Michael Rothstein of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (really bothering me this morning: what the hell is a "Gazette?"), reports that ND is trying to figure out what to do about the problem of having no appropriate venue for pep rallies during home games during the upcoming football season.
For at least the past few years, Notre Dame has held its Friday football pep rallies in the Joyce Center, fans usually filing in for the 60 to 90 minute show featuring speeches from players, coaches and invited guests.
It's become one of those college weekend traditions. Except this season, the where is the big question.
With Notre Dame renovating the Joyce Center and it likely taking up much of the early fall with five of its first seven games at home, the athletic department is currently figuring out what the plan of pep might end up being.
And instantly, your mind and mine, because we're sentient and capable of separating judgement from emotions tied to memories of 1977, think: Simple, just have way, way fewer pep rallies and then hold the one or two that are worth having in the stadium.
Of course, uttering such a thought usually causes retorts like, "but what will the families do the night before a game!?" I dunno, maybe go get a meal at a reasonable hour and then hit the sack so your nine year old isn't whining in front of me the next day in the stadium about how he wants to go home because he's exhausted because you just had to wake him up at 4am so you had plenty of time to get to the lots and then show him your old dorm for the 1988th time. My lord are you weird.
Ah, but wait! Following a slew of encouraging blurbs from our new Athletic Director comes this hopeful little gem:
"It may mean we have fewer, frankly, because of the logistics of figuring all of that out. We're trying to deal with that right now."
We'd just like to say that we here at HLS fully endorse this idea. We fully endorse it now. We'll fully endorse it later. And to help Mr. Swarbrick, we've compiled a list of home games for which we think a pep rally is appropriate.
2009 ND Home Games for which a Pep Rally is Deemed Appropriate
- October 17: Southern Cal
By san diego irish June 9, 2009 - 10:48 am
Well said Biscuit. Those guys look bored to tears in the their ill fitting suits on that stage. The fewer of those the better.
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By domer.mq June 9, 2009 - 10:51 am
What did Biscuit write?
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By Metz June 9, 2009 - 11:00 am
I think instead of the Pep Rally, the players spend a little extra time shaking babies and kissing hands as they walk from the Basilica to Notre Dame Stadium. That is as intimate as it gets and the closest you will get to a Notre Dame player (if you are just a casual fan and not a family member, etc).
I think Charlie and the Irish A.D. do enough to get fan-player interaction where it should be. The Friday night before the game should be spent reviewing last-minute scheme changes on special teams, a nice meal, meditation and a good night’s rest.
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By The Biscuit June 9, 2009 - 11:17 am
Ha. Domer, since it’s a good idea SD just assumes it came from me. Snap.
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By san diego irish June 9, 2009 - 11:39 am
Ha! Sorry Domer. I thought Biscuit was Mr. Anti Pep Rally so I assumed he wrote it. Good work, sorry for the slight.
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By Burbank Steve June 9, 2009 - 11:43 am
Dome – a Gazette is a list of “official” announcements made in a newspaper. In a British mewspaper (where it probably originated) it was usually stuff to do with births, marriages, deaths, military promotions, the Queen’s appointment list for the day, that kind of thing, so the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is both a newspaper (that’s the Journal bit) and a list of boring stuff that no-one reads (the Gazette bit).
Oh – I agree about the abbreviated Pep Rally list.
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By Burbank Steve June 9, 2009 - 11:43 am
Excuse the typos, I’m jetlagged.
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By John C June 9, 2009 - 12:09 pm
This would be a great opportunity to have the pep rallies in the Stepan Center just like back in the day. From what the alumni say, those student only pep rallies were 10x better than today’s pep rallies. And then the big USC game can be in the stadium for the public to see.
-John ’07
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By OC Domer June 9, 2009 - 3:18 pm
We don’t need fewer rallies. We need fewer LAME rallies held in a JACC filled with lame, tame alumni. The rallies need to be in front of standing-room-only crowds of fired up students (who may or may not have come over directly from happy hour). Any alumni in attendance need to squeeze in the back of the room after all the students have been let in. Moving the rallies from the Steppan Center to the JACC sucked the life out of them. The first time I attended a rally in the JACC I couldn’t believe all the ropes and barriers between the students and the stage. A travesty. Get Chuck Lennon off the stage (we still love you Chuck) and give the pep rally back to the students.
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By OC Domer June 9, 2009 - 3:22 pm
And another thing – The USC game is on October 17th, not the 24th. Hope you haven’t already booked your plane or hotel.
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By domer.mq June 9, 2009 - 4:00 pm
Gah. Thanks, OC. I’ve had a splitting headache all day long, making it quite difficult to read/write correctly.
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By The Biscuit June 9, 2009 - 6:49 pm
They should all be Dillon Pep Rallies. That would make them worthwhile.
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By Around the Interwebs | CollegeGameBalls: College Football at its Finest June 10, 2009 - 7:03 am
[...] Notre Dame fans that get It. Because of renovations to the Joyce Center, the venue for pep rallies, the Irish athletic department is scrambling to find a substitute location. HLS has the perfect solution. Simple, just have way, way fewer pep rallies and then hold the one or two that are worth having in the stadium. [...]
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By Publius June 10, 2009 - 11:10 am
I’m hoping, probably in vain, that this might actually lead to something positive. The JACC pep rallies are a Disney-esque farce of a true rally. Just watch a video of the old, student-centric rallies at Stepan and compare to the bland, alumni-centered JACC ones.
I know there was a lot grumbling among the student body last year about on the issue, but all the recommendations that were given by the Hall President’s Council were watered down or outright denied by the authoritarians at SAO.
Maybe they’ll come to see some sense and have an actual rally, rather than just a artificial production for the out-of-town fans. If not, I hope the halls can find some solidarity to challenge SAO, rather than leaving Sorin to be the sole dorm boycotting the rallies.
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By Tuba Pete June 10, 2009 - 6:37 pm
OK, I’m dating myself, but the suggestions to return to Stepan though in the right vein, only tell half the story.
The real pep rallies were in the old field house; dirt floor, clouds of dust everywhere, screaming, sweaty, enthusiastic students. It was so crowded some guests never even noticed the floor was dirt.
I know we can’t return to the field house, but the suggestion(S) to return pep rallies to the students, keeping alumni to those who can sneak in, is the right move.
When I was a student, I went to a few pep rallies of other schoools. They literally paled in comparison. If we want ND football to return to what it was, the pep rallies have to be part of that.
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By The Biscuit June 10, 2009 - 7:37 pm
I dont know that eliminating alums is the way to go (that’s me!), but changing the venue and the program makes a ton of sense.
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By BJGator June 10, 2009 - 9:47 pm
I don’t know what ND pep rallies are like now. But I’ll give my two cents on the “Only One Pep Rally” idea. At UF, we have only one pep rally, and it’s more of a variety show. It’s called Gator Growl, and it’s the largest student run pep rally in the country, attracting about 60,000 people. It really is cool, but I still would rather have several pep rallies. They are part of the culture of college athletics. Being a student, I would be in favor of more student-centric productions. It doesn’t have to be non-family friendly. But to cater to alumni and children seems to rob the pep rally of its intensity. There are ways to involve and entertain the students without alienating alumni and their families.
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