N is for ...

NOTRE DAME

“Well I remember the leaves a fallin'
And far off music like pipes a callin'
And I remember the golden morning
I saw the long ranks as they were forming

And there's a magic in the sound of their name
Here come the Irish of Notre Dame…”

If you are a sports fan of any kind, at some point in your life whether it is from football to women’s basketball to hockey, you have likely heard the words Notre Dame mentioned. The University of Notre Dame is a sports haven and a highly revered school in the state of Indiana and arguably the nation. While I have never actually set foot on the campus, I have always been intrigued by the University and have always desired to visit it. Growing up, I was never a big fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I think a big part of that is because I was always mad at NBC for showing their football games constantly on television but never showing any of my more local teams. But, like them or not, one thing always stood out to me about their football team – their helmets. The shiny gold of their football helmets makes them stand-out as a force to be reckoned with on the field. In reality, their helmets remind me of the centerpiece of their campus – The Golden Dome atop of the Main Building that sits in the heart of campus. It immediately captures your attention and holds it. In my mind, I imagine the campus of the University of Notre Dame is very beautiful, especially with the Golden Dome standing out in the center of campus.

While, I haven’t personally been a fan of the Fighting Irish Football (and please, don’t hold that against me), there is one sport at the University of Notre Dame that I have always supported and that is their Women’s Basketball team. I have always been a fan of the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team, and absolutely admire and adore their head coach, Muffet McGraw. Now, sure, when Notre Dame is playing one of my other favorite teams, it is always hard to decide who to cheer for, but then again, it usually results in a win-win situation for me. As many know, I’ve written past blogs about fashion in basketball and Muffet’s name has always been mentioned, but I had never had the chance to meet her and that was one of my goals in life, as I had met so many other previous head coaches that I had written about. Tiffany and I were fortunate enough to actually sit through one of Muffet McGraw’s coaches clinic sessions hosted by the Kay Yow Cancer Fund in Greensboro, and it was so neat to learn from her and hear her speak on something so passionate to her and dear to her heart.

Last year, it was announced that Notre Dame was joining the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Many people have had mixed reactions to that, as did I initially, but then I soon realized that I didn’t have a problem with it because that only meant I got to see the Notre Dame Women’s team play more often in my home state of North Carolina (though I am still trying to figure how an Indiana school can be in the ACC when they don’t border the actual Atlantic Coast, ha!). Fortunately for me, last basketball season I was able to see the Irish play three times in person (which is a rareity for a girl from North Carolina!) – at Duke, at NC State and at the ACC Tournament in Greensboro. AND, all three times, they WON the game! It was so exciting at the Duke game to be sitting right behind Muffet McGraw and amongst all the Notre Dame fans. At that time, I only possessed green shamrock earrings, so I proudly wore them. Not long after that, I bought an Irish jacket that I just adored. I took it to the Notre Dame vs. NC State Women’s game in late March (now, keep in mind, I am a season ticket holder for NC State, so bringing a Notre Dame jacket in to the building and sitting in my seat was taking a major risk!). After the game, Muffet McGraw came to our side of the court to do her post-game radio interview, and thanks to my wonderful friend Kim, we were able to get Muffet to sign my jacket courtesy of her husband, Matt. Now, you want to talk about taking my jacket to a whole new level – now I wear it with pride, Fighting Irish pride!

One of these days I hope to be able to take the trek up to the University of Notre Dame and tour their campus. I have fortunately toured almost all of the campuses in the ACC and several other conferences, as well. College campuses have always amazed me, as each are similar but also so different and unique in their own ways. I just love walking around on a college campus and taking in their scenic beauty and learning of the history that exists on each campus. One day, I shall make that trek up to South Bend and maybe take in a basketball game on their home turf or who knows, maybe one day I’ll even cheer for their football team (okay, that’s lie, I already have cheered for their football team – anytime they play UNC or a team I don’t like!)

So, in the end you may be asking why are you a fan of Notre Dame and the Fighting Irish when you haven’t been to their campus and don’t like their football team? Well, even though they are pretty, it’s not the golden helmets; it’s not the green shamrocks, nor the little leprechaun, nor the lovely song “Here Come the Irish”, nor their really awesome victory/fight song, the ultimate reason I am a fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is simple, it is two words – Muffet McGraw!! That’s all it takes. An amazing coach, a terrific leader and person – when I think of Notre Dame, I don’t think of the golden dome, I think of the little dark-headed dome of Muffet McGraw!

“The pilgrims follow by the sacred waters
And arm in arm go the sons and daughters
The drums are rolling and forward bound
They're calling spirits up from the ground

And there's a magic in the sound of their name
Here come the Irish of Notre Dame.”