Well it isn’t going to be happening in the Midwest and it isn’t exactly the biggest game that Gameday will be covering. Let’s say this, though: when you turn on ESPN this Saturday and you see the battle of the Golden Domes, BlarneyFest, the Holy War going down in Alumni Stadium you will witness one of the most heated rivalries in college football.
I’m talking about the Boston College/Notre Dame game.
This year the 5-3 teams face off for the 18th time since 1975. Irish Catholics from Chicago to Boston will be drinking heavily, and pleading with their teams to rise out of bitter mediocrity to walk away saying, “If the rest of the season fails, at least we beat them.â€
I’ll give you some history. You may be wondering, “Kaner, Chicago based? You must be an ND fan.†Bull. I would have already made some pretentious comment about how Jimmy Clasuen is the truth, our “storied history†or how everything is Ty Willingham’s fault. I am a Boston College Eagle to the core.
Here’s a personal aside, an op-ed statement about my relationship with the Irish:
As I watched the ND-Michigan game I almost threw up in my mouth.
Disgusting. Good god, there is nothing worse than the “ND mystique.” I know I’m part of a select
population, especially here in Chicago, that cannot stand the media’s allegiance to Notre Dame football. So they’re winning, winning big in the 1st quarter against a major rival at home, all the pieces are in place for the ND bookstore to spike in sales this week and NBC to get a small boner about the Domers. Frankly, are they deserving of this? More importantly, how is the mood on the sideline a key story they need to shove down my throat? Why do I have to listen about Jimmy Clausen’s smile and demeanor? I get it, people can’t avoid being all verklempt about the tradition of great white football players (minus Tim Brown), they love. Just don’t make me listen to it. It’s like watching Fox News cover John McCain, not any interest in balance at all. It’s as annoying as watching Joe Buck broadcast the Yankees.
“Why are you hating on Coach FUPA and the Irish, Sean? The squad deserves the credit, they look good and they’e due.” It’s because I’m too close to it, that’s why. When you grow up watching Doug Flutie as an NFL journeyman, remember being unable to sleep after last year’s last minute Virginia Tech upset heroics led by Matty Ice and your favorite player on the hometown Bears is Josh Beekman. 
I’ll decode it for you. As a Boston College boy I hate the university that has looked at us like a little brother for the last 33 years and 17 meetings. We’ve grown up it’s not the mid nineties when we were a spoiler in 93 we’ve enjoyed some legitimate success and deserve the respect. We’ve managed to win 6 of the last 7 meetings (8 of 17, all time.).
Really, though, I can’t stand watching Notre Dame succeed because it makes us look like the kid brother again. It stings because everyone believes that we really are the little brother. Even worse, I have to listen to it. With family attached to South Bend and traveling in circles of friends here in Chicago, where ND fans don’t fume about the rivalry like I do. This year seems no different. As my Eagles dropped the home opener to Georgia Tech, basically in the 4th quarter, I poured myself into a pitcher, just another misplaced college football fan in a bar away from school. It’s clear, Matt Ryan is gone We’ve got a solid D, but that is only going to stop us from getting blown out in the super athletic ACC. Now, I know Jags has a plan but let’s face it, BC is taking on little brother status again this year and the Eagles may be headed to the Meineke Car Care Bowl to play the fourth seed out of the WAC, if we’re lucky. While the shining blond All-American, Notre Dame, strikes up the band and leprechauns everywhere do pushups
.
Maybe we are the little guy but I, like the faithful Superfans got self-respect and hate that smiley big brother of the Midwest who pats you on the head. You wanna punch him in the balls over and over again, and we have but he doesn’t really care. Let’s just say this, I will await November 8th in Alumni Stadium with great anticipation to punch Notre Dame square in the nuts, again. Until then I’ll put the TV on mute and stop my whining.
Needless to say, I’m getting on a plane Thursday night and I’m shipping up to Boston to start the tailgate. All pissing and moaning about feeling underappreciated and bad blood aside, this is a huge football game for both teams.
ND is coming off an excruciating loss to Pitt. After four overtimes, the ND defense proved they couldn’t stop the Panthers running game for that long and couldn’t find the endzone. They picked up their third loss which comes in addition to losses to Michigan State and North Carolina. They have proved they can beat mediocre teams, but those who put up a challenge with some speed will get over on them.
My Eagles are almost in the exact same boat. Without Matt Ryan, this team has struggled to sustain any offensive identity, looking to multiple QBs and a number of backs in the backfield they have gotten some decent wins but also lost to 3 pretty-mediocre teams. They lost a home opener to Georgia Tech, got stuffed at home by UNC and lost a comeback heartbreaker to Clemson last weekend. We are desperately in need of another win to get some momentum going into the last month of the season. The ACC is about the most backwards conference in the nation with no team staying in the rankings for more than five mintues. If the Eagles expect to get a mediocre bowl bid to, if nothing else, continue the streak (9 bowl games in 9 years), then we have to start getting quality wins and try to run the table. A loss to Notre Dame could be a blow that puts us down and out.
ND has got to impress as well. While their cocktail of Big-Ten, Big-East, ACC schedule is tough, if they don’t get to 8 wins, they will be sitting at home in December. They have USC coming up, so they can’t count on getting an 8th win there, they’ll have to run the table till then, starting Saturday.
Realistically, the battle determines little, will the Irish go to the Gator Bowl? Will the Eagles make another appearance in the Meineke Car Care bowl? While the game on Saturday has little consequence, as an Eagle I pray that getting to see George Foreman’s face next to my team’s name doesn’t make us the best team in the country but it does mean that we beat Notre Dame. Thus, the year was not a wash, a rebuilding year but a rebuilding year when we won at home against the team we hate. And for those of us who don’t even know what the BCS stands for, because our team won’t even bother with it, that’s what college football is really all about, making the trek to your Alma Mater, getting loose in the parking lot and beating the bad guys at home.
[tags]college football, notre dame, boston college[/tags]
