I had a roommate at Ball State who would schedule his night classes around IU basketball. He never attended one Ball State game.

If you liked them so much, why the hell didn't you go there??!!!

Now, these schools aren't exactly on the same level as a Notre Dame, price-wise anyway, but the point is, I really don't understand how you can have such an allegance to a school you have never attended.

If anyone can explain it, I'd like to hear.

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I went to a small D2 school. I don't have a rooting interest in any D1 school (except my sister went to Mizzou so I'll root for them on occasion). So I have random reasons why I cheer for colleges now. For example, I root for Syracuse basketball because I won two NCAA pools because of them: When they were runners up (The John Wallace years) and when they won it all ('Melo). I sure hope this doesn't offend anybody.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

why didn't I go there? $$$

I just grew up watching them every ND saturday. I have family that lives in Lincoln. and as a kid I liked the Gator mascot.

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@audioidkid

I can only speak for myself and my best friend, who I know agrees with me (we've had this discussion before).

Growing up, both of us only dreamed of doing one thing - attending Notre Dame. I can never express appropriately what that school represents to me. I didn't think about Harvard, or Yale; I didn't think past college. My parents used to tell me that if I got good grades, that I would have a chance to go there, so that's why I tried hard in school. Growing up, Notre Dame represented an ideal that I strived for. I can't tell you what it felt like to walk out in that stadium the first time this past November - it was transcendent. This all sounds cheesy, but its completely true.

You can not like Notre Dame, but don't ever tell anyone who they can and can't root for. The connections people have made with teams are extremely personal things, and beyond whatever narrow-minded belief you may have about it. I have friends who root for teams because family members did, and it meant a lot to those people just to share that with those family members. You might trivialize that, but to those individuals that is something that can never be replaced.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

RUDY , RUDY , RUDY RUDY !!!!!!!

I actually cried when Rudy open the letter on that Park bench and he had been told he was accepted to ND.

You can keep the football fans . Biggest pain in the asses in the country .

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

I believe Paul and I are pains in the ass....

If you went to a Catholic grade school or H.S. in farm country Illinois, you were well aware of the ND mystique.
Especially at my H.S., many teachers were alumni.

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@audioidkid

yeah, well ted kaczynski is an EP alum

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I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that. I'm sure I'd find it cool to catch a homerun. My point was more that people treat the baseball as if it cures cancer or something. How is throwing a homerun back any less silly than keeping it in your closet? It's really not; it's just a matter of what you'd rather do with the ball. I mean, really, what are you going to do with the ball anyways? Unless the ball is valuable due to it being a landmark homerun or something, I don't see why it's any less silly to keep it than to throw it on the field in protest.

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

[[/quote]

I'm talking about the fans at the game Dougie.. I think I mentioned in my STU thread a few times how me and a few buddues were yelled at for cheering to loud at an ND game. Another Buddy was kicked out for bringing an empty beer cup in thru the gates.

We also had a 89 year old man sitting in front of us about 10 years ago against Michigan who passed out in 95 degree heat(had to be 115 in the stands) and shit all over himself as the older people in are section screamed at us to help him . (TRUE STORY)

It's like going to mass when you go tot a football game there . Too weird.

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

First off , It's illegal to throw anything on a playing field in Major League baseball but the Cubs allow this to happen .Until a player is beaned and hurt this stupid tradition will go on . I'm a Cubs fan and I don't like seeing this . I caught a Sosa home run ball a few years back and it sits on my mantle at home and it's a great conversation piece.

As a Catholic kid in a Catholic school in a midwestern town in which a Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner was a family friend, I saw everyone around me loving ND from birth. My parents didn't go to school there, but it was THE school to which all Catholics were "supposed" to aspire. I survived my Catholic education and never went to school there. But I certainly can understand how many people are lifelong fans. It's part of their heritage.

There are 300,000 people in Knoxville, Tennessee. Maybe no more than 20% actually went to UT. But 90% of them wear orange on game days. Divide the state of Alabama in half. Half love Bama and half love Auburn. 90% of them probably can't even spell college. These allegiances are born or acquired at very early ages. It's not just a Notre Dame thing.

I agree 100 percent. Hell, think back to the 05 NCAA tourney, how many of those huge Illini fans ever went to Illinois? Why is it ok for someone to root for the state school but not ND? I root for ND because it is who my dad roots for. He did not go there, but he always rooted for them. Whoever one roots for is their own business.

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"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

Visiting Notre Dame and watching a game is a cool experience(especially when your team goes in and wins by a few scores). Notre Dame has a cool atmosphere. You miss the modern conveniences and it isn't nearly as big as it seems to be at some other schools. Notre Dame stadium is kind of like wrigley field.

Here are some random thoughts and some of these explain the dislike many have for Notre Dame.
The ushers all welcome you to Notre Dame, which is cool.
The fans are better behaved than at most schools.
The fans all give you a look like "What the hell are you doing here?"
We went to a tailgate of the person that invited us and pretty much every person there had an attitude like "Your team is good, but our team is Notre Dame". They had this attitude like we didn't even belong to be in the stadium and the team had no shot. I am fine with some good natured trash talk but the snobbish attitude of people with whom I was a guest of who invited them is something I will never forget.
The game was amazing and they beat up pretty bad on Notre Dame. I was respectful but also cheered happily for my team the whole game. At one point, a girl turned around and said "Why don't you just go home?".
After the game, everyone still had the same attitude, but were really quiet with the backhanded compliments.

Other random thoughts.
I have heard or seen all of these things said or written in one form is another.
Notre Dame is the center of college football.
Notre Dame is the official college football team of the United states.
Notre Dame is god's team.
The media is biased AGAINST Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is classier than (insert just about every opponent who isn't a military academy)
Notre Dame always plays the toughest schedule in the country(true in the first half of the season, but most of the time the second half is pretty bad)
The only reason other teams are better is because of our academic standards.
Other people hate Notre Dame because they couldn't get in.
..and the list goes on.

I guess it is the fact that I have been exposed to my share of Notre Dame fans, many of whom were nice, but many others who had a "holier than thou" attitude and it gets old.

So anyways, root for whomever you want, but realize that if you act like you are better than someone because of it, that you are one of the reason's that the rest of the country doesn't like Notre Dame.

My son wrestles with a club. At most tournaments, they play the national anthem; some use a live singer; some use a recording. Invariably, the applause starts after "Oer the land of the free". I can understand applauding a live singer, especially after hitting and holding the high note; why on the face of god's grey earth are we applauding a recording?

My personal tradition - after they are done with the anthem, I always yell "Play ball!"

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"The large print givith, and the small print taketh away!"
Tom Waits, Step Right Up

While ND fans can be annoying, at least it is a good school. People around here think The Ohio State University is the end all be all for everything. Students at my school, a highly selective small college, complain they didn't go to Ohio State, where they could have gotten in much easier... and if they want to go hang out there, it's only 40 minutes down the road.

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[/quote]

There are some great venues in College football. Michigan and UW at Madison are two great palces. I would love to go to Tennessee and see a game at Texas or Georgia .

Any other venues you've guys been to that's worth a visit?

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

LSU, Saturday night games are fun, spend all day (and I mean ALL day) tailgating and watching every other game and then go watch the game at night.

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I disagree. YOu never know when you may be able to parlay a strong throw into a contract with the Cubs, a la Henry Rowengardner.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

close, We are in the consort with them...
Denison University

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THE Denison University???

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"In an insane world, only the sane will seem insane"

I forgot to put the "the" in front of it don't tell anyone, I don't want to get sued, but yes, I do work for The Denison University in scenic Granville, Ohio.

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You're making this too complicated. Think of it merely as sports fans. You root for the Bears and the White Sox. What is your "association" with them, other than buying tickets? You're a fan of a pro sports team. Some people...particularly in many areas without pro teams or in areas where college sports are much stronger than pro sports...are fans of the local or state college teams or fans of a team with which they have some association (Catholics-Notre Dame; Baptists-Baylor; Mormons-BYU; Inbreds-West Virginia). Not much more to it than that....

I agree Coast. If someone doesn't like Notre Dame, fine - that's your prerogative (insert Bobby Brown joke here). Don't tell me or anyone else why they can't or shouldn't root for a team. Its ignorant to put some sort of finite rules to this.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Waiting to see if Ron Santo gets into the HOF

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I'm like a carpenter building stairs.......Always thinking one step ahead.

He's a shoe in this time.... Sorry

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