What might have been for the Irish

Until Notre Dame‘s football team, which appeared to be headed toward its best season in years, got slugged by Miami 41-8 Saturday, I had forgotten about Wells Twombly’s book, “Shake Down the Thunder.”

Twombly, an extraordinary sports writer for the San Francisco Examiner, with Connecticut connections, died at the age of 41 in 1977.

The book is about another extraordinary individual, coach Frank Leahy, whose Notre Dame teams won four national championships. Leahy had died in the summer of 1973. It’s a wonderful book that tells a beautiful story, written as only Twombly could write it.

I got to know Twombly when, on various road trips for the Hartford Courant, I’d meet him along the way. He radiated good humor, always willing to stop and chat about things in his former home state and have a laugh or two.

“Shake Down the Thunder” was described as the official biography of Leahy and was published a year after the coach died, in 1974. One day, in Salisbury, N.C., when I happened to have a copy of the Leahy book with me, having just purchased it, I ran into Wells in a hotel lobby. “Let’s have a beer,” he said, and we did. Then I produced the book and asked him to sign it to my four sons. “Delighted.”

Here’s what he wrote: “To Kevin, Owen, Steve and Dan Canfield — whose father got the job I always wanted with the Hartford Courant. Best wishes for a happy life. — Wells Twombly.”

He was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., in 1935. He attended UConn and his first newspaper job was as sports editor of the Willimantic Chronicle. From there he moved swiftly from one major paper to another with stops in Houston and Detroit. Finally, he landed with the Examiner in San Fran. His career as a columnist took off like a rocket from there. Twombly was compared to national column-writing giants like Jim Murray, at the L.A. Times and Red

Smith at the New York Times.

For years, Twombly produced six high-quality columns per week.

Murray, of course, was a New Hartford native who attended Trinity.

I keep the Leahy book in a prominent place in my bookcase.

Notre Dame might be said to be the most rooted-for college football team ever. It’s natural for me to cheer them on because one of those sons that Wells mentioned in his kind book message, graduated from ND.

That son is now 56 years old and retains warm memories of his experiences there.

After a road trip with the Hartford Whalers in the early 1980s, I stopped at South Bend to see my son and cover a Saturday football game — the Fighting Irish vs Southern Cal. The coach was Gerry Faust, a thoroughly decent man who would have a fiveyear run, 1981 to ’85, before being succeeded by Lou Holtz.

The Trojans and the Irish are at or near the very top in college football rivalries and this game reflected that. The Trojans won 14-7, but I took home a terrific football experience which included a memorable midweek interview with Faust.

If I was disappointed when Miami slugged the Irish last Saturday, and I was, you can see why. Going into Miami, it was pretty much agreed all around that, with only one loss, the Irish would have a good chance at BCS glory.

But with two losses? No way. It’s the Hurricanes, 9-0, who are writing the Cinderella story and if any team is going to overcome Alabama, it now appears Miami has the best chance.

It’s still a nice season for the Irish, but “Domers’’ and their great throngs of fans, can only try to enjoy what’s left and wonder what might have been.