Notre Dame fans probably don't want to hear what Pete Buttigieg just said about college football
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor, Pete Buttigieg may have just taken the biggest risk of his Democratic presidential campaign.
Buttigieg told Jewish Insider on Monday that he finds college football "problematic" and doesn't have a solution for it. That's not really a unique position in the United States these days, but there's little chance it's a popular one in South Bend, where Notre Dame football reigns supreme. Buttigieg recognized that he thinks about it "from a perspective of a city that relies on college football in the same way that Bahrain relies on fossil fuel."
Buttigieg explained that, while he is certainly a fan of Notre Dame, he doesn't think the amateur model — in which college athletes aren't compensated beyond their scholarships — is "really fair anymore." He also reportedly said he had moral qualms about the game and would hesitate to let his children play the sport while wondering if, 40 years from now, "in the best case scenario," Notre Dame could be known for a world-class soccer program instead.
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For what it's worth, both of Notre Dame's soccer programs have won national championships far more recently than the football team, so he might be on to something. Still, good luck to whoever tries to take away the football program from the Fighting Irish faithful. Read more at Jewish Insider.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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