Slow day so I'm posting this to get some reaction. There are occasional posts about ND, often derogatory and often comparing our BC (the "real" Irish heritage school) to ND. Such posts as related to football and sports in general are usually silly. I was watching ND's visit to Philly to play Temple last Saturday night. They drew a huge enthusiastic crowd, surely the biggest in Temple's history. I recall living in Columbus when the Irish signed to play Ohio State in the 90s. The signing was followed up by periodic articles in Columbus Dispatch discussing memories of great Irish and Irish-OSU games of the past. Same when the Irish signed to play BYU a few years ago, Same when they first signed to play BC in the 70s. Saw an article month ago about the Irish-BC game in Fenway this year being the most expensive (over $1,000) college football ticket in the country, and by quite a bit. Surely the small capacity of Fenway is part of the explanation, but let's be realistic and recognize BC could not fill Fenway at $30 a ticket versus another opponent.
My point is that people around the country (including Boston) love to have the Irish come to visit. It is a big deal for locals and their local team gets sky high for the game. I think we look small when we criticize ND for wanting to maintain a "national" schedule. They feel obligated to visit various areas of the country because they get massive pressure from alumni and local officials in these areas to have their team make a visit.
ND competes for and has won national championships. All we have done is upset them a few times. I will put BC on a par with ND only after we have won a national championship or two and we have given them a few chances to upset us to ruin our national championship hopes. The truth at the moment is, however, we are a small dog snapping at the heels of a giant, and as long as we have visionless leadership in place there is no chance of changing that.
My point is that people around the country (including Boston) love to have the Irish come to visit. It is a big deal for locals and their local team gets sky high for the game. I think we look small when we criticize ND for wanting to maintain a "national" schedule. They feel obligated to visit various areas of the country because they get massive pressure from alumni and local officials in these areas to have their team make a visit.
ND competes for and has won national championships. All we have done is upset them a few times. I will put BC on a par with ND only after we have won a national championship or two and we have given them a few chances to upset us to ruin our national championship hopes. The truth at the moment is, however, we are a small dog snapping at the heels of a giant, and as long as we have visionless leadership in place there is no chance of changing that.
