Rockne's Roundtable

I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season with your friends and families. It's the time of year where we are all hustling and bustling trying to get that perfect present for the wife and kids. I just want to take a moment away from the choas to really reflect on my thoughts and the year that has passed as well as give thanks to the real reasons to celebrate this holiday week.

First, we all started the year with the class of 2012 signing. We all had big hopes for it. Some quality early enrollees. Definitely starter potential. Then on NSD Deontay Greenberry decommits and signs with Houston (still, what?).. Tee Shepard leaves school before spring practice. We all start with the WTF questions and start to ponder what the 2012 season will hold for our Irish.

Come spring practice, the B&G game, and then fall practice, more of the same questions. Will Golson be any good as the starter at Notre Dame? Can be take care of the ball? Will he end up getting hurt? Who will be our receivers other than Eifert with Floyd going? Can our secondary cover anyone with Harrison, Blanton, and Gray all gone? What-Lo Wood tore his what? We are starting a freshman running back? At cornerback? This is going to be rough.

We go to Dublin, roll Navy, and think, "Okay, but it was Navy." Then we get into the Purdue game. Should be easy. It is not. Tommy Rees, the guy most of us were terrified to see play, comes in and saves the day. Notre Dame is 2-0. This becomes a theme for the Irish. Golsons starts. His play is up and down. Tommy comes in and closes it out like the most clutch of MLB closers. We win some games and then comes the game against Stanford. Hard-nosed, physical team; a true test for the Irish. We stand up to them on the goalline solidfying our defense as one of the best in the nation, however there are still doubters. We go to Oklahoma and are underdogs. There is no way the Irish win, the experts say. We go there, Cierre Wood busts a big run, and we dominate. The Irish are for real. The whole country says, "Maybe they are the real deal." Then the Pitt game. We are down 20-6 going into the fourth quarter. All of Irish nation is nervous that the dream season may be over. However, the Irish football team does not quit. Everett Golson becomes what we all hoped he would. They push hard and tie it up. After 3 OT periods that essential stop the beat of the Irish nation heart including a fumble at the goalline and a missed field goal, we finally punch the ball in for the W! The Irish are 9-0. We go to BC and win. We have a very emotional senior day vs. Wake Forest and win with a fantastic shutout. What a great way to sent out the seniors. With some help from our friends in Manhattan, KS, and Eugene, OR, the Irish are #1. Then the showdown with USC at the Coliseum. Again, even at 11-0 the Irish are doubted. Despite this, the Irish have another signature goalline stand and leave the Coliseum victorious and perfect.

So here we are. Georgia loses a game they should have won versus Alabama and we are set for the national championship. Manti Te'o finishes second in the Heisman and wins essentially every other award under the sun. Everett Golson grew up before our eyes. Our defense led by Te'o, Tuitt, Nix, and a surprisingly solid secondary led by former question mark Zeke Motta are the best in the nation. Former offensive recruits Bennett Jackson and KeiVarae Russell look like big-time NFL prospects at CB. Coach Kelly is one win from joining the immortals at Notre Dame and we have a top-five recruiting class going that looks to keep Notre Dame among the elite in college football. It's a great time to be Irish.

Through all of this, I have been happy, I have been nervous, but I have been it with my Irish brothers. I come to B&G more often than I should I'm sure, but it feels like home. There is a group of guys that all bring their own element to the table. We have trolls, the wisemen, the cake eaters, the recruiting experts, the casual posters, the old(er), the young, the married, the single, all together talking about the one thing we all know we share in our love for Notre Dame and Irish football. I know that through the good and the bad in my personal life I can always count on y'all to be there if I need a prayer or support. I am so thankful that I have this outlet and brothers who can give me my ND fix.

I hope and pray you all have a Merry Christmas and safe travels if you should be out and about. May you receive everything you want and may the Lord bless you and yours with health and happiness.

I want to thank you all for a great 2012 and look forward to an even better 2013 that will (hopefully) start with a Notre Dame championship.

God Bless and Go Irish!