Ticket holders sold out to red
Letter to the Editor
Josh Quinn
Embarassed. Humiliated. Betrayed. No, I'm not feeling this way because Notre Dame lost to the University of Nebraska in football. In fact, I thought we played a decent game. I'm feeling this way thanks to certain people who call themselves "alumni" and "fans" of our University.
Consider this: 4,000 tickets were made available to Nebraska fans for the football game. Call me crazy, but I estimated — along with announcers during the game — around 30,000 red shirts in the stands. How do 4,000 tickets become 30,000 tickets? I'll tell you.
Two-faced alumni and fans. Those who sold out, literally, the very University they claim to love and support. Those who sold a game ticket for a few hundred dollars to a Nebraskan. Those who didn't care if they were wearing green with the rest of the Notre Dame faithful. The guy on the corner asking $500 for the pair; the old man holding up two tickets at the tailgater; the young woman with the Notre Dame hat and the look of greed on her face. They sold out.
Even selling to other Notre Dame alums or fans would have been better than selling to red shirts and Husker hats. They sold to the opponent just to make a few hundred bucks that will most likely go towards a new Lazy Susan they can show off at their next tailgate party. Was that worth it? Is this what we've come to? Making money at all costs?
Maybe it's me, but Notre Dame stands for something. It stands for more than just football Saturdays, tailgate parties and winning a Championship. It stands for truth. It stands for loyalty and honor. It stands for respect. It stands for the backbone of everything that is great about college academics and athletics.
By selling your tickets to Husker fans, you robbed the University of the very tradition you claim to love and honor. You have decimated the true meaning of college athletics. And you have shown today's students that alumni at Notre Dame only care about the best way to make a buck. I am an alumnus. I am outraged. And I will not accept that attitude. And neither will any self-respecting student or graduate.
Take off your green hat, your Notre Dame shirt and put away the Irish flag. You have lost the right to call yourselves "alumni" and "fans." We lost to Nebraska. Maybe the number of red shirts was a factor. Maybe it wasn't. But one thing is certain. You embarassed me. You embarassed the team. You embarassed the students. And you embarassed the University of Notre Dame on national television.
I hope that few hundred dollars buys you something nice. You earned it.
Josh Quinn
class of '96
September 9, 2000
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, September 11, 2000
