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.
20: Performance: What part of Notre Dame's two decades of mediocrity lends itself to the saying "Luck of the Irish"?
21: Motto: When was the last time Notre Dame honestly lived up to "Play Like A Champion Today"?
22: Shady Tactics: Growing the grass ankle-deep to try to slow down USC in 2005.
23: Chokers: Anthony Davis in 1974. Epic collapse for the Fighting Irish.
24: Losers: Notre Dame lost a home game to USC 38-0 in 2007. Mark Sanchez threw for four touchdowns.
25: Quitters: Both Matt Barkley and Chris Galippo said Notre Dame "quit" halfway through the fourth quarter in the 2011 game against USC. Galippo summed up Notre Dame perfectly when he said, "And that's what Notre Dame football's about. They're not anything like USC."
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