Stand Fast, Notre Dame Nation, and Leap Forward

Submitted by Blazefire on

(A note: As much as I savor beating ND every year, I often view them as a sort of peer. A powerhouse of old that has stood the test of time. Many of the axioms applied to them can be applied to us. And so, I think it is important as we find success, that they do too.)

So, I just had a revelatory experience, and it has set my wheels turning, and great gouts of black, sooty smoke are now pouring from my ears and nostrils as the long dormant steam engine of my brain slowly creaks, whines and moans its way to life; its cold, dead boiler furnace stoked to a flaming heat once more.

Among my other duties here at work, I run the shipping and receiving desk. One of my coworkers just came up and placed a book into a large padded envelope, sealed it, and weighed it for postage. It occurred to me that he was, at that moment, standing literally in direct opposition to progress. In a day in age where information storage has boundless capacity but  takes zero space, media mixes with complete freedom, and any idea, anything without actual mass can be transported to any destination faster than the speed of thought, to mail a book is just... I'm not even sure how to describe it. It goes way beyond ludditeism. It is archaeic. It is the old man standing on his porch yelling at whippersnappers, only the whippersnapper is THE FUTURE.

And yet, he had a good reason for this ancient communication process. He had sold the book (on the internet, oddly enough), and was sending it to the purchaser. And I have no doubt that the purchaser was convinced absolutely that this book contained the answer to their problems, and that having it mailed to them was by far the best way to get it. And that is where ND enters the picture.

We have a common frame of reference, as Michigan fans. For years, we ruled upon the field and off of it. Not one could compare. We dominated with National Championships and Michigan Man bloodlines. We were immortal in the way that the kings of old were immortal. Nepotism.  Our progenitor was the program, and properly chosen and raised, it would continue. And so slowly, like the kingdoms of old, we decayed. National Championships and undefeated seasons became Rose Bowl wins and 11-1 seasons, which became Big Ten Co-Championships and 9-3 seasons. But things were fine, because we were immortal. We had our book, we were mailing it, and because that had always worked, that would continue to work.

Then, somewhere along the line, someone with great wisdom and foresight said, "Wait... just because the program has been founded in Nepotism doesn't mean it is the same as it always has been. When it becan, it wasn't about the control, but about the results. And if we're doing it the same way, but only achieving 2/3rd's of what we were, then this is not the same.

So, we took and we cut up the book. We scanned it into the computer. We edited it, and searched for up to date information. Then, we sent it out by email, complete with pictures and videos and sound files and automatically updating graphs, complete with Quarterback Runs and Spread Passes and a modernized playbook. And it was painful. And it still is painful. But because of it, we are on our way back to the true roots of the program. To dominance and National Championships.

So to ND fans out there, who I see as our hated, evil brothers in some weird way, I say if you want to get back to  the true place where you started, look what you've got in your hand. It's a book, old, hardcover, titled "Knute & Tradition". The leather binding is cracked and worn.  The pages are stained and dog eared. When you read it, it is the same book as you've always been reading, but the message doesn't seem quite as clear or forceful as it used to. So you know what you need to do. Instead of mailing that book to the next generation of ND fans, head to that scanner and fire up Wikipedia.

profitgoblue

September 28th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^

I liked the lead up to the message.  It was well-written with a great analogy and a very good read. 

The post actually sums up my Michigan football experience exactly.  After the last two years I finally realized that I grew fat and lazy after years and years of winning and bowl games.  Even 8-4 years would be envied by most programs but, for Michigan, 8-4 was failure.  This is the first year I feel like I can truly appreciate the game for what it is and enjoy a good performance without worrying about the team's record or going to a bowl game or the like.  And if feels really good. 

(Although, I do find myself thinking more and more about Denard for Heisman and felt a little bummed that he didn't play a bit of the second half last week to pad his stats . . .)

decadoug

September 28th, 2010 at 2:38 PM ^

Why do so many folks complain about long posts? I realize in this digital age, that most things are available in 3 seconds or less, but most of them are cheap, and mostly without substance. Not all, but most. Anyways, that post wasn't that long, and the message was right on. I've been feeling the same way for a little while, and have been looking for a good way to try and explain it to some of my friends who are very anti-change. I think what we're doing with the spread at Michigan is a good thing, because the real tradition of Michigan football isn't "3 yards and a cloud of dust," it's winning. Winning games and championships. If the spread brings us to that, and I believe it will, then we are heading in the right direction.

BrewCityBlue

September 28th, 2010 at 3:03 PM ^

Wells done Blaze,

I appreciated the analogy and story. You have a way of writing that is intriguing. I, for one appreciated it.

I can relate as well. Just as the football program has had to evolve (and ND needs to evolve if they want to keep up), i too have had to change things about my fanhood, so to speak.

I forced myself to give up on old superstitions and routines, convincing myself that what i wore on saturdays and what TV i watched the game on really did not help or hurt our team's chances. This has made watching and rooting for M football much more healthy for me.

The last 3 years have humbled me. I look forward to once again being a pompous prick of a M fan, enjoying it even more this next go-round, because i know now first hand how it feels to not be a dominant program. All this will make our rise to the top that much sweeter, and we will be better for it. Whether i want ND to rise with us, or stay down there for my pure comedic enjoyment, well, i am still undecided on that one.

readyourguard

September 28th, 2010 at 3:15 PM ^

I thought your post was entertaining.............but not nearly as entertaining as some of the responses.

Earlier today, someone just commented about how snarky and divisive some of the threads have been as lately.  IMO, the witty retorts have escalated to suit my sophomoric sense of humor.

Engin77

September 28th, 2010 at 3:38 PM ^

ND is at the crossroads, can they return to glory and maintain academic standards, or do they need to relax the "calculus for graduation" requirement (and its admission implications), increase redshirting and admit junior college transfers (I'll leave out over-signing). These are the similar to the issues that led the University of Chicago to drop football and leave the Big Ten, and led the Ivy League to de-emphasize football. Major college football is no longer an extra-curricular activity; its a full time job for the students involved.

victors2000

September 28th, 2010 at 5:22 PM ^

That was a pretty sweet piece of enlightment, that book/internet analogy, how the book represents nepotism while the internet represents thinking outside the box, or the book, in this matter. I like how Michigan has seen the forest for what it is and is now writing another chapter in it's book, er, computer, to forge ahead back on track.

What doesn't fit is this sudden exhortation you are doing for the University of Notre Dame University, am I missing sumpin'? They're not us! I mean, yeah, they're like us, tradition and all, but the hard times part, THAT differs slightly. And the reason for this differing is football philosophy. Their thing is returning to glory, which they do quite well, since 1989 I believe. They fail to account for how that will get done, the 'returning' part; hence this endless cycle of returning to returning. We on the other hand focus on the return part. We want to beat them, and MSU, and OSU, and who ever else is on our list of foes to the Big Ten Championship. Glorified or not. And, If winning the Big Ten takes us to the NC, so be it. Ironically, finding the great glory that ND yearns for. So, their book is not our book, they are not us.

Anyways, I like your writing. 

Blazefire

September 28th, 2010 at 5:29 PM ^

I kind of meandered past one point I meant to make, which was, stop bitching about Brian Kelly 4 games into his first season. I don't know if he's the solution or not, but if he IS, bitching about him is going to produce the same results it had here when some people bitched about Rich Rodriguez. Pain and bad press.

I missed a sentence or three, but the point was supposed to be that if you really want to get back to power, you have to be willing to go through the change, and it's going to be hard and suck. No matter what you do.