I had my Irish shirt on the Sunday following ND's victory over Virginia Tech. He was not able to watch the game as he was taken to the hospital during the day of the game. I could barely hear him as he was severely weakened by years of battling Parkinson's. Through his oxygen mask, he mumbled to me and I noticed him glancing at my shirt. On his third try as I moved closer each time thinking; he certainly cannot be asking me about the game at a time like this, the words and question were clear. "Notre Dame, undefeated?" I went into my typical enthusiastic description of any ND victory.
He smiled when I told him "this could be the year!" He passed away the day after the Pitt game. His final week, he did not say a word, eat, and barely moved. They said he could hear, so we had the Pitt game on for him. My brother in laws and I later joked that the game may have sped up his passing. He was a life long Irish fan, but nobody really knew this until our daughter, his first grand child, went to ND. From that point, everyone knew the Irish were his team.
He was a very successful high school football coach, winning a CIF title and breaking 2 of the longest winning streaks in high school football history, twice! He was even a better man. I hope and pray for him, my dad (who was certainly the first one to greet him in heaven to watch the rest of the ND games) and all the ND fans that this is the year. GO IRISH!