Today we unveil our 35th uniform concept for Notre Dame football. The funny thing is this one shouldn’t have been made. I actually loathe the term “Domers” or “Golden Domers.”
Until today, I can’t remember the last time I used the term. In fact, it’s one of those odd nicknames that is barely used by its own fans. You typically see “Domers” used by opponents fans and usually in a derogatory manner. Roughly 65% of the time it’s used in a sentence that’s about to make fun of Notre Dame.
Putting all that aside, I had an idea and ran with it. We went with a fancy script across the chest and a different font with the numbers than is typically used on Notre Dame uniforms. The “Domer” script is also featured on the helmet, and although it’s difficult to see in white, I actually think it would work well and look like a standard Notre Dame helmet from a distance (and on TV during live plays) but be a cool addition from up close.
Keep the same idea, but replace Domers with either Irish or Fighting Irish and I think I’d like it a lot more
If the gold part of the helmet is the usual blindingly bright stuff then I don’t think the white writing would work but we’d have to see it from a distance before we’d really know how noticeable it is like the article says.
Those of us from the Bend have been using “Domers” regularly for at least 30-35 years.
Well… I was born and raised in South Bend, K-16 in sight of the Dome. But before your 30 year mark, that term was never ever used. Then it started being used by hostile folks, in mild derision. Then, somehow, it’s true, more and more of us started to use it about ourselves. That being said, I will make a pitch that uniform concepts should be somehow in the overall context of our traditions, that spider-man has it right. I do like the look!
Yeah, i never heard it as a kid. High school was late 80s and that’s when it started gaining traction. In the mid 90s i read a few histories of the football program, and i found several references to “Domers” and “Golden Domers” going back to the Harper era.
The Dome was just out of sight for me…i grew up on North 29th a couple blocks north of Edison. We went to Little Flower. i always considered growing up on the East Side to be a different category than “Subway Alums”…not just because of the lack of a train, but because walking or biking to campus on a gameday was quicker than driving!
Thanks dannan 14 (I thought you were class of ’14 like my older son!)
When we moved to Ironwood/Country Club Lane, we went to Little Flower also… but that was waaay back in the day, and back then Little Flower bussed us kids to a grade school called St Mary’s Campus, along with kids from Pius X and Corpus Christi, I think it was. Anyway, that school was run by the nuns from St Mary’s right north of the SMC campus, hence my “in sight of the Dome” crack (and high school at Holy Cross Seminary, before it became a dorm)..
Yup, that’s basically the same ‘hood, just some green space in between 🙂 When i was in high school the youth groups from Little Flower and St Pious regularly did service trips and retreats together. My Mom just retired from Holy Cross House, the building next to Moreau, after 25ish years this past August.
I guess this is a little OT, but can’t resist — I was just at Holy Cross House, this summer and autumn, trying to chase down some support for a documentary I want to produce called “The Roots of Notre Dame” (as in over here in France where I am residing)… no luck on that from ND yet, I think they think we came from Ireland… but the folks at HCH were super, maybe I met your mom!
Hey, staff, to move back to more footbally stuff — have we done anything yet on why our November swoon? Esp after BK had said that we were building for peaking at the end (and he used to be that way)… wha’ happened? I am truly interested in what you the staff put together on your best thoughts on this, and I think it would be a great topic for this off-season/weight training period?
Nice! i’ll be interested in that documentary when you finish it. And i’ll second wanting an article about crashing when we were supposed to be peaking.