Football fun gone this year
David Fulton
senior
From the time I took my first steps I have been attending Notre Dame home football games. I can remember halftimes, watching as the senior student section would turn into a snow storm during their marshmallow fight. The only thing I loved more than the marshmallow fight was tailgating. I loved being in the parking lot mingling and eating while watching students have what seemed to be a great time. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to partake in the fun.
Now, in my fourth year here at Notre Dame, not only do I find that the things I grew up loving at football games are gone, but what has replaced them borders on tyranny. Last week at the USC game I witnessed several acts that not only made me feel powerless, but deeply upset at the University.
The first incident was when an underage friend of mine was issued a citation for minor consumption of alcohol. The Excise police officer ordered her to take a breathalyzer which put her alcohol content well under the legal .08. The officer then proceeded to get in the girl's face while verbally abusing her to the point of tears. He used the harshest of expletives, called her names and told her to stop crying or he would take her to jail immediately. All the girl could do was hold her breath to avoid making any sound while tears streamed down her face.
What strikes me as odd is the fact that the University will allow students, even underage students, to drink in their dorm rooms but will not let them drink less than 100 yards away. Instead, they bring pathetically ignorant little Napoleons in blue uniforms to the campus to treat students, who pay $30,000 a year to go here, abysmally.
The second incident I witnessed was when a friend of mine was removed from his seat in the stadium for eating a marshmallow that landed in his lap. The usher told my friend "You're out of here," and then proceeded to take him by the arm and walk him out. Last time I checked there was nothing in du Lac about eating marshmallows. Maybe I'll have to check again to make sure. The usher then absurdly accused my friend of trying to "rile up the crowd." For one, the crowd was silent until the banana clad man decided to flaunt his power and remove my friend, and secondly, aren't crowds supposed to be riled up at a football game? My mistake, let's all sit with our hands in our laps and a muzzle over our mouths.
Finally, the two brain cells in the usher's head stopped fighting long enough for him to realize how pathetic he was acting and allowed my friend back into the game, but that is not the point. The games have changed. The student section is surrounded by ushers blocking our lines of sight (for which we pay), and giving the impression we are prisoners and not the "leaders of tomorrow," which we are so often said to be.
The Notre Dame football game experience has changed, and I'm afraid for the worse. The fun and frivolity I witnessed as a small boy are gone and replaced by ignorance and power trips.
David Fulton
senior
off-campus
Oct. 28, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Tuesday, October 30, 2001
