As we count down to the season opening game in Austin, where the University of Notre Dame will match up against the University of Texas, lets look at some of the favorite football traditions of each school.
Lets start with Our Lady’s University. Most Notre Dame fans are familiar with the primary Notre Dame football traditions: the football player march to the stadium, tapping the “Play Like A Champion Today” sign, the tunnel entrance where the players take the field, the golden helmets, the WE ARE ND cheers, the leprechaun and the cheerleaders, and the players singing the Alma Mater in front of the student section. But here are a few other favorite Notre Dame Football traditions:
Trumpets Under the Dome: November 12, 1993 was the Friday night before the highly anticipated “Game of the Century” — a game which matched up #1 Florida State and #2 Notre Dame. That night, a small group of trumpet players informally gathered outside the Administration Building and together the ensemble decided to play the Alma Mater and the Fight Song. The next day Notre Dame won, which of course had nothing to do with the trumpet players playing the night before, but don’t tell that to the trumpet players – that night a tradition was born. Like all great traditions that begin as superstitions, the band members insisted that it was good luck and must continue. The following year, the trumpets continued to gather under the Dome and play the Alma Mater and the Fight Song on home football game weekends.
The tradition has continued to grow and grow ever since. On Fridays before home games, the trumpet players gather under the Dome at 4:00pm on the second floor. Fans gather around the railings on the third and fourth floors and look down as the trumpets play. Then on Saturdays, about an hour before kickoff, the trumpets line the third and fourth floors of the Main Building. Fans can stand below them and look up to see the bells against the beautiful ceiling of the Dome. The trumpets, still in line with the original tradition, perform the Alma Mater followed by the Victory March. This is a great football weekend tradition that has stayed true to its roots, and is one that every fan must experience. If this does not get you pumped and ready for Notre Dame football, I’m not sure what will!
Midnight Drummers Circle: At midnight, the night before home football games, the Notre Dame Drumline congregates at the bottom of the steps of the Main Building for the Midnight Drummer’s Circle. The drumline prepares the student body and fans for football on Saturday. This is an event sure to get your blood pumping and ready to cheer on the Irish to victory!
Irish Guard Inspection: The Notre Dame Band performs a concert on the steps of Bond Hall 90 minutes prior to home football games, followed by a rigorous Irish Guard inspection. Following the inspection, the band then steps off from the Dome, led by the leprechaun and cheerleaders, and marches to the stadium. During the Irish Guard inspection, the “inspectors” do their best to get the guard to crack a smile or laugh. It really is a not-to-be-missed event on home football weekends!
Dillon Hall Pep Rally: The Dillon Hall pep rally began approximately 40 years ago. It is traditionally held the Thursday before the first home game (although in 2010 the pep rally was moved from it’s traditional Thursday night, to the Friday night of the first home football game weekend). In the early years of the Dillon Hall pep rally, it was held in the Dillon courtyard that faces South Dining Hall. But as it’s popularity grew, the stage was moved to accommodate a bigger audience. Now it is held in front of Dillon Hall on South Quad.
The Dillon Hall pep rally featured humorous sketches and skits, some of which (over the years) drew complaints for being offensive. It was held on Thursday nights because it was designed to be a student only pep rally, and not something that the alumni and fans were invited to. It typically had a storyline, including little skits about Notre Dame, and skits about the world at large, that were acted out to entertain the entire campus. Integrated into this basic design, special guest speakers were also invited to speak at the pep rally. These special guests would typically include the football coach, the safety-enthusiast Officer Tim McCarthy, and the football players who resided in Dillon Hall … including two of my all-time favorites: Tony Rice and Brady Quinn. Typically, there were also appearances made by the drum line, cheerleaders, pom squad and the leprechaun.
Now, do you need the 411 on Texas football traditions to check out while you’re in Austin? Here you go:
Bevo, their beloved mascot, a Longhorn steer.
It’s one of the best-known stories on campus. During a late night visit to Austin, a group of Texas Aggie pranksters branded the University’s first longhorn mascot “13 – 0,” the score of a football game won by Texas A & M. In order to save face, UT students altered the brand to read “Bevo” by changing the “13” to a “B,” the “-” to an “E,” and inserting a “V” between the dash and the “0.” For years, Aggies have proudly touted the stunt as the reason the steer acquired his name. But was the brand really changed? And is that why he’s called Bevo?
Sorry, Aggies. Wrong on both counts. Read more …
Big Bertha – “The Largest Bass Drum in the World”
Big Bertha became the “SWEETHEART OF THE LONGHORN BAND” in 1955. Now over 90 years old, her dimensions (eight feet in diameter, forty-one inches wide, and over 10 feet high when mounted on her carriage) make Bertha a focal point at public appearances.
Bertha was created by C.G. Conn, Ltd., for the University of Chicago, and began her long and famous career at the Princeton-Chicago football game on October 23, 1922. When the University of Chicago dropped varsity football in 1939, Bertha went into storage beneath the University of Chicago stadium, and was subsequently returned to C.G. Conn. In 1954, Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a long-time benefactor of the Longhorn Band, suggested that the drum be purchased from the University of Chicago and given a new and glorious home in the heart of Texas. Mr. Moton Crockett, former Director of the Longhorn Band, purchased Bertha for $1 and transported the drum from Elkhart, Indiana to Austin, Texas. Mr. Crockett refurbished the drum during the spring and summer of 1955, and presented it to incoming Director of the Longhorn Band, Vincent R. DiNino. Today, Bertha can be seen in her permanent home in the north end zone concourse of DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. For her performances at football games, she is escorted by a group known as the “Bertha Crew”.
Through the continuing generosity of Mr. Crockett, Big Bertha has received substantial refurbishment on two occasions – 1998, and again in 2007. As she closes in on her 100th year, Big Bertha stands tall, booms loud, and proudly exhibits a storied and colorful history. (History courtesy UT music department.)
“The Eyes of Texas” – Their official alma mater, written in 1903 and sung by the Longhorn faithful ever since.
In 1902, UT student Lewis Johnson played tuba for the Varsity Band, directed the University Chorus, and was the manager for just about every the musical performance on the campus. He was also a man on a quest. While college students in Massachusetts sang “Fair Harvard” and Princeton had its “Old Nassau,” UT students had no song to call their own. In the early 1900s, the most popular tunes heard on the Forty Acres were “Love Nobody but You, Babe,” and “The Hamburg Show,” but these weren’t truly Texan. While he wasn’t a composer himself, Johnson was determined to create a song for the University of Texas. Read more …
Hook ’em Horns – One of the world’s most recognizable hand signals.
Actor Matthew McConaughey, President George W. Bush and tennis player Andy Roddick display the University of Texas Longhorns’ hook’em horns sign in this 2006 file photo. (AP Photos/ FILES)
The “Hook’em Horns” hand signal was first introduced by former Texas cheerleader, Harley Clark. Clark introduced the hand sign, the index and pinky fingers extended and the two middle fingers tucked under the thumb, at a 1955 pep rally. It quickly caught on and became a universal symbol for the school and its athletic teams.
(The following excerpt is from ESPN.) In a 2006 interview, Clark said he had wanted some kind of hand signal similar to that used by the Longhorns’ rivals at Texas A&M, where the “Gig `Em” sign dating to the 1930s is a closed fist with the thumb pointing straight up. Friend Henry Pitts showed him the Longhorn sign, which Pitts made up while shadow casting.
Clark shopped it around before a pep rally as Texas prepared to play TCU, and got mixed reactions. Undaunted, he was convinced it would catch on and it did.
“It’s perfect,” Clark said in 2006. “It just says Texas.”
It also got him in some trouble. The dean of student life lectured Clark that the signal was considered a vulgarity in Sicily and might be misinterpreted in Texas. But it was too late to stop it.
Texas fans show it during the signing of the “Eyes of Texas” before and after games, and there’s seldom a touchdown where a player doesn’t flash it for the cameras. Longhorns opponents liked to use it just as often, turning the signal upside down in a mocking gesture.
Smokey the Cannon – Their famous replica Civil War cannon, fired during Texas football games.
Smokey the Cannon was created by the University of Texas at Austin’s mechanical engineering lab in 1953 in response to shotgun blasts often heard at the Red River Rivalry. Two years later, Smokey I was modified in 1955 to shoot twin 10-gauge shotgun shells & the revision was renamed Smokey II. Smokey II was used by the Texas Cowboys for over 30 years.
The current version of the cannon, Smokey III, is a famous replica Civil War artillery cannon that weighs over 1,200 pounds and was built by Lupton Machinery of Austin, out of the trunk of an oak tree in 1988 and purchased by the Texas Cowboys Alumni Association for $25,000.
Smokey III fires four (4) 10-gauge blank shotgun shells after every Texas Longhorns score, at kick-off, and at the end of every quarter. Most importantly, Smokey is fired off after the world-famous college fight song, “The Eyes of Texas” at the conclusion of every Texas football game. Smokey is stationed in the southeast corner of the end zone at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium during every Texas Longhorns home football game. After each football season, Smokey the Cannon is generally displayed in the Red McCombs Red Zone atrium. In addition to all home football games, Smokey the Cannon is present at the annual Texas vs. Oklahoma Red River Rivalry game in Dallas, Texas every October as well as other select football games outside of Austin, Texas (barring local and stadium permission), including bowl games.
The Cannon has appeared at countless charity and volunteer events across the country and is maintained and transported by the Cannon Crew – a team of four Oldmen, voted on by the entire organization each spring. (History courtesy of Texas Cowboys.)
Hopefully you’re a little more educated on the football traditions of both Notre Dame and the University of Texas. Now, who’s ready for some football?!
Cheers & GO IRISH!
Her Loyal ... Daughter
Lisa Kelly is a multidimensional marketing professional. She has over two decades of marketing experience and earned a bachelor of business administration and marketing from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1993 ... Siegfried Hall!). She is a Digital Publishing Manager by day and by night is writing her third book, a continuation of "Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became" and its sequel "The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone." In 2012, Lisa was crowned the "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in a blogging and social media contest, representing Notre Dame.
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ND needs to stop the off season tradition of players getting into trouble or other problem like last night and the Frozen Five. I would like a “quiet” off season for once.