Happy National Dog Day, Clashmore Mike

Better mascot: Clashmore Mike or the leprechaun?

I’m late to the party.  We’re in the final moments of August 26 and with that National Dog Day will come to an end.

Shoutout to my man Hank who thinks that should be every day but I was unaware of it being today until sometime around noon when the day job had me far too swarmed to be able to get to the following.

In a week that we discussed the ridiculousness of the anger over Notre Dame’s leprechaun mascot can we take a moment to acknowledge the mascot the University should announce they’re bringing back to hang out with the leprechaun no later than tomorrow?

Say hello to Clashmore Mike, Notre Dame’s former mascot that never should have have left.

Depending where you go you’ll find a different story of Clashmore Mike so exact facts of his official start at Notre Dame are a bit dicey.  ClashmoreMike.com states the first Irish Terrier came to campus in 1924 while on Thursday the Notre Dame Athletic Department’s Twitter account acknowledged an entirely different dog as Clashmore Mike in a photo from 1909:

What is universally stated in regards to Mike is that he stopped appearing at games after the 1966 season which is a shame.  From his arrival sometime in the 1920’s through 1966 the Fighting Irish football team won a lot more national championships than they have since.

I’m not saying, but I’m saying.

A happy belated National Dog Day to all of your four-legged friends out there.  I hope it was full of belly rubs, chasing squirrels, barking at the mailman, and napping.

And here’s to hoping we’ll one day see Clashmore Mike at Notre Dame Stadium again.

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If you’re interested in learning more about Mike then I recommend checking out a few places:

ClashmoreMike.com’s About Clashmore Mike

ABC 57’s story on Mike from 2015

Notre Dame’s Scholastic Magazine’s #TBT on Mike