I had the pleasure of enjoying Saturday's victory over the Longhorns from a seat inside Notre Dame Stadium. While it was my first home game in the Kelly era, I've been attending games since my first campus visit as a high school senior in the fall of 1984. The experience of a high profile game at Notre Dame is one of a kind.
Upon further reflection in the ensuing days, there is one noteworthy element that is missing from the game day experience — a pregame prayer. The game day public address programming covers many bases, including honors to our country, other Notre Dame athletic teams past and present and traffic safety via Sgt. Tim McCarthy. Last Saturday, recognition was also appropriately heaped on Fr. Ted Hesburgh and our military through aircraft flyover, yet nowhere was even a brief prayer offered other than those undoubtedly spoken in silence by faithful fans and players from both sides. In fact, the acknowledgement of Hesburgh involved the secular "moment of silence" rather than a heartfelt prayer from one of his Holy Cross brothers.
I am typically not one to stand on a soapbox at all, regarding public prayer or anything else. However, in this case, I sincerely request that the administration consider the inclusion of a pregame prayer at all future games. I am intrigued to see Fr. John Jenkins express in recent days that the Fighting Irish teams will always retain their amateur status in the face of mounting pressure for collegiate athletics to shift to a semipro structure. I would love to see Jenkins exercise that same leadership in his professional status as priest to spread the Gospel from Notre Dame's greatest stage.
Dan Janick
class of 1989
Sept. 11
