From Hope to Heartbreak: A Notre Dame Fan's Dillemma

Published on 10 September 2024 at 07:45

After about 60 hours of processing the embarrassment of being humiliated at home by *another* Group of 5 team—two in three years (Marshall, and now Northern Illinois)—I think I’m finally ready to explain where I was coming from with my post on Saturday.

Let’s face it: I was hurt, I was genuinely hurt. Like every other Notre Dame fan, I’ve poured so much time, money, and honestly, love into this program. And for what? To be let down by the Fighting Irish, again and again?

Every year, I go into the season believing we *have a chance.* That this will finally be the year we win our 12th national championship—the first in 36 years. That we’ll prove all the doubters wrong, especially those who constantly call us overrated. That we’ll put our name back on the map as a perennial contender.

And yet, every year, it’s the same. The same disappointment, just dressed in different clothes.

But this year was supposed to be different. It was supposed to be the year Notre Dame finally broke through. A year that would be... magical. It was supposed to be so many things.

We let ourselves believe that Marcus Freeman, in his third year, would follow in the footsteps of Notre Dame legends like Lou Holtz, Ara Parseghian, and Dan Devine—coaches who won it all in their third season at South Bend.

We were brainwashed into thinking this transfer quarterback would bring different results than the last.

But I should’ve known better. I should’ve realized by now that Notre Dame will always revert to the Notre Dame of old. Just when you think they’ve changed... they haven’t.

And that’s the part that stings the most. I’m officially disillusioned. Every year, I loved having hope—hope that this would finally be *the year.* But nothing’s changed in the 30 years I’ve been a fan.

I want to believe that the echoes will wake up again and that ol’ Notre Dame will win overall. But they’ll have to prove it before my faith in the Irish can truly be restored.

I guess they can take that first step towards redeeming my hope this coming Saturday when they face off against Purdue in west Lafayette.

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Comments

AnotherJunkyardDawg
3 months ago

I genuinely believe that if Brian Kelly was still there that he would have won that NIU game outright and not dropped such a game.

ComeOnNDLetsGoIrish
3 months ago

First of all, another great blog. Those of us who live and die with every game know exactly where you were coming from. No explanation needed. That’s called passion. That’s called heart. Thank you for saying what we were all thinking. My question for you today is, year after year, heartbreak after heartbreak, do those dormant echoes grower stronger or weaker?

TheFightingIrishWhisperer
3 months ago

Well, I started a blog. So I guess you could say stronger! Haha