Every episode except the very first of the critically acclaimed Showtime hit series Ray Donovan began with the screen dark and Liev Schrieber saying “previously on Ray Donovan.”

And in the 30-seconds that followed very seldom was the recap that didn’t involve a bat to the kneecap, or a punch to the gut, or worse.   For all of their problems, the fictitious Irish heritage Donovan family would quickly band together and never backed down. If you picked a fight with Mickey, Ray, Terry, Bunchy, half-brother Daryll, and even Abby, you got more than you wanted back from the fighting Irish.

And, almost as predictable as Ray throwing a haymaker you knew it would only be a matter of time in today’s world that cancel culture would want to pick a fight with Notre Dame over their Fighting Irish nickname.

When journalists at the Indianapolis Star reviewed a recent survey on college mascots, they focused on the fourth most offensive on the list — Notre Dame’s leprechaun who cheers on the Fighting Irish.

So, The Star asked the university for their response to the survey that asked 1,266 participants to rate 128 mascots at colleges and universities in order of best, worst, sexiest, creepiest, and offensive.

Be careful what you ask for.  “Our symbols stand as celebratory representations of a genuine Irish heritage at Notre Dame, a heritage that we regard with respect, loyalty, and affection,” the ND statement said.

Notre Dame said its nickname began as a term used by other schools to mock its athletic teams. At the time, anti-Catholicism and anti-immigrant sentiments were strong.  Notre Dame was largely populated by ethnic Catholics.  They were mostly Irish, but also Germans, Italians, and Poles.  The university was a natural target for ethnic slurs, it said.

As the football team gained national prominence in the early 1900s, journalists began to use the ‘fighting Irish’ phrase in their stories. ‘Soon, Notre Dame supporters took what was once an epithet into an ‘in-your-face’ expression of triumph,’ the university said.  In your face, they said.

By 1927 the nickname was officially adopted.

As for the leprechaun, Notre Dame said it is “symbolic of the Fighting Irish and intentionally a caricature.”  Therefore, “the intent is to recognize the determination of the Irish people and, symbolically, the university’s athletes.”

So to recap as Liev does, the opposition to Notre Dame called the team the “insulting” name, and the press wrote of them as such. ND then turned the tables and nearly 100 years later still proudly wears the moniker like a badge of courage.  In your face, indeed.

After all, if you’re going to pick a fight it’s best that you not pick one with the Fighting Irish.

They’ll band together like three and a half Donovan brothers.

What an interesting twist.  The woke actually tried to wake themselves.

Score one for history.