[Mick]

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.  

Interesting take.  I attended SCU (sort of the West Coast Fordham) in the dying days of its football program, but I had attended Stanford football games since 1969, and continued to do so in college.  Who wouldn't want to watch Plunkett and Elway play?

Both my sons attended a Jesuit high school.  They applied to Georgetown (I think their school's President and senior Jesuit had more to do with that than any other factor), but I don't think Noter Dame entered their minds at all.  If they didn't go to Princeton, they would have ended up at UCLA.  They both toured Cal, but essentially said it was their last choice -- not because they disliked the school, but both wanted to get away from Northern California.  I couldn't get either to complete their Stanford applications, since they were accepted early and Stanford's supplemental application was quite extensive.

Neither of my sons considered USC.  My oldest son told me he'd rather go to a JC than USC.  My younger son had toured the USC campus for less than ten minutes when he turned around and started walking back to the car.  I said, "Wait, why don't you look at their Public Policy building (his interest at the time), it's right here."  Without breaking stride, he calls over his shoulder "Feel free to look, but I'm not going here."

[Mick]

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.  

Interesting take.  I attended SCU (sort of the West Coast Fordham) in the dying days of its football program, but I had attended Stanford football games since 1969, and continued to do so in college.  Who wouldn't want to watch Plunkett and Elway play?

Both my sons attended a Jesuit high school.  They applied to Georgetown (I think their school's President and senior Jesuit had more to do with that than any other factor), but I don't think Noter Dame entered their minds at all.  If they didn't go to Princeton, they would have ended up at UCLA.  They both toured Cal, but essentially said it was their last choice -- not because they disliked the school, but both wanted to get away from Northern California.  I couldn't get either to complete their Stanford applications, since they were accepted early and Stanford's supplemental application was quite extensive.

Neither of my sons considered USC.  My oldest son told me he'd rather go to a JC than USC.  My younger son had toured the USC campus for less than ten minutes when he turned around and started walking back to the car.  I said, "Wait, why don't you look at their Public Policy building (his interest at the time), it's right here."  Without breaking stride, he calls over his shoulder "Feel free to look, but I'm not going here."