A Call To All Notre Dame Fans

"Pride goeth before a fall."  As Notre Dame fans we "expect" BCS teams year after year like we see to the West in USC and to the south in Texas and to the east as we see in Florida and to the midwest as we see in Ohio State. After the tough loss against Michigan as fans with no control over what transpired on the field we are left only with a broken heart for we have seen 20 years of Notre Dame football without a National Championship.

However we head out there blaming Coach Weis for all of our problems, before we curse out Tate for dropping some gimmies and Flemming for missing Forcier to end the Michigan drive let us take a step back. I know this is very hard for us to do because taking a step back can be seen as compromising decades of football excellence at Notre Dame; however I ask for us to look ourselves in the mirror and break down what it is that makes us a Notre Dame fan. We have not had a National Champion in over 20 years but the stadium is still packed every Saturday in the fall and people all over the  country and tuned in to watching games on TV. Why I ask? Every fan has a different answer to this quesiton but for me its because of the student athletes, the commitment Notre Dame as a University makes to producing fine young men that represent the school with class and humility. I am proud of the players that we have produced over the years, both the ones who were All Americans and the third string because regardless of their playing time they are the right type of people. My football coach in High School who happened to be one of the most winning coaches in High School football history said something I will never forget, "wins are shallow on paper." He went on to say that it was the guys in the locker room that make the team, that make the wins mean something more than a W on the schedule.

Now that we have reached back to what makes us Notre Dame fans I also think it is important to realize that todays game is different than the game 20 years ago. Recruiting is national, there are 120 1-A football teams, talent is being drawn from cities instead of rural towns and Notre Dame is NOT every kids dream school anymore. We have to adjust to the new era and understand that we have extreme disadvantages to other schools in the fact that Notre Dame is located in a boring, rural town and the academic requirements are among the highest among all D1 schools.

Ok so where is this going? I am calling out to all of Notre Dame nation to take a second to think about why you are a Notre Dame fan, to think about the adversity that faces this football program and instead of call out Weis or individual players stand up behind them, support them because we are all in this together. I see a team under Weis that has gotten better every year since Quinn left, a team with class, a team with talent and a team that has big time potential. Ill leave with a quote from the great movie  Hooisers when Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) is about to be fired because the town wants him gone (much like in South Bend and across the country for Weis) the Associate Principle Myra Fleener gets up infront of the boisturous crowd and says "i think it would be a real shame to see Coach Dale go" and I say to you all as I have watched this team come together as players, as student athletes and as men I think would be a real shame to see Coach Weis go.