Why I Love College Sports: Actor Steven Pasquale
This week, WILCS welcomes actor Steven Pasquale to Ann Arbor.com. Pasquale is a die-hard Notre Dame football fan, having grown up around the game and in a home of Notre Dame alumni. You'd recognize Pasquale from his role of Sean Garrity on the hit show "Rescue Me" and from the Broadway stage in various roles. He also recently released his first album, "Somethin Like Love," with jazz musician John Pizzarrelli.
Q: So how’d you get started liking Notre Dame football? Steven Pasquale: My father went to Notre Dame. My brother went to Notre Dame. My father’s roommate in college married his sister so my uncle Jeff went to Notre Dame. So, it’s in the family.
Q: When that all happens, as a kid, you really had no choice (but to like Notre Dame)? SP: Um, yeah. I remember it fondly but as a kid it was a big deal every Saturday, to sit in front of the TV. Granted, in the early, mid to late 80’s, they were a lot better than they’ve been lately. It was a little more fun then. But things have improved, that’s for sure, starting to turn it around.
Q: What was that like for you as a kid? Take me through some of those memories growing up and watching college football. SP: Well, I was at the Michigan State game where Tim Brown ran back the two (punts) in a row, so that was such an indelibly ingrained picture in my mind, how dominant those teams were. And then Rocket Ismail. And I played football as a young guy, so, those were like my idols. Rick Mirer and Steve Beuerlein and those guys. So I had fond memories. And then we would sit in front of the TV and eat snacks and sit and scream when we scored, which was often. And it’d be devastating when we lost.
NOTRE DAME-MICHIGAN STATE TIM BROWN HIGHLIGHTS:
Q: How bad would you take it as a kid? Would you run into your room and shut the door? SP: Umm, no. Now, it affects me in a pretty bad way. I’m pretty cranky for the whole weekend if they lose, which translates to me being really cranky for a lot of weekends over the past few years. But I’m feeling like this year, we may make up for it.
Q: What’s your game day routine? What’s your Saturday like? SP: I’m an actor, so my schedule is very weird. But I try to get in front of the television for whenever the game starts. Mostly I’m trying to figure out when and how I can do that. When I can’t, I DVR or tape the game and then try to avoid all human contact throughout the day so I can do it like live later in the day. So I’ll DVR it if I have to go out of town or work or whatever and at the end of the day I’ll watch it by myself. But it’s really hard to avoid finding out what happened. Thankfully, I work in a business where there’s not a lot of college football fans.
Q: When I was talking to Tom (Cavanagh, of 'Ed' and 'Scrubs' fame), he was saying you guys will start texting each other the day before… SP: We have a whole feng shui energy thing happening. We try to watch the big games together. He lives like a block from me so it’s really easy to get over to his place and we’ll watch a game and if it’s not going well, we’ll switch positions on the couch and someone will hold the football, someone else will put the hat on. We really are solely responsible for the success or failure of Notre Dame, due to our feng shui energy.
Q: He was telling me, too, about the 2005 Notre Dame-USC game. He was more intrigued with what was going on with you that day. SP: I was in a play that night. In the theater in New York, you have to be at your theater a half-hour before your play at 7:30. I left Tom’s house at a quarter of eight. I was sprinting down 9th Avenue trying to get to the theater, assuming we won. And then the ridiculous cheater Reggie Bush pushed Leinart in the end zone and I catch it as I’m running by a bar, I hear a bunch of Notre Dame fans go ‘Oh no.’ So then I had the angriest performance I’ve ever had that night.
Q: Did anyone realize why you were so angry? SP: Oh, of course. I was in a play called ‘A Soldier’s Play,’ so it was a bunch of guys, a lot of football fans, so everybody, when I came in, they were like ‘How are you doing?’ So, yeah, it was no fun.
Q: Do you have any superstitions besides the ball? Do you have to wear the same thing every week? SP: No. I try to wear as much gear as I can, but I don’t feel superstitious about it. Depending on what’s happening from a football standpoint, I feel good. I love the new defensive coordinator (Jon Tenuta), the new recruits. I think Clausen and Floyd and Tate are grown up now and they are going to dominate because the offensive line can do their thing. I think we’ve got a crack at 10 wins or better.
Q: What’s your favorite memory, your favorite Notre Dame memory? SP: Probably that Michigan State game where I was at, Tim Brown ran back those kicks and had all those receptions for like a billion yards. That was really fun. When they won the championship, in ’88, that was pretty awesome, too, when they knocked off Florida State. That was pretty awesome, too. I still remember the heartbreak of Rocket Ismail returning that kick against Colorado, I think that was in ’90 and they called it back, otherwise they would have won the Cotton Bowl.
Q: When you’re watching that game as a kid (the MSU game), was that when you realized you loved college football? SP: Yeah, yeah. I don’t remember a specific moment but I loved it all growing up. It was what we did in my house. It’s become a real source of bonding for my father, my brother and I.
Q: How often do you go to games now? SP: Oh man, I haven’t been in probably three or four years because of my television show but I’m dying to. I’m dying to get out there. I’m going to get out there this year for whatever BCS championship game Notre Dame plays in.
Q: You’re pretty confident about that, huh. SP: Are you kidding me? All the ducks are in a row. If they don’t win 10 games this year, goodbye Charlie Weis because they have too much talent.
Q: Obviously with it being Michigan week, it’s another big rival for them, do you have any Notre Dame-Michigan memories? SP: No, just the rivalry. I’ll tell you what, though. I’m a little terrified about Michigan this year because expectations are low because of how bad the season was last year and I feel like (Rich) Rodriguez is under the gun but I loved what he did at West Virginia, and I feel his teams always have talented guys so this could be a year where Michigan goes crazy and wins nine or 10 games and surprises everybody. So I’m scared, a little scared.
Q: Where are you going to be Saturday? SP: I have a concert to do up in Connecticut with the camp called the ‘Hole in the Wall Gang.’ But I’m going to DVR the game and I don’t get home that night until 10 p.m. so I’m going to try to avoid anybody telling me what happened throughout the entire day.
STEVEN PASQUALE PERFORMING 'MY FUNNY VALENTINE:'
Q: When you try to avoid people, how do you do that? Do you throw your cell phone away? SP: I’ve requested my family not text me on Saturday. I’m going to have to say the same thing to Tom Cavanagh, which is going to be tough because we’re a little hooked on it. Thank God I work in the theater a lot and generally speaking, theater fans aren’t football fans.
Q: When you’re growing up and it’s becoming a source of bonding for you, was there a moment of bonding growing up? SP: I just remember Saturday being Notre Dame days and going to a lot of games as a kid. I’m from Pennsylvania so there were a lot of Penn State fans and that was a huge rivalry when I was young. But no specific memories.
Q: Were you the only Notre Dame fan around in your school? SP: Nah, what’s interesting about Notre Dame is that there’s fans everywhere. It’s not like it’s a regional school where you get most of them in Pennsylvania or New York or New Jersey. They are one of the schools that pulls from all over, so there’s fans everywhere. You either love Notre Dame or hate them. Where I’m from, it was mostly Penn State fans but I fallen into quite a few Notre Dame fans over the years.
Q: With the weekend being harder on you now, was the USC game the hardest hit weekend you’ve had? SP: Oh yeah, by far. By far. Are you kidding? They sucked so bad for the (Ty) Willingham years and the Bob Davie years and it was like ‘What is this program? We’re about to become Stanford, great college and they just suck at football most of the time.’ Which is unacceptable. So, it was really stressful. Then, when Weis came in and had Brady Quinn and (Jeff) Samardzija and all those guys, it looked for sure like we were going to go 11-1 or 10-2 or 12-0. So that was national championship hopes that game and of course, happenstance would have it, USC just cheated and pushed Leinart into the end zone. And it’s against the rules, by the way.
Q: After that, what were the past two years like? SP: The past two years have been really, really hard. At the end of the day, and I’m a Notre Dame fan so any readers out there please forgive me for saying this but it’s the truth, but how can you lose to Syracuse and Navy? How do you lose to them? How is it possible when you have so much more talented players? It comes down to coaching. So last year I felt if Weis doesn’t turn it around and the defense doesn’t get better, they are going to make some coaching changes. Because he recruits great players, Top 12 recruiting classes the past five years. They lost to Syracuse, Navy, Michigan State, Boston College every year. I mean, come on. We’ve got too many good players for that. You know what I mean. It becomes about coaching. This year is Weis’ and the defensive coordinator’s opportunity to make us all proud because they certainly have the talent for it. But, Syracuse to end the year? Come on. I can beat Syracuse.
Q: You mentioned recruiting a few times. Are you on message boards? Are you a member or Irish Illustrated or Blue & Gold or anything like that? SP (who doesn’t read message boards, by the way): We read Blue & Gold Illustrated, which is an alumni magazine my father gets. I’m a big fan of Sports Illustrated and ESPN so I get my information on the Web. But Weis has been getting some great players so that’s where I feel the ducks are in a row. This is his first class of seniors this year so for me, it’s all about getting kids to play well. Because they are good enough, that’s for sure.
Q: Hitting on what you do, you’re going to be having a concert Saturday. I know you’re on "Rescue Me." What’s going on with your career? SP: I’ve been on ‘Rescue Me’ for six-and-a-half years. I’m doing a lot of theater when I’m not shooting ‘Rescue Me.’ I just did a Broadway play this summer called ‘Reasons to be Pretty,’ which closed a few months ago and I go back to work on Monday on ‘Rescue Me.’ Oh, and I released a record, a jazz record. I released an album on PS Classics (check) called ‘Something Like Love,’ a jazz record I cut with John Pizzarrelli, one of the great jazz musicians in the whole world. So, I’m really happy about that.
STEVE PASQUALE AS SEAN GARRITY ON 'RESCUE ME:'
Q: Being on "Rescue Me," Denis Leary’s a big sports fan. Do you guys go back and forth a lot? SP: He’s a Notre Dame fan, but he’s a big hockey/baseball guy, and I’m a big basketball/football guy. So we don’t have similar loves in terms of sports but I feel our loyalties lie in similar places, certainly with the Irish, him being a proud Irishman.
Q: Do you guys watch Notre Dame games together? SP: No, he doesn’t let anybody into the compound on weekends (laughs). Nah, we’re busy people, we’ve got lives and families. We work together but we don’t spend Saturdays watching games together.
Q: What’s it like for your family on Saturdays? SP: I have a 13-year old and I’m recently married. My wife, Laura, through osmosis and marriage is a die-hard Notre Dame fan. She wasn’t really a sports fan, but now she loves it.
Q: Do they watch games with you Saturdays? SP: Yeah, whoever is around. We try to get together, my dad, my family but if my wife’s around, she’ll watch it with me. My daughter, she’s 13, so she’s really not in the ‘I want to watch Notre Dame with my dad’ but I’m hoping she’ll come around as she gets older.
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