Some of us like to wallow in self-pity, given Notre Dame’s decade-long era of sucking. We duck when we walk into work, hoping our workmates don’t remember the ball being snapped over Armando’s head. We even ignore the phone ringing after Charlie calls for a fake punt in our own territory at the start of yet another BCS bloodbath. We purposely slam the Irish in front of our peers hoping to portray a disgusted, embarrassed, who gives a shit-type of fan. “I’ll just not be a Notre Dame fan anymore” you think to yourself, engaging a natural defense mechanism we’ve grown accustomed to. If I act like it doesn’t suck, then it won’t. If I act like it doesn’t hurt, then it won’t as well. People are Crazy.
Then there are some of us who are eternal optimists. It’s like we have an infinite amount of cheeks you know; to turn every time somebody hits us? We walk around seeing the good, usually having a much better outlook on life as well. Despite our offensive line getting out-manned by a tiny-fielded Navy unit, we see that we kept their rushing attack down from their usually-high, nation-leading statistics. We like to shine bright when the sun’s out and Notre Dame is winning, yet we tone it down a notch when the Irish stink, only sharing with fellow bloggers and forum followers are viewpoints, as most of the world couldn’t care less. We scream of the Hawaii’ game comparing the margin of victory to Florida’s and suggesting a correlation that would put Notre Dame just a hair behind the national champions–oh, and we think Beer is Good.
So here we all are, mixed into a bowl of nuts, some of us saltier than others. We coexist and sometimes switch-hit, it s part of the game. Often times we butt heads trying to ram our philosophies down our neighbor’s throat, or in this case, the fat guy on the other side of the screen. But there’s unity and a shared insanity. We all come together for Saturdays in the fall and beat the dust out of our couch cushions. Our remotes are all missing the battery door and have been taped repeatedly. Some of us have even acquired our Journeyman’s card in plastering/dry-walling. We’re all nuts! We’re crazy too. But we can all find solace in agreeing on one thing: God is Great, and so is Notre Dame football!
