Good morning!

W.C. Fields would rather have been in Philadelphia, and Notre Dame fan Jamin Hemenway would rather be anyplace but Atlanta. 

“Mercedes-Benz Stadium is an antiseptic, domed monstrosity like virtually all NFL stadiums are now,” said Hemenway, who will be aboard Delta Flight 923 from Boston to Atlanta to see the CFP final. “It’s antithetical to the college game day experience.”

In 2013, Hemenway flew to South Florida to see the BCS National Championship between Alabama and Notre Dame and watched the Tide roll over the Irish, 42-14. “The Orange Bowl is a concrete dump in the middle of nothing. I might’ve enjoyed it more if Notre Dame had won. The best venue is the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.”

Alas, the Rose Bowl is now a staging area for firefighters. 

Hemenway’s no stranger to the Peach Tree State. In October he saw Kennesaw State upset undefeated Liberty, then toured the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield where Joe Johnston’s troops slowed Sherman’s march to Atlanta.

Ohio State has won six straight games against Notre Dame by an average score of 32-19, enough to cover Monday’s 8 1/2-point spread.

But Notre Dame has what horseplayers call back class, with 13 national championships from 1919 under coach Knute Rockne to 1988 when coach Lou Holtz beat West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.

Four coaches have subsequently failed to snap what’s become a 36-year title drought. Bob Davie wasn’t up to the task, nor was Tyrone Willingham, Charlie Weis or Brian Kelly despite his 133 wins. Now it’s Marcus Freeman’s turn, and fans hope that quarterback Riley Leonard can riddle the Buckeyes like LSU’s Joe Burrow did seven years ago.

“This for me is bigger than just seeing Notre Dame win the title,” said Hemenway, a Deerfield native who has an MBA from Notre Dame. “It’s the last hurrah of the way college football was before the transfer portal and NIL.

“Notre Dame has been a bulwark against that trend. It graduates its players, teaches them, gives them meaningful degrees and prepares them for life beyond football.”

It’s good versus evil, David vs. Goliath, Paul Bunyan versus the chainsaw. Tickets that ranged between $1,500 and $3,000 on the secondary market might drop by game time considering the temperature is forecast to be in the low 20s, but damn that dome.

Hemenway hopes to catch a few winks in the airport and be back in Londonderry, N.H., early on Tuesday to see his infant twins Huxton and Hartley and partner Kristina.

“The weather looks dicey. If I get trapped in an ice storm I’ll introduce the southerners to ice fishing on the Chatahoochee.”

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It was good to see former UMass Minuteman Isaiah Rodgers returning kicks for the Eagles on Sunday.

Two years ago Rodgers was suspended for the 2023 season for betting NFL games online. "At the end of the day I knew the rules,” he told ESPN. “I wasn't supposed to do it and I got to take what comes with it.”

At UMass in 2019, Rodgers led the FBS in kick returns (53) and return yards (1,295). His collegiate career ended when he was injured returning a kick against BYU in the season finale at Mcguirk Alumni Stadium.

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Watching my grandson Carter play for the TFHS middle school at Frontier on Wednesday, I noticed Vi Goodnow’s portrait over the stands. Goodnow coached from 1958 to 2002, and her combined record coaching softball, basketball and field hockey was 1,224 - 215.

After each season, the Recorder received a thank you note from Goodnow’s team thanking the sports department for its coverage. Classy woman? You’d better believe it.

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The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Steve Cohen’s Point72 hedge fund turned a 19 percent profit in 2024. No wonder Cohen could afford to pay Juan Soto $765 million and give him his own hotel suite on the road, a luxury suite and four seats behind home plate at home, and bodyguards in spring training. The team also provided Soto with a huge warehouse for his ego.

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The Globe’s Bob Hohler has done another of his patented social justice hit pieces, this time on former URI softball coach Whitney Goldstein and URI athletic director Thorr Bjorn, accusing them of “traumatizing” the players.

Both have ties to UMass. Goldstein — Don Zimmer’s granddaughter — was an All American softball player under coach Elaine Sortino, and Bjorn was an assistant AD.

When you read the article be sure to keep a hanky nearby.

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SQUIBBERS:  Tickets cost $85 for adults and $35 for kids 14-and-under to attend Winter Weekend at Fenway, where Raphael Devers, Walker Buehler, Kutter Krawford and Justin Slaten all were last-minute no shows. … After BC beat Harvard, 2-1, at Conte Forum on Tuesday, a scroll at the bottom of the TV informed viewers: First home win against Harvard since 2008. Impressive, right? Wrong. It was only the fourth time they’d played and one of the games was a tie. … Mike Renner of CBS Sports predicts the Patriots will use their fourth overall pick to take 6-foot-6, 323-pound left tackle Will Campbell from LSU. … UMass basketball coach Frank Martin makes $1 million more than the chancellor. … Martin was recently criticized for his “outdated, inappropriate” behavior by a letter writer to the Hampshire Gazette. “He has to stop or he has to go.” Fat chance that’ll happen. … Max Hartshorne sent along a YouTube clip of an eight-year-old at Monday’s Raptors game who was forced to take off his Warriors hat and Steph Curry jersey before presenting the game ball. Better save it for the Chase Center, little fella. … Former Patriot slotback Wes Welker was fired as the Dolphins’ wide receiver coach last week. … Those two goons who tried to rip the baseball out of Mookie Betts’ glove at Yankee Stadium in the World Series have been banned from every MLB park in the country until further notice. …  Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels would be to the Patriots what Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle were to the American Songbook. … The SportsHub’s Jim Murray says Vrabel has a Bill Belichick trait: “He is an elite ball buster.” … Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer— No. 33 in your program— isn’t entering the NFL draft until the Buckeyes beat Michigan. “I love this state, I love Columbus. I would go to war for this team over and over and over again.” … Sports Business Journal reports the NFL saw a late season two percent drop in viewership, probably because the 17th game was more like an exhibition game.  … RIP Bob Veale, Pittsburgh strikeout artist who died Jan. 3 at age 89. His obit in the New York Times quoted Pirate announcer Hal Prince saying Veale had a “radio ball — heard not seen.” … UMass guard Rahsool Diggins vomited on the court during Wednesday’s win at Fordham. “Definite shout-out to the floor crew,” said Fordham TV analyst Jason Crafton.