CFP Committee Member Ivan Maisel Explains Why Notre Dame Book Signing Was Briefly Canceled

A book signing at Notre Dame for CFP committee member Ivan Maisel was briefly canceled.

The Hammes Notre Dame bookstore briefly canceled a book signing after the Irish were left out of the CFP. / Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Wednesday, the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore reverted its decision to cancel a book signing with best-selling author Ivan Maisel, who who wrote a book about Hall of Fame former Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy titled American Coach: The Triumph and Tragedy of Notre Dame Legend Frank Leahy.

The cancelation came after Notre Dame was controversially left out of the College Football Playoff field this year. The Fighting Irish have since been outspoken about getting left out of the bracket. Maisel is a member of the committee, and though he could not vote on Notre Dame due to partial recusal, the bookstore still initially chose to cancel the signing.

The day after the book signing fiasco, Maisel appeared on the Others Receiving Votes podcast and explained to hosts Pat Forde, Bryan Fischer and Gene Wojciechowski what took place during the initial cancelation.

“They called and said, ‘We’re really concerned,” Maisel said. “They’re very nice people and I’ve appeared at the bookstore. I’ve been there twice already and they were delightful and everybody couldn’t have been more welcoming and the book was well received, but they called me and said, ‘We just don’t feel good about this and we’re really concerned.’ I said, ‘Hey I’ve been yelled at before, it’ll be fine.’ 

“We had that sort of tennis ball back and forth, ping pong conversation and I finally realized they really wanted me to say it was O.K. if we didn’t do it. I said fine,” Maisel continued. “The minute I hung up I went, nah, that’s not really good because if that happens, then you’re letting all that noise and anger and Twitter rage have its way. Nobody at the athletic department and nobody in the university administration had any knowledge that the bookstore felt that way and that the bookstore made this decision.”

Ultimately, after receiving serious backlash, the signing with Maisel was called back on and will take place Friday.

“Once it blew up, they couldn’t move quickly enough to reverse the decision,” Maisel said. “Everybody meant well. Pete Bevacqua called me to apologize … and I said ‘There’s no need to apologize. Everybody was acting in good faith.’” 

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