Somehow, Holtz looks out of place there. Agree with the need for Leahy. No Leahy is akin to a NY Yankee tribute that omits Dimaggio.
Other than that, the design is pretty cool.
Bill | Email | Homepage | 04.22.06 - 7:53 pm | #

Once again, I shake my head. What is the purpose of this shirt?

I am no corndogger or volunteer fan, but one must admit it is an impressive and intimating sight when the stadia afore mentioned are awash in red or orange (remember the embarrassment four years ago when cornhusker fans virtually turn ND stadium into a flaming red pustule?)

Notre Dame stadium should be a sea of green. This green to blue to yellow to blue...what's the point?
Yago | Email | Homepage | 04.22.06 - 8:59 pm | #

I think the point is to get people to buy the newest version. If it's always green, people won't always want to buy the newest one. Not saying I agree, but that's the likely rationale.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 04.22.06 - 9:21 pm | #

Sounds reasonable Pat.

I would suggest to the committee if they could get the total 80,000 folks buying them on each Saturday, sales might be slightly higher.
Yago | Email | Homepage | 04.22.06 - 9:45 pm | #

No Leahy is a huge omission that is not a small thing and cannot be explained away with an excuse like 'he did not impact our student generation'. Just ask yourself - would you wear this shirt into heaven and walk past Coach Leahy?
Huge mistake.
Frank | Email | Homepage | 04.22.06 - 9:54 pm | #

Ugh! I hope they never make another green shirt. They remind me too much of Tyrone Willingham. I don't see why we shouldn't have blue and/or gold shirts.
Loretta | Email | Homepage | 04.22.06 - 10:17 pm | #

Of course, once you start complaining about Leahy not being on the shirt, I think it's only fair to protest the absence of Devine. He won a national championship at Notre Dame too.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 04.22.06 - 10:22 pm | #

For some reason I have no problem with Leahy's ommission. It's just a shirt. I think Rockne, Leahy and Holtz for one reason or another are remembered more and talked about more than Leahy and Devine. Maybe just my perception. Maybe they left Leahy off the shirt intentionally and next year they will have just him and Charlie on the shirt to get more people to buy it. Also, I am excited about this shirt because it's blue... I can wear it around more than just a packed football stadium, plus it's our official color. I was getting tired of the green. And they "gold" last year was in fact maize/yellow. First "the Shirt" I have bought in three years.
Jake | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 1:35 am | #

Changing the color to get more sales might be part of the reason, but remember that The Shirt was not the same color each year before Willingham. I like the design of The Shirt this year and reaction to The Shirt has been positive so far on campus. I would rather have had green because it stands out well in the stadium, but I understand that green is still tied to Willingham, maybe next year.
John | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 2:13 am | #

How great it is to finally have another great shirt! Have you all checked out the desktop backgrounds and other media surrounding the project this year? What a terrific job these students have done.

The absence of Leahy is probably justified for this generation of students anyways. Any more people on the back would be too complex. If you add Leahy, you HAVE to add Devine, and I was told Weis didn't want to be a part of that mix as the only coach to not win a national championship.

I LOVE the quote. The design is solid. These kids are quite talented, and are turning out professional work for a great cause, all while taking classes and being full-time students. What an impressive year for the project.
Matthew | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 2:25 am | #

By choosing to change the color of the shirt every year, Notre Dame is once again displaying their penchant for prioritizing money and profits over tradition. Of all the things Tyrone did wrong, advocating for the "Sea of Green" was one of the things he got right. I'm tired of the only identity noticeable in ND stadium being the visitor's section. Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee and USC don't seem to have a problem with t-shirt sales over time, and yet when they come to your stadium, you know it! Notre Dame needs to reestablish the Sea of Green so that their identity can extend beyond the student section at home games.
Joe | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 8:56 am | #

This is one of the best Shirt's they've done, maybe second only to 1992. The graphics are distinct, professional, and eye-catching. They effectively convey an atmosphere of tradition and mystique. The main lettering is large and clear enough to read without somebody sticking their face in your chest. And the quote isn't cliched or cheezy.

Still, I have some issues.

The back feels a little busy to me. For one thing, the coaches are oddly crammed to the left. But the main problem is that the Four Horseman are plopped on top of them, creating a sense of clutter. The Horsemen could have been left out, especially since they've appeared on at least two previous Shirts. That would have left plenty of room for Leahy and would have simplified the theme.

Second, I feel a little uneasy about (implicitly) placing Weis on the same level as legendary championship coaches. We should give him a chance to earn it on the field first.
Paul P | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 9:24 am | #

The "shirt" should have Rockne, Leahy and Devine sitting around a table in heaven with the Gipper. Below the clouds, picture Ara explaining to Weis how to get it done.
Tom Freebury | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 9:49 am | #

Long live Joe. Long live Joe.

Green doesn't belong to Ty. Loretta wake up. Green goes back decades before Willingham.

Joe is right. Just cause Ty is a bitter memory, doesn't mean he was wrong about the sea of green. He was absolutely right....for once.

Green stands out. The gold shirt has always looked yellow. Imagine my shock to see ND students pass for Michigan fans last year at the big house because of their "maize" shirt. Dark blue? Meaningless in a stadium. Green is the only answer and a color not used by any other university that I can think of.
Yago | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 11:48 am | #

Considering the desire to get past the error that was Willingham, I think it's wise to retire the green for a while. We need to work the Molder of Men out of our systems.

There is precedent for this type of behavior. Have we gone with Madonna Blue apparel since Gerry Faust left?
FortWayner | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 12:18 pm | #

There is no excuse, none, for leaving off the greatest college coach ever from the shirt.
Alan Ruderman | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 12:22 pm | #

Jez. Since when does someone own a color? Ty is a dawg. Purple is his color (otherwise known as Madonna blue). He's gone. Forget him. Do not allow him the role of doppelganger.

Green is the primary color of Ireland. It is a part of the Irish flag. It is the color of the Irish mascot, the Leprechaun. It even once graced the Fighting Irish helmet in the form of the most holy of Irish symbols, the GREEN four-leaf clover!

Tell me where the h--- blue comes from? It comes from the university seal. But you don't see us translating the "Fighting Irish" into Latin, do you. Are we the Fighting Irish or the "Arguing Azures?"

Come September I expect a sea of blue/navy, with white caps of yellow mixed with flotsam and jetsam of kelly green. Completely meaningless...

However yesterday was fun.
Yago | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 2:30 pm | #

Yago, Gold and blue are the colors associated with Mary, Patroness of the University. Whom I think we all agree is a lot more important with football.
DJ | Email | Homepage | 04.23.06 - 9:08 pm | #

I just saw Reggie Bush on ESPN endorsing the blue shirt. "Anything but green" was his last comment.
Yago | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 6:33 am | #

Where is Kuharick, how about Faust? Notre Dame coaches never get any respect.
Fr. Ted | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 9:31 am | #

Leahy never lost a game in 4 years....46-49. You omit a guy like that on your shirt???????
Fr. Ted | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 9:31 am | #

Not sure of the genesis of the shirt, but I believe it has turned into one of the biggest moneygrabs at ND. Correct me if I am wrong, but the initial "Shirt" was designed by students as a fundraiser. What it has grown into appears to be much different.
Believe it or not, there are still students at ND that cannot afford to spend the money for the shirt, but still do. For students, the shirt should come with the purchase of season tickets. Don't guilt someone into spending money they don't necessarily have into buying the shirt. Give it to them. For some kids the pressure to be "a part of the tradition" may be at the expense of a case of beer. The travesty!
I haven't been on campus in a while, but I always remember the ingenuity of the student body when it came to the printing of "bootleg" shirts. The best one I remember was back in the mid-80's when we played USC and Navy on successive weekends. The tag-line was "Burst throught the Trojans and bring on the Seamen".
If the objective is to have the entire stadium wearing the shirt, offer it at just above cost for the first game. Allow people only to buy it at this rate on the first weekend. This would probably sway some to drop the dough that they otherwise would not, and more people would wear it once inside the stadium. This way you could get that "Sea of XXXX (Insert Color Here). Start the trend and for all subsequent home games, you might be able to get a repeat of the stadium appearing aligned under a single color.
Lance Boil | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 11:25 am | #

Lance. You're missing the fifth X in "green."
Yago | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 10:45 pm | #

Sheesh - the color change was motivated by money? How dumb can you be? The Shirt is an annual tradition, designed by students. People buy it to be part of the tradition, not just to have the latest color. Much of the revenues are still given to charity, and another portion is given to the Rectors fund, which helps out those kids who "can't afford the shirt."

BTW, the Shirt costs $15, much cheaper than most of the T-shirts in the bookstore.
Steve R | Email | Homepage | 04.27.06 - 10:24 am | #

Having just graduated from Notre Dame, I must agree that The Shirt seems to have outgrown its humble beginnings as a charity fundraiser, and is now way too commercialized. I do believe it should be free for students - it's all the visitors and alums who come to campus for game weekends who buy the stuff anyway.
Brian | Email | Homepage | 05.27.06 - 10:59 pm | #

Good thing Weis is in the middle, or else the wearer might lean so far to one side that it'd be impossible to stand up.

He looks so unprofessional next to Knute, Parseghian, and Holtz. Why not replace him with Leahy?
Jake | Email | Homepage | 05.29.06 - 1:18 pm | #