Sadly, I am down on my fanhood.

[IrishinSyria]

Part of being a fan is being irrational. I mean, its a bunch of 18-24 year old boys trying to move a piece of leather from one side of a field to another...if we were being rational we'd be spending our energies on more productive causes.

There was nothing rational about the "punched in the gut" feeling I got as that last pass sailed out of the endzone.

So of course we should be overreacting, over-analyzing and getting way too worked up arguing irrelevant points with each other. Nothing could be less rational, and that, my friends, is exactly what it means to be a fan.

 

[fitz_bu47]

Guys, life isn't fair. We don't win every game, despite the fact we have a bunch of great kids who chose a great education over the easy way out at a football factory. That is life, and it is also why when you are a true fan, and you hang in there, victory is SOOOO sweet. This team is DEFINITELY headed in the right direction, anyone who watched last year and these first two games, and knows anything about football knows this. Brian Kelly will win National Titles at Notre Dame, and as fans we will be able to be proud of not only that they did it, but how they did it. I would rather wait, albeit sometimes painfully and not so patiently, for that glorious day, than EVER cheer for a team like USC, or Alabama, or Florida. F-That. I am an Irish Catholic born and raised in Eastern Kansas, and I bleed with the Irish and the Jayhawks, and in 2008 when KU cut the nets down, (I cried like a 5 year old girl) it was so much sweeter b/c I didn't give up on them after Bradley, or Bucknell, and won't now after Northern Iowa. They rewarded me this past weekend w/ the Ga. Tech win after the N.D. St. debacle, and I was drunk and am now sunburnt from the game and it was great...than the Irish brought me back down, but I digress....Being a fan is pain way more than pleasure, no matter who you cheer for, but that's why true fans feel so great when their team reaches great heights, b/c you were there during the lows, I can't wait to watch this team improve every week, we ran into the best athlete I have seen in a while last week, and we will get better because of it. You gotta appreciate the journey fellas, even when it's hard, even when you lose. GO Irish!!!

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Haha, i was never out. Basically the point was that I wish i wasnt an ND fan sometimes because it is torture on my mind being an ND fan. I just want ND to be relevant all of the time and hate the feeling in my stomach that missed opportunities leaves.

I am not saying the sky is falling as Mick 2 suggests. Its doing the opposite, just lingering slightly overhead.

McGibblets I totally understand what you are saying and I feel the same way. It's def not easy on the mind and heart being a die hard Notre Dame fan.

 

[IrishinSyria]

YouTube - Sylvester Stallone Training For Rocky Balboa

Pleasure and pain. They’re not opposites. They’re neighbors … separated by a thin line, by a split second.

One minute you’re feeling like everything is going your way … like you’re ready to climb the highest mountain … headed for the top of the world.

But in the game of life you never know.

You train for years to get a piece of personal glory or a chance to stand toe to toe with your peers and say, “Here I am. Take your best shot.” Then the contest begins and BANG! — you’re down for the count.

It’s not your day. You tried your best. But was it really your best?

So do you go home with a broken heart? Or do you get up smarter, wiser and better prepared then ever before?

It’s a new day … a new season … a new you!

You hope it won’t be the same story, or will pleasure turn into pain again? Are you ready to take life’s best punch — and stay on your feet?

I can’t answer that. Only you can.

Are you hoping for the best? Are you prepared for the challenge? IS ND — A Contender?

 

[phork]

In Kelly we trust. Lets revisit at the end of the year when the USC streak is dead.

 

[The Polish Irishman]

Try being a Cubs fan

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

Try being a Cubs fan

Touché

 

[IHateMarkMay]

Try being a Cubs fan

A cubs fan and Polish????? wow, tough life. lol


All in good fun. At least we have the bears who may have been the best team the NFL has ever seen, and the Blackhawks who are awesome.

 

[GoingGreen]

I'm never too down on my fanhood. The most down I can remember is 2009 vs. Navy, and the entire 2007 season.

 

[GreatGolson]

I was a pre 2004 Red Sox fan, i know what you mean, i think it would help even more for you to think about that stats of the man we hired, his credentials, and his recruits, all im saying is, give kelly your best shot, if he doesnt come through, there are alot of other good teams with tradition out there

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Try being a Cubs fan

Haha Yikes!

 

[ACamp1900]

The Browns fan in the room says you all can go to hell.......

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Go Broncos!!! Bwhahahahahahaha

 

[ACamp1900]

Go Broncos!!! Bwhahahahahahaha

It's a shame Brady didn't transfer to SC when there was still time...........

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

It's a shame Brady didn't transfer to SC when there was still time...........

LMAO

 

[IrishBlood81]

The Browns fan in the room says you all can go to hell.......

LOL! ...wouldn;t you say its about time for a new team?! I mean...I was a fan when they had Brady but now...not so much. Maybe start rooting for Detroit


81

 

[jason_h537]

I keep hearing how sick people are of losing and looking for the positives but who really thought we would go undefeated this year?

Its only week 3, the year aint over. MSU this week. i still see 8+ wins so lets stop moping and get back on the bus

Mr McGibblets needs someone to tickle him and rub his belly. (he knows what im talking about)

 

[ACamp1900]

LOL! ...wouldn;t you say its about time for a new team?! I mean...I was a fan when they had Brady but now...not so much. Maybe start rooting for Detroit


81

I don;t switch my teams... period... I started rooting for SD and Washington when the first Browns left and I still like both... but once Cleveland came back I was again what I always have been, a Browns fan.

I keep hearing how sick people are of losing and looking for the positives but who really thought we would go undefeated this year?

Its only week 3, the year aint over. MSU this week. i still see 8+ wins so lets stop moping and get back on the bus

Mr McGibblets needs someone to tickle him and rub his belly. (he knows what im talking about)

yeah, but we still just lost to Michigan... I mopped all year on this fact last year and will do so again this year...


at least SC is better than us... we SHOULD be losing to them.

 

[theclassickiller]

Try being a Cubs fan

I feel like there should be a commercial for children raised as Cubs fans something like those commercials for sponsoring children in Africa.

It's the parents fault. Who would raise a child in such a world?

 

[jason_h537]

I don;t switch my teams... period... I started rooting for SD and Washington when the first Browns left and I still like both... but once Cleveland came back I was again what I always have been, a Browns fan.



yeah, but we still just lost to Michigan... I mopped all year on this fact last year and will do so again this year...


at least SC is better than us... we SHOULD be losing to them.

Fuck that. We aint losing to Kiffen!!!!

 

[IrishGiant]

To the OP, it could be worse, you could be a Bills fan...

They're my second favorite team in the NFL (lived there for 4 years in college) and Scotty Norwood is my favorite kicker ever (sarcasm). Try being a fan of theirs, my old college buddies go into every year KNOWING they will stink. No playoffs this century, and 4 SB Losses in a row. At least we aren't at that level, praise be to God!

 

[DillonHall]

What kind of thread is this? If you're not 100% in, then get 100% out.

 

[IrishBlood81]

I guess whats worse about this lose, for me, was that we could/should've won it! You know? I mean...even if it was close and they had just straight out beat us...fine. But, if we had Crist the whole game we would've won...if we would've Kicked that field goal we would've won...and thats what hurts the most.
We were clearly the best team on the field and we didn't get the win. I ain't moppin' or nuthin' just sad and upset that we could've beat UM!

and btw .. stupid as it was..I did have hopes of undefeated...I was drinkin to much Koolaid :s lol

 

[JughedJones]

I'm not necessarily talking about OP here, or any of you guys specifically for that matter...

But Good God NUT UP people!

It was a hard fought close loss, are you telling me you don't see marked improvement?

Get over it and let's move on to Sparty.

 

[ACamp1900]

I see tons of improvement...

but I won't take the term "NUT UP" from a Raider fan... just saying.

 

[JughedJones]

I see tons of improvement...

but I won't take the term "NUT UP" from a Raider fan... just saying.

lol, hey I know what it's like to feel like shit.

I'm just saying, this could have easily gone the other way. It didn't. We still have the possibility of a damn fine season in front of us, let's not freak out.

FIGHT!

 

[kmoose]

Its really, really, really, getting old and disheartening constantly being on the short end of the stick for important games, whether it be a rivlary game or BCS game. Sadly, its getting to the point where sometimes I wish I didnt grow up and ND fan. Am I destined to route for medicroity for a few years and then maybe catch a 10-2 season and then back to mediocrity?

I know its game 2, and I figured they would go 7-5, 8-4 but who wants to route for that? If i were a Purdue fan, or a Mich State fan or Stanford fan, yeah that would be cool, but I am an ND fan who knows the tradition and history who's faint memory is smoking Major Harris and WVU and then vivid memory is beating FSU and then blowing it to BC a week later. We get fired up for a new season, then poof, were 1-1 heading into MSU with a must win game on the road. So this year they go 7-5, 8-4, 9-3 and then next year were all jacked up for a new season and will probably go 9-3, 10-2, 11-1 then who knows.

Regardless, I will never not be a ND fan and Ill never jump off the boat but sometimes i sit there and i see Texas and Florida and OU and OSU, now Oregon is on the act and Boise and TCU and Im like geez it would be nice to have a LEGIT shot and not just be hopeful all of the time. I guess thats being a fan, and if they do win a NC it will be glorious. I like Brian Kelly alot and like the way he gets in kids faces when they screw up so i feel differently about this regime in a positve way but sometimes i Just wish ND wasnt an afterthought burried halfway down on ESPN's scoreboard page. All in all I am disheartened. Eventually we have to be "due"..its just the odds. Right?

No offense, Mr. G....... but maybe you should think about just WHY it is that you are an ND fan. For most of my generation (those in their 40s and 50s), being an ND fan is all about being successful while doing it right. It's not about winning a championship every other year, or being in the hunt EVERY year. We'd love that, sure, but it's more about proving to the rest of the world that you can be successful and still maintain a healthy sense of honor and integrity. We demand the best of the team, but it's about MORE than simply wins and losses. I've seen too many ND fans, in the last decade or so, who are fans of ND simply because ND is considered one of the greatest programs of all time. We all love to follow a winner. But winning doesn't have to ALWAYS include championships.

 

[ACamp1900]

I agree with that too... I'm not really feraking out or legitimately moping... I'm just at the point where I can completely understand how someone could post a thread like this...

-it has been YEARS of lamenting loses and trying to take moral victories... often against lesser oponents
-it has been hard seeing the villians of cfb get away with murder while they win titles
-it does suck that mayeb 80 percent of our loses in the past three years occured in the last minute of the game
-all of this while ND is flooded with more talent than they have had since at least the late 90's...

but yes, the improvement is there and obvious, it may be very soon and there is hope for the future...

basically I'm not about to call out either side of this one... and again, everyone is human... and fans tend to think (often laughably) that they are the important ones.

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

No offense, Mr. G....... but maybe you should think about just WHY it is that you are an ND fan. For most of my generation (those in their 40s and 50s), being an ND fan is all about being successful while doing it right. It's not about winning a championship every other year, or being in the hunt EVERY year. We'd love that, sure, but it's more about proving to the rest of the world that you can be successful and still maintain a healthy sense of honor and integrity. We demand the best of the team, but it's about MORE than simply wins and losses. I've seen too many ND fans, in the last decade or so, who are fans of ND simply because ND is considered one of the greatest programs of all time. We all love to follow a winner. But winning doesn't have to ALWAYS include championships.

No offense taken.

I honestly dont see how you 100% believe those words you just wrote. I could see you believing them 80% worth- if u can even put a value on that. As a company it would be like "Yea we barely broke even this year and were not going to give you (employees) bonuses, but gosh darn it we did things right!" haha. And if ND felt that way then they would have let the previous coaching regimes contracts ride out til the end.

I mean im all about doing things right but i still like to win. And to be honest, Im an ND fan because thats what i was born into. I didnt have a choice because it was there since i was little. And they were good, so it was easy to root for them when your little. and then they were still decent in my teenage years so i could still talk trash to my friends. Believe me, i run my mouth alot because i get trash talked to me from all angles. I dont root for Penn St. as a cop out just because im from PA. Although i root for Temple but who cares about them.

And for those of you in your 40s, 50s, 60s- you have no other choice but to be an ND fan either---i think its easier for you to be fans. You are pot committed because you got to see it 'done right' while winning. I envy you because you got to see championships and dominant teams. (I know you can argue Faust and Devine which is fine, but it picked right back up with Holtz.) And you probably feel somewhat satisfied because you have enjoyed the highest of the highs. I am 29. I barely remember the 88 championship and i feel like a fraud even 'reping' that championship like I was real die hard then. I said before my last 'best' memory is Florida State in 93 which immediately followed my worst memory. So saying I should be satisfied because they do it right doesnt really sit well.

But whatever, I said what i said earlier and i knew i would take some heat which is fine.

I dont have time to re-read this to see if it makes sense because i gotta go. Go Irish. "I'm in" trust me.

Disclaimer: These are alot of thoughts and they have no sarcastic/attack tone. Kind of a pleading tone.

 

[kmoose]

No offense taken.

I honestly dont see how you 100% believe those words you just wrote. I could see you believing them 80% worth- if u can even put a value on that. As a company it would be like "Yea we barely broke even this year and were not going to give you (employees) bonuses, but gosh darn it we did things right!" haha. And if ND felt that way then they would have let the previous coaching regimes contracts ride out til the end.

I mean im all about doing things right but i still like to win.

What's so hard to understand about it? The fact that many companies don't do things right is just another reason for us to place an extremely high value on that quality at ND. It's not blind allegiance. Certainly ND doesn't do EVERYTHING right. But they stand, moreso than any other team that I am aware of, for doing things the right way. The students go to real classes, and get real grades. They expect their student athletes to be people of good character on AND off of the field. They will give up a home date, to schedule a big game at a neutral site. The administration will not let the athletics department just run roughshod over the University. All of these things may seem a bit idealistic. They (and I) are. It's not a blind allegiance, though. And it's not like I think that ND is the only program that does things (mostly) right.