Last Saturday, I watched Notre Dame get licked for the second straight week in a row by a talented Penn State team. That is hard for me. Since I became a fan in 2000 (at the hands of my rabid dorm comrades and authorities), I have learned that Notre Dame is a proud football program with a tradition of winning - and winning with class. This year I have been disappointed on both accounts. On the field, we look like what we are: an inexperienced, overmatched team. Though there are flashes of talent and promise, by and large we get dominated. Then there is the "class" issue. In both our games, a senior on our (inexperienced) team has committed an egregious personal foul. Against Georgia Tech, the player was rightfully ejected. Against Penn State, it was merely a 15-yard assessed penalty. Coach Weis should have benched the player. Notre Dame as a program should not stand for such actions from its players. I won't claim that Notre Dame is better than other schools--nobody has a monopoly on sportsmanship or moral righteousness. But Notre Dame certainly should uphold the standard.
As to the barely-concealed glee which Pat Forde at ESPN attacks ND again for sacking Tyrone Willingham, I think a little more reason is called for. ND fired Willingham after two straight bad seasons. I think the same courtesy (at least!) can be extended to Charlie Weis. Other blogs--notably Notes from the Geetar and Her Loyal Sons--have already pointed out that Willingham's teams were not improving, that Willingham was already talking to Washington about a head coaching job, that Willingham's recruiting was exceedingly poor, and many other reasons for changing coaches.
Michigan may yet turn their dismal season around. I suppose as a ND fan I should be thankful that a team is falling harder than we are...especially since Michigan is our nemesis. The football tragedy occurring in Ann Arbor illustrates that teamwork and personal effort are indispensible in football--it isn't only talent that wins. I hope ND takes note.
Finally, I found this article online today, detailing the appalling rudeness of Rutgers students toward Navy. The author already got on a pretty high horse about it (rightfully so!), so I won't. But disturbingly, this is only one of many stories I have heard about fans being downright vicious towards visiting opponents. The beauty of sports for me is that they are (theoretically) pure competition. They are a fantasy about how this combatative world of ours should be: everyone plays by the rules, so there is no doubt about the winner; each team-mate has the opportunity to play well and make a difference; and no amount of money or influence can buy a championship. Sports is never this pure in reality, of course--not when teams open against so-called cupcake opponents, nor when major-league players sell themselves to the highest bidder (just to name a few examples). Nevertheless, the pleasure of sports is clean competition, and the respect it engenders. It is juvenile, petty, and cruel to belittle opponent players, whether they are losing or winning. I won't claim that all ND fans have been similarly high-minded, or that all Rutgers fans are boors. I have been fortunate to meet mostly respectful and respectable fans in my travels. And that should be everybody's experience.
