Here's a good piece...

...on the current Notre Dame dilemma. I've been wondering for a long time now, when will Notre Dame be mature enough, secure enough, and academically strong enough to let this whole national championship thing go? They are certainly strong enough academically, but I'm not sure about the other two. Compare Notre Dame with the Ivy League, the University of Chicago (which dropped out of the Big Ten decades ago), and even Stanford and Northwestern.

As all sports trivia buffs know, the first Heisman Trophy was awarded in 1935 to Jay Berwanger, a running back from the University of Chicago. Selected first in the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, Berwanger chose not to play professional football and used the trophy as a doorstop in his home. How many U of C students or faculty do you think know that bit of campus lore?

Or take Harvard, for example. At one time, football was very, very important at Harvard. They even have a nickname for the annual contest with Yale. It's called simply The Game. How many of today's students or faculty do you think attend The Game? How many are aware that it's even being played?

Or go to a Northwestern game sometime. If the Wildcats win, everybody's happy. But if they lose, you can just tell that it hasn't ruined anyone's day. The fans simply go home and get on with their lives. They know that football is just one small piece of a premier institution. (A piece that had eight victories, knocked off undefeated Iowa, and will play in a respectable bowl game this year.)

So why can't Domers adopt this attitude? Why are they so personally invested in the football team? I have my thoughts on the matter, but that's for another post. In the meantime, suffice it to say that they are just not ready as an institution to move on.