Since the time of 
Knute Rockne, fans have been drawn to Notre Dame for reasons that go far
 beyond the normal allegiances. Just as Ohioans root for Ohio State, Los
 Angelenos for UCLA, Catholics everywhere root for Notre Dame. Over the 
decades their devotion to team and institution has become a religion in 
ways that exceed metaphor. Millions in number, these modern-day fans 
treat the Notre Dame campus as a pilgrimage site, and six times a year, 
for each home game, the action moves from the profane to the sacred. For
 the fans, Notre Dame has become a symbol of the American immigrant 
bootstrap ethos of hard work, of the Catholic faith, and of the notion 
that the two entwined can only produce the good life. "Touchdown Jesus" 
is the intimate chronicle of Notre Dame's 2004 football season as seen 
through the eyes of a fan base unlike any other. A tapestry of vivid 
character portraits and descriptive narrative, "Touchdown Jesus" 
explores this phenomenon and reveals the story behind one of the 
highest-profile head coach firings in the history of college football. 
When the story begins in September 2004, it had been sixteen years since
 the Fighting Irish had won a national championship, and eleven years 
since the team had even been a contender. The Irish were coming off 
their third losing season in five years, a span of failure that had 
sparked fears of permanent decline. Over the course of the season, the 
target of the fans' angst grew to include not only head coach Tyrone 
Willingham, but also the caretakers of the university, whom many fans 
believed were sacrificing football to the prerogatives of an elite 
academe. As the losses piled up, the arguments for and against 
Willingham went to thevery core of the identity of the university and 
its fan base: the pressure to win, the Christian ideal, and the uniquely
 American role of big-time athletics in higher education -- Notre Dame 
football at the center of it all.

Touchdown Jesus: Faith and Fandom at Notre Dame PDF

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