The offseason rolls on for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the rest of the college football world, and in some ways, these weeks can become almost as entertaining as the season itself. Almost...
The internet has helped boost the college football conversation across the country for the last 15 years, and with that — I’M RIGHT YOU’RE WRONG as a lifestyle. Why try and understand what your message board debate opponent is saying when you can respond with one of a million random GIFS (soft g y’all) to inflame the situation?
For Notre Dame football fans, the real trouble begins at birth. Your life experience as a Notre Dame fan has a dramatic effect on your overall experience as a fan — whether you’re born in 1967, 1977, 1987, or 1997 (or whenever). It’s strange to see an older fan belittle a younger fan simply for being excited about something that the older fan would think is beneath Notre Dame — and vice versa.
It’s also strange to see, for example, a 23 year old go on and on about Notre Dame’s standards and national championships and ALL THE GLORY. That person was 10 years old during the 2006 season. I mean... what has that person seen in their lifetime that would suggest something far greater than what they have seen actually be the standard?
I was born in 1978 and have seen 2 national championships in my lifetime. The first was when I was 11 in 1988, and the second was in 1993 when I was 15 (yes, we count 1993 and 20 other years as title years here at OFD). But I’ve also seen the 25 year decline from that standard of ALL THE GLORY. I truly feel Notre Dame can get back to that level in some respects, but at the same time — I’ve been fooled before.
Basically what I’m trying to do here, is to find out what your overall perspective is when it comes to the Notre Dame football program. If you have a moment, use the comment section below to post your birth year, and a general statement of expectations.
While my general view has gone up and down over the last decade, I’ll go first with mine:
1978
College football playoff berth 2 out of 5 years, with at least 1 appearance in the national championship game. Regardless of playoffs, Notre Dame can and should finish in the top 10 each year.
Maybe that’s too simplistic, but too many specifics just cause problems in a declaration like this. At least you know where I stand when it comes to my viewpoint in articles and commenting. This may or may not help in our discussions later down the road (I’m just spitballing here).
So now it’s your turn. What are you thinking?