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Tomorrow's Notre Dame v Boston College game, has echoes of 1993, when ND knocked off No. 1 Florida State, ascended to No. 1, and then lost to a BC team that it had beaten, 54-0, the previous year. That game changed my life. Here's how: 1/
I was working for Newsday at the time. Sunday morning after the ND-FSU game, I went to Lou Holtz's presser for follow story. My plan was to attend Miami-West Virginia the next weekend. That was where the national CFB writer circus was headed. Morgantown. 2/
After the presser, I asked @malcolm_moran if he was heading to Morgantown, assuming he was. He said no. I said ``Where?'' He pointed at Notre Dame Stadium. His rationale: Stay with No. 1. You never know. I thought: Hmmmm. 3/
Just in case, I went upstairs to @HeislerUCF 's office and got a credential for ND-BC from the late, great Susan McGonigal, who gave me good parking. Malcom had gotten into my head. Maybe I should come back to South Bend. Just in case. 4/
But there was a problem. I had already booked the Morgantown trip. I would have to cancel all that and book a return trip to South Bend. Budgets were tight. I called my editor and he said absolutely not. Damn. Now I wanted to come back to ND. 5/
I dug into the travel. Found a round-trip on Kiwi Airlines from Newark to Chicago for $99. Found a Marriott near Midway Airport for $69. Budget Car Rental for $29/day. Editor said OK fine, keep those numbers down. 6/
Flew to Midway, drove into South Bend on Sat a.m. Game unfolds. What a game. BC takes big lead, ND roars back to take the lead. David Gordon kicks a knuckleball through the uprights into the night. 41-39 BC. Wow. Glenn Foley. Pete Mitchell. Tom Coughlin. 7/
So I write the story. Take a big swing, but it was 700 words, fast. Get back in the car, drive back to Chicago on the Tollway, sleep and fly home Sunday morning. (After eating a Cinnabon at Midway). 8/
Two months later, I get a call from an editor at Sports Illustrated, asking me to come in for an interview. I get hired and work there for 25+ years. Life-changing career move. Opportunities, experiences, friendships. Here's the kicker: 9/
After I got hired, an editor at SI told me that on the morning after the BC-ND game, one of the top people at SI had read my BC-ND game story on his Metro North commute into Manhattan and liked my story. Started the process of hiring me that day. 10/
So: Thanks to Malcolm, thanks to Kiwi Airlines, thanks to Newsday, thanks to Coughlin and Foley and Mitchell and David Gordon, thanks to Metro North, I got the job I had dreamed of since I first typed a byline at the Schenectady Gazette 16 years earlier. 11/
Career paths are always weird. Mine no different. I took three lessons from this: 1) What I always tell students: ``Never mail it in. You don't know who might read what you write and judge you.'' 2) Luck happens. It just does. 3) Follow No. 1 12/
So yeah. BC-Notre Dame. Fin/
Here's the lede I wrote from South Bend.
