So It's Not Just Us

You think sportswriters across the country will cry foul when Washington fires Ty Willingham?

http://www.udubdish.com/story/2007/11/26/0512/5159

The reasons put forth here are, in my mind, the exact same reasons for which Notre Dame canned his ass. I guess the big difference is Notre Dame is Notre Dame and Washington is, well, Washington.

This season started with Notre Dame going 0-2 and Washington 2-0. I remember reading the articles about how Notre Dame was probably missing Tyrone right about now. Well, from that point on the Huskies finished the season 2-8. Notre Dame didn't fair much better, finishing 3-7, I'm just pointing out Willingham's two greatest assets - smoke and mirrors...

Bo Jackson All-American

I look at ESPN from time to time and today saw a great article that I actually read and enjoyed. It is all about Bo Jackson and what's become of the once most-hyped man in America.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=bojackson

I never knew half this stuff about Bo Jackson, and found the article extremely well-written (any article that references Tecmo Super Bowl has to be good). I thought it quite refreshing that while Bo knows life-after-sports, Bo also knows how to keep his life-after-sports private. For instance, he lives in Colin's hometown of Chicago and passes the time by lacquering his hunting arrows and cooking up something good for dinner

Man, I remember the glory days of Bo:

Mother F#$&er

Over the years I've read a lot of disparaging articles about Notre Dame. This has been especially true over the past several years with the fallout from the Tyrone Willingham firing. However, a recent article I read today over at si.com takes the cake. Here's the link:

Out of his league

In the past, I had enjoyed reading Stewart Mandel's college football blogs and mailbags. He seemed pretty impartial, although he could be pretty sarcastic at times. But this article really should be titled, "I F#$%ing Hate Notre Dame" with a subtitle of, "I Hope They Never Win Another Game Again and the Virgin Mary is Raped By a Tiger".

I mean, I know its the cool thing to do to rip Notre Dame, but this is nothing more than a smear campaign. A couple of my favorite lines:

Between the on-field battering he's taken and the constant yo-yoing with Sharpley, Clausen's already fragile, freshman confidence is presumably shattered.

Oh, really, Stewart? Have you been in touch with Jimmy Clausen recently? Because the one bright spot in last week's loss to Air Force was Clausen's play in the second half.

Lord only knows how much money NBC has lost on its investment.

Ugh...

I can't even go on. Just read the article if you want to get really angry and break something...

UPDATE!
How did I miss this gem that also happens to be the first sentence of the article?

Let's start with a fairly obvious realization: Charlie Weis is a terrible college football coach.

I agree that Weis is having a bad year (which Weis himself has admitted on many occasions), but those same upperclassmen that Weis had his first two years stunk when they played for Willingham. Does Mandel really think that had Willingham (or any other coach) been in charge, Notre Dame would've gone to back-to-back BCS bowls the past two years? Because I sure don't. If I recall, at the start of the 2005 season most college football "experts" predicted Notre Dame would start the season 0-6. Weis took them to the Fiesta Bowl. And he did it again the following year. That's a terrible coach?

Best T-Shirt Ever

With all the despair surrounding Notre Dame football this season, there hasn't been much buildup to our traditional rivalry games. I really miss that, but I can live vicariously through other programs!

Until today, I felt that the Catholics vs. Convicts T-shirt was the best in the history of college football. Hell, I still have mine in a drawer waiting for a final wearing if we ever play Miami again in a meaningful game. That shirt took a heated rivalry and elevated it to another level. Today, it has been dethroned. Kansas is having it's best season ever. Missouri isn't too shabby either. These traditional rivals play this weekend, and a new shirt has caused an explosion between the two teams' fans. I have to say I wasn't aware of this rivalry, but these guys DESPISE each other.

Follow this link to read a bit about the history depicted on this shirt, and the bad blood it has stirred up. The cliff notes version: Missouri was a slave state in the Civil War, Kansas was a free state. Missouri led a raid into Lawrence looting every business, killing a few hundred people, and burning the city to the ground. So the new T-shirt from Mizzou fans has a scene depicting the raid with Lawrence in flames with the classic "Scoreboard" underneath!!! If that's not enough, the slogan on the back of the shirt taken from that raid reads: "Raise the Black Flag and Ride Hard Boys. Our Cause is Just and Our Enemies Many."

RIP Ford Taurus

She was a great vehicle, and Thanksgiving won't be the same as Liz and I won't have to hold our breath for 5 hours praying the Taurus doesn't break down on our way to Cincinnati and back home. She was reliable, save for that pesky electrical issue that somehow disabled the clock and rear tail lights. She was only driven by grandma and grandpa Trinkley for a few months, to my recollection, but every time it rained the Taurus smelled just like them. I'll miss that car.

Why Do We Suck This Year?

Many Irish fans around the world, including some from this family, are giving up on Notre Dame football. Now, I agree that this season is over - and has been since we lost to Michigan. However, I wouldn't say the program is dead, and I wouldn't say next year is a loss too! This is a rough topic, but I'll take a stab at it. I would like to take a realistic look at Weis and the future of ND football. My main point is that this is a complex issue, that does not have a single cause. Many in the media are putting all the blame on Weis, but it's not so simple.

First, let me just say that Weis is not going anywhere this season or next. It has been well documented that he loves ND and he is not a quitter. Therefore, he will not resign. Also, despite what some may say on this board, no way would ND shell out $21 million or so to buy out his contract! Do you know how many students that money would put through school? ND gave Weis that buyout to ensure that they would not fire him, and make sure everyone knew they would not. They wanted to make it perfectly clear that the musical coaching chairs played during Davie, O'Leary and Willingham were over. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.

Next, lets place blame where it is due. Weis has done a poor job of preparing his team to play throughout the season. I think everyone would agree that we should be better than 1-9 with the talent on this team. Is this because Weis is "the worst coach in the universe?" Of course not. I would place the blame clearly upon his lack of college experience - not upon his lack of head coaching experience. Weis is a great X's and O's guy. He is a straight shooter who says what he means. He is an exceptional team manager as a head coach should be. This is evidenced by his assistant coach hirings, recruiting, work as a spokesperson for the team and University, and other non-game related endeavors. Where his problem has been is being able to communicate and enact his plans with young college kids. His repeated press conference admissions show this. From not using full contact in drills, to not effectively communicating in-game adjustments to the team, to describing the disparity between practice prep and game performance. He skated by his first two years because he had an upperclassman heavy roster that had game experience at the college level. This year not so lucky.

That gets us to the talent issue. Yes, NBC pointed out all the high school All-Americans on our roster, but that means nothing! I'm not going to rehash all the stats about the class of 2003 recruits remaining or the playing time of our O-line before the season started. Those are in other articles all over. What I will say is this... A majority of our players are young kids 18 and 19, playing for their first meaningful minutes this year. Is some of of this Ty's fault? Yes, he left us with this experience gap. Is some of this Charlie's fault? Yes, he acknowledged coaching mistakes at each juncture of the season. Is some of this Kevin White's fault? Yes, what the heck is up with the front half of our schedule? It was brutal, and did not help this young team grow and mature. As a result, the season began to snowball, which is understandable given their youth. Could Holtz or Ara have gotten more out of this team? Sure, maybe another win or two, but this is not a Bowl team, not with our level of experience and that killer schedule. We need to accept that. By the way, the only teams we lost to in the 2 years prior: Mich State, USC, OSU, Michigan, LSU. Give me a break! No way Lou could have gotten more out of those teams!

Charlie Weis is not the next Knute Rockne. He is a good coach with tons of potential, but a lack of experience at the college level. Every year, he is learning and his mistakes will decrease. He'll get it soon enough, and then look out! He has proven to be a master at some of the intangibles that come with being head coach of Notre Dame. After three years, he has molded the team in his image, and meets the pressure cooker of his job head-on with excitement. The pressure that got to Davie and Willingham doesn't phase Weis at all. He will turn this team around, and it will begin next season. We will have talent AND experience EVERYWHERE, and I know Weis will take a more traditional college coaching approach, born by 3 years of experience. Yes, he is learning on the job, but he has the tools at heart to be a great coach.

2008 Prediction: 7-5 with a trip to the Gator Bowl.

I'm Out

This team is dead to me...

McAwesome

Yesterday I had a McGriddle for breakfast and a McRib for dinner. Both hail from McDonalds, and both are delicious. If I repeated this menu today I would probably throw up, but yesterday it was heavenly.

Thanksgiving Approaches

So I was looking through Ian, Steph, and Zoe's Halloween photos and I noticed that Ian had quite a bit of facial hair. This led me to the belief that he is secretly growing another mustache for Thanksgiving. So I ask, should I stop shaving until sweet Turkey Day comes along. You know I only need the slightest motivation to kick this plan into action. What do you all say, bring back the 'stache?

Navy is part of the military?

So I was reading about the ND-Navy game this weekend, and found this gem of stupidity written by a student at Columbia. She is either a foreigner or the dumbest person on that campus, and I feel she's pulled the collective intelligence of Columbia University down to the level of a Rutgers University.

Check out this article: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/26470

I can understand not realizing that the Citadel is not a military institution; but not knowing that the Naval Academy (more commonly referred to as "Navy") is affiliated with the military is crazy. And not expecting that the Navy will train you to be a soldier to fight, and possibly die, for America is juvenile. Navy trains its cadets (not students) to be officers, leaders, and men (or the occasional woman). They are not giving away a 4-year education/training program for free to any yahoo who walks in off the street.

I love America and am proud of its fighting forces. But the opinions and ideas of some Americans, and their innate fear of the military, simply baffles me. The opinion and lack of knowledge of Idris Leppala makes me laugh and sick at the same time. Remind me not to send any of my children to Columbia.