- Joined
- Aug 13, 2013
- Messages
- 8,896
- Reaction Score
- 8,431
Amongst older Irish fans particularly, the past with the Big Ten is remembered...heck, in Irish lore, the past isn't really past.
Notre Dame asked to join the now Big Ten on three occasions and was turned down.
Yost, legendary Michigan coach, led a boycott of Big Ten teams scheduling of the Irish for decades. His reputation is one of being anti catholic. Notre Dame was forced to schedule elsewhere and it became the backbone of their "national" program.
The third rejection from the Big Ten finally led the university to realize what its fan base and alumni already had – three decades of dismissal, hostility, prejudice and rejection had steeled the Irish independent spirit and forced Notre Dame to become the only national program in college football.
But that was ancient past...things have changed...or not.
2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The president of Ohio State University said Notre Dame never was invited to join the Big Ten because the university's priests are not good partners, joking that "those damn Catholics" can't be trusted, according to a recording of a meeting he attended late last year.
"We find the remarks most regrettable, particularly regarding Father Joyce, who served Notre Dame and collegiate athletics so well and for so long. President Gee has contacted Father Jenkins to offer an apology that he has accepted," Notre Dame said in a statement.
In the end, necessity may force a marriage...but Irish fans are still cold to the suitor.
Notre Dame asked to join the now Big Ten on three occasions and was turned down.
Yost, legendary Michigan coach, led a boycott of Big Ten teams scheduling of the Irish for decades. His reputation is one of being anti catholic. Notre Dame was forced to schedule elsewhere and it became the backbone of their "national" program.
The third rejection from the Big Ten finally led the university to realize what its fan base and alumni already had – three decades of dismissal, hostility, prejudice and rejection had steeled the Irish independent spirit and forced Notre Dame to become the only national program in college football.
But that was ancient past...things have changed...or not.
2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The president of Ohio State University said Notre Dame never was invited to join the Big Ten because the university's priests are not good partners, joking that "those damn Catholics" can't be trusted, according to a recording of a meeting he attended late last year.
"We find the remarks most regrettable, particularly regarding Father Joyce, who served Notre Dame and collegiate athletics so well and for so long. President Gee has contacted Father Jenkins to offer an apology that he has accepted," Notre Dame said in a statement.
In the end, necessity may force a marriage...but Irish fans are still cold to the suitor.