In reply to: But how do you tell posted by ShermanOaksND
Sure, we will play a game this Saturday and several Saturdays after that. The problem is the results don't really matter because Notre Dame is not among the elite and may never be again. We're like a kids soccer team where the score is not important but the kids can feast on fruit, granola and apple juice.
This board is proof of that. How many people are here discussing how much fun it is just to be involved? None. I take that back, the number is about 5...out of multiple hundreds. That loss was painful as were far too many over the past 15 or 20 years. It was painful to watch and it was painfully predictable.
And I think you're full of crap if you think the results don't matter. If they didn't matter, you wouldn't be on this board. You wouldn't watch the games on TV. The fact that you don't completely give up is proof that the results matter. Will the results birng a national championship this year? Not without some sort of miracle where we run the table and every team in the top 20 loses three times. But what if they do turn it around? What if we do run the table? What if those repeated, systematic "fluke" mistakes somehow stop being repeated and systematic? The results matter and you know it.
If I did not have a stake in NDNation, I would not watch the games. I'm forced to write about them because it's expected of me. Participation in this forum may be theraputic for some and a way to stay connected to friends for others (like me), but I feel sorry for those who actually believe there is good football around the corner. I don't think there are many such folks left and I'm certainly not among them.
I do not believe we will win or even play for another national championship in my lifetime. If I choose to make the 2000 mile trip to attend another game, it will only be to see my good friends and represent NDNation at a tailgater. The game, the team and the program are irrelevant. I value the people this site has connected me with, but the football connection is no longer what binds me to them.
I had thought about attending the MSU game but will play golf with my friends instead. I then planned to attend USC because I sort of promised Oldtown and Cash that I would meet them there. I can't bring myself to make the reservations while I search for a plausible excuse to bail out.
The results of our games don't matter because the program is not going in any particular direction. Wins and losses have no meaning in such an environment. Any talk about a return to glory is just silly. ND even stopped making T-shirts about it. At least kids soccer makes me smile.