For us seniors, Notre Dame football in our four years has been an emotional rollercoaster. We were together the first time we watched Notre Dame football as a student body, in stunned disbelief that we could lose to Brigham Young. We were together in Rock's House, or should I say on Rock's House, the following Saturday with a field-storming win over Michigan. We've sat through a cold, rainy, extra-point loss to Boston College, been called "Tiger Bait" God knows how many times, shook down thunder on 4th-and-9 and stood in the field in the endzone as just a few seconds were put back on the clock for USC in '05. But we've also weathered the cold and wind to see one of the greatest games at Michigan State, fallen all over each other at the end of UCLA, felt the adrenaline with a promise of a "nasty" football team and witnessed a gravity-defying jump on a "pass right" play that we later found out was bigger than everything Notre Dame football stands for.
If I have learned anything from Notre Dame football in four years, it's that we never give up. If I can paraphrase a quote from Blue-Gray Sky, a team puts together a few good plays to make a good half, and two good halves to make a win. String a few of those wins together, and you have a win streak. String a few of those together, and you have a championship. String a few of those together, and you have dominance. But at the end of it all, it started with those few good plays, two good halves, and one good game. This season may be a loss, but one win can start us on a track that us seniors can look back upon and say, "I was there when it started." Send us out right.
Go Irish, Beat Duke. Stanford, too.
John Neiner
senior
off campus
Nov. 15
