Goodbye, Brady Hoke. Goodbye, Wolverines. You will not be missed.
Whatever hate-piece I had in mind, whatever cheap, ad hominem jokes I had to write at Brady Hoke’s expense, were completely one-upped yesterday through the epic, comedic brilliance of our AD, Jack Swarbrick. To announce home-and-home games with The Ohio State University, Michigan’s historic rival, Notre Dame ended its on-again off-again relationship with the Maize and Blue with a vengeful flourish of which David Chase would have approved.
Goodbye to our “big, regional game” with Michigan. Hello to “a football game [that has] huge, national significance.” And, likely, an opponent with a basic adherence to personal hygiene.
It is fitting that this last chapter is written on Notre Dame’s new field, before a sold out crowd, in a stadium on the verge of massive and symbolic renovations. With games against Florida State, USC, North Carolina, Georgia, and, now, Ohio State, on the horizon, the Irish are the program shaking off the weight of history and striding from the irrelevance of its wilderness years. The Irish are back, if they ever left, as America’s Team.
Michigan, in contrast, lumbers towards the tilt a bloated, heaving hulk, whose man at the helm has been reduced to refusing to answer questions about his players’ injuries or which five of them will form their offensive line. Sure, I’m making fat jokes, now, but how can you not, at this point?
Fade away, Wolverine. Fade away into the feral forest.
Tomorrow, the Irish will lift you up and hold you there for a moment and then, BLAM. Right onto the canvas.
Stay down, fat man. Stay down, Michigan.
Hating Hurricanes Since 1990.
Bayou Irish is a Jersey boy and Double Domer who fell under New Orleans' spell in 1995. He's been through Katrina and fourteen years in the Coast Guard, so we cut him some slack, mostly in the form of HLS-subsidized sazeracs. But, when he's not face down on the bar and communing with the ghosts of Faulkner and Capote at the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone, he's our man in SEC-land, doing his best to convince everyone around him that Graduation Success Rate is a better indicator of success than the number of MNC's won in the last five years.
- Finding Flaws in a Diamond: Clemson’s Rushing Offense - December 17, 2018
- Why Nobody Will Cotton to Notre Dame - December 3, 2018
- Irish Finish Regular Season Perfect 12-0 - November 26, 2018
I never get this from certain corners of ND Fandom, “You will not be missed.” Really? What makes you love sports if not for the passion that it causes? For me, I live for the emotion…the excitement of a win, the anger and hatred of the opponent after a loss, trash talk, enmity, rivalry. This is the reason I get so pissed off when I record a game and someone spoils it for me. This is why I find the myriad of sports scores update apps completely useless. If I cant SEE the action and experience it firsthand, then all the emotion is completely out of it. I already know, ok, we won 21-17 so if we go down by 17 immediately, I no longer hang on every play praying for deliverance.
So why, with the enemy that Michigan has become…the team that has caused so much consternation, anger, frustration, passion why would you not miss that? I, for one, will most certainly miss our matchup with the most hated school on the face of the planet. Who else is there to take their place? Sparty? BC? FSU? I mean the former has the best chance, I guess, because we’ve had all-time great games against them and they have so much in common with scUM(conference aff, recruiting same players, etc) but they’re only a recent dominant team. How long will they remain relevant? History shows they never sustain success for long. BC is, as we all know, our bratty little brother that never threatens us for anything. FSU could certainly take the place, but we’ll only see them once every three years.
No…I will definitely miss scUM. As much as I despise them and wish them complete and utter destruction, I look forward to THIS game more than any of the others. The SC game always means more but scUM gets me amped up.
I will miss the game. I will not miss Michigan’s bullshit at all.
I wish we were not ending the series this year, because I think ND will only get better next year and the year after. This year ND is still very young. But the UM game does bring with it a passion and hate. I guess I only like the game when ND wins….and that has not been the case lately.