Mike Conklin

As a feature writer and columnist for the Chicago Tribune 30-plus years, I had access to many high profile people (Michael Jordan, Hillary Clinton, Willie Mays, Mickey Rooney, Wilt Chamberlain, James Lovell, Bob Hope) and events (Olympics, national political conventions, inaugurations, college football bowls, NBA playoffs, White House correspondent dinners). I never was big on collectibles, letters or autographs, and mostly have only my clips in the Tribune archives and a few press passes to show for my newspaper career.

One exception: In cleaning out my drawers when I left the Tribune, I kept a memo written on my behalf by the Notre Dame athletic department. Its purpose was to allow me to sleep overnight in the football stadium to gather material for a story. The Fighting Irish were playing one of their “Games of the Century” the next day, and I wanted to see if the atmosphere was cataclysmic enough on its eve to wake up the echoes. This “Game of the Century” was in 1993 between Notre Dame and Florida State, Nos. 1&2 in the polls.

Would there be the ghosts of Rockne, Leahy and The Gipper prowling the stadium the night before this monumental occasion? No, but the howls of a canine patrol assigned to prowl the premises kept me up much of the night. Oh, and the Fighting Irish won 31-24.