I have said it before and I’ll say it again – I hate the Shamrock Series. I mainly hate the idea of giving up a home game to play a game at a neutral site that often involves traveling to a distant locale. The majority of these games have fallen in October and November often when teams start to wear down. Despite these negatives, I get it! The Shamrock Series helps with recruiting, it speaks to Notre Dame being a national university, and the cynical side is that it is a huge money-maker. I should also get over it and mention that Notre Dame is 8-0 in Shamrock Series contests.
The uniform, especially this year, is a completely different animal. In the few hours since its release twitter has been full of criticism. I’ve also seen Business Insider, Gene Wojciechowski, and Tim Brando blast the look thus far. Trust me there will be others. My answer to all of this is, who cares! Some of these folks are simply Notre Dame haters that would complain about anything Notre Dame did. Others who criticize, may need a history lesson in Notre Dame uniforms. Dan Devine changed the uniform to green. Gerry Faust altered the uniform again bringing back blue to the uniform but making it a lighter shade of Madonna blue. There have also been periods that featured jerseys with player names on the back another alteration in the “tradition” that loudly complaining Notre Dame fans cling to.
For the record, my take on the uniform is that I’m always excited to see it and some of them I have liked more than others. For example, I was not a fan of the green in the 2016 uniform. It was a somewhat strange olive drab look. I also did not care for the white uniform in 2013. To be honest the one I probably liked the best was the first year, 2010 because it just looked like a green version of Notre Dame’s standard uniform. Then again I’m 45 years old and have the fashion sense of a person every bit my age and probably older. So what about this year’s look? I should qualify myself to start and mention I’m not a Yankees fan, though I don’t hate the Yankees. The uniform itself I like. It is a different look, but one that speaks to Notre Dame and the Yankees. While, it would not be my favorite uniform, I love the sticker on the helmet and the pinstripe look is different but I kind of like it!
At the end of the day, to those who bash Notre Dame and this once a year uniform change, I say baloney. Those people are clueless as to the changes that are taking place with regards to recruiting and young people in general. It reminds of the same people who argued against the Jumbotron and field turf that was added to the stadium. Those who didn’t like this spoke about “tradition”. Again clueless. In order to stay competitive you have to change and adapt. If the Shamrock Series helps with recruiting and the uniforms excite the players I’m all for it! Kids love gear! If the players get excited about this once a year change and they play better I say go for it. Finally, as fans we likely forget the work and effort that these kids put into football year round! If the uniform makes these kids experience a little better I’m all for that as well!