Notre Dame is America — that is to say, past its prime as a legitimate power, too proud and arrogant to admit it, and picking on the smaller guys as a last desperate attempt to feel important.
Rutgers recently rejected a bid for a six-game series that would have played three in South Bend and three in East Rutherford. Beautiful East Rutherford, home of the Scarlet… wait, something’s not right there.
Notre Dame, as it often does when trying to flex what little muscle it has left, demanded that their away games be played at a neutral site because of it’s larger capacity (in this case, Giants Stadium). And Rutgers’ Athletic Director Bob Mulcahy did what very few have before; he looked the Irish in the eye and said “No.”
Rutgers is currently undergoing a $100 million stadium renovation, turning their humble Piscataway home into a world-class facility with a respectable capacity of 55,000. After three consecutive bowl appearances (including two wins), multiple seasons nationally ranked, and producing widely respected players like Brian Leonard and Ray Rice, Rutgers felt like they deserved to play in their own home, no matter who the opponent was.
Notre Dame’s trajectory has been in a different direction. Last year saw one of the most dramatic collapses in the programs history, as they went 3-9. The season featured (from Wikipedia):
- The most losses in a single year
- Two of the ten worst losses ever (38-0 losses to both Michigan and USC)
- The first 6-game home losing streak
- The first time Notre Dame has lost to two military academies in the same season since 1944,
- The first time in the BCS era that Notre Dame went winless against mid-majors.
- The Naval Academy recorded their first win over the Irish since 1963, breaking the NCAA-record 43-game streak.
Following a season that momentously awful, it would only make sense to remain humble and rebuild the program. If there’s one thing a Rutgers fan can relate to, it’s coping with a bad season.
But Notre Dame didn’t take the high road. They acted as if the season never happened, and it was an honor for poor little Rutgers to bask in the warm glow of Touchdown Jesus. The problem was, to any sane observer, the traditional roles had been swapped. Rutgers — a program on a steady rise — should have been in the position of power, while Notre Dame — struggling to save face after a season that will live in infamy — kowtowed and gave in to their demands..
But of course, Notre Dame would have nothing of the sort. With the bitter arrogance that has created a historical rift between Irish fans and the rest of America, they sneered at Rutgers and scoffed at their puny new stadium. After all, they had just convinced Connecticut to play their “home games” in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
In fact, Notre Dame’s schedule reads more like a Bon Jovi Tour than a football schedule. A home game against Washington State is scheduled to be played in San Antonio, Texas, which Glenn noted “is farther from South Bend than Regina, Saskatchewan.” So, can 100 million Notre Dame fans be wrong?
Notre Dame exists outside the realm of actual college football. They have become an attraction separate from the sport they play. They can afford to play games in strange locations because they trust that they can bring more Catholics to a stadium than a Pope Benedict mass.
But there’s a difference between being a great team and being a great brand. Notre Dame is a brand — look on the back of your NCAA Football ‘08 box and you’ll see they have their own seal of approval. People don’t show up at stadiums to see Notre Dame the team. They show up to see Notre Dame the show.
So of course, Notre Dame might be able to fill up Giants Stadium with fans and make a killing. But if they respected the game as much as they respect the dollar, they would have never made such an arrogant offer to a team that’s currently better than them. Lucky for us, Rutgers stood up to the bully and came out of it looking pristine.
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April 29, 2008 at 9:22 am
Peter Duffy
“The problem was, to any sane observer, the traditional roles had been swapped. Rutgers — a program on a steady rise — should have been in the position of power…”
I’m sorry Tom but that line is absolutely ridiculous. I know you are a huge Rutgers fan but let’s face it. Up until a few years ago Rutgers was the laughing stock of college football. Simply because Notre Dame had one terrible season doesn’t erase the fact that Rutgers has had many. The Fighting Irish will be back in the top 10 very shortly, they always get back there eventually. Meanwhile the success of Rutgers will surely be short lived.
April 29, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Tom Wright-Piersanti
It’s not ridiculous. Stuff like what you’ve written there is why people view Notre Dame fans as arrogant. Forcing a team out of their home because you think you’re too good to play there is offensive. College football is made great by the home atmospheres… just because you can sell more tickets in a neutral stadium doesn’t make it the right thing to do.
And saying that the success of Rutgers will be short lived, while Notre Dame will rise again? Again, this is the type of arrogance reserved only for Notre Dame and SEC fans. Fans who believe, no matter what the numbers say, that they’re better than everyone else. Notre Dame had a good recruiting class, and so did Rutgers. They both continue to bring in great ‘09 players. Judging the future success of a program by their achievements dozens of years ago is just plain wrong.
April 29, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Kevin
Notre Dame and their greed,shames all other Catholic schools. Much like the Priest scandal, one jaded school ruins the fine reputations of schools like DePaul,Villanova and Saint Bonaventure.
April 29, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Peter Duffy
You can keep calling it arrogance if you want but you are just like the population of Notre Dame haters. I find it funny that all of a sudden now Rutgers fans think they are on top of the world when in reality what have they really accomplished over the last few years. I know for the school itself what they’ve done has been huge but on a national scale it is pretty insignificant. If Notre Dame was playing the Rutgers schedule they would have had a way better record than they did last season. The Big East is just weak…face it. Rutgers needs Notre Dame on the schedule to bolster it up a bit. When the series would have started the Irish would probably be a force again. Tell me how Rutgers, who was the 3rd Big East school, was playing in bowls like the Texas Bowl and the International Bowl when other teams who came in 3rd in their conferences like Michigan and Florida are playing bowls games on New Years Day. A battered team like Oregon stomped all over South Florida in their bowl game. You have West Virginia, that’s it.
April 30, 2008 at 5:22 am
Tom Wright-Piersanti
Because there is a stigma in the media surrounding the Big East, perpetuated by the traditional powers and their fans. Bowl contracts are signed by corporations and television networks, who get their opinions from those “media professionals” who are too lazy to do the thinking necessary to observe what is actually happening today in college football.
College football is full of traditionalists who refuse to accept that everything isn’t always the same. So the SEC, the Big 10, teams like ND and Michigan, they are given a golden ticket to bowl games they don’t deserve, while equally qualified teams in other conferences have to fight over the scraps. The condescension to all those teams who weren’t great in past is disgusting, and it damages the sport’s ability to properly judge what teams are currently the best.
May 1, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Mike
I’m a Notre Dame fan and a Rutgers fan. The way I see it, Rutgers is smart by saying they won’t play home games in East Rutherford, that’s a ridiculous request by Notre Dame. Also, I don’t think Notre Dame would have done any better playing in the Big East Pete. I watched a ton of Big East football as well as Notre Dame and Notre Dame had NO offense OR defense, there’s really no argument as to how they would have done well.
On the other hand, saying that Notre Dame is on a downslide is crazy, their team will be fine and one bad season doesn’t mean that Rutgers has an upper hand, Rutgers is just making its way closer to being legit. Also, its pretty offensive/ridiculous to say that they fill out stadiums because they draw Catholics. They draw devoted fans just like everyone else. They are like Yanks and Red Sox fans: all over the country. You don’t say that Yanks sell our Camden Yards because they draw die hard Patriots.