I had always grown up hating Notre Dame from afar, and that certainly did not change this past weekend when I traveled to South Bend to watch the Eagles lose a heartbreaker. To say Notre Dame is a different place from BC is a vast understatement.
After waiting in Logan Airport for several hours due to typical Midwest weather, I finally landed in the Windy City and made the trek east via CoachUSA bus with a few other proud Eagles. My “What Rivalry” shirt got me some dirty looks, which was exactly my intention. After sitting in a bus for over two hours and not seeing a light for a solid half hour, we finally arrived on the “majestic” Notre Dame campus.
I was immediately taken aback by this Catholic school’s refusal to enter the twenty-first century. While I like the Gothic look of Gasson Hall and Bapst library, Notre Dame’s campus has the feel of the mid-950s. Everything the school does must be grandiose, otherwise it is unfit for these exalted people. After arriving late Friday night, we retired for the night after a rather tranquil evening at this prestigious university. I slept in Morrisey Manor, a typical Notre Dame dorm. From the outside one wonders if you are entering a chapel, an old British meeting house, or a living residence.
After waking up, we ate at the Notre Dame dining hall, which was filled with families and ardent ND followers. As I entered the dining hall nicknamed “Hogwarts,” due to its medieval appearance, the Notre Dame band played its fight song for the first of two thousand times throughout the day. I enjoyed wearing my “Take it to the Heights” SuperFan shirt among the sea of navy, green and gold.
While ND fans heckled us on the bus about SAT scores and their superiority, some fellow Eagles decided to intelligently respond while others ignored them and just slapped the bag.
We arrived in a supremely classy place that is the RV lot and observed the activities.
After whetting our appetites, we headed back to the stadium with some optimism and excitement. We were again verbally attacked for our mental deficiencies, but this time by a 75-year-old man who was there for Knute Rockne and the like. After finding general amusement in their entitlement, we ventured into the stadium. After getting my ticket checked fifteen times, we made our way up to section 119, row 21. After a migraine from voicing my displeasure with Jimmy Clausen and crew for four hours, and deeply pained by Shinskie’s play, we left the stadium disappointed and dejected. Everyone was clearly angry that we lost to these buffoons, but it was especially annoying because Notre Dame was completely beatable. If we did not shoot ourselves in the foot time after time we could have extended the streak.
It was quite comical when we left the stadium and heard several Notre Dame fans exclaiming, “We’re back on top!” I’m not sure what they’re on top of, if it is not the leprechaun. After avoiding the “candle lit” dinner and communal mass following the game, some BC people and I were forced to bring a little BC to ND. Being overwhelmed by Notre Dame’s attitude, we had to band together. It was extremely odd to experience what we did. It seemed as if they felt that God was on their side. As if He cared who won the game. It was weird to hear church bells tolling after a victory.
We attempted to ignore their delusions and have a good time for ourselves. Someone would attempt to bring up Uncle Dave’s play, or their championships won in leather helmets but we would not stoop to their level. We made the best of our remaining time in South Bend and thought of the greener pastures back on Comm. Ave.
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