BC 17 ND 0

I'd be remiss if I let the week slip by without mentioning the annual "Holy War" (or the Chris Meehan Bowl, if you prefer)-- the football game between the only two Catholic schools playing big time college football: Boston College and Notre Dame.

For the 6th straight time, Boston College triumphed, thanks to defensive efforts like this:



The all time series is now even at 9-9.



No word on whether there's any truth to the rumor that the Fighting Irish will change their name to the Fighting Doberman Pincher Genitalia...

But Who is Benedict XVI Pulling for?

Saturday night, my two schools face off for the men's hockey national champtionship.

Notre Dame takes on Boston College in the finals of the Frozen Four. It's the first time the Fighting Irish have reached the finals. BC, on the other hand, is a Frozen Four staple-- this is the ninth championship game in school history, and third in a row-- the Eagles are looking for their first national championship since 2001, and third overall.

The game is at 7 on ESPN, and I'll be rooting for BC.

The winner gets a bronze bust of my likeness with the top hollowed out, perfect for pouring some celebratory champagne into.

How Would Jesus Vote? Nation Re-Considers

Last night at Notre Dame, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne began his lecture with the same story that opens his book, Souled Out:

Mrs. O'Reilly was dutifully being taken to the polls on Election Day by her son [Bill?]. Mrs. O'Reilly always voted straight Democratic. Her son, a successful member of the upper-middle class, had become an Independent, and often voted Republican.

As was their routine, the son asked his mother how she would vote, and, as always, Mrs. O'Reilly responded, "Straight Democratic." The exasperated son replied, "Mom, if Jesus came back to earth and ran as a Republican, you would vote against him." His mother shot back, "Aw, hush, why would he change his party after all these years?"

Later, Dionne declared, "The era of the religious right is over." Although Dionne acknowledged the movement's death knell has been rung incorrectly before, a true testament to its power of "resurrection," he insisted that this time is (mercifully) different.

Democrats like Barack Obama and Tim Kaine feel comfortable talking about their faith publicly, in a way their predecessors did not a generation ago.

Dionne, a liberal Catholic, also foresaw a shift in the way divisive topics like abortion are dealt with in this country. For 35 years, Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land, ensuring a woman's right to have an abortion. For just as long, the religious have sought to criminalize the practice and looked to the Republican party for salvation.

Yet, after millions of votes, dollars and volunteer hours, Roe does not appear to be going anywhere. And even if it did, Dionne notes, the number of abortions is very unlikely to fall. So the best way to tackle what Christians consider to be an immoral practice, is to focus on why there are more abortions here than in other countries where they're legal, and to try and reduce the number.

Additionally, the American religious have refocused on economic morality. The widening gap between rich and poor is at frightening levels (one British paper said it's caused another Great Depression), and Republicans still push capital gains tax- cuts and trickle- down theory. As a result, the Democratic tent bulges with the faithful, intent on a greater commitment to issues like poverty, climate change and third- world relief.

Even the most socially conservative Republican in the '08 field, Mike Huckabee, talked about economic responsibility. As Arkansas governor, he raised taxes for what he claimed were "moral" reasons, and got no endorsements from traditional Christian leaders, but found surprisingly ample support from voters.

Overall, Dionne's take is cutting edge, and his assessment is well- grounded.

So, while Jesus might never change parties, it appears some of his followers have.

Don't Mess with SAM

Two SAM bloggers participated in the first round of Notre Dame's annual "Bengal Bouts" boxing tournament last night. With over 200 fighters, the event is the largest charity boxing tournament in the world.

In the 189 lbs. weight class, Chris Hapak easily scored a unanimous decision. Here's the write- up from the Notre Dame Observer:

Chris Hapak def. Thomas Smith
Hapak dominated Smith and beat the freshman by unanimous decision. Hapak was relentless, beating up on Smith from the moment the bell sounded. The freshman was unable to defend himself as he faced a barrage of jabs and swings. Smith improved as the fight went on but just couldn't stand up to the law student's onslaught.

In a closer match, my roommate, Chris "Don't call me Chris Meehan" Sheehan defeated his freshman opponent in a split decision in the 157 lbs. division. Sheehan impressed the crowd, and showed why the ladies love him so.

Next up for the bloggers is the second round on Thursday night.

Immigration: A Notre Dame Forum

On Monday October 8th 2007, Notre Dame will again host a policy forum addressing one of the most important issues for the future of our country. Immigration has received a lot of attention as a complex issue to which there are many perspectives. I invite all the bloggers and readers to check out forum.nd.edu, the forum's website as it has a host of resources such as academic articles, faith based dialogue, and short online courses for all your immigration questions.

There has been some disucssion of immigration on this blog in the last few weeks and my hope is that this forum might invite some of you to consider the issues and engage the issue of immigration in a way you may not have before.

The forum will have some of the most prominent voices in this debate including Cardinal Michael Mahony, Archibishop of Los Angeles, Louis J. Barletta, Mayor of Hazleton Pennsylvania (to address the issue brought up in this blog last week about migrants' impact on small towns), Mel Martinez, R-Senator of Florida, and Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona.
I invite all of you who are interested in the immigration issue to go through the website this weekend and if you find it interesting join us on Monday Oct. 8 at 3pm est as the entire forum including all the speakers will webcast via the website. I appreciate SAM MAG allowing me to let you all know about the forum and look forward to hopefully sparking an inquisitive and lively deabte.