I think that it’s pretty simple really.
by usaf_irish (2024-04-18 19:02:49)
Edited on 2024-04-18 19:16:46

In reply to: My mindset  posted by SEE

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But it’s a non-alum answer which really pisses off (some) of the alumni.

My take? Notre Dame is Notre Dame because of athletics, specifically football. The legion on subway alumni, the NBC contract, that massive stadium, the billion dollar endowment? It can all be traced back to football. Notre Dame isn’t the only Catholic school around. There are plenty of good ones with good academics and a moral grounding. But Notre Dame had football. And for a while, the ghost of what they were was enough.

Fast forward to the 2020s and all of a sudden, Notre Dame has lost some of its uniqueness. It’s still an amazing school filled to the very brim with amazing people. I should know. I know plenty of them and cherish my relationships with them. But there are plenty of good schools out there with good academics and strong alumni networks. And those damned Southern schools are now targeting the exact type of Midwestern kid who used to look at Notre Dame and only Notre Dame.

So some people who have the ability to change things got together and decided to change things.

It’s not going to be for everyone. Some people are going to left behind. Some people think that they can change things and put the genie back in the bottle. I think that’s almost painfully naive. As someone who’s met a bagman and has seen and heard how things get done, I chuckle at the idea that we can turn back the clock to a simpler time.

Notre Dame, the university, can stand for its always stood for. And apparently there are still plenty of people who believe that or we wouldn’t have a billion dollar football facility incoming.

But I’m sure plenty of people will come in and tell me how full of shit I am. So….

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