The Lure of the Blue and Gold

Who would take off work in order to drive an hour to watch two of the worst college football teams in the nation in the cold rain by himself?

You probably know the answer: I would of course. Why?

Because it's still Notre Dame.

It's not the size of the stadium; no, it's not Tennessee or Michigan. It's the atmosphere. It's the Golden Dome, Touchdown Jesus, the Grotto, the campus bookstore and student union, and the autumn foliage. It's Rudy, "The Gipper," the four Horseman, Rockne, and Lou. It's Hornung, Montana, the Rocket, and Brady Quinn. It's mystical, magical even.

I suppose if you are a fan of the Green Bay Packers, the Boston Red Sox, or the Chicago Cubs then maybe you have a glimpse into the loyalty, obsessiveness, and magic of being a Notre Dame fan.

And so, when I was offered one ticket on Friday for the game on Saturday, I immediately set out to get off work early for the next day. The atmosphere Saturday, on senior day, against perennial whipping boy, Duke, was stunning. A sell-out. People were into the game. The team circled the field afterwards. I kept thinking, 'This team has won one game!' It was the first time in history, I think, that two teams with only one win played on national television that late in the season. And you know what, Notre Dame fans, the real ones, will keep watching.

I have analyzed my allegiance with Notre Dame before, and believe me, it makes no rational sense. I have cousins and a grandfather who went there, but I did not get accepted into their undergraduate school and have no plans of pursuing graduate school there in the near future. Notre Dame is Irish-Catholic, upper class, elitist. I am German Protestant, low middle class, and pretty much a regular bum. And yet, next Saturday, "come hell or high water," I'll be watching the Irish take on Stanford in a game that means nothing for them except pride and future.

And I'm not the "Notre Dame football, IU basketball fan" type. I think Mike Brey's basketball boys are fun to watch and are the most disrespected team in the nation as basketball season gets under way.

I remember watching my first ND football game. It was in 1993, with my brothers, my dad, and a friend of his. FSU was ranked #1, ND #2. Notre Dame won that day in South Bend, 31-24, but would go on to lose to Boston College the next week. FSU went on to win the national championship, and I've been bitter about it ever since.

I remember last fall, watching ND play UCLA with my good buddies Kintigh and Vynckt in Union Pub in D.C. When ND improbably stunned UCLA with a last-minute drive to win, I said in a complete giddy state, that I didn't think I could ever love a girl as much as I love ND. Now, I hope that statement is false, and that it's never used against me, haha. But I bet there are those ND fans with whom such a statement would actually be true (not that I am advocating this by any means).

I believe the glory days, the real ones (not the Willingham or Weis 9-3 seasons), will come again, hopefully not too far into the future. And when they do, I will think back to the fall of 2007 when I sat by myself as a one-win ND team beat Duke in the rain.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.