Lou Holtz was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.  God knows he deserves it after raising at least four college programs from the deadpile or at least lethargy.  The latter group would include Notre Dame which was in a lethargic state before he came and has been close to it since.

But on Saturday July 25th Lou Holtz outdid himself.   What you say? You thought he was retired taking his wit and wisdom to ESPN.  But once a coach, always a coach and Lou coached one (possibly) last game in of all places, Tokyo.   Its true, its true because I was there.

So here is the deal.  Lou was asked to coach a group of former Notre Dame players, some of them really FORMER against the Japan National team.  Yes, they play American college football in Japan.  In fact this year is the 75th anniversary of the introduction of American football in the land of the rising sun.  It came shortly after baseball was introducted by a travelling team led by Babe Ruth.  While baseball has taken a stronger hold in Japan, at least six colleges play the sport.  When those players are done there is no profesional league to join so Japan takes the best of them and forms a national team.

When I was asked by the American organizers to join them for a week I thought they were crazy.  Why, I asked, would you spend all that money to take a public address announcer all the way to Tokyo, put him up in a five star hotel, and pay all of his expenses  just to do the English version over the loud speakers?  I was told some of the players wanted it to feel like a home game and one way to do that was to make it sound like a home game.  Well I am no fool and no one likes a free trip more than me, so I said yes, take me to Tokyo and treat me like a king.

As it turned out we were all treated like kings and queens.  Many in the travelling party took their wives or girlfriends.  In fact I would have to say that of all my Notre Dame experiences over 45 years only my son’s graduation and my induction into the Monogram Club rank with this adventure in Japan.  The former Notre Dame players were awesome to be around.  It was the first time I have actually mingled with the athletes and coaches.  They were incredible ambassadors for the University and the football program.

Still the point was to play and win the football game which was a tall order.  Some of our players have been out of school for two decades or more.   One of the trainers told me between practice sessions in South Bend and Tokyo he ran out of bandages to wrap hamstring pulls.

But leave it to Lou Holtz.  He did not travel to the other side of the world to lose.   So his game plan was simple.  First, do not pass the ball because we had not passing quarterbacks and second, put the best athletes you have on the field regardless of position.  Notre Dame had one big thing going for them, they were big compared to the Japanese National team.

So Lou puts a former cornerback at Quarterback (Ambrose Wooden) and a former linebacker at fullback (Brandon Hoyte).  The most valuable player in the game turned out to be a true running back by the name of Jay Vickers.  Vickers I think played in less than a dozen games while at Notre Dame.  But he was tall and fast and ended up running for well over one hundred yards in the Japan Bowl.  But the highlight of the game for me was a player by the name of Melvin Dansby.  Mel has been out of school for a dozen years and he was hurting so bad while we were in Tokyo (those old football injuries come back to haunt) that it was difficult for him to walk more than a few blocks.  I saw him come into the game on defense and assumed Coach Holtz was just being nice to him.  The ball is snapped, Dansby cuts between the tackle and the guard and in one swift move sacked the quarterback.  My voice broke over the loudspeakers when I called his name.

That is the kind of week it was and it was capped after the game when the Japanese players joined the Notre Dame party for a lovely reception.  They were taking pictures of us and we were taking pictures of them.  In one too short of a week my faith in good sportsmanship was finally renewed. Thanks guys, thanks Lou.