Irish Eyes and Souls Get Fooled Again
Rob Gray-Imagn Images
“Then I will get on my knees to pray that we don’t get fooled again.” - Won’t Get Fooled Again, The Who
“Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice shame on me. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.”- President George W. Bush
Belief is fickle. You can believe in something, someone, tangible or not, and be let down. That care, and the inability to walk away, keeps us from turning cold and unwilling to abandon that belief.
That is what being a fan of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football is: believing that faith and loyalty will eventually be rewarded with championship glory, only to have your heart ripped out consistently and constantly in the most painful ways possible.
Saturday night in Provo, Utah, the heart of Notre Dame faithful was ripped out again. In the first half, it looked like another big game meltdown. The Irish were just out of sorts, conceding a 21-10 lead to the Cougars. In the second half, they gave hope they would get that long-wanted, top-ten road win. They chipped away at the BYU lead, even taking control 24-21. The Cougars would retake a lead late that they never relinquished, beating Notre Dame 28-24.
Cue the detractors, cue the cries of fraud, once again cue the heartache and disappointment of the Irish. What stings about this is not the obvious defensive pass interference in the end zone on the final play, or that there was a second left on the clock when the ball hit the turf; it was everything that was there for the taking.
Notre Dame could have been ranked number one in the country; they could have made major strides to a playoff berth and, for a time, ended all the calls about preferential treatment, being overrated and not winning big games. Instead, it’s the same old story: Notre Dame didn’t get it done when it mattered most.
In short, they fooled us again.
This team fooled us, bamboozled us, and hoodwinked us into thinking this year would be different. That this team was one of the best Notre Dame squads in decades. That the talent was so overwhelming that there was no chance they would miss the playoffs. Now, they sit at 5-1 heading into a bye week filled with the same old Notre Dame criticisms, fair or otherwise.
There is still time to right the ship. They do have a bye week to get over this loss. In three weeks, a potential top-ten showdown at home against Miami and another opportunity to give a fanbase thirsting for a reason to believe to do just that.
However, this question should and will remain: Do we get fooled again?
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