I really like this take. We have collectively as a fan base accepted mediocrity.
........And? I mean what's the alternative? We're fans. What control do we REALLY have over how good the team is. You either stop watching, or you accept it. I really don't think the people in decision making positions need the fans to tell them whether or not the team is good. It's a weird way to even look at it anyway as the overwhelming majority of fans of ANY sports team "accept" what they are, regardless of the results on the playing field because to most people, that's all it is. It's just a hobby to take up free time and the results are what they are. And the hardcore fans aren't happy either way; either the team is losing and they're upset or the team is winning and they're upset because they're not winning by enough.
I've certainly accepted "mediocrity" with football at Notre Dame, and why? Because that's what they've been for a loooooong time now. Mediocre with some legitimately good seasons sprinkled in here and there. But a real chance to win the championship? That's not what Notre Dame has consistently been for a very long time now and if someone wanted to be really critical of Notre Dame football you can go even further back and say they've won 4 National Championships in the last 74 years, 3 of those 4 in or before 1977. They're not a modern powerhouse program. They're just not. But hey, they're a "name". So yippee and all.
Anyone on this board that was alive the last time they won a championship is AT LEAST 36 years old. But the expectation is to win championships? In what reality? Even if you're a consistently good team, it's REALLY hard to win a championship. In any sport. And Notre Dame is not a "consistently good team" in this new era of college football where there's a ton of parity and they're not the only team on national television every week.
I'm not saying they can't win a championship. They can. But the days of them living up to the expectations that a # of you here put on them....I don't know man. I just don't know what reality you're seeing. Because those days are long gone. They're not just another name to you because you love Notre Dame, and whatever. That's fine. But what the hell do 18 year olds coming out of high school right now care about the "tradition" and name of Notre Dame when they have to go to their grandfather for it, and even he is getting to the point where it's getting hard to remember.