Notre Dame Once Kicked Out An Antifascist (Who Invented Dropkicks)
Wikimedia Commons: Photographer for the Dome in 1920
Let’s say we told you a story. A story about a war hero in World War II—the war we’ve all agreed was a good one to fight. This hero was on the right side, too: the antifascist side. This hero was hand-picked by the US Office Strategic Service to go to Italy six months before the invasion because he spoke fluent Italian and knew every dialect. His final mission was a race to track down Italian scientist Carlo Calosi before the Nazis could get to him. This hero also happened to have a career in pro wrestling, where he invented the dropkick. That’s not related to WWII heroism, it’s just rad enough to be worth including.
Our hero’s name was Joe Saldovi, and Notre Dame kicked him out of their school. Joe (born Guiseppe) was super good at football, and had led ND to a national championship. He was “built like a gorilla and moved like a leopard.” So why was he kicked out? He had gotten married to a high school girl in secret and filed for divorce. Okay, that whole “married to a high school girl” is very not good. Why would a Catholic institution be mad at a child bride, you might be asking. Well, any student marriage was against school rules at the time. So they kicked out Joe. Notre Dame kicked out an antifascist football hero who later invented a cool pro wrestling move because he was married.
Related: Dropkick Murphys Keeping St. Paddy’s Day Concert Alive With Free Stream
Notre Dame Hasn’t Actually Been Good For A Long Time
Wikimedia Commons: Chad Kainz
For a place that loves talking about tradition, Notre Dame can’t be thrilled about their last few decades. Their last national championship was in 1988. That’s well before most college football players were born. Their tradition for as long as most people reading this have been alive is being the worst team in the playoffs and getting whomped in bowl games. If you enjoy watching those sign-slappers preen around like their farts are honeysuckles only to be embarrassed in the most spectacularly public way possible, it’s been a good few years for you.
So how’s the future look? They started this season ranked #5 and a few weeks later failed to get a single AP vote. They barely have a quarterback right now. Actually, it’s probably not a bad time for a hater to follow them closely. Their fans seem like they have some hope at respectability, but spectacular embarrassment seems mostly likely. And what’s Sports Hate without a healthy heaping of schadenfreude? Don’t hold us to this prediction, though. We’re not basing this off of data or knowledge—just an understanding of Notre Dame’s (21st century) tradition. Enjoy that one decent coffee shop, though.
Chris Corlew is an alumnus (and dropout) of a different private Catholic university. It did not have a football team. Find him on Twitter.