Notre Dame Stadium goes under the knife - proposed 'Jumbotron' will add atmosphere to the 80,000 venue

Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 08:26 AM

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Notre Dame Stadium overlooked by Touchdown Jesus

The atmosphere in Notre Dame stadium last weekend against USC was nothing short of breath taking. The fan base of the Fighting Irish saw over 80,000 towels been waved and loud rock music been pumped into the stadium. The game was more akin to an NFL Pittsburgh Steelers home playoff game than just another Saturday in a South Bend Fall.

“Yeah, I think we want to get better at it,” said head coach Brian Kelly. “We thought it was a good start for us relative to the atmosphere. I think we eventually want a big Jumbotron in there. We think that’s going to be something that adds to the atmosphere, too.”

“I hope that we continue to move forward creating an incredible atmosphere in there. It won’t be my decision to make. I think I have sprinkled that in the conversations [with the media]. I don’t think it’s a mystery that we would like that. But it’s not going to be my call. They know how I feel. I don’t want to beat a dead horse with it either. I think it’s pretty clear that we want to continue to create a great atmosphere.”

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The call will ultimately fall to Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick.
When asked in an interview earlier in the year with South Bend Tribune’s Eric Hanson about the future of a Jumbotron, Swarbrick replied;

“Whether that ever happens here, we have to have it fit into what we want our stadium to be and the tradition of the place, and so there’s nothing imminent, but I was interested in how many people had their view changed by that experience, because it does give you a remarkable ability to promote the university, which is what we did very effectively there.

“It’s especially effective in a night setting like that. It was a beautiful board. It was very vivid. It was more about what we did with it. We weren’t running any advertising. We were promoting Notre Dame. Now I’ll tell you who I heard most from was the players. They loved it.”

The addition of a jumbotron may obscure the view from Notre Dame Stadium of the most renowned campus icon....Touchdown Jesus. Many Fighting Irish traditionalist's are against the addition for this very reason.

Injury update

Senior defensive end Ethan Johnson (high-ankle sprain), practiced for a second day and is doing “better,” according to Coach Kelly. Johnson is expected to play against visiting Navy Saturday.
“The one thing we said to Ethan is, let’s not take a step back during the week and are in a hurry to get the work,” Kelly said. “He has a lot of experience as a player and that’s obviously going to prove to be a benefit for him. He’s getting more and more work. He’s not going to be out there for 50, 60 plays. But I’m confident that we’re going to be able to get some work on Saturday from him.”

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Nicomax | Oct 29, 2011, 01:39 PM EDT

If it blocks out Touchdown Jesus' view of the game, will he be provided with a season ticket somewhere between the 40 yard lines? Better yet, why not save the coins, and provide a few more scholarships to those in need, but with limited athletic skills?

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Murph46 | Oct 28, 2011, 12:31 PM EDT

Wow! so you can see the quitters in larger than life size?What would Touchdown Jesus say?

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walleyeman | Oct 28, 2011, 10:27 AM EDT

Put up a jumbotron so Kelly can see what a ashat he looks like on the sidelines.

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PhlutiePhan | Oct 28, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT

Coach Kelly is very enthusiastic. That may be part of the problem. He is overly enthusiastic. Sometimes, it appears that he is not very organized and plays by the "seat of his pants". He is a very good coach. However, he needs to play things "closer to the vest" instead of making spontaneous decisions in key situations. I think that he needs to read how Ara was low key and constantly in control of every situation.

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IrishDad | Oct 27, 2011, 02:21 PM EDT

How about posting some signature wins before worrying about the stadium atmosphere? A Jumbotron won't prevent poor center-quarterback exchanges or increase ball securely in our running backs. Field turf wouldn't have closed the gaping holes in our defense last week against USC and recorded music won't have much of an effect on our ability to counter Navy's option attack this week. Before we change established traditions that truly set ND apart from every other college game day, how about if we re-establish a tradition of ONFIELD excellence? Win a National Championship, then worry about what's going on in the stands...

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