Here it comes...

So I have like 19 things to say, and luckily there are like 6 people out there who are interested. Lucky for them I'm not calling them right now, at 11 p.m. on a Friday when I've had several sweet tea vodka and lemonades. Which reminds me, friends. Go get yourself some sweet tea vodka. You will not regret it.

Now then:

First off, LaGarrette Blount (again, totally a real name, not a pseudonym) is suspended for the season. And as you can imagine, I have some thoughts on this. So Mr. Blount is suspended but remains on the team and maintains his scholarship, etc. To be fair, this is his last year of eligibility, so he's screwed either way, will likely not be drafted to the NFL (I'm sorry but he wouldn't have been drafted either way, as long as you're not talking to Duck fans). Here's my problem: I don't make much money. But much of the money I do make goes to taxes, and a small small percentage of that? Yeah, it goes to University of Oregon, because it's a public university. And while I'm pretty sure that Nike co-founder Phil Knight is probably paying the vast majority of sports scholarships at U of O, I do have a bit of a problem with the idea that a person who just threw several punches on national television continues to go to school for free. I mean, if I'd gotten the very prestigious right to attend college in Eugene, OR (I didn't apply, to be clear, but was accepted) I would have had to pay. And to be clear: I never once threw a punch at anyone during my college years, nor did I lose five yards in eight carries. So. Mr. Blount is getting a free education in spite of all this. And since I cover education in my real job, I see an awful lot of very smart, talented young people every day deciding to attend community college in lieu of attending a much more expensive state college. And I don't think that's fair.

Another thing. This evening I watched a 20/20 about Amish teenagers doing their creepy "wilding" thing, and first I have to tell you that this obviously means I have a hugely exciting social life here in Bend, OR. Secondly, these teens' troubled decisions about whether to go out into the world and buy cell phones and listen to rock music and use zippers or return home and rock the straw hat was an interesting experience for me because it sort of reminded me of what it was like to decide whether to root for Notre Dame.

That was the longest sentence I've ever published.

Now, I was raised to love Notre Dame, and I do. I love the school. I went to at least one game there each year starting in eighth grade. My first game was ND - USC, when ND beat USC by I believe a field goal. That was like 1993, and I am too hot on sweet tea vodka-lemonade to promise you that I'm correct in that statement. But still.

I also attended an ND-BC game my junior year of high school, before I discovered that Boston College is one of the coolest places on earth. And at that event, we watched several rowdy BC fans pass out drunk during the fourth quarter, and my mother was horrified. Little did she know.

Anyway, my point is this: like the Amish, all ND fans must eventually make a decision: does a person continue to root for the Irish after seeing what else is out there in the world? When they see that some schools don't play by the rules, don't stick by a coach that isn't winning because he embodies their ideals, but instead go for the win time after time and get it? Does a person continue to root for the Irish after years of indoctrination because they really really care about the school, or because they are just straight up too mangled from so many years of brainwashing that they don't know any better?

I feel I'm a great example. I rooted for the Irish from birth. Then I didn't get in. And frankly, in retrospect? Greatest thing that ever happened to me. I didn't have to live in South Bend, I got to go to BC and clearly that was epic. And now I've returned to the fold, like a little Amish teenager after a wilding of Bud Light and jail time for setting buggies on fire. I root for them for a couple reasons: they're in my soul, and they're my ideal. I dream of a day when BC can get that many people to show up to a road game. I long for the days of 1988, when I wore an awesome gold sweatsuit and pranced around through a national championship season, blithely unaware that this historic event would not again happen for at least 21 years, probably 40.

Anyway, a huge GO IRISH to ND tomorrow against Nevada. I don't think they'll need it, but they're definitely not going to cover the spread, particularly not with that clown Jimmy Clausen running the QB position. I call ND by 7, but way too close for comfort. As for VTech, I'm calling them over Alabama because I think Nick Saban is a stinker. And other than that, I have no idea. I mean, BC better beat Northeastern. But really? If we can't beat a I-AA team, we don't deserve to win. OK. I'm done.

A final thought, from a brilliant sports columnist: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2009/09/canzano_legarrette_blount_has.html