[FarmDad.01]

When I grew up in metro NY in the 1950s, there was very little televised football, either college or pro. Yet U. South Bend's games were often carried (probably because of the city's famed "Subway Alumni" who, after powerhouse Fordham dropped the sport, transferred allegiance to another Catholic college). How obnoxious was the hype in the media capital? Paul Hornung won the '56 High-Step Stiff-Arm. Great player, yes -- but that year his team went 2-8. By that token, Ernie Banks should've been NL MVP most years he played. I went to UMich and did not find it difficult to loathe the Lucky Charms. Finally, re: parity in academic excellence: My Stanford kid is a graduate of NY's Stuyvesant High. If any of her classmates applied to U. South Bend as anything other than a safety school, they kept it to themselves.  

[FarmDad.01]

When I grew up in metro NY in the 1950s, there was very little televised football, either college or pro. Yet U. South Bend's games were often carried (probably because of the city's famed "Subway Alumni" who, after powerhouse Fordham dropped the sport, transferred allegiance to another Catholic college). How obnoxious was the hype in the media capital? Paul Hornung won the '56 High-Step Stiff-Arm. Great player, yes -- but that year his team went 2-8. By that token, Ernie Banks should've been NL MVP most years he played. I went to UMich and did not find it difficult to loathe the Lucky Charms. Finally, re: parity in academic excellence: My Stanford kid is a graduate of NY's Stuyvesant High. If any of her classmates applied to U. South Bend as anything other than a safety school, they kept it to themselves.