Irish tradition special to fans of any age
By Randy Malat
Of tlw Emaratd
"Rockne was a master," says
John Kilkenny, Notre Dame
class of '25. "He had a way of
taking the eagle out of the stars
that was unbelievable, and a
way of putting confidence in
people that didn't think they
were able to do what he wanted
from them He took each of the
Four Horsemen apart at least
once a week There were no
favorites on Rock's teams.”
Kilkenny arrived in South
Bend, Indiana in 1920, the last
year George Gipp coached the
football team He "sat on the
bench a lot and never made a
letter” under Knute Rockne
Today, in his 81st year, he sits
on the bench of the U S Court
of Appeals in Portland
Judge Kilkenny says he
doesn't believe in the "mys
tique" of Notre Dame football,
but he is a kind of link with the
origins of a chapter of our na
tional mythology He says the
idea of a team called The Fight
ing Irish "drew from the public,
even those who didn't have a
drop of Irish blood, who could at
least cheer for someone who
usually wins ”
Only Crowley remains of the
backfield that Grantland Rice
called The Four Horseman of
Notre Dame in the fall of '24, but
the legend persists A friend of
Don Miller, Jim Crowley, Elmer
Layden and Harry Stuhldreher,
and often a dinner guest of the
Rockne's, Kilkenny is a model of
loyalty and something of a na
tive archetype: the football fan
“I drive my wife crazy," he
says. “I have two TV's and the
radio going all at the same time
Now since we have cable I
watch the replays of the Notre
Dame games I've watched the
Purdue game three times to pick
out their weaknesses " And a
week from Saturday, for only the
second time since he moved
back to Oregon after his student
days, he'll get to demonstrate
that loyal spirit in person
Peter Murphy Jr., Notre Dame
class of '58, says that 12,000
Notre Dame fans are coming to
town Murphy, who had a hand
in planning this game back in
1967, heads a committee that is
planning the festivities for the
visitors He estimates that all but
2,000 of the faithful who arrive
will be from the Northwest or
California
Many of these fans are ‘‘sub
way alums" who, according to
Murphy, "have never attended a
class or been on campus but
know more about the football
team than some of us
graduates '" And atop the hier
archy of fanatics are over 100
people who never miss a Fight
ing Irish football game They'll
come to Eugene from New York,
New Jersey, Louisiana, Texas
and wherever else air transport
makes the gridiron just a flight
away
A friend of Judge Kilkenny, a
“frustrated athlete" and a
regular listener to Notre Dame
football via the Mutual radio
network, Murphy knows his
priorities “I believe in college
football,” he says He supports
both the Ducks and the Oregon
State Beavers
“When it comes to football
and my wife and sex, I'm
religious,” he says. With a son
at Notre Dame and two cousins
on the Duck squad (kicking
specialist Paul Schwabe and
freshman linebacker E.J Duffy)
he’s possessed of an admirable
magnanimity. "I hope it comes
down to the last play of the
game Nothing would please me
more. I'm just looking for a good
game "
Murphy is president of the
Murphy Co., a third-generation
forest products firm in Spring
field Beliefs in the value of
tradition and continuity, as well
as sportsmanship, animate his
activities and his outlook
"Notre Dame is always very
loyal to their opponents except
for the three hours on the
gridiron," he says
Bracketing the game will be
pep rallies, tailgate parties and
other festivities Jim Hoffman, a
Eugene lawyer, Notre Dame
class of '68. will join the party
"I used to watch Notre Dame
on TV as a kid,” he says "I’m a
real rah rah guy I love pep ral
lies and marching bands and all
that sort of thing I was probably
born 20 or 30 years too late."
Don’t be silly, Jim When it
comes to football, we re all the
same age Ask Judge Kilkenny
Notre Dame football is Oregon’s financial savior
By Randy Malat
Of the Emerald
For many fans, Notre Dame
football is like an object of faith,
suffused with magic and sur
rounded by a holy aura It is a
dispenser of spiritual health
But for others associated with
the spectacle, like the Oregon
athletic department this season,
Notre Dame football is a finan
cial angel that provides material
well-being
"The uniqueness of iMotre
Dame,” says Mike Easterly, ath
letic department business man
ager, “is that they’re making this
season financially viable If we
didn't have this game, the
Oregon athletic department
would be in very difficult
financial straits ”
Athletic director Rick Bay
says the game, sold out except
for students seats, will generate
"the biggest gate in Oregon
football history "
Individual seats for the gen
eral public went for $15 50, an
unprecedented sum in this
region for big-time college foot
ball
Easterly has budgeted ap
proximately $350,000 from pub
lic and student ticket sales He
estimates an additional $10,000
from Autzen stadium parking
proceeds The average game
brings in about $130,000 The
Duck football ticket sales ac
count for about 75 percent of
the athletic department's yearly
budget
Football powers from outside
the Pac-10 rarely venture into
the Northwest Notre Dame has
done so only once in this cen
tury, to face Washington in
1949 "We re at a disadvan
tage because we re in a part of
the country that's hard to get
to,” Bay says "The expenses
are big and the payoff is not It's
tough to get football powers
here because they usually have
bigger stadiums than we have at
Autzen We haven't been get
ting crowds large enough to
entice major teams to come
here.”
The Ducks drew an average
of 33,000 fans a game in 1980,
and 28,000 in 1981. Crowds for
this year’s three games have
averaged about 20,000 Bay
says he expects in excess of the
42,000 Autzen stadium capacity
for the contest with ttie Fighting
Irish, depending on how many
standing room tickets the fire
marshall allows to be sold.
So the game will be lucrative
at least in the short-run — a
much-needed profitable occa
sion But when the Irish leave,
and the athletic department
looks again to the future, will
this unique weekend be just a
pleasant memory?
"The main benefit in the long
run would be to win the game,''
Bay says "A victory over Notre
Dame would be a real plum
When you're undefeated, you’re
fighting for a championship
When you haven't won a game,
you’re fighting for respectabili
ty "
The Ducks have won only
twice in 16 games since the
beginning of last season
' We've been saying all along
that, despite our record, we re
not a bad football team," Bay
says "There’s a foundation
there for a pretty good football
program. The game is mostly
important to us because, if we
can win it, it’ll give us a kind of
instant credibility nationwide
That would provide our program
with a sense of existence that
we don’t realty have That does
a great deal in terms of recruit
ing."
A local Company, Oh Shirt, Is
marketing a T-shirt that ex
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presses the hopes of all Duck
supporters: it says 'Ducks eat
Irish stew."
Eugene's business communi
ty also has reason to bless the
coming of the Irish, considering
the shower of money the wee
kend will mean for the parched
local economy Most of the
hotels in the area are booked
Restaurant owners, merchants
and other entrepreneurs expect
the convention of revellers to
throw plenty of bucks around
Notre Dame's fall break oc
curs the last week in October, a
gift of scheduling that promises
to increase the voltage of post
game partying As many as
12,000 Notre Dame enthusiasts
are expected to emerge from
the woodwork.
Trish Kaminski, co-owner of
Oh Shirt, and a member of the
Eugene and Springfield
Continued on Page 7B
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