I reside in Ann Arbor. The Michigan fans here support their team when things are great and abandon them when all is bad. So much so that their stadium is half empty during the bad times. During the bad times, you seldom see anyone wearing their colors when out and about. How do I know? Because I am a Michigan grad. Like many of us, our parents either didn't have enough money for the Notre Dame tuition or did not have the grades to be accepted. I was the latter. So many of us "settled" on our local universities. So I enrolled at Michigan and met numerous ND fans. So we started a secret group named the 364 (because we would cheer for our local university against all until the one day a year that Michigan played our beloved Irish). On days when ND played at the same time, we would stay in our dorm or apartments and watch our Blue and gold. We started as a small group of 12 and would always sneak out of the student section when the Irish came to town in order to join our true family on the visitors side. By the time we graduated, our group had grown to 58 active students who would make the pilgrimage to ND to see at least one game a year. Years later, that group still exists but the number has grown to 312 current students. I am told that one of my son's started a similar group at Ohio State. My younger brother, a 364 member and moved to New Jersey where he helped convince a neighbor;s son to accept a scholarship to ND to play linebacker. Carlo is now a dear friend of the family. We all recently attended the USC game together and he was the loudest of them all.
What pains us all is the abandonment of people saying they cannot follow ND. We ND fans have remained loyal and filled our stadium regardless. Though we may have been hijacked by a few leasers (Jack and Brian) who do not understand the spirit and values of Notre Dame, I look at it like a cancer in our family. When our loved one has cancer, we love our family (ND) even more and stay with them until the cancer is cut out but we NEVER abandon our family. We stay loyal until the end of our lives. I feel your pain and frustration. I am old enough to remember when Notre Dame was Notre Dame but when we lose and have to deal with the constant embarrassment of poor losses and internal issues, that is when we rise and fight for what our ND family deserves but never ever run away. We are Notre Dame! They can take a great deal from us but they will never take our spirit and mostly, never our loyalty.
Times are hard, The losses painful. The lack of leadership and proper direction are pathetic. But we as an ND fan base are too strong to let that, or anything bring us to our knees. We have principles, we have goals, we have a mission and most of all, we will remain loyal through it all. We WILL see the Irish on top again. Lou Holtz once said "It is not the load that breaks you down, it is how we carry it"
I ask my fellow Irish family to hold strong and true.I am not asking that we accept mediocrity. I am not asking that we not speak up. I am solely asking that we not quit. Alumni, current students, and subway alumn must come together and overcome Jack and Brian's ignorance of what Notre Dame is and is not. But we must stand behind our university.
If you bore with watching the games to do something else, or threaten to stop supporting our Irish! Leave. We don't need nor will we accept mediocrity in our fan base either. Loyalty is at our core. We are all reminded of the final words of the victory march. "while our LOYAL sons are marching onward to victory!
GO IRISH!