…for ND giving you and your misnumbered conference the Heisman. Cuz they suck. (Well, they do.) But really because they’re, at least partially, responsible for ND being powerful and Independent, and setting up the tradition that makes ND want to remain Independent. At least, according to Jack, Professor of Notre Dame History…
“At the turn of the 20th century, Notre Dame was indistinguishable from 120-plus Catholic colleges and universities in the United States,” Swarbrick said. “That changed, and it changed principally on Nov. 1 of 1913 when a remarkable, ragtag football team went to West Point and beat Army. The New York media captured that moment. It intersected with the immigration wave in America, and Notre Dame changed forever.
Former Notre Dame coach Jesse Harper only scheduled that 1913 game against Army because of a boycott of Notre Dame by the Western Conference (the predecessor to the Big Ten) orchestrated by Michigan coach Fielding Yost, who was still steamed about the Wolverines’ 1909 loss to the Fighting Irish. “There probably is some irony in that,” Swarbrick said.
“It’s not just a great football tradition. It changed Notre Dame. It put Notre Dame in a different posture relative to other institutions like it. It remains that way today. The importance people place on this in the university context bears no relationship to our recent won-loss record. It has everything to do with this being part of our identity.”
Essentially, football independence is a crucial piece of the soul of the university. Now Swarbrick and chancellor Rev. John Jenkins must decide whether Notre Dame will sell that piece of its soul to join the Big Ten — if they even have a choice in the matter.
So let’s recap…
ND beats Michigan. Michigan coach whines about it and leads bitchy little boycott. ND forced to go play national power Army. ND wins, becomes hugely powerful independent football program, goes it alone. Wild, unmatched success (at least until recently). Michigan and the Big Ten ask ND to come join them. Heisman. They ask again. Heisman. They ask…you get the picture.
Now, ND still may be forced to make a move here. Who knows how this will shake out? But the irony that the Tweleven wants ND is awesome. Awesome.
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Another tidbit in the article shows that Jack’s position hasn’t really changed, but that he’s just figured out how to talk about it…
Since his candid comments to reporters at the Big East basketball tournament set off alarm bells throughout college sports, Swarbrick has been more measured with his words. Still, he doesn’t deny that Notre Dame could find itself at a crossroads soon. “I probably need to have an absolute script when I use this,” Swarbrick said as a warning to listeners that he had carefully scripted the next few sentences. “In the context of what’s going on, we have to monitor the environment. There are things that are large enough that might challenge our ability to do those two things, stay independent and remain in the Big East. But we’re not planning toward it.”
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i hope you already knew all this
i hope you understand that not everyone that visits the site did know all this prior to reading this/the linked article
damn hater pablo…love it or leave it…
pablo, understand, many of the students at ND weren’t even alive when ND last won a NC. There’s probably a lot of history a lot of fans don’t know.
wasn’t trying to be a dick — of course a lotta fans don’t know the history, but the way it was written kinda came off like this tidbit was a new revelation to the trusted biscuit and i suppose i wanted to clarify. i’m glad that Swarbrick is putting the proper historical context back out there for contemporary ND fans, and by extension non-fans, to understand a bit about how ND came to embrace independence and why the big-10 can go fuck themselves. didn’t they block us at least one other time during the Leahy era or something as well?
oh yeah, i love your work — keep it up
pablo, no offense taken, was just clarifying for you. i had just read some things from UM fans/blogs talking about why we should be ‘begging’ to be a part of the Tweleven, and so my love of the irony came through strong, so i could see how you’d have that reading. but we also try to take a layman’s approach as much as possible so we’re not too insider – there’s a lot of stuff some people dont know (theres a lot we dont know either, but that’s not the point) and so we want to be sure to pass things along. Jack’s comments were a great opportunity to pass this tidbit along to those not in the know