By now, anyone who has checked their e-mail since Friday morning has already seen Notre Dame’s latest affront to common decency:
Plenty of bloggery has already been dedicated to describing the abject hideousness of Freakbass’ paean to the Fightin’ Irish. Dr. Saturday even delved into the whys and wherefores of how this atrocity became an officially sanctioned promotional tool for the school. (My initial theory involved a cable TV blackout in South Bend since 2002.)
While we’re starting to gain some clarity regarding the genesis of “We are ND,” the video’s end result was never in doubt: Whatever cool actually is, Notre Dame is the opposite.
It would be one thing if the lamest jock jam ever–which we can all agree is really saying something–was a one-time, lamentable gaffe by an overzealous school trying to make a name for itself on the national landscape. In that case, excise it from your institutional memory, move on and chalk it up as a lesson learned. (See: Cowboys 4Ever.)
But this is Notre Dame. For a program struggling to return to glory, you’d think that a reputation as a haven for pasty meatheads and bluebloods would be an image to dispel. Not embrace.
And therein lies the true import of “We are ND.” It’s not merely a huge step backwards on a journey to respectability. It’s an affirmation that Irish Nation is dreadfully unhip.
I mean, good luck selling a recruit from the Dirty South on South Bend with that floating around out there.
Lackluster coaches Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, George O’Leary and Charlie Weis undoubtedly set the program back during the last 10-plus years. Yet, ND fans may want to consider that the bigger problem isn’t who’s in charge, but who his employer is.