Almost but no
On Friday, Notre Dame released this year’s version of THE SHIRT as part of the Blue-Gold Game weekend festivities. While I always hold out a little bit of hope every year that it isn’t a terrible piece of clothing — it always is, and will always be because of the formula they use.
This year’s version is no different — it’s not good. While I don’t consider myself a fashion icon (maybe I should) I do know a thing or two about a good shirt.
Before I get rolling on why this year’s version is bad, please let me add a disclaimer. If you actually like this thing — good for you. I am in no way trying to rain on your parade or thwart the fundraising mission of THE SHIRT. I’m merely being me and providing commentary, and this is not intended to be malicious.
Having said that… this ain’t good and here’s why:
YOU HAD ONE JOB
Reasons be damned — there’s no reason good enough to make the shirt this color. It’s a RISE AND STRIKE redux and the Sea of Flesh is now fully in play this season (gross). The color should ALWAYS be Kelly Green with no exception — none. In fact… if this shirt was green and “bad-Kelly-era-pants-gold-color” I would likely have little to say about this shirt that eager money-givers wouldn’t shoot down.
YOU HAD ONE JOB — NOT TWO
Once again there are two massive designs on THE SHIRT. In absolute fairness, by themselves, the designs are actually good-looking. But I can’t remember a single time in my life that I went out shopping and saw a shirt this busy and was like, “THAT’S THE ONE! That’s the shirt that I want to wear for 15 Saturday’s in the fall. Whether you’re in front of me or behind me — you’re going to bow down to my fandom.”
They should have filed one away for next year rather than use both. But… this is how things are done in a committee. We get the camel (just like we will next year).
ARE WE CELEBRATING A LITTLE TOO MUCH?
I’ve railed against Notre Dame’s 2024 schedule a hundred times over the last 8 months. It’s ridiculously bad, and will forever be remembered for having two MAC schools and two service academies. That fate was sealed when Notre Dame announced the game against Army in Yankee Stadium as this year is the 100th anniversary of the famous game with the 4 Horsemen and some words that Grantland Rice wrote.
So… we’re really going all in on that with this shirt? As fans continue to battle other college football fans about Notre Dame’s relevance (which is a dumb argument by the haters) we just throw more gas on this thing with another rehash of really old glory. Maybe a fun meme would be a nice twist — but please don’t take that as a suggestion to add more things to the shirt just because there’s blank space on one arm.
HERE’S WHAT I LIKE AND IT MAKES ME MAD
The best thing about this year’s version of THE SHIRT is the actual shirt itself. Rather than some cheap brand like Colosseum, Notre Dame is using League College Apparel as the shirt provider — which is fantastic. In fact, it’s almost enough of a reason to have one in my dresser this year as that particular apparel is comfy and fits great.
So I checked — AND IT WAS RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF THEIR FACES…
A perfectly good Kelly Green shirt was available and they went with Varsity Gold. Had this been the Kelly Green version, I wouldn’t have been able to write this post.
You almost had me y’all… almost.