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The Thrill is Back

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Last night was a bitter pill for the Irish faithful, and a night’s rest and some prayerful meditation has not made it taste any better. But it has allowed me to find the silver lining.

As I (because I lack a better word for it) stormed home from the gamewatch last night, I fumed about terrible officiating. I raged at the bad guys escaping unpunished. I wondered if Will Fuller and Bob Meeker will ever sit down over a beer and commiserate. And I concluded the last time I’d been this angry was January 2nd, 1994, when I stalked the streets of Naples, Florida, raging at a universe that would completely ignore the rules it had applied four years earlier and give a Lifetime Ach … er, National Championship, to Florida State.

I figured my fellow Irish fans would be with me in my anger, and unlike the officials in last night’s game, they did not disappoint me. From the boards to the blogs, the universal reaction is disbelief, sorrow, and lotsa lotsa rage. I see comparisons to trips to Southern Cal in 64, 78, and 82. Friends who haven’t talked about ND football in years are up in arms.

I like the anger. I like the passion. Because it’s been gone for so long, I wasn’t sure it would ever come back.

I know a lot of people whose ND fandom has taken a hell of a beating these last 20 years. Not only had they stopped going to games, games were no longer a priority to them. They’d DVR them, and then watch later. Most of them told me they couldn’t justify the emotional toll anymore. It just wasn’t worth the return on investment for them, and I can’t say I blamed them one bit.

But yesterday, it was all there. They watched, they cheered, and now they seethe. The passion that seemed to have crusted over has broken free. Granted, they all didn’t come back, but enough of them did to leave me heartened. Momentum is such an easy thing to lose sometimes, and a new generation of ND fans must be cultivated if this thing we all love is going to keep going. Without the older crowd having hope, that’s going to be a problem.

Joe Theismann once said if you could bottle the spirit of Notre Dame, you could light up the universe. The light’s been a little dim lately, but seems to be burning well now. Let’s keep it up.

 


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