Everywhere we went in Ireland (except for Cape Clear) we ran into Americans here for the game; but as we got closer to Dublin, the concentration increased. The Navy–Notre Dame series has been played annually since 1914, making it the longest uninterrupted inter sectional series in college football. The schools and student bodies hold each other in great respect. The last Emerald Isle Classic, as the game has been dubbed, was played in 1996. This time the game would be broadcast live in the US on CBS, and on other networks reaching 65 countries. More Americans would be here in Dublin for this game than went to London for the 2012 Olympics. It was estimated that the boost to Ireland's economy was over 100 million Euros.
Technically, this was a "home" game for Navy, but the stands were dominated by Irish fans, as Notre Dame had billed and sold this event as "The Irish are coming home". The stadium had been sold out for a year, and tickets were nearly impossible to obtain. We had only gotten tickets because of our dear friend Jim Holmes and his colleague Jeff. Jim has deep connections to ND. Jeff is a Notre Dame graduate who was in the Navy after taking his degree. It was Jeff who graciously arranged to get the tickets to Jim and then to us.
Our group attending the game was of mixed loyalty. 2 were rooting for ND, 4 for Navy, and 2 were not rooting for anything except a good time. Tricia wore a WW1 hat with "US Navy" script on the front. Margaret wore her ND Irish hat, and dueling sisters was on!
Lisa, rooting for Navy, said to Tricia: "We have to out-play them because we certainly cannot out-cheer them". In short, ND lived up to their number 24 ranking and dominated the game from the outset. The final score was 50 to 10. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all. At the end of the game, the Irish team walked down the field to the Navy end and stood silently out of respect as the Navy band played their Alma mater. We learned that Navy is the only team where ND stands with them as their Alma Mater is played at the end of a game. Then Navy reciprocated, and as "love thee Notre Dame" filled the stadium, a large cheer erupted, and the field and stadium slowly emptied out.
On our cab ride home, we asked the cabbie if it was weird for him that an American football team would call themselves "the Irish", and in his charming accent he said "Not a'tall, everyone wants to be Irish!".
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