Another Cluster of Events!

You're going to be quite sore at me for this, but I am not 

going to be able to get together with you this week or next. 

Among the things claiming space on my schedule are

some friends and one family member, all from Ireland,

coming in and of course we're going to get together. 

We see each other every one or two years, which is 

come to town on tour to play; they are the High Kings 

and we're closely knit, having known each other 

for years.  

I'm also attending a memorial service for a friend 

who was a well-known member of our Greater Celtic

Community, being a musician in a local band that plays

Irish and other Celtic world music, and another friend

who was a fellow parishioner at my church who was

fatally injured in a car accident. I also have some 

medical appointments which will make sure that I

will not yet have my memorial service! No, I kid 

about that last bit, I have the medical appointments

but of late my doctors have given me some good 

reports on the state of my physical health. Now if I 

could just lose some weight ... but I'm grateful for the 

news that I shall be around for quite some time to come.

Furthermore, I shall be celebrating Saint Patrick's Day

at my favorite Irish pub, O'Donoghue's, in nearby Elm Grove

with more friends, including the proprietor Jamie O'Donoghue

who with his family runs the pub. Also, I'll be attending 

a meeting of the debate club I belong to, the Anti-Echo Chamber.

I will, of course, be busy preparing my argument regarding a

political topic. I never hurry with them; I always take my time

so as to craft my argument thoroughly and carefully, adding 

pertinent points and presenting them in a clear, sharp, and 

forceful manner. I'm having a ball with my fellow debaters,

and I only wish I could have gotten into debating sooner 

in life, but I don't mind being a 68-year-old rookie debater

and am enjoying every minute of it.

Tax time is here too, and The Peasant shall get together with 

my tax preparer and accountant, a good friend and fellow 

parishioner at my church.

Finally, I want to grab some time before it escapes me so I can 

write some letters to some family members and friends which I

have put off for far too long. So I have a full plate, as you all 

can see. But fear not, as your faithful Peasant shall be with you

again by around the end of this month of March. Thank you all 

for your patience, your understanding, and your kind indulgence.

I'll make it worth your while!

MEM

Lou Holtz, R.I.P.

The Peasant didn't play football in college, as I concentrated

on other activities and of course my studies. But if I wanted

to play football at that level I would have wanted Lou Holtz

for my coach.

Coach Lou Holtz had a wonderful way of developing players

and making them confident in their abilities and their game

without constantly being on their backs, berating and bellowing

all the while, as some coaches are wont to do. Holtz rarely got

angry at a player, only when the player did something 

monumentally stupid. Coach Holtz, a native of West Virginia,

had a homespun sense of humor and of viewing life which he 

passed along to his players, his coaching staffs, and to his

audiences he spoke to when he was on the lecture circuit.

Holtz kept football fun, and made it more so for not only his 

teams, but for the fans.

After some years as an assistant coach for the renown Ohio State

coach Woody Hayes, Coach Holtz was a head coach for six 

college teams and one NFL team, the New York Jets. While not

so successful at New York (the Jets won all of three games in his 

only season) he compiled a record of 249-132-7 in the college

ranks with his greatest success in reinvigorating Notre Dame's

program resulting in 100 wins and a national title in 1988,

going undefeated that season. It was the Fighting Irish's last

time they went undefeated as well as having won the NCAA-I

football crown. He left his position as the head coach there,

stating that he accomplished all that he wanted to and didn't want

to "maintain the program anymore", rather than growing it.

Seeing no room for that growth, he left and became the head coach

at South Carolina, taking a weak team with a weak program and 

getting it into bowl games which they won.

After retiring, Coach Holtz had more time for public speaking 

and was highly regarded as a motivational speaker, addressing 

business folk, athletes, athletic coaches and educators among

other audiences. One of his most famous sayings was what he

told many an audience: "You're never as good as everyone tells 

you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when 

you lose." He used this gem of wisdom to keep his players'

spirits up and their egos in check.

The coach was a devout Catholic, and therefore was a good fit

for Notre Dame, both the football team and the university.

Coach Holtz entered a hospice a few weeks earlier, and passed 

away there yesterday at 89. Lou Holtz left a legacy of success

tempered by humility, gratitude, enthusiasm, positivity, and 

love for the game, his teams, his family, and his friends, of 

which he had many. He was also very patriotic, and was a 

staunch conservative who was once seriously considered for

public office by the Republican Party. He was a supporter of

President Donald J. Trump, and had a warm friendship with

him. Godspeed Coach! Now you are coaching the saints (and I

don't mean New Orleans!) to gridiron success. 

Requiescat in pace. 

MEM