I couldn’t have been older than 6 or 7 when I bought my first ball cap. I remember sitting in front of the rack brimming with hats from baseball to the NFL and the college ranks. I wanted one.
But how to choose? Growing up in rural Montana — I’m talking the middle of nowhere to anyone not from there — my parents didn’t have a high interest in sports. We were ranchers and hanging out in the living room to watch football on Sundays generally wasn’t an option.
I was left to my own imagination and the sporting gods to help me “pick” my favorite teams. That sort of thing seemed important as a kid. If I met someone for the first time and they asked who my team was, I felt like I had better have an answer.
Buying a ball cap was a step toward pledging devotion to someone, anyone. But without mom or dad pulling (or pushing) me in any specific direction, I just sat in front of those hats, stumped.
How does a young kid with no Internet and two TV channels choose between the Reds and Cardinals or the Raiders and 49ers?
Turns out, I didn’t have to. My brother’s godparent walked up and simply suggested I wear a Notre Dame hat. We were Catholics, the Fighting Irish were rolling in the early ’90s with Lou Holtz and I liked the colors.
Worked for me.
I wore it everywhere — for years. Something about it just fit. The fabric on the crown and brim wore away and the color turned from that Irish blue into an off-yellow, the kind of color only produced from the stain of sweating in the high mountain air of our ranch.
I have an unabashed love for that hat and the leprechaun on the front of it with his fists raised, ready for a fight. For better or worse, with the purchase of that hat, I became a Notre Dame fan. Ever since, the Irish have stunk — four BCS bowls with Notre Dame losing by a combined score of 100 points.
All those blowouts confirm what any non-Notre Dame fans already know: The Irish are perpetually and continually overrated. I get it. They’re easy to hate.
When UND made a run to the 2013 BCS National Championship, screams from Notre Dame detractors drowned out any Irish fan celebrating an undefeated season. (After Alabama pasted Notre Dame 42-14, I guess we know who was right.)
Reactions to Notre Dame mirrors the New York Yankees in baseball. I asked a couple weeks back for all of you to let me know who your favorite baseball teams were. Facebook measured popularity by the number of likes on a team’s page. The Yankees are No. 1 in huge chunks of Idaho, including Bannock, Caribou, Bingham, Power and Oneida County.
Are the pinstripes really this area’s favorite team?
Randy wrote, “I despise the NY Yankees and refuse to watch any telecast that includes them, including the playoffs.”
“DON’T turn the local paper into just another version of the Eastern Sports Programming Network (all Yankees, all Red Sox, ... whether you care about them or not),” wrote Mark in an email.
Arlie said, “The Yankees buy their wins.”
But there were a few who wanted more Yankees’ coverage in the Journal. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of them came from Facebook. And there were a few folks clamoring for the Atlanta Braves, who used to have their games on TBS when Ted Turner was the owner.
Refreshingly, though, the majority of responses wanted to keep the Rockies and Mariners as the two baseball squads that the Journal dedicates its coverage to. Seattle had lost eight straight before knocking off Houston on Wednesday, and Colorado struggles to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ cash.
But, Jeff wrote in saying, “We need to support regional teams and are we going to be a true fan or not?”
You’re right, Jeff. It is important to get behind our local teams. The Irish will always have a special place in my heart. But, honestly, that ugly, deformed hat means more to me anymore than a pricey university in Indiana.
“My vote is to keep coverage of the Colorado Rockies,” Marc wrote. “They’re our home team.”
So there you go. Sorry, Yankee fans. I am willing, however, to dedicate the entirety of the Journal's sports section to all things New York. It just takes the right monetary investment. Pinstripe money is good for things other than wins.
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