This is what I was told. The new shirt this year I was told features 4 coaches on the shirt. The coaches are Rockne, Parseghian, Lou and Charlie. Anyone else hear this? If true how do you not have Leahy? What a joke, and also heard people aren't too happy about it. Anyone else hear of this???
Well you are right that Leahy is not on the The Shirt 2006. This is the back I am surprised that they would leave out Leahy, and I think it's too early to canonize Charlie. But hey they didn't ask me. Here's a link to the Shirt Project 2006 The Shirt 2006 Terry
Agreed, it's too early to cannonize Charlie. But more to The Shirt, you can't speak of Tradition at ND without Frank Leahy. ND has 11 National Championships, Leahy coached 4 of them. Rockne 3, Parshegian 2, Holtz 1. Leahy had 6 unbeaten seasons. Rockne 5, Parseghian 2, Holtz 1. ND has 7 Heisman Winners, 4 of them Bertelli, Lujack, Hart, and Lattner won as "Leahy Lads". A 5th, Hornung was recruited by Leahy and played for Leahy until his "retirement". Five other Leahy players were Heisman candidates Miller (finishing 4th), White (9th), Williams (5th), Sitko (8th), and Guglielmi (4th). Leahy transitioned ND from the Rockne Shift to the T Formation and went undefeated in the process. Leahy left campus to go to WW II and went undefeated for 4 years after being discharged from service. Second ranked Winningest % Coach in Div 1 and he didn't play 1-AA teams nor the MAC, MWC, Big Least or Conf USA. (NOTE TO TERRY: Leahy knocked off Northwestern 3 times when they were ranked #8 in the nation.) BUT he did play the ARMY, NAVY and IOWA PREFLIGHT and GREAT LAKES when they were all nationally ranked in addition to Michigan, USC, and MSU. In an interview with designers of the shirt "the spin" was that there was no room for another coach's face and that Rockne was selected for the quote and The Four Horsemen. Parshegian was the coach of "our" grandparents, Holtz the coach of 'our" parents, and Charlie is "our" coach. I've bought quite a few of The Shirt in the past. It's a good cause. But the Student Body needs to learn what Tradition is. No Leahy. NO SALE!
My first reaction last night was, so what? Then I looked up the shirt on the internet and read Terry's and Jack's posts, and I'm inclined to agree with Terry and Jack. How in the world could you "forget" to put Leahy on the shirt? I actually hope that they don't sell as many shirts as in the past so that someone learns a hard lesson about ND tradition. .
They claim didn't "forget". They chose not to include him as a matter of "space" and "relevance". Apparantely great grand parents don't fit in their family trees either.
Glaring Omission...Where's Leahy? by LOU SOMOGYI BlueAndGold.com Associate Editor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Print Version The Shirt Project/University of Notre Dame I make too many mistakes myself and often repeat the mantra “those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” But omitting Frank Leahy on this year’s “The Shirt,” while Knute Rockne, Ara Parseghian, Lou Holtz and Charlie Weis are on it, is wrong. It’s Mount Rushmore without Lincoln, a Beatles photo sans John Lennon, or excluding Hank Aaron from a conversation about greatest home run hitters Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Willie Mays. For national titles, six unbeaten seasons in 11 years (not including 11-0 at Boston College the year before coming to Notre Dame), a 39-game unbeaten streak…no other coach at this level can match such achievements. “Leahy was the greatest coach,” said ESPN’s Beano Cook. “Rockne was more important, but he didn’t have to chase ghosts.”
This is going to become a major issue, as it should. Before it's over, the people resposible for this snafu will regret the day they made the decision.
Here's the thing, Charlie has to have signed off on this. He was the MC at the unvieling cereomony. I can't believe he didn't see the design before it went to print and I would have thought he would have said no way take me off and put Frank on it. But like the Ohio State Uniform situation, this will die down pretty quick as well it's only old insignificant farts like us that remember and care about the old days. Terry
You may be right, Terry, about it dying down, and you definitely are correct about me being an insgnificant fart. But there are an awful lot of insignificant farts who fill the stands each Saturday. We'll see.
Charlie <t>All,<br/> <br/> I know many ND fans don't want to hear this but I feel it is still too early to annoint Charlie just yet. This could be a tougher season since the expections have risen so much after the nice season he and the Irish were able to pull off last year. Personally, I'm just trying not to get too high just yet. If he can get the Irish to win 9 or more this season then I think he is indeed the real thing. <br/> <br/> Don't get me wrong now, I do realize that there is no way that TW would have pulled off 9 wins last season. I guess after the last few years I just developed a little skepticism for new ND coaches. I am more than happy with everything that has happened cince CW arrived both with the performance of the team and in recruiting. I just don't want to get far ahead on handing out the accolades just yet.<br/> <br/> Go Charlie, Go Irish!!!</t>
I hear you, Tim, loud and clear. I feel the same way, and I'm sure most of our compadres agree. It was a tough ten years before last year. I have high hopes for the present and future, but I'm not ready to declare our permanent return to the elite ranks. Regarding the shirt, I don't have a problem with putting Charlie in the picture. After all, it's only a piece of merchandise intended to fire up the faithful. My problem is the stupidity of leaving the second best ND coach in history off of it.
Leahy is almost a forgotten coach IMHO. Nobody forgets Rockne of course, but I read much more about Ara and Lou than I do about Leahy, and Dan Devine it's almost like he never existed. Terry