I take it as a salute to students, alumni, and fans support
by NDoggie78 (2019-01-14 10:50:40)
Edited on 2019-01-14 11:44:07

In reply to: when did that start?  posted by golyadkin


Maybe not a long standing "tradition" but surely a nice gesture (and doesn't matter who or when it started). The fact that football and men's basketball do it (I believe I have seen lacrosse do it as well), make it a well known tradition.

I like it and many others do as well, so I just wondered why hockey and women's basketball don't. Only takes but a couple minutes. Doesn't mean I won't keep supporting them, was just curious.

They even play it at the end of Masses at the Basilica


Students don't attend womens games
by maverick  (2019-01-14 15:04:05)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

So why "salute" them when they aren't there


Well alumni do and the players are students
by NDoggie78  (2019-01-14 15:33:39)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

With that reasoning, I guess they shouldn't even play it

Maybe they tried before and no one stuck around - I'd understand. Just wanted to see if anyone had any insight on why it happens for some sports and not others


The reason it started in Football
by cbiebel  (2019-01-14 19:44:47)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Was as a salute to the student section in the stands. The players being students is irrelevant to this discussion.

Football and Men's Basketball has a lot of students in the stands. Women's Basketball doesn't.


Thanks for explanation
by NDoggie78  (2019-01-15 08:28:14)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

That makes sense, although I still think it would be a nice gesture. I know it's not exactly a chicken/egg thing - singing the alma mater won't bring students. And I'm not sure why students don't support the team, I went to women's games at the very infancy of the program when women's basketball hadn't developed into the exciting game it is today

Again, it wasn't supposed to be a criticism - it was genuine question


I'd like to see them do it as well, but...
by NDKevin  (2019-01-14 13:11:17)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

... a much smaller percentage of the fans at the women's games are students and alumni compared to football and men's basketball. That could be part of the reason the "tradition" hasn't made its way to women's bball.


I like it as well...
by golyadkin  (2019-01-14 13:00:50)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

...but "tradition" is a hard term to define sometimes...


Regarding your last sentence
by ufl  (2019-01-14 11:12:36)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

That's been going on forever, a true tradition.


Interesting thing about it's debut
by cbiebel  (2019-01-14 15:30:25)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I've always heard that it debuted at Rockne's funeral at ND. However, when I decided to do a search for it, while some pages list that as true, some official ND sites list it as debuting at halftime of the 1930 stadium dedication game and one other source said that it debuted at the October 7, 1931 premiere of Universal Pictures’ The Spirit of Notre Dame.