Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Fan Forum Keep It Real Brian Kelly seems to think that after going 18-10, it is his decision as to what kind of playing surface Notre Dame Stadium will have. My feeling is that even if the Irish get back to when being in the top 10 is the norm, the playing field remains natural grass. Maintaining a good grass surface should not be the issue. There was a time when they played there and practiced there and beat the living you know what out of that field and they won national titles. There was also a time when they played and practiced there and went 7-5. Now I know my opinion means less than Mr. Kelly’s when it comes to real grass or fake grass at Notre Dame Stadium. But can football keep a little bit of its past? A game with a few grass stains on the uniforms makes the viewing a bit more pleasing to the eye. While you see less fake grass in baseball, football seems to be going the opposite way. The argument is that its cheaper in the long run has proven to be false, especially at high schools and small colleges who use the fake field for every sport they can, including intramurals. Lighted fields with fake grass can and are used all day and night at these schools and in some cases the FieldTurf needs to be replaced in 8-10 years. Hardly any savings there. I know Notre Dame can afford to replace a FieldTurf field any time it needs to be replaced. The bottom line is that it's what kind of feet are on top of the field, and not what kind of field is under the feet that make a good football team. History has shown Notre Dame can afford to replace a coach any time it needs to also. Kevin Corrigan Rock Island, Ill. Mr. Corrigan, Part of the interest in FieldTurf is Notre Dame wants to use the stadium for more than just football games. The commencement ceremony is now held there, and the school is looking to open it more frequently in the summer. California Dreamin’ Now that ND is committed to five games versus ACC teams, I read that they may have to cut out regular meetings with such longtime rivals as MSU, Michigan and Purdue. To me, those three teams should stay on the schedule as natural regional rivals, and USC and Stanford should be the games relegated to less than an annual event. Eugene R. Wytrykus Lincoln, Calif. Mr. Wytrykus, Athletics director Jack Swarbrick emphasized that maintaining a presence in California is a priority in future scheduling, which means a yearly trip to archrival USC in even-numbered years and Stanford in odd-numbered years. Notre Dame will always have a strong recruiting base in the Midwest, but it needs to maintain ties along the West Coast, especially your home state. Tourist Attraction I am always frustrated when I attend a home game because the fans around me are not vocal in their support of Notre Dame. There are too many “tourists,” not true fans who attend our games. I believe there are too many Notre Dame ticket holders who sell their tickets to “non-fans.” Just look at all that are available on-line. I tried to go to a game in Los Angeles to watch USC and Notre Dame and called a friend who went to USC to see if he could get me a ticket. He went on to explain that the alumni had a pact that they would sell their tickets only to avid SC fans. Would it be possible for someone to develop a system that would broker tickets to Notre Dame alums only? Tony Romano Denver From The Website IFR: Are you the type of fan who hopes that Notre Dame’s opponents win all their other games? We want ND’s strength of schedule to appear all wow-ish … so do you prefer that Michigan, USC, BC, etc. fail and become irrelevant, or do you hope that those of the hated cloth win every game not involving ND? I just want Michigan to always lose. NDDillon: I pull for SC to win every week other than against ND. That game is always exciting, but it is more interesting when both teams are strong. I do not hate SC. It is ND’s only rival. HamonWry22: I root against USC every game. Hell, I root for them to lose the coin toss. JayKennedy: I want us to beat good football teams, period. It means so much more in the end. Kinsiah0220: The week before the MSU game, every national sports program was talking about how they were a sleeper for the BCS. They get their pants whipped by Notre Dame and now it’s, “MSU is not the team we thought they were.” Tshea: I want Michigan and SC to lose as many games as possible and hope that everyone else wins as many games as possible. SDWolverine: ND’s schedule is strong enough that all THEY need to do is win and everything else will take care of itself.