Notre Dame: The Cultural Phenomenon

It has become evident in our recent struggles that the primary reason our Lady's football team receives so much media coverage today relates to the fact that at one point in history, our football squads were consistently competitive. We owe our legacy largely to a few individuals. Knute Rockne is almost certainly at the top of this list. So are the famed "Four Horsemen" as poetically penned by sportswriter Grantland Rice.. We've had the privilege of claiming leading men Johnny Lujack, Paul Hornung, Joe Montana, and Brady Quinn as fellow brethren (of course, if Quinn flames out of the NFL, we'll claim that we never knew him).

Certainly, we cannot claim such a legacy at this particular historical juncture. Nary a national championship since Reagan's last days nor a bowl victory since Clinton's first term. Humbled by rival Southern California five years running, blown out by nemesis Michigan twice in recent years, and suffering five consecutive home defeats to middling Michigan State, we certainly aren't invoking the dominating tradition of old.

Why then, does Notre Dame football still receive so much coverage? Obviously, our annual won-loss records share no correlation with the number of headlines we receive. Which explains why NBC would probably give up its Law and Order dynasty if it meant keeping the television contract with the University. Notre Dame is an autonomous, money-making juggernaut the likes of which we rarely see in sports. Our football legacy has become so culturally relevant that we transcend the sport of football itself. Cultural relevancy means money---and as we all know, money is King.

However, it seems in recent years that this long-standing cultural relevancy has lent itself to a pop culture absurdity . Notre Dame football has been so overexposed by the media over the years that we have recently arrived at the point where our cultural identity owes largely to the fact that we are so overexposed. We have arrived into a zone inhabited by a few largely irrelevant, yet nonetheless famous, celebrities. We now occupy a zone traveled by the likes of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, and the like. We are famous simply for being famous. Our relative irrelevancy in college football the past few years does not hinder the fact that our image sells. A 2-9 Notre Dame squad will receive just as much, if not more, coverage than top nationally ranked teams, analogous to the manner in which Spears receives more coverage than Carrie Underwood.

Because of this fact, most of the world simply hates our football team. They hate the fact that a mediocre Notre Dame still receives more coverage than their local team. They hate the fact that all of our home games are nationally televised. They hate the fact that we have fanatical fans that have no direct link to the University. They hate the fact that our coach is an arrogant know-it all who has yet to beat a good team, and that said coach plays mind games with the media, fans, and his own players by keeping coy about the identity of his starting quarterback. They hate the fact that despite our mediocrity, people still care who our quarterback is.

Yet without a love/hate relationship with the rest of the world,we might even lose our irrelevant celebrity status, eventually plummeting into the abyss of mediocrity where nobody gives a damn about what we do anymore. Perhaps this was a factor in the canning of Ty Willingham three years ago in favor of Charlie Weis. More than a coach, Weis is an image, akin to the way Bobby Knight is an image, and Joe Paterno is an image, and Bobby Bowden is an image. Certainly, Willingham is one of the most upstanding coaches in all of college sports, a coach any institution would be proud to employ. But a mediocre Willingham is a largely irrelevant figure in the eyes of the media; he becomes just another coach. Weis, on the other hand, is boisterous, arrogant, and cocksure of himself. A mediocre Weis still makes headlines, such as he did before the seaosn in his quarterback dilemma. Which, at least in the short-term, is enough for him to keep his job. No matter how often we continue to be outclassed by elite teams, Weis always assures us that his coaching genius will single-handedly rebuild Notre Dame's winning ways. No matter how mediocre his coaching skills really are, Weis is the type of coach that the University wants. A headline-grabbing, money-making, supremely confident individual. After all, as so clearly demonstrated by Ms. Spears, any publicity is good publicity.