…Catholic school remaining in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. I’m OK with it being the University of Dayton. Of the eight Catholic schools that started the tournament, it is one of the two teams for which I have a shirt, and the only school in which I have “invested,” i.e., paid tuition for one of my children. Go Flyers!
Sports as religion: No one has mentioned this name in the litany of potential candidates to coach at Marquette: Matt Doherty. A career 170-180 record is probably a reason he hasn’t coached since 2012, and why his name isn’t mentioned when there’s an opening for a head coach.
He also did not depart on good terms with the University of North Carolina, which was his “dream job” when he was hired in 2000, leaving his first “dream job,” Notre Dame, after one season.
Here’s my take: He’s Catholic and, the last I knew, a practicing one — a good quality for someone in a high profile position at a Catholic university. (Good for someone in a low profile position, too, but that’s another blog entry.)
At 52, Doherty should be more mature than he was at ND and UNC. Given his won-loss record, he might be more humble, too.
If he’s showing any interest in the MU job, interview him.
Favorites at home, abroad: It’s evident that Cardinal Timothy Dolan is a favorite of the TV news people in New York, and he should be. As the head of the second largest archdiocese in the United States who comes across well on TV, well, the church needs that. Always great to see and hear him interviewed. It is no wonder some in the media have dubbed him “the American pope.”
But does the Vatican consider someone else the “go to” guy for the church in the U.S.? Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston was already on Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, which is responsible for reforming the way the church is governed, when, on March 22, the pope named him to the newly established Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Update: You may recall the name of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, Germany. “Allegations of overspending and leading a lavish lifestyle,” according to Catholic News Service, moved Pope Francis to authorize a leave of absence for the bishop last October. Today, the Holy See accepted the resignation of the man whom the German media referred to as “Bishop Bling.”
Just so you’re prepared: Thursday, March 27, is Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day.
