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Top 25 reasons to dislike Notre Dame, by a fan of USC, their biggest rivals

Claims that Notre Dame football is now in terminal decline

KERRY O’SHEA,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, August 4, 2012, 7:29 AM

Updated Saturday, August 4, 2012, 7:29 AM

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Notre Dame's Fighting Irish

Steven Holmes, clearly a fan of USC and not so much of Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish, has compiled a list of twenty five uniquely Notre Dame things that he just can’t stand. Here’s his list as posted on Yahoo! Sports - what do you think?

1: Mascot: Notre Dame is French, but its mascot is the Fighting Irish. It doesn't make any sense.

2: Conference: The Irish refuse to join a conference, which means they get to keep all the money from their football program and not have to split it with other teams. Greedy and arrogant.

3: Stadium: They have a huge mural of Jesus Christ holding his arms up like a referee signaling a touchdown, which is visible at one end of the stadium behind an endzone. The mural is known as the "Word of Life," but Notre Dame actually refers to it as "Touchdown Jesus." Shockingly arrogant.

4: Helmets: This school actually paints real 24-karat gold on its football helmets before each game. Seriously, tough-football-player ornaments.

5: BCS Deal: Notre Dame is only non-conference school that gets an automatic qualification for a BCS playoff bowl if it is ranked in the top eight in the polls. All other automatic-qualifiers have to be BCS conference schools.

6: Television Contract: They get national coverage of home games on NBC and make tens of millions off of the deal all for itself.

7: Poll Rankings: Notre Dame is almost always way overrated because pollsters seem to love it. As a USC fan, I don't mind this, because the Trojans get credit for beating a team that's ranked higher than it should be. It's still a reason to dislike ND.

8: Leprechaun: Most game-day spirit mascots are either fearsome, respectable, or kinda fun and silly. Notre Dame's leprechaun is flat out annoying and a pest.

9: Fans: Always say ND is going to "return To glory," although the Irish never do, and it is unclear when the glory era was. Leather helmets era?

10: Athletic Department: Fired Ty Willingham and couldn't land Urban Meyer, so they settled for Charlie Weis. Florida wins two titles, and ND wins the Hawaii Bowl.

11: Coaches: Lou Holtz looks like a real-life version of the Fighting Irish mascot, and you know he was salivating for all those victories at ND.

12: Coaches: Charlie Weis makes Brady Quinn into Tom Brady? Not even close. Like Claussen, an NFL draft bust.

13: Coaches: ND firing Ty Willingham increased USC's easy victory total by one game for each season he coached Washington Huskies.

14: Players: Joe Theismann, most annoying color analyst ever.

15: Players: Brady Quinn, professional clipboard holder.

16: Players: Jimmy Clausen -- bad attitude, plunged in the draft, and Sanchez was better.

17: Coaches: Gerry Faust had the Irish change into green uniforms at halftime in 1983? Really?

18: Coaches: George O'Leary, a great hire. What a legacy!

19: Bowl Record: ND has only won two bowl games out the last 12 played since 1994.

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Irishnewsman | Aug 07, 2012, 12:33 PM EDT

Sanchez, wow does anyone remember?????? ... In April 2006, Mark Sanchez was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault. ... and at some point the following day a female USC student felt compelled to call the police. USC got him out of jail and got the charges dropped. that's USC

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Matt | Aug 05, 2012, 04:03 PM EDT

This guy seems a tad insecure. Understandable with the fact that his team is known more for cheating than anything else - unless you consider the major crimes their former players have committed. For all the bluster about how great SC football is, when was the last time SC won a National Championship without an ineligible player(s)? 2004 ineligible player and 2003 LSU won the BCS and have the NCAA recognizing it, so you can't count those. In the late 1970's they split it with Alabama. So it's been since 1972 since they won a majority championship. Just another reason to ignore SC.

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SeamusMor | Aug 05, 2012, 10:56 AM EDT

By charter, the President of the University of Notre Dame must be a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Indiana Province. This is meant to insure that the University's goal; providing a first rate Catholic education, is never compromised nor forgotten. To the good fathers who run the University, the football team's graduation rate is more important than its record of wins and losses. The ultimate measure of a college football program is in the lives the young men molded by it go on to lead. Two outstanding examples of the contrast between the types of men who have emerged from Notre Dame and USC are Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, and O.J. Simpson, an accused murderer, who is currently an inmate in a Nevada prison. Both were All-American and All Pro football players, but were animated by different passions. The recent cheating scandal and NCAA sanctions against USC and Reggie Bush are only the latest and most high profile examples of the huge, and fundamental differences between the immaculate record of the University of Notre Dame's football program with the NCAA and the sordid, disgraceful, and discredited USC version. Holmes should be as ashamed of USC as we are proud of our Fighting Irish!

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richirish | Aug 04, 2012, 06:17 PM EDT

What a whiner. I bet his parents are glad he left home, if he did. @kittyok - Thumbs up!

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murphy666 | Aug 04, 2012, 04:49 PM EDT

Pittsburghkid, it's French, not Latin.

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Nicomax | Aug 04, 2012, 03:55 PM EDT

They have snookered all of us for sometime now, since it is near impossible for them to return to football glory as long as they retain a decent academic standing. Other top academic universities such as Boston College, Northwestern, Vanderbilt and even Stanford have the same problem in maintaining a solid athletic program. Only now and then can they reach the upper rankings, [i.e. Andrew Luck's tour at Stanford being the exception], but more likely the semi-pro teams at Alabama, LSU, Texas and USC will rule the roost.

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Pittsburghkid | Aug 04, 2012, 01:45 PM EDT

Notre Dame is Latin.

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seagreen | Aug 04, 2012, 01:27 PM EDT

Yeah, The mascot is embarrassing

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kittyok | Aug 04, 2012, 12:17 PM EDT

My husband, a former USC English professor, and I attended an SC vs. Notre Dame game and sat behind a family all dressed in cardinal and gold. The grandmother was wearing a hat with a button that read, "Abort the Irish." Charming. At the end of the game, an SC fan said, "I don't mind being beaten, if it's by a better team." I responded, "Young man, we've found a way to determine the better team. It's the one with the most points." My husband rushed me out before the angry crowd turned.

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acemaker | Aug 04, 2012, 12:14 PM EDT

GO NAVY!!

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PhlutiePhan | Aug 04, 2012, 11:58 AM EDT

How about that "Era of Ara"? ND was 9-0 and leading 17-0 at halftime. They came out the second half and had first and goal from the one. They were called for holding and ended up losing. How do you hold from the one? I saw an interview with Mike Garrett who was the USC star. He admitted that USC had the refs "in their pocket". Mike Garrett was also the A.D. who led them to probation. Now, Oregon is just able to cheat better than USC. I also saw the USC national championship game where Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush were the stars. How about that house for Bush. How about Leinart playing as a grad student? Conveniently, he needed to have six grad hours. Also conveniently, as talked about the announcers for the game, he took six hours of credit in "ballroom dancing". USC has issues in their own end of the woods. The biggest of these is "Oregon". USCs qb is coming back when he could have made millions. I guess that he has one of those loans based on future earnings and a big fat insurance policy! As a former ND fan (BC is the real Irish Catholic school), I salute Brian Kelly for making great strides. I also salute USC for continuing its great tradition as a private school that not only gets players shot on campus during practice but also is able to questionably continue its way to the promised land.

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JimmieM | Aug 04, 2012, 11:03 AM EDT

Didn't read one of them....written by the issue from the University of Spoiled Children?....balderdash

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CourtneysDad | Aug 04, 2012, 11:00 AM EDT

Ah yes ... 1. The USC Trojans: had to take a back seat to Penn State for flaunting NCAA regs. 2. Mascots? the USC mascot is named after a condom. 3. Coachs? How did Pete Carroll's recruiting work out for you? 4. Graduation rate? Oh, it doesn't exist - Thank you. 5. School Name? The University of Spoiled Children!

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cillowen | Aug 04, 2012, 10:35 AM EDT

anglos being reminded of their genocide is prime and papist hatred

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someday | Aug 04, 2012, 10:32 AM EDT

This was quite entertaining! For the most part, it really sounds like it is written from someone that is grasping for reasons to hate ND. I especially like #9...I guess he must have forgotten the 11 consecutive wins ND had over USC from '83 -'93, unless that is the era of "leather helmets". Oh well we won't discuss the details of USC and their baggage as it is well documented for all.

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