During the second half of Saturday's game with USC, Pete Carroll challenged a Notre Dame first down catch while his team was up 30-plus points. At the time, I felt like this was a petty thing to do on his part, and it upset me, as I'm sure it did a lot of Irish fans. But what upset me more was what I heard in the background on the TV broadcast of the game. During the review of the play, you could pretty audibly hear the students chanting an expletive about Pete Carroll. On a disappointing day, that was the only moment where I truly felt embarrassed to be a Notre Dame alum. We might lose football games - but we should never lose our self-respect and integrity. To those that were chanting - shame on you for not respecting yourself, your classmates or your future alma mater enough to refrain from being loudly vulgar. And to those around them who let them chant - shame on you for not having the integrity to tell them to stop. Even when we lose, we should still strive to represent Our Lady well and that doesn't include chanting classless things at opposing coaches. No matter how petty and annoying they might be.
Andrew SamaAnnapolis, Md.Oct. 22
