So Very, Very Tempted

Read this, then proceed...

Tomorrow should be an interesting day at the airport. I very much want to tell any and all TSA officials to screw off. Take your x-ray machines and your groping and shove it. But I'm flying with my wife and 2 kids and I very much do not want to upset them, and that urge probably outweighs my desire to test the system.

The problems with all this TSA bullshit, as I see it, is twofold...

1. There is no well-defined process. There are half dozen different security machines deployed at various airports throughout the country. None of them are mandatory. If I say I don't want to do something the frontline grunts get confused and, more often than not, belligerent. If you keep saying 'no' there's no plan of action. There's no cascade that says do this, then this, then this, finally escalating to this. This is a recipe for disaster.
2. TSA officials at the airport apparently cannot enforce any of these rules. As the author of the above post explains, the TSA officials repeatedly refused to go on record to say that any security procedure was mandatory. If I have to do something, tell me so. And if failure to comply in said mandatory action results in punishment, tell me that too. If you're telling me all of this is optional, then fuck you, buddy. I'll pass. Again, this is bad, particularly from a security standpoint.

Failure to have a well-known, defined, and, most importantly, public process that has clear enforcement guidelines and repercussions will be the downfall of the TSA.

I'll tell you one thing, flight or not, my kids will not go through any Backscatter devices tomorrow nor will I allow them to be subject to a pat-down. So if I miss my flight, you know why. Again, should be a fun day at the airport!

War Eagle!!!

Up until today, I had been loosely following the whole Cam Newton scandal. It's Auburn, it's the SEC, I could care less. However, I read a summary of the whole Auburn fiasco that has literally rocked my world! I think even my worst case scenario upon first hearing about Newton is nothing in compared to what may have actually happened!

My first take on hearing about this was thus, as I posted on an ND message board 11/5/2010:

A "representative" for current Auburn QB Newton contacted a former player at Mississippi State, John Bond, during his recruitment from a JUCO. Bond is a booster or closely involved in the football program, and he was old friends with this rep. This rep said they could get him to sign a letter of intent for a "discount" of $180k, as they had current offers from other schools for $200k.

Okay, this is going to be huge, but it seems very applicable to some of the issues we struggle with constantly on this board. Follow my logic, and let's go!

FACT 1: ND has not been very good for the last 10 years, longer depending on how happy you are with brief BCS moments.
FACT 2: Our recruiting has been okay, but with 2 or 3 exceptions, we continuously get beat out for elite level players. Often, we don't even get a look. Frequently, a committed player or lean SUDDENLY has a change of heart.
FACT 3: A representative for Cam Newton offered a signed LOI for $180k from a college.
FACT 4: Although a highly recruited JUCO QB, Cam Newton is by no means the highest profile recruit of the past year, or even close if you look back multiple years.
FACT 5: The so-called rep for Newton runs a company called Elite Football Preparation, which supposedly matches high school players with college programs.

ASSUMPTION 1: Cam Newton got cash for eventually signing at Auburn.
ASSUMPTION 2: Other higher regarded recruits have gotten money for signing a LOI.
ASSUMPTION 3: If Newton was going for $180k, then other players have gotten more.
ASSUMPTION 4: ND is getting overlooked by elite talent, because we are not paying players to sign a LOI.

Look, the facts are the facts. You can't really argue those. I think the assumptions are pretty valid as well. If you believe Assumption 1, then that naturally leads to the other assumptions. It looks like we will find out soon if that first assumption is true. If so, LOOK OUT!!!

I thought that the story had legs, and connected the dots to a logical conclusion. However, now the FBI is confirmed to be involved, and this issue goes MUCH deeper than even the major conspiracy that I conjectured.

As the Plains Burn...

I saw this link posted today and gave it a gander. Full disclosure: this is a summary post on an LSU message board. However, it isn't your typical message board dribble. It uses multiple sources, most of which are linked to actual factual reports. Some of the gems:

• Auburn has been systematically paying its players for decades
• Payment includes cash, unmarked debit/ATM cards, casino cards that allow gambling with high returns (VIP cards)
• Said payments allowed a 7-5 team in 2009 to score the #4 recruiting class in 2010 including miraculously landing the #1 players from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, as well as the #1 JUCO signee in Cam Newton. Many of these reversed prior commitments at the last minute.
  
• The scheme was orchestrated by multiple boosters and run by the Auburn Board of Trustees through an Alabama bank that was shut down under scandal
  
• The FBI has proof of the whole scheme, which they surreptitiously obtained through wiretaps while investigating this failed bank
• The NCAA is now involved and has warned Auburn, as has the FBI
• Auburn has decided to circle the wagons and go "all-in" to win the Heisman and National Championship, essentially going down in a blaze of glory, knowing that it is all crashing down
• If allegations are true, Auburn will lose its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and will no longer be eligible to be a member of the SEC

I mean... HOLY F%&#ing S$%&!!!! If you thought conference realignment was changing the face of college football, think again! The implications are almost unthinkable. And consider that Auburn historically isn't even that great in comparison to even a lot of other SEC schools. You have to assume that if Auburn was running a program this dirty, then other schools were doing something similar.

I'm intrigued by the final line of the linked post's summary. Apparently, things are now moving very fast:
"This will be revealed by the end of the week."

The NEW NDNation

As Ted noted in an earlier post, it's been a tough last few weeks for Notre Dame football. And although I had a self-imposed media ban in effect for Notre Dame football following the loss to Navy I couldn't help basking in the glory a bit after the Utah win so I headed over to my site of choice - irish.nbcsports.com. I like this site because the writer, Keith Arnold, remains relatively positive. And I'm glad I did because it was here that I became aware of the growing unrest with some of the so-called Notre Dame "fans". Negativity appears to be a badge of honor for Notre Dame supporters. It's like they're all in a race to see who can make the negative assessment earliest so they can be the first to say, "I told you so!", down the road. This is the main reason for my media ban. All that negativity just wears on you, man. So I'm happy to see this sea change taking place amongst ND supporters.

The first sign of unrest was a great Raghib Ismail speech at the pep rally last week where he called out ND fans for their "unbelief". It's so true. And I've been doing it for years. It's not until this year where I've tried - tried - to remain more upbeat throughout the course of games. Part of the reason I couldn't stand watching games is because I'd always get that "oh shit" feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever something bad happened. Fighting that feeling is hard. Really, really hard. But if you can do it, it makes a game watch much more enjoyable. And you know what? I never had that feeling growing up. I knew Notre Dame was going to beat Miami in '88. I knew they were going to smash Florida in the Sugar Bowl in the early '90s. Feeling confident and positive is good.

The second sign is the creation of a new website - http://www.thenewndnation.com/ - and its adoption by many current and former ND football players. This site is a direct stab at another Irish fan site, ndnation.com, that I used to follow before I got sick of the negativity and poo-pooing of all things Notre Dame by the maintainers of that site, who proclaim to be ND supporters. The sole purpose of the new site is to support Notre Dame football unflinchingly and with positivity. I like that message. I can buy into that.

I guess my point is this - it's been a disappointing season, but I'm seeing the signs. Brian Kelly is going to turn this thing around. I believe that. Are we going to lose games? Yes. Are we going to lose some games badly? Yes. But I'm going to go into every game thinking we have a puncher's chance. And when we face our first 4th and short against Southern Cal I'm going to pray that Kelly goes for it. And I'm going to believe that we're going to shove it down their f**king throats, that we're going to pick up the first down and more, and then head-butt Lane Kiffin as we're tackled out of bounds by 9 Southern Cal players. Then I will shotgun a beer, punch Kevin, and take a bite out of a turkey leg like a caveman.

Go Irish!

2nd Worst Week In History

The Grotto burns!

October 23 - October 30 in 2010 will go down as the darkest hour for Notre Dame football, perhaps ever. Personally, I would also rank it as the 2nd worst week in ND history after the fire in 1879 wiped out the main building. While that fire put the very existence of Notre Dame in doubt, that awful week in 2010 has put the future of our football team in doubt.

A season already in turmoil, the Irish lose on the road to Navy. Not just a loss, but a complete dismantling. We were outplayed, outcoached, and the game was a disgrace. The next week during practice, a student dies in a tragic accident. Calls for everyone involved to be fired from Brian Kelly, to Jack Swarbrick to Fr. Jenkins arise nationally. We then go on to lose to Tulsa at home. In a game in which we were playing with heavy hearts in honor of Declan Sullivan, we lost to one of the weakest opponents we have faced in years.

After that week, I really questioned if this was it. Has Notre Dame football become obsolete, an historical relic of a bygone era? Many have questioned this for years, and until now I had always dismissed those thoughts. Maybe they were right?

Well, two weeks have passed. A fortunate BYE week in the schedule has allowed the team time to regroup. It has also given me a little perspective. I think we have a number of factors that are unfortunately all converging on us at one time.

New Coach
More so than our last 3 head coaches, Brian Kelly is a "system" coach. He has a way of doing things from top to bottom. Sounds like he has been trying to completely overhaul the football program from day 1 on the job. That can't happen overnight. Our last real coach, Lou Holtz, was 5-6 his first season after taking over a similarly downtrodden team. I'll eagerly anticipate our development next year.

Key Injuries
Not counting the myriad injuries that have caused players to miss a game or two, ND has sustained catastrophic injuries across the board this year:

• Dayne Crist: starting QB (and only QB with ANY experience) out for season
  
• Armando Allen: starting RB out for season
  
• Kyle Rudolph: All-American starting TE out for season
  
• Ian Williams: starting NT (on a very thin DL) out for season
  
• Michael Floyd: All-America starting WR hobbled by a hamstring the entire season
• Gary Gray: starting CB hobbled with a bad foot all season

What team in the nation, at any level, could overcome a group of injuries to key players like this?

Poor Recruits
Back to Kelly, it is clear that he hasn't been able to adapt well to the players currently on the team. However, I wonder about how good these guys are. Kelly doesn't run a complex scheme, but he is constantly yelling at his players on gameday for what look to me like the most boneheaded mistakes. These guys just don't learn! Our past recruiting classes on this team ranked #8, #2, #21, #14. Perhaps we overrated some of those recruits in 2007 and 2008. I think a little time will be needed to turn things around.

Rise of New Powers
Our futility is magnified when other schools are having big success. The non-BCS schools like Boise State, TCU and Utah seem to signify a change in college football. Is Notre Dame being passed by? However, traditional football powers like Alabama and Ohio State are also doing well. Why isn't ND? We all know that programs ebb and flow over the years, but it seems we have been down for far too long!

Conference Bias
College football is completely dominated by the BCS conferences given the current landscape. TV contracts, bowl alliances, BCS formulas, pollsters, opinion-making TV coverage - all of these are controlled by the conferences and their supporters. Fortunately, the TCUs of the world are doing their best to bust this up. However, what we really need is for the BCS system to be blown up. A college football playoff is coming, and when it does, it will level the playing field for all teams - Notre Dame included. Conferences will be less important, scheduling will open up, and the best team will truly be crowned champion every year.

Bad F$%ing Luck
How many coaches in the midwest practiced outside on October 27? How many told their film guys to take the day off? While the death of Declan Sullivan was tragic, and it could (and should) have absolutely been preventable, it was an ACCIDENT! There are probably dozens of coaches breathing a heavy sigh of relief that they got lucky on that very day. Meanwhile, they are all quietly revising procedures for filming in inclement weather. Does anyone really think Brian Kelly told anyone to get the kid up on the tower to film practice? Declan did what he did every day for practice. I can assure you that other than the Sullivan family, nobody feels worse about this accident than Brian Kelly.

The thing is, all of these factors will be resolved in the next year or so. I think we can reasonably expect to see huge improvement in 2011. I am writing off 2012 due to the IMPOSSIBLE SCHEDULE. Then, in 2013, we should expect to see a polished product on the gridiron. In Kelly's 4th year we should be back on top. With a break or two, we may have a chance to truly achieve our Return to Glory.