Miami Hurricanes at Notre Dame, One Fan’s Experience
Friday
My first glimpse of the Notre Dame campus when driving was a cemetery. While the sun peered onto the eroded stones in the ground, I asked: “Why on the earth is there a cemetery on campus?” Unusual for most schools in America, once I roamed the campus, I understood.
Driving in, I could see the glistening golden dome from afar in the middle of the tree’s flourishing in autumn’s delight. While finding a place to park on campus, at every stop there was an usher to greet people and give directions. It was not even game day yet.
The amount of people on campus was astounding. I have never seen a College Campus like this. The campus bookstore looked like a mall during Christmas season. There were even Miami fans, including myself, in the bookstore. The passion for Notre Dame proved to be impressive.
As the day lingered, we grabbed lunch at Legends, where part of the movie “Rudy” was filmed. The menu held a sense of influence from ESPN morning host and former Notre Dame defensive lineman Mike Golic. of Mike and Mike.
The Golic Burger and Golic’s Notre Dame Sub are on the Legends Menu and served with Golic Aioli. This was revealing to the status that they hold former players to, a characteristic that the “Canesfam” shares with the former players of Miami.
While exploring the campus and wearing Miami gear head to toe, I met locals and more Notre Dame fans. Many of them welcomed me to Notre Dame. The gesture was kind and genuine, and you could sense the pride behind it. It was pure.
After surveying the campus, I visited inside what they called “The Golden Dome” or administration building. The paintings inside replicated the echoes of Michelangelo. With Notre Dame’s Catholicism eccentric brand, I began to see why the notion of the cemetery existed.
Just next door, I arrived at the cathedral or place of worship. Regardless of religious affiliation, one would have to appreciate the architecture and paintings inside the building.
Golden materials glistened inside the church, Jesus and the apostles stood on the side of the walls, and candles illuminated the center of the room. After my glance, I streamed outside to the commons area to hear fans of Notre Dame cheer to their fight song. Honestly, it was a bit catchy, but after the third time, it got weary.
As the sun diminished, Brian Kelly and his team spoke to the crowd at a pep rally. We heard the typical coach speak about how hard his team “practice and prepared” during Notre Dame’s bye week and how they will “beat the Hurricanes”.
Notre Dame was off the week before facing Miami, The way Miami had been playing during a three-game losing streak did not make me very confident about winning the game on Saturday.