are binary thinkers.” we naturally drift to the extremes — it’s easier to identify this way. b ut harder to relate to others, so we herd with those who have seesaw webs like our own.
i read two headlines in the news. o ne says: Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on i slam. The other says: r ight-wing extremists are a bigger threat to a merica than is i wonder how skilled is Trump at holding two opposed ideas in his mind at the same time. a nd i wonder the same thing about members of is i t would seem they, like all extremists, lack the sort of “first-rate intelligence” that Fitzgerald describes.
Then again, extremism makes sense at least.
r eligion, for example, if true, is not something we can be balanced about. The bible says don’t be lukewarm. i f Jesus was g od, then we should be extreme c hristians. o r, extreme m uslims, if m uhammad was right.
p ersonally, i ’m not sure, so i err balanced between pious and humanist (read: agnostic). b ut members of is seem pretty sure, in which case it’s not difficult to understand their extremism.
The key to solving Trump and is , i argue, is balance. a very particular kind of balance.
There are two types with flat snowflakes: one who has never left the balanced center, and the other who has left the center many times and since returned to balance. The first is weak, noncommittal and passive. The second is Fitzgerald’s “first-rate intelligence.”
The second allows for an overlap in understanding with extremists that opens up conversation. The second has a seesaw web with the potential of a sphere, knowledgeable and able to relate along the range and to the extremes of any issue, but also at any moment perfectly balanced as a flat snowflake.
b e a flat snowflake, but first be a bundle of sticks.
Deep hows and outer spades, art and idiosingsongs; email colejfeldman@gmail.com, nonsense only please.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Ray Ramirez
The c rooked path
Cole Feldman
The a bsurder
By JIMMY KEMPER s cene writer
how do you know when you’ve made it?
This question holds a definite level of significance for migos, a rap group that now finds itself at the center of a spotlight between donald glover’s assertion at the golden globes that they are “the beatles of our generation” and the meteoric rise of hit single “bad and boujee” to the top of charts.
migos’ first flirtation with this level of mainstream attention began back in 2013, when “versace,” featuring Quavo’s trademark triplet flow (“ver-sa-ce ver-sa-ce”), oozed into the depths of hip-hop’s collective consciousness. within a year, rappers as big as that vampire drake were borrowing this flow to great success. This didn’t stop the migos from their grind, because in 2015 they transformed the dab into a meme, giving desperate baby boomer politicians another opportunity to try to woo millennials. in 2016, Quavo features in approximately 1 million tracks, rumors circulate of migos landing on kanye’s good music label and “bad and boujee” starts to catch on.
with this much momentum behind them, 2017 is the perfect time for Quavo, offset and Takeoff to drop their second studio album “culture.”
“culture” is steeped in the tradition of atlanta trap music. This is obvious from the moment you look at the cover art: a collage of peaches, i-85 highway signs and the other golden dome. it’s about more than just the pretty picture on front, as “culture” lovingly embraces the works of outkast, gucci mane, lil Jon and every other artist whose works have graced the speakers of magic city. migos even go so far as to invite 2 chainz and gucci mane to share in this moment, boosting their credibility and infusing their legacy with some muchneeded rockstar status. what’s so fantastic about “culture” is that migos are
unwilling to compromise with the current pop music scene. rather, they stay in their lane – showing off the pop sensibilities that they have developed over the years through the mixtapes – and invite the pop world along for a ride in their drop top.
like any good trap album, “culture” centers itself around its hits. of course, before we can get to those hits, migos set the foundation and lay out their ambition. Quavo and crew take the bold step of placing the introduction to the album into the hands of dJ khaled, the snapchat memelord of yesteryear, now relegated to spewing his catchphrases on TurboTax commercials. it’s a risky move, but it pays off: khaled, with his swaggering, booming bravado, effectively hands the keys of internet virality off to migos, who pop them in the ignition of the aforementioned drop top and speeds on down to the trap on the very next track “T-shirt.” much like the excellent, “revenant”-themed music video, the song “T-shirt” epitomizes all that is great about the migos. at its core, “culture,” especially on “T-shirt,” focuses on guns, girls and gangbanging: the holy trinity of trap, and a perfect recipe for some genuinely fun tracks. here, an overload of auto-Tune blurs Quavo’s sharp staccato as he raps over hazy beats by atlanta producers nard & b to make an easily recognizable, infectious tune that’s just as playable in the club as it is on pop radio. obviously, “bad and boujee” maintains its position as the keystone of this album. The bizarre opening by offset is still as addicting, and the rapping from the rest of the migos and lil uzi vert is just as virtuosic as when the song was a meme in the depths of Twitter back in october. after the killer double-double combo of “T-shirt,” “call casting,” “bad and boujee” and “get right witcha,” it’s totally reasonable to assume that that migos don’t have room for anything else of substance on “culture.” but, as they make abundantly clear, Quavo and the gang are doing this for the culture, and the latter half of the album shows no sign
of letting down. while there are no clearly discernible breakout hits there, this side of the record continues to keep listeners in the groove. To be fair, at times it’s pretty easy to slip too comfortably into that groove and zone out here due to migos’ wholesale embrace of their lane. however, to dismiss these tracks so easily means missing out on some tight production by gucci-affiliate and atlanta superstar in his own right, Zaytoven, on the atmospheric, piano-laden “big on big” and the sparse, moody “brown paper bag,” among other songs that would be considered major hits for any other trap star.
“culture” is one of those albums that not only challenges our understanding of migos’ place in the pop canon, but of trap music in general. Trap is one of those subgenres of rap that’s frequently dismissed as simple party music for the mixtape crowd. The rise of “bad and boujee” and the continued success of migos proves otherwise. w hile migos may not yet be “the beatles of our generation” as donald glover suggests, “culture” and the group’s work ethic that led to this moment show that migos are without a doubt the ambassador of the atlanta music scene to the greater music community. so yes, they have made it.
Contact Jimmy Kemper at jkemper2@nd.edu
‘Culture’ Migos
Label: 300 Entertainment
Recommended Tracks: “Bad and Boujee,” “T-Shirt,” “Get Right Witcha”
If you like: Gucci Mane, Future, Young Thug
By MIKE DONOVAN s cene writer
as readers, we should always approach autobiographies carefully. Their authors, while experts in the subject matter, are inherently biased. self-indulgence and insecurities often cloud their anecdotes and spin the story into fictional territory. if we digest the text correctly, the authorial bias gives new life to the text. if we don’t, the writing will lie to our faces.
Ty segall’s latest self-titled album is an autobiography, and, like written autobiographies, it demonstrates all the difficulties that we associate with authorial bias. The only difference is that segall doesn’t tell his life story in lyrics — he tells his artistic story in music. if we want to figure out what segall is trying to do, we have to unpack the arrangements.
“Ty segall” packs eight full-length lps and an extensive list of formative records (see: syd barrett’s entire discography) onto a 10-track canvas. each song idealizes a different sector of segall’s musical range, synthesizing his past work and influences into a single musical idea. Tighter production techniques give the tracks a bright sheen. like fond memories, they observe the past through a tinted looking glass. The record conjures up a few renditions of segall’s trademark garage rock. “The only one,” for instance, takes Ty segall circa 2008 and packages it in a shiny new high-fidelity box, but it doesn’t capture the loose rage that made tracks like “The drag” so enjoyable. The more pointed anger of a
technically proficient modern player has replaced careless fury of younger days. The opener, “break a guitar,” incorporates forceful glam punk aesthetics to suit the tighter band, remodeling bowie’s flare with segall’s staple punch, but it again feels refurbished and mundane.
segall’s folk efforts, on the other hand, hold their own. “orange color Queen” offers a heartwarming glimpse into the garage rocker’s sweeter thoughts. The quirky acoustic progression recalls the unsettling folk of his 2013 album “sleeper,” while grounding itself in comforting melodies and endearing lyrics. another standout track, “Talkin’” draws on the familiar rhythms of classic country and the power-pop sensibility of alex chilton. it’s easily the record’s most accessible track. but, despite the flawlessly executed rustic ballad, these tracks lack panache.
The single “warm hands (Freedom returned)” towers over the rest of the album. on a record of good but largely forgettable productions, “warm hands” shocks us with a sprawling soundscape. The 10-minute epic cobbles segall’s entire discography into one song. it barrages the listener with violent punk sections, brooding psych folk elements and unabashed pop rock, alongside elements of experimental and jazz. The kaleidoscope of sound morphs quickly and without warning — segall’s chaotic headspace laid bare. moreover, it keeps the listeners engaged for the duration thanks to its whirlwind transitions. so, what do we make of this autobiography? do the wellmeaning but flat garage-rock efforts, well-executed but
uninventive acoustic tracks and a standout epic add up to something more?
it certainly gives an accurate history of segall’s musical exploits. like segall’s discography, the album transforms often and without warning. we can’t put in under a single umbrella.
That said, i don’t think we need a history of Ty segall. he would have been better off creating another brilliant work of fiction. his previous work stuck with us because it was so unpredictable. with each new record, we got to see segall put on a new costume and tell a new story. his refreshing vignettes let us escape from the indie rock norm for a few songs. 2017’s “Ty segall” doesn’t deliver this spontaneity. it’s too sincere.
Contact Mike Donovan at mdonov10@nd.edu
‘Ty Segall’ Ty Segall
Label: Drag City
Recommended Tracks: “Warm Hands (Freedon Returned),” “Orange Color Queen,” “Talkin’”
If you like: The Oh Sees, Sd Barrett, Black Lips
Happy Birthday: Take a look around you and you’ll find a way to take advantage of opportunities that others won’t notice. use your insight and ability to adapt quickly, and try to utilize people and experiences from your past in order to bounce forward this year. personal gains, physical improvements and romance are highlighted, and will encourage a brighter future. your numbers are 4, 16, 21, 25, 37, 46, 48.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): participate, engage in group functions and open your mind to new experiences, and you will learn a lot about yourself and those around you. e mbrace responsibility to improve your life.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): g o over what you have done in the past and learn from your mistakes. having a clear and concise picture of what you want to do will help you convince others to get involved. r ecognize emotional interference and stifle it.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): l et your emotions lead the way and you will punch your way through to victory. w hether a personal or professional matter, your ability to offer suggestions that capture others’ attention will help you forge ahead. personal gains are apparent.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): your imagination will be in overdrive. weed out any ideas that will be too expensive to complete. r efuse to let someone from your past tempt you into doing something that will leave you short of cash.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): g o where the action is. a day trip, tradeshow, retreat or anything that allows you to take on a challenge will be exhilarating. m ake love and romance a priority and don’t be afraid to commit to something you believe in.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): host an event or attend a function that you can go to with a good friend. e xploring something new with the people you like to share experiences with will make what you encounter that much more interesting and enjoyable.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): a day trip or a family gathering will help you establish your position in the pecking order. o ffering suggestions and physical help will be appreciated and put you in a good position when it comes to group decisions. l ove is highlighted.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): o pen your doors and host a small gathering. g etting together with a group of people will inspire you to follow through with the personal plans you’ve been considering. it’s time for a change and a new beginning.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): d on’t let problems with siblings or peers get you down. step outside the problems others are experiencing and enjoy what you have and can do with your life. personal gains and positive physical alterations should highlight your day.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): w hen in doubt, stop. The less involved you are with other people’s pursuits, the better. l ess will result in more by the end of the day. l imit your spending and any excessive behavior
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): you are a go-getter; eager to please and willing to compromise, adapt and make whatever changes are necessary to get what you want. your ability to be decisive will draw support and encouragement. m ake romance a priority.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): e motional deception will influence the outcome of a situation you face with someone. it doesn’t matter if it’s you or someone else who is not seeing things clearly. The point will be to find common ground to avoid a rift.
Birthday Baby: you are emotional, perceptive and considerate. you are appealing and popular.
HorosCoPE
JuMblE | david hoyT and JeFF knurek
sudoku | The mepham group
Rankings get a needed change
Alex Carson a ssistant managing e ditor
The best news of the college basketball season dropped last month.
a s soon as next season, the ncaa tournament selection process will finally start to use — and perhaps embrace — advanced statistical metrics and computer rankings, finishing the long, difficult reign of the r atings percentage i ndex ( rpi ).
it’s a great change, as the rpi should have been retired years ago because it is, quite frankly, a subpar measure of team success.
i n its purest form, 25 percent of rpi is a team’s record, 50 percent of it is a team’s opponents’ record, and 25 percent is a team’s opponents’ opponents’ record. There’s no adjustment for how much a team wins by — a 1-point win is seen in the same light as a dominant 30-point win — and 75 percent of the calculation is outside of an individual team’s control.
w hile the ncaa has tried to account for home-court advantage — a 2004 change made road wins worth 1.4 wins and home ones worth just 0.6 — it’s still using a metric that was introduced in 1981.
do you drive the same car you did in 1981? i’d imagine not. watch the same T v you did then? hopefully you’ve at least moved to a highdefinition T v, if not one of the new fancy 4k ones. a re we still listening to blondie and hall & oates on top-40 music stations? unfortunately not.
Just in the same way we’ve made progress in the technology we use in our day-to-day lives, we’ve also made a bunch of progress in the way we use formulas and algorithms to rate college basketball teams. Through their computer metrics, guys like Jeff s agarin and ken pomeroy have significantly advanced our understanding of college basketball and our ability to predict future results. s agarin’s point-based spreads have been on the forefront of sports analytics, while pomeroy’s efficiency-based, and thus
tempo-independent, metrics are growing in popularity every year.
i nstead of solely relying on patchworked 1981 technology, we’ll now be using modern metrics developed with the best knowledge we have.
Just look at last year for evidence of where this change will be most beneficial. a season ago, w ichita state finished the season as one of college basketball’s most dominant teams — the shockers won 13 m issouri valley games by 20 or more points — after overcoming an early season slide without key guard Fred vanv leet. most ratings systems saw the shockers as a clear tournament team — in the top 30 by most metrics — while pomeroy’s ratings had w ichita state as the no. 12 team in the nation at the end of the season.
yet, the shockers were tied for no. 86 in rpi, and instead of being seeded in the top half of the bracket as they should have, the committee had w ichita state as one of the last four teams in, sending them to dayton, ohio, for the First Four. a fter a pair of big wins over vanderbilt and a rizona, the shockers finally caught the fatigue bug in a second-round loss to m iami.
The issue, of course, is that the shockers had to go through a much more difficult path than they should have in march, something that directly contributed to their exit.
There will, of course, always be a place for the so-called “eye test.” Few suggest eliminating visual evidence in this process — this is a common straw man used by anti-stats baseball scouts in their field — but when the selection committee tries to go to statistical metrics in the future, they’ll be doing so with a number of modern measures.
a nd when the committee’s job means so much to so many teams, that can only be a good thing.
Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
w isconsin outlasts conference foe i llinois
Associated Press
madison, wis. — staying close to his man on the perimeter, ethan happ anticipated Josh newkirk’s pass and maneuvered his 6-foot-10 frame right around indiana forward de’ron davis for a steal.
a fluid big man, happ converted the turnover into a layup on the break for one of the few easy looks that no. 10 wisconsin had down the stretch in a 6560 win on sunday over the hoosiers.
happ scored 20 points and gave his team a defensive spark, while nigel hayes added 15 and 10 rebounds.
“w hen it gets late in the game, you’re going to dig deep,” happ said.
happ was 8 of 10 from the field to help the badgers (203, 9-1 big Ten) win their seventh straight game and take sole possession of first place in the league. maryland’s loss to purdue on saturday allowed wisconsin to take a one-game lead in the conference over the Terrapins.
The steal with 3:33 left was one of two critical defensive plays by happ late in the game. about a minute later, happ blocked a shot, corralled the rebound and called timeout just before falling out of bounds to save the possession.
“Thank goodness there are two sides of a basketball (game). we were able to make up some things on the defensive end,” hayes said.
The 6-8 hayes joined happ to give indiana problems up front. but the badgers were plagued by mistakes or missed foul
nHl | capiTals 5, kings 0
shots earlier in the game after building a 12-point lead midway through the first half.
“we wanted to be aggressive, there’s no question about that,” indiana coach Tom crean said.
indiana (15-9, 5-6) stayed within two or three possessions of wisconsin for much of the final 30 minutes. newkirk’s two foul shots with 28.6 seconds left got indiana within 60-57, but wisconsin went 5 of 6 from the foul line from that point to seal the win.
“w hen it doesn’t go your way, you can still find a way,” wisconsin coach greg gard said. “That’s what good, experienced teams will find — find another way to scratch and claw, and get it done.”
newkirk led the hoosiers with 22 points. Thomas bryant tried to provide balance but was plagued by foul trouble. he scored nine of his 11 points in the first half.
Hoosier defense
wisconsin muddled through another poor-shooting day, going 39 percent (19 of 48) from the field. it was the third straight game that an opponent held the badgers to less than 41 percent.
crean said he wanted his team to stay active defensively against an experienced and balanced team shooting 47 percent coming into the afternoon.
“you just can’t let them pick you apart with their passing,” he said. “They can rebound, they can defend, but they can all pass — that to me is what sets them apart.”
Indiana blues
indiana has lost 17 of its last
19 games to the badgers, including 15 straight on the road. The hoosiers last won in madison in 1998.
Poll implications
wisconsin is poised to make a jump in the next ap Top 25 poll on monday after six top 10 squads lost on saturday.
“we know it’s hard to win,” hayes said. “The scary thing is, the smaller the number is next to your name, the harder that games get.”
big picture
indiana: crean’s club got off to a tough start, overwhelmed in the lane on both ends of the floor. sloppy play by wisconsin allowed the hoosiers to stay close in the first half and get within 27-24 at halftime. indiana was at its best when it could convert quickly to prevent wisconsin from setting up its tough half-court defense. still, it was a very respectable showing for a team without two key players in og a nunoby (right knee) and leading scorer James blackmon Jr. (lower left leg).
wisconsin: The badgers were most effective when the ball went through happ in the post or hayes in the lane. sloppy ball-handling and a cold stretch from 3-point range helped indiana get back in the game. shooting 35 percent from 3-point range for the season entering the afternoon, wisconsin was held to 24 percent (4 of 17) from behind the arc.
up next indiana: starts two-game home stretch on Thursday with a visit from no. 23 purdue.
Capitals end Kings’ winning streak at five
Associated Press
washingTon — philipp grubauer starts rarely enough that he doesn’t want to show his face when he loses. he can show it plenty until his next chance. grubauer stopped a season-high 38 shots to shut out the los a ngeles kings as the washington capitals ended peter budaj’s shutout streak in a 5-0 rout sunday. washington snapped los a ngeles’ winning streak at five and budaj’s shutout streak at 147:21 in winning
its third game in a row.
despite being outshot 38-20, the capitals were opportunistic in shelling budaj, limiting quality chances and relying on grubauer to make the routine saves.
“he doesn’t get in there all the time, but when he does he’s just been really good,” said brett connolly, who scored his 10th goal of the season. “There was a couple times we turned the puck over and they had a good chance in front and he was there to bail us out.”
grubauer denied marian gaborik from close range in the second period but didn’t have to make too many 10-bell saves for his third shutout of the season. coach barry Trotz liked the team defense in front of grubauer, who compared the new nhl-mandated slimmer goalie pants to “european skinny jeans.”
“The guys did an amazing job keeping (shots) to the outside today,” grubauer said. “i don’t think we gave up too many grade-a chances.”
3:10 left. This was followed soon after with a game-tying goal by freshman forward c am m orrison, sending c ompton into a frenzy and the game into overtime.
The c atamounts dominated the extra period for the most part, but p eterson made six huge saves — to bring his total to 43 on the night — to preserve the 4-4 tie. i rish head coach Jeff Jackson thought his team showed a lot of resilience in an important game.
“ i give the kids a lot of credit for coming back,” Jackson said. “ w e put ourselves in a bit of a hole there in the third period … but they handled it, obviously. a s far as where we are, every game right now is like a playoff game.”
g oing into s aturday, n otre d ame was looking to continue its momentum from the late stages of the night before. The first period saw a number of penalties but neither team would be very successful throughout the night with the one man advantage. w ith six minutes to go in the first, a snapshot from the point by freshman defenseman m att o ’ d onnell gave the c atamounts the 1-0 lead at the intermission.
p lay would largely settle down throughout much of the second period with neither team developing many strong chances. The i rish finally capitalized on their 19th shot of the night as o glevie ripped home a wrist shot with five to go in the second. They tacked on another when junior defenseman Jordan g ross was able to find the back of the net on a low wrister with just 18 seconds left on the clock, giving n otre d ame the 2-1 lead heading to the dressing room.
To start the third, it was v ermont that emerged as the aggressor early on in the period, yet the score remained 2-1. e ventually with just about five to go, n otre d ame extended the lead and gave itself a little room for comfort off a tipin by o ’ l eary, the first of his career. Jackson said he was very pleased with the play of o ’ l eary as well as many other freshmen and sophomores who contributed throughout the weekend.
“ i t’s nice to see the younger guys as the season progresses, to get a little more understanding in their game and how we have to play to be successful,” Jackson said. “a ll those guys play with a little bit of energy and edge, which you really need to have this time of year.”
Freshman forward c al b urke would score on an
empty net with less than two minutes to go, giving goaltender c al p etersen an unconventional assist and putting the game away. The i rish won by a final score of 4-1 and walked away successful from the weekend.
m oving onto next week, n otre d ame heads on the road to m aine for another pair of conference games.
c oming off of a weekend of solid play, Jackson hopes his team can carry the momentum forward.
“[ m ain is] a tough team in their own building, and they’re an improved team,” Jackson said. “ w e’re going to have to be prepared as they’re a team that usually plays a high-tempo game, so it’s going to boil down to our puck decisions and our defensive transitions which were much better this weekend.”
Contact Alex Bender at abender@nd.edu
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KELLY VAUGHN | The Observer
Irish sophomore forward Andrew Oglevie battles with a Vermont player along the boards during Notre Dame’s 4-4 draw with the Catamounts on Friday at Compton Family Ice Arena.
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guard s teve vasturia turned the ball over, then missed a jumper, before junior guard m att Farrell lost control on a drive with 1:33 to play. The Tar h eels corralled the loose ball; junior forward Justin Jackson slammed home a dunk; and the lead was six.
“ we made a run at it, but b erry’s 15-footer was the shot of a big-time veteran guard who’s had a great year, to kind of stop any belief for us,” i rish head coach m ike b rey said.
b y the time n otre d ame hit its next bucket, a junior forward b onzie c olson 3-pointer, the deficit was at 10 with under 30 seconds to play.
“ i ’m proud of our group, we hung in there and gave ourselves a chance,” b rey said. “They’re really good; we knew we were gonna have to absorb some pounding in the paint ’cause we played small, we did that, and it helped us get back into the thing. we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
n otre d ame scored the game’s first bucket, a vasturia jumper, but the i rish soon fell behind 9-2 in senior forward a ustin Torres’ first start. Though they closed the gap to within a single point at various points in the first half, they never held the lead the rest
of the way.
The i rish were plagued once again by a poor close to the first half — n orth c arolina led by just one, 2928, with just over five minutes to play in the half, but the Tar h eels closed on a 13-6 run to stretch their advantage to eight at the break, a lead that moved to 11 at the start of the second half off a 3-pointer from sophomore guard k enny w illiams. That bucket gave the Tar h eels their first double-digit margin of the afternoon.
n orth c arolina used a balanced scoring effort to down the i rish — six Tar h eels finished in double figures — and overcame the loss of senior forward k ennedy m eeks, who fouled out on a charge with 5:14 to play. it gave the i rish an opening and, for a few minutes, it looked like one they might take.
“ we opened the floor up [in the second half],” b rey said. “ p laying small was the only way we were going to have a chance. we didn’t play two bigs, certainly v.J. got going and we rode it as long as we could.”
b ut there were to be no late-game heroics from n otre d ame this time out, and the i rish will head home on a four-game losing streak. i t’s the first such streak since 2009, when n otre d ame dropped seven consecutive games in a season that ended in the ni T. The loss drops
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the i rish to seventh place in the acc and effectively ends all hope of a regular-season championship, with n otre d ame three games behind a team it wouldn’t win a tiebreaker with.
b eachem, a senior forward, led all scorers with 20 points, while Farrell pitched in 18 and c olson 17 — the three highest individual scoring figures of the day. b ut vasturia managed just nine and didn’t hit a 3-pointer, while n otre d ame was outscored 40-18 in the paint.
d ue to an emergency water crisis on n orth c arolina’s campus this weekend, the game was moved from s aturday to s unday and from c hapel h ill, n orth c arolina, to the g reensboro c oliseum. The move off campus wasn’t enough to help the i rish snag a win, though.
n otre d ame will have a quick return to action Tuesday, when they host wake Forest at p urcell p avilion. The i rish tried to move the game to wednesday, but the acc office did not allow the change.
“Quite frankly, i ’m disappointed that the game Tuesday wasn’t moved to wednesday,” b rey said. “ b ut i signed up for the acc , so i ’m a good soldier.”
Tuesday’s tip is set for 7 p.m.
Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu
Notre Dame falls to rival Michigan
Observer Sports Staff
w hen no. 13 m ichigan came to s outh b end, notre dame looked to find a way to upset the wolverines (4-0) after winning its first three matches of the spring season.
The i rish came up short, however, and dropped a 6-1 non-conference decision to the wolverines on Friday afternoon at e ck Tennis p avilion.
i n the singles competition, freshman Zoe spence recorded the only i rish victory on the day (7-5, 6-3), defeating her opponent, wolverine freshman c hiara l ommer. The rest of the i rish players came close but could not grasp a victory in the end. Junior a llison m iller came up on the wrong end of a close 6-1, 7-6(1) decision, while freshman b ess waldram fell by identical sets of 6-2, 6-2.
Junior brooke broda was defeated in straight sets (6-2, 6-3), while senior Jane Fennelly and sophomore r achel c hong lost in almost identical ways. b oth c hong and Fennelly won the first sets of their matches 6-1,
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foul gave the i rish the ensuing draw, which they converted to put the game back within one goal. however, the w ildcats won the final draw of the game, and although the i rish won the ball back, the five seconds remaining were not enough to tie the score.
“i ’m disappointed with the result, but that’s on me,” h alfpenny said. “i ’ve got to figure out a way to get us more prepared to not have 15 turnovers. we’re going to go back to the drawing board and clean up some of those errors. you’ve got to credit northwestern; they, too, were playing with some new faces. They came after us, and they did a really nice job. They took advantage of those missed opportunities we had. northwestern is so well-coached; they made adjustments.”
p earsall controlled eight draws, while b uchanan scored four goals in her first ever game for the i rish. h alfpenny said she felt b uchanan’s performance was among the highlights of the day for her team.
“e verybody can see she’s certainly living up to all the hype,” h alfpenny said. “her stat line is just incredible. s he’s a game-changer. her smart and patient shooting was outstanding today. s he
before ultimately dropping the final two sets 6-1, 6-2. i n the doubles competition, the no. 2 notre dame pair of senior mary c loss/m iller dropped a 6-2 decision to the m ichigan squad of junior a lex najarian and sophomore k ate Fahey. The no. 1 doubles pair of senior monica robinson/ broda fell 6-1 up against junior m ira ruder-hook and sophomore brienne m inor. The no. 3 match with Fennelly/ waldram versus freshman valeria p atiuk and junior k ara hall was unfinished.
The i rish will be back in action sunday, when they take on i llinois in a non-conference road matchup. a nd after that, another big Ten opponent is on the horizon, as the i rish will travel to bloomington, i ndiana, to take on the hoosiers in two weeks. a fter their road contest against i ndiana, the i rish will begin conference play, as they matchup with l ouisville in l ouisville, kentucky. however, after short conference stint, the i rish will face more big Ten competition.
was a presence everywhere, right next to c asey [ p earsall], c ortney [Fortunato] and g race [ muller].”
The i rish defense — starting a season without stalwart b arbara s ullivan for the first time since 2011 — caused only six turnovers, its lowest total since a 7-6 victory over v irginia in 2015 and 10 less than the total against the w ildcats in last year’s ncaa tournament meeting. h alfpenny said she was confident her team would respond well to the defeat.
“i ’m proud of our effort,” h alfpenny said. “ i ’m proud of this team. i love this team. i love this team. They care so much. They sacrifice so much. From top to bottom, this one’s not going to sit well with them, and i think that’s good. it’s a good reminder for them for the future. we’re looking forward to our next opportunity. “ we have a lot of the pieces to the puzzle, if not all of them. That’s awesome — the way our seniors played and showed their experience, their determination, that’s only going to bode well for this program going forward. w hen you start off with this kind of test, the sky’s the limit for them.”
The i rish will play l iberty on Friday at l oftus s ports c enter. The game begins at 7 p.m.
Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu
MEn’s bAskETbAll | norTh carolina 83, nd 76
Tar Heels squash Irish comeback attempt
By ALEX CARSON a ssistant managing e ditor
Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, it looked as if no. 20 notre dame would make a run at completing a furious comeback when a v.J. beachem 3-pointer cut no. 12 north carolina’s lead to two with 3:47 to play.
but just like their last outing, where the irish nearly erased a double-digit deficit at home against duke, it wasn’t meant to be, as the Tar heels pulled away for an 83-76 win sunday afternoon in greensboro, north carolina.
a fter beachem’s bucket, north carolina (21-4, 9-2 acc) had an immediate answer when junior guard Joel berry ii hit a jumper to stretch the advantage back to four. The irish (17-7, 6-5) enjoyed three possessions with a chance to cut the game back to a onepossession affair, but none of them resulted in points. senior
see m bball PAGE 15
nd WoMEn’s l ACrossE | norThwesTern 14, nd 13
bests notre dame
nd WoMEn’s bAskETbAll
HoCkE y | nd 4, vermonT 4 (oT); nd 4, vermonT 1
ND tops Vermont in home matchup
By ALEX BENDER sports writer
p laying in a crucial weekend series against h ockey e ast foe and n o. 12 ranked vermont, n o. 17 n otre d ame came away with a critical three points to move up the h ockey e ast standings as they push toward conference championship season.
c oming into Friday night’s matchup in sixth place in h ockey e ast play, the i rish (15-9-4, 8-5-3 h ockey e ast) came out in their first game with a sense of urgency. The i rish drew first blood in the opening period when sophomore forward a ndrew o glevie sped through the c atamount defense to give the i rish an early 1-0 lead at the 5:59 mark. n ear the end of the first period, junior forward b o b rauer padded the lead off an assist from freshman forward m ike o ’ l eary, who earned his first career point with the assist after
filling in for junior forward a nders b jork, who was out with an illness.
The c atamounts (16-9-3, 8-6-2) would begin to control the game from that point onward, putting pressure on the i rish defense and junior goaltender c al p eterson. b y the end of the second period p eterson had made 28 saves, but vermont had made it a one-score game. i n the third period, the offensive floodgates opened for the c atamounts. b ack-to-back goals within the first two minutes of the period gave vermont a 3-2 lead. Quickly pushing the lead to 4-2 at the 7:43 mark, the c atamounts appeared to have the game under wraps against a tiring n otre d ame squad. h owever, the i rish found a way to fight back and rejuvenate their offense. a goal by junior forward Jake e vans brought the i rish closer with
comeback attempts at the end of each half for no. 8 notre dame fell short in a close encounter with rival no. 9 northwestern, as the w ildcats defeated the i rish 14-13 at l oftus sports center in notre dame’s season-opener.
i n a rematch of last year’s ncaa second round game, the i rish (0-1) scored the opening goal when senior attack grace muller kept control of the ball under the challenge of a defender and fired her shot into the top-right corner of the goal. The w ildcats (2-0) answered quickly though, scoring on their first two possessions of the game to take the lead. a fter notre dame tied it up eight minutes into the half, northwestern answered again with a 6-0 run to take an 8-2 lead shortly after the 15-minute mark. i rish head coach c hristine halfpenny said her team had some difficulties early on, though she was impressed by its performance for the remainder of the game.
“it’s a typical first game,”
halfpenny said. “you saw a little bit of good, a little bit of bad. at times, i feel like there was a little bit of ugly. i f we could take out that first 20 minutes, we could stat it up and see what we did there. That’s the most encouraging piece of this.” some fancy stick work from senior forward cortney Fortunato started a comeback for notre dame, and after five consecutive goals in six minutes, including two in nine seconds by senior attack casey pearsall, the i rish drew level at 9-9. notre dame could not take the tie into halftime however, as northwestern took the lead back just over 40 seconds later. a scoring drought for the first 15 minutes of the second half put the i rish back in a hole, trailing 13-9 before freshman midfielder savannah buchanan scored the first notre dame goal of the half.
w ith notre dame trailing by three goals with two minutes left, buchanan helped the i rish bring the game back within reach when she was fouled immediately after scoring. The
By RENEE GRIFFIN sports writer
w hen no. 9 l ouisville visits no. 7 notre d ame at p urcell p avilion on monday night, the c ardinals will bring not only skilled guards and top forwards but also an opportunity for the i rish to take away a crucial acc win and get their regular season on track as they eye the postseason.
notre d ame (21-3, 9-1 acc ) has won five games in a row since a disappointing loss to Tennessee on Jan. 16, and i rish head coach muffet mc g raw said she’s seen her team improve in areas they were struggling in that span, particularly on defense.
The i rish haven’t faced a ranked opponent since losing to acc foe north c arolina state on d ec. 29. The wolfpack now sit at no. 19. The squad’s first loss of the season was to another ranked team – no. 1 c onnecticut.
That makes the top-10 matchup with l ouisville (20-5, 7-3 acc ) even more important,
EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
Irish junior forward Brianna Turner shoots a jumper in Notre Dame’s 82-74 victory over Virginia on Jan. 29 at Purcell Pavilion. see w bball PAGE 13
EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
Irish senior guard Steve Vasturia readies to take a shot during Notre Dame’s 84-74 loss to Duke on Tuesday at Purcell Pavilion.
