Great job. I never understood how the key shaking thing started, we didn't do it when I was a student (early 90's). In fact, when I went to see ND play Maryland at Giants Stadium a few years ago, it was the Maryland fans that were doing that crap - totally gay.
Chris | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 10:24 am | #

Bravo!
Dan96 | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 10:48 am | #

Chris - the key thing began late 80's into at least '91 or '92. Maybe it stopped after that for a while.

It was no problem when limited to actual key plays. But it quickly turned into "every 3rd down is a key play."

It's gay.
Domer | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 11:33 am | #

Key play? That's lame.

We pulled 'em out once the game was out of hand and the opponent's fans are filing out of the stadium after watching their team lose.
irishvol | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 11:52 am | #

Brilliant essay as always. A hard copy should be mailed to each incoming freshman with their dorm assignment letter. I've been a reader of majorlyenglish for a while and the kid has talent. Kudos.
I always thought the key thing started as a means of heckling opposing players who were enticed to their respective schools by offers of automobiles or had been convicted of DUI. Maybe I was reading too far into it. But then again, those are much more snide motivations than "key play" so I'm inclined to assume college students are heckling.
Andrew | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 11:56 am | #

Key play was used when I was a freshman in the fall of 81.
DJ | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 11:56 am | #

Really well said.

Freshmen who might have read that...PLEASE pay close attention to the instructions about how to do The Wave.

Nothing worse then sitting there with your fingers crossed while ND is looking to pick up a 3rd and four late in the third quarter in a close game only to see the wave come at you.

(well...dealing with BC fans is worse, but I was speaking hyperbolically).
-oAk- | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 12:27 pm | #

A Note about Noise:
Noise causes disruption in communication.

Noise should start when the opponents are in their huddle calling the play because there's always some guy in there thinking mostly about sex or partying and only peripherally about the game and will miss his assignment or the snap count if there's lots of Noise. (I think Psycology papers have been written about how often males aged 17-25 think about sex...maybe the smaller timeframe is how often they DON'T think about sex.) Noise should continue till the ball is snapped but it is a waste of your vocal chords to yell after the ball is snapped. St. Mary's chicks have a tendency to continue yelling until they are told the play is over.

TV Timeouts are usually 1 minute 30 seconds and sometimes 2 minutes, so don't waste your voice by screaming at the top of your lungs during the time-out. Watch the guy on the sideline (West 25 yard line). He wears the white arm band and will step onto the field during times-out. When he starts to move his hand down the armband you can start to yell unless, of course, EVERYBODY has been yelling throughout the ENTIRE time-out so the opposing coach cannot communicate with his players on their sideline.

I remember players telling me that Miami fans yelled throughout the times-out when we played them down there and the fan noise was so loud that our players couldn't hear our coach's instructions even though he was right in front of them in the sideline huddle.
O'D | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 12:37 pm | #

Yes, remember to cheer, yell and scream...very little of that goes on at ND games the last 10 years or so. Everyone is so quiet and reserved anymore.

The stadium was a lot louder 20 or 30 years ago...or maybe we had more to cheer about...or maybe I am just getting old and crotchety and reminiscent.
John B. | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 3:43 pm | #

Please forget the juvenile key thing and make some noise by clapping. You are college students and can be expected to clap and yell at the same time. Also, you look foolish doing the key thing on 3rd down and 24 yards to go and 30 seconds left (BC last year). They are not punting on 4th down, they are just getting Ty's defense right where they want it.
Daniel | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 4:21 pm | #

Very strong, Majorly, especially the Tim McCarthy mention. What of the 1812? Is it mandatory to form the W? Is there ever a time to not participate with arm motion/bow?

Also, what of the inane Halls Fruit Breezer yelling? If it is not connected to a specific on-field development, I say nobody screams. As Dad might say..."If you still have enuff energy to ____, you can go out and trim the hedges."

Love thee Notre Dame!
Ed | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 4:23 pm | #

Good question on the 1812! My senior year was Davie's 1st, and I refused to do the stupid "b". The "L" was done as a tribute to Lou, not to "the ND coach"--if I recall correctly, the students just extended their forefinger in a "1" prior to it becoming the "Lou" chant. It should have reverted to that upon Lou's departure, rather than becoming a celebration of mediocre coaching. I hope it finally goes back to that now.
Nate | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 5:05 pm | #

Great ND primer...most notably the warnings to tailgaters. An addendum:

When attempting to get in the gate with some concealed liquid refreshment, be enthusiastic and happy. Try to move with the rush to get past that Usher and Cop as soon as possible. Use the same easy-confidence that you would think might get you in to a good bar underage, or might get you laid, but rarely will at ND. Without risk there can be no reward, and nothing is better than being the guy with a drink when no one else has one.

Later season games and the additional layers of clothing always make it easier to smuggle in those all-too-critical flasks. My personal choice: several cheap plastic flasks (available from Belmont Beverage or Osco quite inexpensively) arranged bandolier-style and combined with the plastic lid-and-straw-included souvenir jumbo soda. This arrangement still allows one to cheer and move about in Section 34 or wherever without spillage. Remember to ration!

And don't worry about those flasks once you have mixed in the men's room. Leave them in the quasi-Grotto your chosen stall has become with the rest of the pints and flasks deposited by generations of Domers on any given day. Never display booze in the concourse. This is a quick way to ejection, Student Affairs, and flies in the face the high SAT/GPA, HS Varsity smoothness or legacy status that got you in.

Last, but not least, watch out for any usher in the Student Sections, no matter how nice he or she may seem. Freshmen get no breaks on the booze. Good luck, kids. I wish I could do it all over again.
CupsChamp | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 5:28 pm | #

Great essay, but I just have one thing to add. As a lifelong ND fan and member of the Class of 09, I know how god awful the new Shirts are, but isn't the point of the Shirt to create a unified student body? Thats why I regret to say that I will be wearing that terrible excuse for a shirt on saturdays.
Andrew | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 6:05 pm | #

Bravo. Whenever I see "must-do" lists, they seem to be written by clueless dorks, and I always disagree with at least half of the stupid things they mention.

Not this time. I'm with you 100%, right down to the clueless parents in the dining hall and the fact that games aren't a $168 social event.
Kanka | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 6:15 pm | #

Does anyone else think rushing the field for any Top 15 team no matter how we win the game is a little bit of a stretch? I think this should be reserved for only top 5 teams unless by the stroke of Satan that team is Purdue or BC.
Kevin | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 6:17 pm | #

Author of the post chiming in here to answer a few comments. First off, Andrew, my young impressionable freshman, you are correct. "The Shirt" is designed to build student unity, and this year, the student body is united in despising this abomination of a cotton/poly blend. Join in.

As for the saluting thing, I'm really clueless as to where this goes now. I'm just waiting for the first pep rally to see how this organically works itself out, as it usually does. But I would like to see the salute go away until Charlie presumably gains it back. No more gimmes.

And as for the "no rushing against Top 15 teams," I think anytime that we are lower ranked than a team in the Top 15, and we beat them in the last minute of the game, I think the theatrics + quality of the win = a noteworthy rushing opportunity. Try to keep me off the field if we hypothetically beat Iowa on a Hail Mary this year.
Pete | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 6:43 pm | #

Hey not a bad primer. As a loyal fan who has been to countless games, why don't we get the cheerleaders to ditch their pathetic little "WE, R, N, D" signs and the student section could just Shout "We Are" with the rest of the stadium replying a thunderous "ND"! That's how it use to be done and it was much more effective. Also It's cool to do it more than once a game.
Rufus | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 7:05 pm | #

If you are paranoid about getting busted in the JACC parking lot and have an older sibling residing at Turtle Creek, Kegs & Eggs is another fine tradition, though I wouldn't recommend spending too long there if this is among your first home games.

What is going on during the 1812 Overture this year anyway? "W"?
Mike Steedle | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 8:33 pm | #

My personal wish is that the 1812 Overture stays, but the coach's name isn't included in the cheer until he wins a national championship. Seems fair to me. A great cheer/tradition sticks around but no forced celebration of a coach until he earns it, as Pete mentioned above.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 08.30.05 - 8:49 pm | #

One thing to add as a fellow senior.

Freshmen...DO NOT do the tomahawk chop to celebrate first down. This is ND not FSU.

One simple first down motion is enough, especially when done in unison with those around you.

And thank for telling our impressional freshmen that, although The Shirt is for student unity, the students declare it sucks and will not wear it.
Matt | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 12:36 am | #

Excellent point on Fredo. Except that you should have called them Fredo. They suck. They always have. Always will. And their only relevance arises from the times that they have defeated us (recently due to poor coaching, in my day due to poor preparation and cockiness). Oh yeah, they once had a midget throw a TD against Miami.

But overall, great stuff.
gmurphy | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 2:17 am | #

Ooh, excellent point about 1st downs and not doing the Chop. I'll add that the proper hand motion when we go on defense and the band plays the "Imperial March" from Empire Strikes Back is NOT the Gator Chomp from UF--DO NOT DO THAT. The proper hand motions is to make a fist, and move your arm up and down at the elbow, not unlike the Psycho knife-murder motion, but with a little more strength.

We are ND. We don't take cheers/hand motions from other schools.
Nate | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 3:56 am | #

Push-ups, anyone?
Domer | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 11:48 am | #

i'm hoping for pushups aplenty especially at purdue.

nothing pissed me off more than seeing pur-don't fans doing their own share of pushups two years ago in their stadium. if you combine that with last year's whipping, these guys deserve extra punishment come game-time. if we find ourselves in a good situation, i hope Weis runs up the score and puts them back in their place.
Matt | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 2:13 pm | #

Somewhat ironic how our constant protestations that BC and Purdue are not rivals further cements that fact that they are.

Hopefully in 5 years they will no longer be.
Moose Krause | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 3:04 pm | #

All it will take for the "rival" talk to change with Purdue and BC is a couple of years of good old ass kicking from ND. Then there will be no talk of them being equal which is what I think fuels the "rivalry" with BC.
Kevin | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 7:31 pm | #

How can we ensure that freshmen are reading this? It's extremely important. Maybe Pete can submit a condensed version of this to the Observer before the MSU game. They will publish anybody on the editorial page (even me, once).
Mike Steedle | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 9:44 pm | #

Mike Steedle,
I'd love to publish this to the Observer, however, I'm already writing a column for them, so there's no way they'd take an editorial from me, it says so in the contract. Of course, I'd welcome anybody else to send it to The Observer, just mention the good guys at BGS.
Pete | Email | Homepage | 08.31.05 - 10:04 pm | #

Nate,
Actually we DO take cheers from other schools. However, it's with the caveat that we BEAT them in a major bowl. Since we haven't done that since UF in the Sugar Bowl (I wonder if Shane Matthews is pumping gas somewhere....). I was told that by the Drum Major in the band. Oh and we did the key play thru my 4 years (91-95).
Domer95 | Email | Homepage | 09.01.05 - 2:37 pm | #

Domer95:

Mirer, Bettis, and Brooks running down the sideline, making the Gator Chomp, mocking the Gator fans during the '93 Sugar Bowl isn't what I'm talking about. That was game specific, directed at the opposing players and fans (and a BEAUTIFUL display of taunting). I'm all for that.

That does NOT mean we should now do the Gator Chomp, Tomahawk Chop, SC's gay bobbing up and down, peace sign motion (what IS that??), etc. ND has enough traditions without needing to steal them from other teams. Since we haven't played UF since that game, for ND students/fans in 2005 to use that, referencing a game 12 years ago that has no relevance to the current season and or opponents, is simply silly.

And yeah, we did the Key thing from 94-98, when I was there, and it continued through 2000, while my wife was there. Some have called it gay--perhaps. But as long as it's accompanied by wild screaming, as Pete said, it's fine.
Nate | Email | Homepage | 09.03.05 - 1:27 am | #

You forgot to mention the tailgating beer glove - not important early in the season, but vital later on even if it's not really cold enough for gloves.

When did freshmen girls stop getting passed to the top of the stadium?

What are the JACC tailgate rules? It used to be anything but a keg was legal on DeBartolo Quad - er, green field.

A friend of mine used to smuggle a case of beer into the games in the duck pocket (giant pocket in back) of his hunting jacket, don't know if that would still work, but worth a try.
Kevin | Email | Homepage | 10.17.05 - 6:26 pm | #

Back as a student in the 70s my first experience with key rattling was at an ND basketball game and it referred to an opposing team's player who had received a car under odd circumstances.

While the Big East probably turned out to be good for Hoops there are those of us who miss our era of "independence" particularly during Digger's early years from about 1972-80.
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 08.27.07 - 11:32 am | #

This is the best I've seen a while! GO IRISH!
costrows | Email | Homepage | 08.27.07 - 10:19 pm | #