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2001-04-02 - 1:10 a.m.

A great day for Dan

April 1, 2001: A great day in the history of Dan. Why? Well ...

The Lakewood BlueClaws arrived at the Jersey Shore. The first professional baseball team to permanently call Ocean County home arrived and saw the brand-new, nearly complete, $22-million GPU Energy Park.

Twenty five guys in age from 19 to 23, from Long Island to California, the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, tried on uniform jerseys and pants, fitted caps and jackets. They sought out lockers and dove into the 10 pizzas ordered by the front office staff. They complained about the cold New Jersey weather after a month in the Florida sun, but spoke eagerly of Thursday's season opener in North Carolina.

� � �

I didn't have to work in the office tonight.

I spent a couple of hours at the ballpark, then stopped into the newsroom to write the story for tomorrow, but that was it � I was out of there. I haven't had a day off since I was in Florida, and technically all six days down there were work � if you can call driving to the ballpark every day and enduring the hot sun work.

I spent more than half the month of March working � today we inserted an 80-page BlueClaws preview into our Sunday paper, and not only did I write about half the stories, but I helped with editing and pagination, putting more effort into the section than the advertising department responsible for the section being 80 pages long. OK, maybe they did a little more.

But a day off is worth noting.

� � �

Opening Day.

Well, sort of. Two teams, in Puerto Rico, the Rangers and Blue Jays. I barely watched, but it's nice to know that baseball began again today, that it begins nearly in full tomorrow, and is in full swing Tuesday, when the Mets open in Atlanta and begin the steps that will, by October, result in the dismantling of the Braves' dynasty, an end to a decade of first-place finishes for that lousy team.

And it was a great baseball day � Starz aired "Field of Dreams," which I watched with Dave and smiled again and again, as I always do, at that movie.

And there was something else. There was one more thing that made this a great day for Dan ...

� � �

Notre Dame.

68-66.

National champions, women's basketball.

After writing my BlueClaws story, I headed over to the team photographer's house (that would be the other Dave, the one I hung out with in Fla.), where we watched Purdue take a 16-5 lead, then flipped back and forth between "The Sopranos" and the game, watching ND creep back into it, but never quite taking command, as halftime came and went.

By 10 p.m., when "The Sopranos" ended, there were 16 minutes left to play in the game, and the score was still in the 30s or 40s. The Irish were sluggish offensively, but obviously still holding their own on defense. But the nation's best 3-point shooting club had not yet hit one from behind the arc.

And when Alicia Ratay finally connected, it tied the game and sent Notre Dame on its way over the final six minutes to a tie score when Purdue put up a shot with 32 seconds to go.

It missed. Rebound Notre Dame.

The Irish called time out, then inbounded the ball and ran the clock down inside 10 seconds. Niele Ivey, the fifth-year senior who recovered from two torn ACLs in her career (hence the five years), playing in the Final Four in her hometown of St. Louis, sent the ball into Ruth Riley, the 6-5 All-American senior, the national player of the year, who turned to the basket and drew the foul with 5.8 seconds left.

5.8 seconds, tie game, national championship, two Indiana schools in the biggest game of the year. National television.

And she hit them both. 68-66.

Without a timeout left, Purdue sent the ball in, passed it across midcourt to a player who took three steps backward (yes, she traveled; no, it was not called) to the 3-point line, passed to senior Katie Douglas, who put up a shot from the free-throw line that hit the front rim, bounced up off the backboard, and down onto the court as time expired.

And Irish eyes were crying, happy tears of course.

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