This is exactly what I am looking for people. The following post was written by loyal Subway Domer reader, John. He takes home an AWESOME Subway Domer Can Cooler (degrees of awesomeness may vary)…
Notre Dame fans sure are loyal. Loyal to the Golden Dome. Loyal to the players that wear the blue and gold. Loyal to the traditions that make Notre Dame such a unique and special place. Surprisingly, a large cross-section of the fanbase feels that one of those time-honored traditions includes having natural grass inside Notre Dame stadium. Well, not me. Call me a blasphemer, call me progressive, call me crazy as a shit-house rat, but the game has changed just a little bit since it was invented, and it’s time for the Irish to change with it.
Thankfully, Charlie Weis began the makeover five years ago. His recruiting and game-planning (or at least what passed for game-planning) signaled a philosophical shift in the tenets of Irish football from brute strength and power running (and some would say good defense) to pure athleticism and speed. Speed. You know, the thing that kills. The thing that NFL scouts are looking for first and foremost when they evaluate players. The thing that separates good teams from dominant teams. After back-to-back BCS curb-stompings by Ohio State and LSU, worrying about the lack of “team speed” was nearly every Irish fan’s favorite ulcer-inducing pastime, but after watching the team for the last three seasons I’m not so sure that lack of “team speed” remains a major concern. Say what you want about Charlie, but the man brought scary talent to South Bend.
That brings us to my point about the grass v. field turf debate . . .
During the 2009 season I had the pleasure of watching what might have been the fastest Notre Dame team since the Holtz era slip out of their breaks, stumble over huge divots, and get poor traction while holding their blocks because of the horrendous footing. IN THEIR OWN STADIUM! Whenever the Irish were playing a home game I knew I could count on two things: interminable TV timeouts, and a craptastic playing surface. It was not only infuriating, it was embarrassing. This is Notre Dame, for God’s sake, the university should be able to install a playing surface that doesn’t resemble the Western Front by early November. Off the top of your head, what was the defining play of the 2009 season? You’d be correct if you said it was Duval Kamara SLIPPING in the endzone as time expired against USC. I doubt many other teams had season defining moments that involved a dude slipping on the shitty playing surface of their home stadium. What a unique distinction, don’t you think?
Now, I don’t care how long you’ve been watching Fighting Irish football; come September, none of us knows what to expect from this team, good or bad. One thing is for certain, though: the way Notre Dame football is played is about to change dramatically. The pace and speed displayed on both sides of the football might even be shocking to a lot of Irish fans, particularly the stubborn holdouts who still believe ND lacks numbers in the “freakish athlete” department. That’s all well and good, but until the issue of the horrendous playing surface is addressed slipping receivers, tripping running backs, staggering corners, and stumbling linemen will remain an all too frequent occurrence during ND home games. Hell, we may even get to see a botched field goal or two this year thanks to Nick Tausch’s plant foot sliding out from under him. That’d be cool. But hey, that’s all part of the tradition, right?
Whatever.
It’s time give the football team a track that isn’t just another obstacle to Notre Dame’s proudest tradition: winning. Vote field turf in 2011.
Oh, and logos at midfield are for dandies like USC and Michigan.
Thanks for the submission John!
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