Saturday marks the beginning of the Notre Dame home football season and the question on my mind is not how the Irish offense will deal with the zone blitz but what shirt will the students be wearing. If you are anything like me, and most Notre Dame students are, then disappointed doesn't begin to describe how you feel about this year's The Shirt. Whether your reason for not liking this year's shirt is the new gold color, the non tackle-football nature of the script lettering or the pom-squadness of the spirit quote, chances are that you're not going to be wearing The Shirt tomorrow.
However, I am not writing to bash the committee who so brilliantly approved this year's design but to promote student unity and in some ways The Shirt. Many students are going to wear the green shirt from the last three years or some other green shirt. I beg you not to do this. Notre Dame has one of the greatest student bodies in college football because of its creativity in cheers, knowledge of the game and overall unity. Wearing a green shirt doesn't affect the first two but it does hurt the last. A sea of gold is much more intimidating than pockets of green and gold throughout the stands.
Tomorrow afternoon Notre Dame Stadium is going to be the loudest it's been in a long, long time. The student body needs to contribute to the home-field advantage, and it all starts with what shirt you put on in the morning.
So tomorrow wear a "Play Like a Champion Today" shirt, wear a "Nasty" shirt, a "Charlie's Army" shirt or, even if you must, The Shirt. Just wear gold and help Chuck Dubbs (Charlie Weis) lead his troops to victory by making Notre Dame Stadium one of the toughest places to play in the nation.
Ricky MorenojuniorDillon HallSept. 15