Hey, George Mason.
They’re Notre Dame.
And you’re not.
“When it comes to sports,” former Fightin’ Irish basketball star LaPhonso Ellis said, “Notre Dame is the No. 1 brand in the world. Notre Dame is bigger than the New York Yankees.”
It was a bad day for March Madness and Notre Dame haters.
One of the most beloved Cinderella stories in the recent history of the big dance got spanked and sent home Thursday, as Notre Dame dispatched George Mason 68-50.
All across America, from tipoff to the final buzzer, it proved to be an opening round of the NCAA Tournament where favorites ruled and underdogs drooled.
What fun is that? Other than $5 office pools and an excuse to goof off at work, the real appeal of this NCAA hoopsfest is to watch the little guy put it to The Man.
Which maybe explains why rich and powerful Notre Dame was prime-time television programming on opening night.
Span the sports globe, and there are only two types of sports fans to be found.
Those who love the Fightin’ Irish . . . and those who religiously, faithfully, passionately root for them to get knocked on their golden domes.
“Notre Dame fans are like weeds. They pop up everywhere,” said Bill Hanzlik, captain of the 1980 basketball squad.
But what makes the Irish so boffo at the box office are the spectators who turn green with envy every time the Notre Dame band strikes up the Victory March.
“There’s this concept out there that Notre Dame is arrogant and holier than thou,” Ellis said.
Every Tom, Dick and George Mason wishes they could be as famous and revered as the Fightin’ Irish.
“You love ’em or you hate ’em. Put it this way: The reaction to Notre Dame is the way football fans in Denver love the Broncos and hate the Raiders, all rolled into one.” said Ellis, who won the hearts of Colorado residents when he played for the Nuggets from 1992-98.
Full disclosure: I was born in South Bend, home of Notre Dame, many decades ago, and came home from the hospital in a Studebaker. Fifty years later, the sun in northern Indiana remains little more than a rumor between Thanksgiving and Easter. “Sun?” said Hanzlik, a longtime Nuggets player and briefly the Nuggets coach. “South Bend doesn’t have sun.”
So I have always seen the Fightin’ Irish as the smile on a Rust Belt town, rather than a sports factory that mass produces victory, while crushing the soul of foes.
Of course, in the USA, nothing sells like success, with the possible exception of jealousy. Everywhere the Irish go, the name of Notre Dame is taken in vain. Why would the Pepsi Center in Denver be any exception?
“Nice call, McGillicutty!” shouted a heckler wearing George Mason colors when a referee charitably sent Notre Dame star Luke Harangody to the foul line during the first half.
What wires the electricity of early games in the NCAA tourney is how a city can quickly adopt an underdog team from more than 1,000 miles away and then roar approval for every basket made by players from a college most folks in the arena could not locate on a map.
Notre Dame never gave the haters a chance to work up any fury. By going on a 17-0 run not long after the opening tip, the Irish not only established a 23-7 lead, they shook George Mason’s confidence and silenced the spectators who lustily booed the Irish during pregame introductions.
“There’s no question that getting off to a good start makes the underdog — not only the team, but fans — wonder a little bit,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.
In truth, the outcome was never in doubt.
So raise a glass of Jameson Irish whiskey.
To offer a toast.
Or kill the pain.
The most beloved and despised brand name in sports won again.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
