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Win or lose, this will be the scene at Notre Dame Stadium (via 125.nd.edu)

Notre Dame Football Will Sing the Alma Mater Win or Lose

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Win or lose, this will be the scene at Notre Dame Stadium (via 125.nd.edu)

Win or lose, this will be the scene at Notre Dame Stadium (via 125.nd.edu)

Last season, after a home loss to Oklahoma, there was a lot of confusion as some Notre Dame players hung around for the alma mater while others went into the locker room. To no surprise, this sudden development created massive amounts of anger and confusion with the fanbase.

The “tradition” was instituted in 2005 by Charlie Weis who felt that the team should salute the students after the game regardless of the result. Weis also extended this to standing behind any armed forces opponent as they sung their alma mater as well.

The confusion that happened that day stemmed from a policy that was instituted prior to the 2012 season. Kelly felt that the players should be able to regroup as a team after a home loss, which does make some sense as the alma mater after a bad loss would sadly morph into an exercise to see who was pissed off enough to not sing, remove their helmet, or just look angry in general.

Of course, the 2012 team went undefeated so a home loss didn’t happen for some time and it appears half the team forgot about the change.

Regardless of the reasons, confusion, and hair-pulling the players decided to place this policy into their own hands late Monday night:

Personally, I liked that the team started singing the alma mater to the student section during the Weis era. I thought it was a fantastic touch.

However, I’m also of the belief that my warm and fuzzy feelings on the situation do not matter. This should be a decision that the players make and stick to.

So I’m happy they’ve taken control of the situation themselves (and I’m sure Kelly doesn’t care either way). Especially since it will remove any kind of “controversy” that is really nothing more than excess noise.

Ryan Ritter
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About Ryan Ritter

Editor-in-Chief
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.

First-generation Domer and a former student manager, HLS podcast host, HLS Sim creator, Extra Life streamer, and technical problem haver. You can find more non-Notre Dame related writing on his Patreon.