As part of its countdown to the 2021 season, the staff at The Athletic is looking at the 50 things it’s most looking forward to. For Notre Dame beat reporter Pete Sampson, the choice is easy. In his contribution to the list, which only can be read by subscribers, Sampson can’t wait for the return of the Friday night pep rallies. While it remains unclear how they will look with COVID-19 still around, the plan is to have one ahead of the Irish’s home opener Sept. 11 against Toledo.
With everyone and their mother able to attend these pep rallies without the need for tickets, it really provides a sense of community for those who pledge their loyalty to Notre Dame. Sampson probably sums it up best in these two paragraphs:
“Yes, Notre Dame’s pep rallies can seem stuck in time, callbacks to when this place was more a blue-collar Catholic school than a powerhouse international institution. That’s part of what makes them great when the moment is right. The pep rally is an hour of singular focus and memory-making where the football team is more supporting actor and the crowd takes the lead. The signs, the chanting, the skits, the body paint. It’s all a devotional to Notre Dame the community. It makes Notre Dame feel like the biggest high school in America.
No college program has more support from a smaller student body than Notre Dame. That’s seen Saturdays on NBC. But it’s felt on Friday nights early in the season when the Notre Dame community gathers to show what separates this place and this football program’s ability to bring people together.”
You can’t beat something like that. Why would anyone who works or studies at Notre Dame or anyone who lives in or near South Bend want to be anywhere else the Friday before a home game? Name one thing that brings the people area closer together than that. Go ahead. I’ll wait for your answer.