College Gameday Comes to Hesburgh Library
Little did legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne know that “The House that Rockne Built” would one day become intrinsically linked with a campus library. Father Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., once told University Librarian Diane Parr Walker that the main façade of Hesburgh Library was planned to face west but would be obstructed by the Old Fieldhouse. Ultimately, the Old Fieldhouse was torn down on March 12, 1983. Furthermore, he said the alignment of the stadium goal posts with the extended arms of Christ the Teacher in prayer was merely coincidental. As fate would have it, the significance between the two symbols became a Notre Dame tradition.
The stadium tunnel leads to an awesome view of “Touchdown Jesus” seen by thousands of football players, coaches, the Notre Dame Band and fans during football weekend “Friday Tunnel Tours.” Due to its visibility overlooking the north end zone, fans sitting in the upper sections of Notre Dame Stadium, also enjoy a remarkable view of Hesburgh Library.
The first ever College GameDay, ESPN’s weekly pre-game program was broadcast from the second floor of the Joyce Athletic Convocation Center on November 13, 1993, for the now infamous “Game of the Century” between the #1 ranked Florida State Seminoles and the #2 ranked Fighting Irish. Both teams went into the game undefeated but in the end the Irish hailed as the victors! Since then, Notre Dame has hosted College GameDay seven times: 1994 (Michigan), 1995 (USC), 1996 (Ohio State), 1998 (Michigan), 2000 (Nebraska), 2005 (USC) and 2012 (Stanford).
When College Gameday arrived onto Notre Dame’s campus September 5, 1998, for the game between #5 Michigan and #22 Fighting Irish the location was changed to the lawn in front of Hesburgh Library. The connection between Notre Dame Stadium and Hesburgh Library became immortalized. Large crowds of fans, alumni and students gathered to cheer and vie for a good spot behind the ESPN “Pit” and a chance to be on national television. Colorful and comedic signs are commonly seen in the backdrop and have become an essential part of the Gameday experience.
Dwarfed by one of the defining monuments on campus, the presence of the Gameday stage places the spotlight on Hesburgh Library as a center for connecting people to knowledge. This became more prevalent during Gameday’s broadcast on October 13, 2012, in a game between the Fighting Irish and the Stanford Cardinal. The increasingly creative signs were out in full force and hilarity ensued. One sign proclaiming, “SEC, this is what a library looks like!” became an instant media hit.
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