John Heisler's propaganda piece relating to conference
membership was an insult to the intelligence of Notre
Dame alumni. Disguised as an objective treatment, it was clearly
part of a public relations effort to move alumni toward acceptance
of the "inevitability" of conference membership due to the brave
new world in which ND must find its way. Heisler was dishonest
in several important ways, and worse, his tone toward alumni who
value independence was breathtakingly patronizing.
There are too many flaws in the article to address, point by
point, in this space. But certain of them deserve special attention.
First, Heisler mischaracterized the depth and breadth of alumni
opposition to conference membership, describing them only as "some
alumni." If he were indeed fair, he would acknowledge that alumni
overwhelmingly favor remaining independent. And he would not characterize
those alumni as somehow unenlightened.
Second, Heisler gives short shrift to the arguments in favor
of remaining independent. He gives only lip service to centrality
of independence to the development of ND's unique national scope
and, as a result, its iconic stature in sport and indeed American
culture. Independence has allowed ND to play schools from most
conference most years, including regular games against powers
from the SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, and other conferences. Joining a
conference would regionalize ND and diminish its status permanently.
Third, Heisler disguised this article as objective, when, in
fact, it was meant to sell alumni on the idea of surrendering
independence. Alumni deserve candor from ND's sports information
director. It would have been refreshing for him to disclose how
he came to write the article and why.
White and Heisler better understand that alumni aren't idiots.
Alumni will see joining a conference as an act of cowardice and
a hedge against the incompetence that inheres at ND.
If we had decent leadership (the kind that would never, ever
hire a 44-36 coach), we would be in fat city, feasting on the
spoils of BCS bowl revenue most every year. But this administration
know their limitations, and are insecure in their ability to provide
the kind of stewardship we need to play championship-level football
worthy of our legacy. Rather than doing what is necessary to achieve
excellence, they will take the easy way out.
Andrew Cross '88
Saint Louis, Missouri
Please don't respond, just read. I don''t need the
perfunctory form letter devoid of any kind of genuine emotion
explaining to me how I should blindly support whatever decision
Notre Dame makes. Notre Dame's administration needs to either
fix the football program or step aside.
Let me begin by noting that I have faith that Athletic Director
Kevin White can put Notre Dame's football program in championship
position, whether or not Notre Dame joins a conference. Further,
Mr. White has done a fantastic job in positioning other ND sports
for championship success.
However, I believe that the current administration will not give
Mr. White the proper authority and resources to enable the Notre
Dame football team to become a consistent winner again. The insinuation
that conference membership is the panacea for the football program's
problems is an insult to all involved with ND football. We will
fare no better in a conference if the administration continues
on its current management path. We have other more pressing fundamental
issues that need to be addressed, such as why talented football
players who qualify academically do not want to attend Notre Dame.
The administration would be well served to educate themselves
as to the importance of Notre Dame football. I can sum the importance
up in two principles. One, Notre Dame football put Notre Dame
on the map athletically. Two, Notre Dame football has been an
invaluable tool in establishing and maintaining Notre Dame's academic
reputation.
The administration has used and will continue to use Notre Dame
football for its own needs but seems unprepared to give the program
a chance to succeed in the current climate. I'm tired of all the
condescending shallow lip service as to how much the administration
cares about Notre Dame football. Please tell the administration
to do the right thing, which is to do whatever is necessary to
fix Notre Dame football or step aside and let someone else take
over!
Brian Bisciotti '86
Mansfield, Massachusetts
The issue in my view is not about maintaining "football
independence", but rather maintaining ND as a SPECIAL PLACE. We
are a national, Catholic school of geographic balance and diversity.
Football may have been one of the means to the end of creating a
superb academic institution, but our goals now do not warrant continued
"means justifying the end" beyond this point. The Ivy League and
other first-tier academic universities do not need football to accomplish
their endowment and operating cash flow requirements. Let us continue
to stand alone as an institution committed to human values, moral
integrity and acadmeic excellence. To join a conference to generate
the revenue desired, and accomplish the goal of annual bowl participation
would homogenize the University into the category of just another
"major, Division 1 football-focused" university that prioritizes
revenue generation at the expense of being a truly unique"special
place". If ND goes into a conference for football, it will lose
both the cachet and reality of being a "special place". If ND goes
into a conference for football, it will give credence to the derisive
translantion of CSC: "Come Sweet Cash". Whose idea is it to abandon
the CSC charism of Chrisitan values, moral ethics and service to
others? The only thing conference membership will accomplish will
be the dilution of the ND traditions, diminishment of the progress
towards human and academic excellence, and the capitulation to the
"greed driven" focus of the majority of Division 1, major universities.
Show some leadership; form a Division 3 conference of the highest
quality academic schools and let legitimate students compete in
all sports. The academically legitimate graduates of ND can and
will support ND. Joining the "herd" of football powers is not in
the best interest of ND. I was proud to go to ND, my son Jim was
proud to go to ND, and I will be proud to have my grandchildren
go to ND . . . maybe.
John B. Higgins '58
Northbrook, Illinois
Absent in John Heisler's article on football conference
affiliation is a good reason to do it. Five solid reasons
are arrayed against joining a conference; two speculative benefits
are cited. In that regard, it is outright misleading to represent
that athletic (!) affiliation could actually be a factor in entry
to the academic Association of American Universities. And please
tell us how finishing about ninth in the Big 10 in football will
help.
It is not just a matter of philosophy or emotion, although those
forces will be percolating through Notre Dame world if we seriously
consider conferencing-up. No, the decision must be driven by academic
self-interest, to wit:
Conferencing in football would squander our unique identity,
as Heisler acknowledges, even more than has happened already.
This uniqueness provides much of the backdrop, and prestige, for
our whole enterprise - thus denoting one real athletic-academic
connection.
Worse might be the sacrifice of unshared TV and bowl revenue
(assuming we do bowl in the future). Those millions of dollars
- annually - go straight to academics. Such a diversion from academics
would be morally unconscionable. And for what end, to support
Olympic sports? Important as those are, Notre Dame is not about
subordinating academics to athletics! Our special example has
long been using athletics to support, i.e., fund, academics. After
all, what higher purpose can college sports have? Joining a conference
in football would undermine this sacred tradition - and perhaps
you never thought about it that way.
This football conference deliberation represents an IQ test for
the university, and present signs are not auspicious. Of course
the rest of college football would like to stampede us into giving
up our unique nature, and will use the BCS to do it. Our leaders
seem on the verge of succumbing to panic, but I have good news
for them: You need not stress over football affiliation because
there is no decision to be made! If they tilt the BCS criteria
against us, let them. Writing us out of the BCS is like writing
the Cubs or Red Sox out of the World Series, at least until ND
football gets well, which obviously is years away. Until then,
the matter is moot. So hang loose, give the new Big East a chance,
and the landscape may change again, in our favor. Let us not make
a hasty, self-destructive choice.
John F. Gaski '71
Notre Dame, Indiana
Thanks for the great article on the status of
ND football in relation to conferences.
I believe the Irish should remain independent. However, they
should start scheduling more schools with the same ideals and
academic standards. It's nice to say we played the toughest schedule
in the country this past year, but look at the BCS bowl teams.
Where did they rank? It is difficult to remain on a par with schools
that red-shirt their entire freshman class, allow junior college
transfers and recruit athletes with low academic standards.
In summary, stay independent and tone down the schedule a bit.
Go Irish!
Anthony G. Bilotti '44
Morris Plains, New Jersey
Since most Notre Dame football players are similar
to the bunch of spoiled, pampered, overrated and privileged ones
from out East, why not join their conference? It would enhance
the image of the University of Notre Dame as a wealthy Catholic
institution bringing honest Republican family values to an otherwise
Eastern liberal education. A victory on the football field would
ensure the righteousness of both the Church and all the Domers
involved in the Bush White House! Maybe the Pope and George W.
Bush would become subway alumni and attend a game together!??
Doesn't that just send a chill down everyone's spine? It does
mine!
Jeff Monaghan '83
Evanston, llinois
Excellent article. No doubt you will hear the angry voices
of many alumni who rant and rave about how Notre Dame will somehow
loose its identity or luster. Unfortunately, most of those alumni
base that perception on what Notre Dame used to be rather than
what they are today and, more importantly, where they should and
could be going. It was refreshing to see someone base an opinion
on the real world, not emotion-driven reminiscence of the days
of old. Go Irish.
Benjamin Jilek '02J.D.
Tampa, Florida
I grew up in California worshiping Notre Dame. It
was a family tradition started by my grandmother who was born
in 1897.
The spirit and excellence of Notre Dame football was the point
of entry for our devotion and what sustained it as part of a passionate
"subway alumni" whose voices should never be dismissed.
Notre Dame in a Midwestern or Atlantic conference for football?
What a mistake. The wheels would be set in motion to lose future
generations of subway alums who live throughout the world.
Michael Amodei
South Bend, Indiana
The most troubling aspect of John Heisler's article
was his statement lamenting how tough it is for the athletic department
and Kevin White in particular to negotiate television deals. Heisler
writes, "All major conference members are handed BCS access, a
package of secondary bowl options, an eight-game league schedule
and a television package through their conference affiliation.
At Notre Dame, all those areas are left for the institution --
and White in particular -- to negotiate." There should be no concern
over the perceived difficulty of negotiating deals for scheduling,
television coverage, or bowls. This is the way it is at Notre
Dame, and the way it always has been. If Dr. White finds this
to be too much work, maybe he should have stayed out in the desert.
Dr. White must realize that to whom much is given, much is expected.
It is unfortunate that Dr. White and his staff have to work harder
than those in the same positions at universities with conference
affiliations. However, I bet his move from Tempe to South Bend
included a nice pay raise too. He should be expected to work harder.
If the athletics administration feels they are overworked by
maintaining independence, then new people must be brought in who
understand what is expected of them. Another solution that has
been offered is to relegate Dr. White's duties to overseeing the
non-revenue sports, which seems to be his forte considering he
once hired Buddy Teevens at Tulane, and hire a skilled manager
and negotiator to steward the football program, securing independence
and protecting its interests from the barbarian conference invasion.
Kevin Sarb '02
John Heisler's article on conference affiliation for
football is disturbing at several levels, not least because
of its author's job position. The only logical deduction is that
the administration is "vetting" this option with alumni and others
interested in Notre Dame through its magazine. The prospect of
giving up football independence is couched in terms of a changing
climate in college football, BCS participation rules, trends toward
conference membership and the like. Here's the problem. Whatever
the merits of any decision to affiliate with a conference, no
such decision should ever -- I repeat, ever -- be made out of
perceived, self-inflicted weakness. Unfortunately, Mr. Heisler's
article is fragrant with that aroma. A decision to abandon 117
years of independence should be made only if absolutely essential
to the university's best interests and then only from a standpoint
of strength. The solution is simple. Before Notre Dame opts to
affiliate with the likes of South Florida, Cincinnati, Louisville
and Rutgers (for example) fix the currently stagnant football
program. I predict that if this obvious remedy is chosen, the
course will become very clear. Our administration would do well
to halt the decline it has perpetuated and to resolve that this
legendary program be restored to the excellence Notre Dame used
to aspire to in everything. The administration would also do well
to heed the words of Ulysses S Grant at the height of crisis during
the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. Surrounded by hand-wringing
subordinates who were wildly speculating on the enemy's next move,
Grant stopped them. "I am heartily tired of hearing about what
Lee is going to do," he said. "Go back to your commands, and try
to think about what we are going to do instead of wondering what
Lee is going to do." End the handwringing and work on a real return
to glory.
John Foskett '73
Boston, Massachusetts
I have to agree with Mr. Heisler. Just as occurred with
the basketball program, conference affiliation will help restore
the ND football program more swiftly.
At this point, our players have nothing tangible to play for
once we have two losses. With the schedules (the brutality of
which is both unnecessary and counterproductive) and the admissions
requirements (also unnecessarily brutal when in my mind character,
the desire to excel, and a love for the the school and its values
should trump GPAs and SATs) imposed by a clueless administration,
it is simply not realistic to expect to compete in BCS bowls on
an annual basis.
Conference affiliation would bring some sanity to the scheduling
while still allowing intersectional rivalry games to take place.
While we may not have annual games with all of our current rivals,
they could certainly be worked into the schedule regularly. More
important, the opportunity for a conference championship and associated
bowl bids would make Notre Dame football something other than
the traveling road show it has become.
The preoccupation with independence impresses me as misguided
arrogance (our program has been terrible for almost a decade now)and
an irrational fear that the prestige of the university will suffer.
In contrast, I believe Notre Dame would be well served to be practical
and, yes, humble, and enjoy all of the benefits that accompany
conference affiliation. I personally would be proud of a Notre
Dame that is a leader in the Big Ten. It is certainly a welcome
alternative to being an independent doormat strangled by dreams
of past glory.
David Burke '98
San Diego, California
Dear Mr. Heisler, Regardless of how strong or weak
Notre Dame's position is in the new BCS discussions, I fail to
see how you or anyone representing Notre Dame could even consider
ending more than a century of football independence.
Ending some of the greatest cross-sectional rivalries in all
of college football, sharing revenues that Notre Dame will disproportionately
contribute, sharing identity with programs that do not compare
with ND's commitment to excellence and/or the true student-athlete,
regionalizing and weakening a competitive national schedule, are
just a few of the sacrifices I would hope you are not prepared
to make at this or any foreseeable time in the future.
Could you really accept Notre Dame becoming Michigan's #3 intraconference
rival? Or playing more than half of our road games in the Carolinas
and Florida? Come on! Look no further than Penn State to see an
example of a prominent football program that is still struggling
10+ years after conference affiliation to establish a single rivalry
within its conference that compares to any of the 15+ perennial
Big Ten intraconference rivalries that preceded its entry into
the conference, or Penn State''s own long-standing rivalries that
have been terminated since joining the Big Ten.
Dr. White has done an admirable job in upgrading Notre Dame's
athletic programs, facilities and coaches over the past four years.
I hope he will someday win the NACDA/SEARS Trophy for Notre Dame
athletics. However, based on these trial balloons issued by the
athletic department, I think you and others "inside" the athletic
department need a reality check from the outside.
Notre Dame football is far more important to alumni, donors,
students, South Bend and subway alumni than all of the Olympic
sports (including men's and women's basketball) combined. That
statement of fact may break Dr. White's and Muffet McGraw's hearts,
but that is, has been and will continue to be reality at Notre
Dame. Excellence in all sports should continue to be a priority,
but never, ever at the expense of the football program or football
independence.
Rather than floating conference ideas, particularly now with
the Big East and NBC contracts set for the next several years,
I would hope you and Dr. White are instead focusing on how to
make better football coach hires in the future. In the last 25
years, Notre Dame has hired two failures (Faust, Davie), two coaches
well below the profile of a "proven winner at the highest level"
that justified Bob Davie's firing (O''Leary, Willingham), and
one success (Holtz). One or two out of five is unacceptable at
Notre Dame. Dr. White and his staff should be evaluating what
went wrong and what could have been done better at every step
of the last hire (O''Leary/Willingham). Whether the next hire
is tomorrow or 20 years from now, I would expect that the institutional
elements (money, efficient decision making structure) and a short
list of candidates (support from an informal committee of ND football
grads) will be in place to ensure that the very best coach possible
will be hired, no excuses.
Football independence makes your jobs more difficult than any
department in college athletics. I hope you and Dr. White will
continue to meet and embrace that challenge for as long as you
are part of the Notre Dame family.
Pat Reis '85
Minneapolis, Minnesota
"Commitment to excellence" rings hollow without
resources and a strategic plan to use, enhance and preserve them
by capable professionals.
Once we pop the trial balloon of conference affiliation, the
professional substance of the current administration appears of
no greater relevance than those abominable TV spots during game
broadcasts in which our titular leader wanders and rambles far
from the core of the Notre Dame essence.
The erosion of what Notre Dame once stood for is easily, and
most symbolically, seen in the travesty that has become Notre
Dame football, but there is also an insidious stripping away of
the ND spirit in the decline of campus social life (even further
than during my student years), obsession with alcohol consumption,
restrictions on tailgating, driving students off campus, etc.
Just a few weekends per year of this new version of in loco
parentis -- now extended to people of all ages -- is about
all I can stand.
Notre Dame should lead by example as an outstanding independent
in academics and athletics, not cower in the ladies room waiting
to be asked for a dance by some pimple faced conference.
While the siren song of an elite academic membership may entice,
the true driving force is a faculty who will use it as pounding
point for salary adjustment. Is it not true that several schools
of some of the conferences that court us are not members? If we
do aspire to attain this "academic" accreditation, why would it
be determined by our "athletic" affiliation?
Football put Notre Dame on the map. The administration should
celebrate not shun that fact. The current shabby treatment of
the once proud football program is much like the treatment of
older alumni, e.g. that we are too dumb to attend the ND of today
and that our fumbling fingers are only good for writing checks
in the annual shakedown for entry into the alumni ticket lottery.
Our fine ND education endeavored to give us the ability to think
logically and independently. Our fine ND experience also showed
us how to embrace the spirituality and sheer joy of being part
of something unique, iconic and proud.
I am not buying what Mr. Heisler is selling, and moreover, he
and his CSC masters should be ashamed to be peddling it.
Deborah de Lorenzo '77
Superior Township, Michigan
The sad reality is that we have con men running Notre
Dame right now. The only ones that would benefit from
ND joining a conference right now would be the other members of
that conference.
Father Malloy needs to go before Notre Dame becomes a bigger
joke then it already has. People laugh at us now. Kevin White
is Monk's puppet and should go as well.
Someone needs to step in and take control of this situation.
Notre Dame needs help and needs it now. Ara comes to mind as someone
we could lean on in an advisory level. Someone who understands
what it takes to win big at ND.
If change doesn't come soon (like after next year when Ty goes
5-6) then we are doomed. Joining a silly conference(namely the
anti-Catholic little 11) will not cure what has happened at Notre
Dame. Kicking Monk and White to the curb would be a great start
though.
Proud Subway Alum
Brian Quinn
Tinley Park, Illinois
(January 2004)
