Donald Trump is...

...a bully, right? (I don't even think the Donald would disagree with that.)

So how do you deal with a bully? Or, should I ask, how do the other Republican candidates in tonight's debate deal with a bully?

Personally, I have no idea. (And I'm glad I'm not on that stage with him tonight.) But, really, Republicans need to be asking themselves that question. And I don't think the answer is a million dollars worth of advertising by the Club for Growth. (Or the Club for Greed, as Mike Huckabee calls it.)

From Bloomberg today:

Javier Palomarez, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said Republican voters “will come to their senses.”

And I agree. We all agree. But . . . how long will that take?

Joe McCarthy, another famous Republican bully, began his reign of terror in February, 1950, and didn't get taken down until almost four and a half years later, in June, 1954. Now in this day and age of the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle, it shouldn't take that long, should it?

The Iowa Caucuses are scheduled for Monday, February 1. That means the Republican Party establishment has less than five months to figure this problem out. Tonight will be their first chance. I'll be watching.

Looking for a Saturday game?

You could go out to Concordia University in River Forest and see Loyola (3-0) at Fenwick (1-2). (Yeah, you could do that.)

But after watching the Ramblers shut out Brother Rice last weekend, 28-0, and after the Friars fell to previously winless De La Salle, 27-20, I'm not so sure that'll be much of a contest. (Sorry Coach Nudo.)

There's also Benet (2-1) at St. Patrick (2-1), normally a good East Suburban Catholic matchup. But both squads are coming off losses, the Redwings to Notre Dame and the Shamrocks to Nazareth. (And I'm a momentum trader.)

How about Rich South (1-2) at Rich Central (2-1), in a battle of the Riches? Admittedly, I don't know much about either team except that they're both coming off losses, too. (Although I almost went to a similar game last year.)

So what's a high school football fanatic to do?

Well, you could go and see an up and coming team, like Guerin or Lindblom. Or both.

The Guerin Crusaders (2-1) host the Chargers of Aurora Central Catholic (1-2) out in River Grove at 1:00. It's a Metro Suburban crossover game pitting Guerin, in a three-way tie for the lead of the East division, against ACC, a West division team that made it to the 4A playoffs last year. 3A Guerin is currently ranked No. 352 in MaxPreps; ACC is No. 377.

If you're not satisfied after watching that contest (and it's a long wait until Week Five), you could always cruise on over to Hanson Stadium on the Northwest Side (which, despite its grim exterior, above, is actually a great place to watch a game) and see the Lindblom Eagles (2-1) take on the Douglass Tigers (2-1). Both Chicago Public League schools are on two-game winning streaks after dropping their openers. They're also part of a four-way tie for first place in the Great Lakes Conference with Agriculture Science and Longwood, who are also meeting this Saturday. (If nothing else, we should have a much clearer picture of the conference after this weekend.)

Lindblom, which is looking to make the 5A playoffs, is ranked No. 370 in MaxPreps while 1A Douglass comes in at No. 495.

I say both Guerin and Lindblom are headed for the postseason this year. If you want to fill out an intelligent bracket you really need to see these guys now.

If it doesn't rain, I'll be live-tweeting the contests @BoringOldWhtGuy. Get out and see a game this weekend!

Gary Richrath, lead guitarist...

...for REO Speedwagon, died at age 65.

Okay, Mike Helfgot, I'll...

...take your advice and go see Lake Forest (2-1) at Libertyville (3-0) this Friday.

Helfgot wrote after Libertyville's season opening win over Elk Grove, 55-28:

Must-see QB: Speaking of eye-opening performances by players we already knew were good, Riley Lees comes to mind.

The Libertyville quarterback, a Northwestern recruit as a receiver, ran for a 72-yard touchdown on the first play of the season and finished with 307 yards and 6 TDs on 19 carries. He also completed 10-of-18 passes for 147 and didn't throw a pick.

Whether or not you're a Wildcats fan — Northwestern or Libertyville — do yourself a favor and go see Rees play.

The Sept. 18 home game against Lake Forest, Sept. 25 at Stevenson or Oct. 2 against Lake Zurich in Libertyville would be good times.

To be fair, Beth Long of the Sun-Times also ranked Lees the best quarterback in the state. And all he's done so far this year is lead Libertyville's offense to a staggering 144 points in three outings. (That's an average of 48 per game!)

While I'm a little disappointed Lake Forest lost last week, 34-28, to Warren (1-2), the Scouts haven't bowed to the Wildcats since 2008 (when this year's seniors were in fifth grade). Last year was a relatively close one, though, as Lake Forest prevailed, 29-20. Will this be the year Libertyville breaks its losing streak?

The Scouts defeated Niles North in Week Two, 44-22. And the Vikings annihilated Niles West last week, 52-27. Libertyville is undefeated, of course, but has only beaten one winning team, Zion-Benton, 41-0, in Week Three.

Lake Forest, a perennial 6A playoff contender, is ranked No. 46 in MaxPreps; Libertyville is No. 4 in the Sun-Times, No. 10 in the Tribune and No. 29 in MaxPreps.

It's my Game of the Week.

Not sold? Okay; how about one of these?

Up north:

Cary-Grove (3-0) at Woodstock North (3-0)
The Thunder has outscored its opponents, 150-19, but Cary-Grove is Cary-Grove.

Down south:

St. Francis (3-0) at Brother Rice (2-1)
Can the Spartans play with the big boys in the Catholic League Blue?

And way out west:

Geneva (3-0) at St. Charles North (3-0)
Two undefeated Upstate Eight (River) teams go at it.

Minooka (3-0) at Oswego (2-1)
Two of the best quarterbacks in the state, Johnny Carnagio and Steven Frank, will face off against each other.

 Enjoy the games!

P. S. I'll be live-tweeting that Lake Forest - Libertyville contest @BoringOldWhtGuy.

I have to admit...

...it's kind of hard to dislike this guy after watching him in this bit with Jimmy Fallon. For someone who's famously thin-skinned, Trump is a pretty good sport here.

P. S. Don't worry, I'm still voting for Hillary.

The regular season is now...

...a third of the way over (tempus fugit!) and the only thing the three news services can agree on is that Homewood-Flossmoor is one of the two best teams in Illinois.

There was no change this week to Mike Helfgot's top ten, but Beth Long at the Sun-Times finally relented and dropped Simeon (1-2) while elevating Phillips and Loyola (above). In MaxPreps, Sacred Heart-Griffin vaulted eight spots to No. 4 and Cary-Grove twelve to No. 6. (The Trojans are only No. 18 in the Times and "on the verge" in the Tribune.)

While MaxPreps is looking smarter and smarter with that preseason No. 1 ranking for Loyola, I don't understand why they lowered Phillips 15 spots and raised Simeon eight after the Wildcats defeated the Wolverines, 29-18. Also, Barrington fell eight places after beating Elk Grove, 42-18, and undefeated Libertyville, ranked in the top ten in both the Trib and Times, comes in at only No. 29 despite shutting out Zion-Benton, 41-0.

I'd say Helfgot has it about right at this point in the season: H-F and Loyola in the 8A final (with Glenbard West, Naperville Central and possibly Stevenson as potential spoilers.)

On to the rankings (all teams undefeated unless otherwise noted):

Chicago Tribune

1. Homewood-Flossmoor 
2. Loyola
3. Mount Carmel
4. Glenbard West
5. Naperville Central
6. Montini
7. Joliet Catholic
8. Phillips
9. Stevenson
10. Libertyville 

Chicago Sun-Times

1. Homewood-Flossmoor
2. Glenbard West
3. Nazareth
4. Libertyville
5. Naperville Central
6. Montini
7. Phillips 
8. Loyola 
9. Mount Carmel
10. Joliet Catholic

MaxPreps

1. Loyola
2. Homewood-Flossmoor 
3. Montini 
4. Sacred Heart-Griffin
5. Rochester Phillips
6. Cary-Grove 
7. Joliet Catholic 
8. Glenbard West
9. Nazareth
10. East St. Louis (2-1)

What happened this weekend? I think the big news is that Loyola shut out previously undefeated Brother Rice; Phillips had a big "statement" win over Simeon; Bolingbrook and Fenwick were both upset; St. Rita may be weaker than we thought; and Lake Zurich and Providence are still looking for their first wins of the season.

(That should all end this Friday, though, as Lake Zurich takes on Zion-Benton (2-1) at home while Providence travels to 1-2 Marmion.)

As for me, I missed what may have been the best game of the week, Richards' come-from-behind victory on the road over Lemont, 28-24, and saw only the first half of the Loyola and Phillips games, the latter online. (My game selection/attendance has admittedly been less than optimal so far.)

The Rambler performance I witnessed on Saturday may have been one of the best I've ever seen. If I remember correctly, Loyola scored on three of its first four possessions with the other a punt that rolled down to the Brother Rice one-inch line. Not only did the Wilmette squad jump out to an early 21-0 lead, but their scoring drives were quick! quick! quick! (Can anyone on their schedule* beat them?) It reminded me of what Mike Helfgot said about Homewood-Flossmoor:

With 99 points and several long touchdowns to its credit through two games, H-F may actually be scoring too easily.

Quick possessions means little rest for the defense...

The only difference, however, is that Loyola's defense has been stellar as well: in three games, the Ramblers have outscored their opponents, 112-8!

(The fans in the bleachers on Saturday were positively giddy about that big win over Maine South the previous week. They said it was the first time a running clock had been used against the Hawks at home, if ever. One of the guys even said it had been important to "humiliate" Maine South. Yikes!)

Tomorrow: Pickings may be slim for Week Four, but I think I found at least a few good games worth the drive.

* While I'm sure everyone on the North Shore is looking forward to that Week Nine showdown with Mount Carmel, I wouldn't be surprised if Providence gave Loyola its best game of the season down in New Lenox in two weeks.

Notre Dame football...

...was in the Times yesterday (how's that for a shameless example of "Search Engine Optimization"?) in a piece by Dan Barry, "Notre Dame President Stands Firm Amid Shifts in College Athletics."

The author has a conversation with the university's president, Rev. John I. Jenkins (above, right), regarding:

...the growing demand that student-athletes share in the revenue they generate; the calls for N.C.A.A. reform; the push for unionization; academic fraud, sexual assaults, seamy cover-ups.

There's so much here it's hard to know where to begin. So let's take it point by point. 

The first is one Joe Nocera beat me to in his column this morning, "Notre Dame’s Big Bluff." Before I get to Nocera's reaction, what did Barry's piece say? (All emphasis mine.)

[Jenkins] adamantly opposes a model in which college sheds what is left of its amateur ways for a semiprofessional structure — one in which universities pay their athletes. “Our relationship to these young people is to educate them, to help them grow,” he says. “Not to be their agent for financial gain.”

And if that somehow comes to pass, he says, Notre Dame will leave the profitable industrial complex that is elite college football, boosters be damned, and explore the creation of a conference with like-minded universities.

That’s right: Notre Dame would take its 23.9-karat-gold-flecked football helmets and play elsewhere.

“Perhaps institutions will make decisions about where they want to go — a semipro model or a different, more educational model — and I welcome that,” Father Jenkins says. “I wouldn’t consider that a bad outcome, and I think there would be schools that would do that.”

Pundits scoffed when Jack Swarbrick, the university’s athletic director, voiced similar sentiments this year. No way would Notre Dame — practically French for college football — set aside its national ambitions and settle for Saturday matchups against, say, Carnegie Mellon.

Think of it, they reasoned. Television and sports-apparel contracts would dry up, alumni generosity would decline, and the best athletes would go elsewhere. Notre Dame would no longer be ... Notre Dame.

The scholar-president disagrees. Notre Dame will remain Notre Dame no matter what, he says, fully aware that he is on the record.

Nocera thinks he's bluffing:

Would Notre Dame actually turn its back on something as central to the university’s identity just because it would have to pay a handful of its students?

Not long ago, the University of Alabama at Birmingham — a nobody in football terms — tried to cancel football but quickly reinstated it after a huge outcry. Can you imagine what Notre Dame would face if it de-emphasized football?

And my point about Jenkins is this: Who in the heck does he think he is? Notre Dame football is much bigger than any one individual. Jenkins is the president of Notre Dame, not the pope. Can the president make a unilateral decision about the football program, or is he answerable to a board of trustees? And as for "boosters be damned," seriously? A wise man once told me that everyone has a boss. Someone else once said, "follow the money." So aren't boosters and alums Jenkins's bosses?

If you'll recall, back in 2004 Notre Dame's board ignored its president and athletic director and fired football coach Tyrone Willingham:

As Notre Dame continues its search for a new head football coach, the university's outgoing president yesterday boldly criticized the university for firing Tyrone Willingham after three seasons as coach.

The Rev. Edward A. Malloy, who will retire as Notre Dame's president on July 1, told a sports forum in Manhattan that he and Athletic Director Kevin White wanted to give Willingham five seasons to prove himself, in line with university precedent.

"In my 18 years, there have been only two days that I have been embarrassed to be president of Notre Dame, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, because I felt we had not abided by our precedent," Malloy said, referring to Willingham's dismissal. Malloy's remarks were reported by ESPN.com and The Sports Business Daily.

Malloy criticized what he called "a strong presence of the board of trustees" in the firing of Willingham, whose team went 6-5 this season. Patrick McCartan, who is the chairman of Notre Dame's board of trustees, and Philip Purcell, who is the chairman of the board's athletics committee, were two of the seven administrators who met on Nov. 29 to determine Willingham's fate.

So that's point number one: If colleges start paying football players, Jenkins is kidding himself if he thinks he has the power to stop that at Notre Dame.

Next: Are Notre Dame football players "student-athletes" or professional athletes?