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.

Goooooaaaaaal!

Ava had the last game of her second season of soccer today. In her "Dribblers" age group for Cincinnati Cardinals, it's 4v4 with no keepers. She has come a long way.

In the spring, Ava had a lot of fun, but her play consisted of running near the action and then jumping around in excitement. Every once in a while she would kick the ball if it hit her foot. Although she knew how to dribble and kick, the whole game concept was tough for her, being her first season. Hey, at least she didn't sit down and pick grass and dandelions - she was in the action the whole time!

In the fall, we upgraded coaches and got an official team name and uniform: the Tie-Dye Tigers. At first, Ava graduated from jumping in excitement to trailing the action and then sprinting back on defense and planting herself in the goal to block any shots. After much coaching from Dad, she realized that the concept of defense wasn't to just camp out in the goal. She also started to attack the ball and made some great plays. One cross to a teammate for a goal gave her the most beautiful assist of the season! Her coach even ran on the field and gave her a high five!

However, that first goal eluded her. We talked about it before games and she knew today was her last chance this season. So we provided the proper pump-up music before the game and Mom, Dad, Molly, Grandma and Grandpa set up on the sidelines to cheer her on. Early in the second half it came - a dribble through the other team near midfield for a breakaway! Just like her Dad used to do on a regular basis back in the day! The look on her face was priceless after it went in - kind of a mix of surprise and confusion. Probably because of the wild cheers from her fans! Of course, once the first one went in, she went right down and scored #2. Now she just wants to know when next season begins!

Done

After a soul-sucking loss to Navy and the predictable internet backlash against Brian Kelly that followed I'm doing to Notre Dame football what I did to ESPN.com - deleting from my bookmarks and habits all traces.

It's not that I'm planning to no longer follow Notre Dame football - I still plan on suffering through games every Saturday, living or dying by the Irish's performance - it's that in the process of keeping up-to-date throughout the week you inevitably get bombarded by the internet trolls and their retarded opinion pieces. I'd initially visit a handful of sites to get the information and scoop I couldn't find elsewhere. But after awhile (usually once the site gets a certain number of hits/day or has so many commenters) it inevitably turns to opinions and critiques - as if they could fix all that ails ND football - and the information and scoop goes by the wayside. And that is just too much for me these days.

Brian Kelly has been head coach at Notre Dame for less than a year and people are already calling for his head. The internet has no patience, and I have no patience for these idiots with no patience. I don't care what Ara did his first season. I don't care what Lou did his first season. It's irrelevant. The college football world of today is so radically different from the 60s and 80s that those comparisons hold no water. You know why Notre Dame will never have a "big name" coach again? Because every coach in the country sees all these idiots that are right now calling for Brian Kelly's head on a platter and says to himself, "F*** that noise! I don't need the hassle."

And for godsake, quit talking about the football program not living up to "Notre Dame standards". Since whenever Gerry Faust took over in the early 80s, Notre Dame has challenged for exactly 3 national championships - winning one, getting robbed once, and blowing it thanks to a converted 3rd and 47 at Miami. Every other season has been pretty abysmal. You want to talk about Notre Dame standards? Right now, our standard IS mediocrity.

Adult Dodgeball

Pretty good facsimile of me last night

So I got in a corporate dodgeball league last night with a bunch of co-workers at a local indoor sports place. Adult dodgeball, as I had been warned by people who have played in the past, is not what you remember from grade school. It's violent, extremely active, and overwhelmingly exhausting. You play as many games as you can in a 25-minute period (a match). In our first match, we lost 3-2, and in our second match we won 11-0.

Let me give you a few stories of our team from last night:

1) I warmed up, ran some wind-sprints, and threw pretty hard against a wall. It made no difference. I was throwing as hard as I could on my first throw, and my arm was jell-o by the end of the first match.

2) My boss (OK, he's about 6 levels above me), the Vice President for Internal Audit, was running out to the mid-line at the start of the match to get a ball. He and a girl reached for the same ball and knocked heads. She had to sit out the rest of the match with a golf-ball-sized lump on her forehead, by boss went right on playing.

3) The other team had 6 dodgeballs and they all decided to target me. Why, I don't know. I hadn't really been a threat, and I was smaller then the other guys on me time (read: smaller target). It didn't make any difference to them. I'm fairly certain I dodged at least three of the balls, but one managed to hit me in the butt as I ran away screaming "Not in the face!"

4) The girls have it rough on the dodgeball court. We would intentionally not target the opponents girls, hoping we could catch their throws and we could get a guy back and them out. I felt bad when the last person left was a girl, but I mercifully put her out of her misery.

This morning I'm as stiff and sore as I've ever been. My throwing hand still can't grip very well, I can almost lift my throwing arm above my head, and my back feels like I was squat-pressing a an AMC Pacer all night. I guess since I'm 30, the soreness will go away sometime next week - just in time for next Thursday's game! Yahoo!

Rock Band 3

Look out Thanksgiving - Rock Band 3 comes out October 26!

One of my highlights of 2009 was standing in the basement, completely hammered, playing Rock Band at 2am. I wasn't too drunk to recall looking at the dozens of empty beer bottles on the counter and hearing Dad swear, "You ran out of f$%ing beer?" Awesome!

So this year, everyone needs to start practicing up for the ultimate Rock Band session which will include warm-up sessions Wednesday evening, an opening gig Thursday night, and a full blown performance on Friday night! I would suggest buying (or renting) the new version because it will be awesome, but also to get ready for the new song list. I also mean EVERYONE needs to practice. 7 players will be able to perform together for the first time!!!

Some highlights of Rock Band 3:

• All old Rock Band songs and DLC will be importable - with the exception of The Beatles. That's one mega playlist!!!
• 3 microphone harmonies on all new songs
• New keyboard instrument (uh, oh - Dad may never put it down)
• Much improved graphics and overall gameplay

I took a quick look at the new 83 song playlist, and just started laughing! I see some mega fun with some of the favs below:

• China Grove (definitely a late night Dad favorite)
• The Power of Love (first wedding video song to be on Rock Band)
• Need You Tonight/Mediate (awesome)
• Free Bird (really, somebody can yell "play Freebird" and we can)
• Sister Christian (I will get whipper snappers to complete the mood)
• Bohemian Rhapsody (just ridiculous)

So everybody get ready. I'll have the rechargeable batteries ready to go for all the controllers, and am considering a keg (maybe 2 half kegs for variety). We can have some fun when the kiddies are in bed.

History

Don't know if anyone else watched the Reds last night, but history was made. For only the second time in baseball post-season history, a pitcher threw a no-hitter. Roy Halladay was about as good as Don Larsen, but not quite perfect. Jay Bruce drew a walk in the fifth inning to break up the perfect game, but that was the only base-runner of the night for the Reds.

Halladay was extremely impressive. He threw a lot of good pitches, but nothing that couldn't have been hit. However, what he did was utterly confuse the Reds hitters. You could see it when Votto and Phillips, and even the sagacious veteran, Scott Rolen, came to the plate. They had no idea what Halladay was going to throw. When the announcers noted Halladay throwing 1st-pitch strikes, the Reds did too. So they went up swinging. And Halladay would throw a clear ball.

If Halladay's control and guile was the story of the night, Edison Volquez not making it out of the second inning was the second story. Volquez had good stuff, but he simply could not locate the strike zone. And he was often throwing pitches away due to his lack of control. The fact of the matter is that any other pitcher the Reds put out there would have lost. Halladay made the question of whom the Reds should start on the mound totally moot. No run support means the Reds were destined to lose.

I do have to give credit to Logan Ondrusek and Trevor Wood. These guys came in and pitched long relief innings of shutout baseball after the meltdown by Volquez. Unfortunately, they may not be as rested for the next few games, but at least the Reds showed that their pitching can shut down the Phillies.

I'm still hopeful for the Reds. I always say Game 1 means nothing, it's all about Game 2. If the Phillies take a 2-0 series lead, it's all over. But if the Reds can get a win at Philly, they are poised to take two at home and win the series. Granted, they'll have to face Halladay again, but I sincerely doubt he'll pitch back-to-back no hitters. I think in the end, the Reds will have to count on beating the non-Halladay Phillies pitchers, because Doc seemed to outmatch the Reds hitters.

A Long Time Coming

BRUUUUUUUUUCE!

Things are starting to look up in the sports world. Notre Dame is 1-3, the Bengals have the worst offense in football, and for the first time in 15 years the Reds are in the playoffs. Finally, I can enjoy October baseball. And by "enjoy" I mean agonize over every pitch in every game the Reds play until my frustration builds to rage and I turn off the TV in a fog of anger and kick the dog. I love sports! Go Reds!

(By the way - Baseball Tonight spent 9 minutes talking about the Rays making the playoffs and 2 minutes talking about the Reds, even though nobody cares about Tampa (including their own city) and the team will be blown up in 3 months because the owners are too cheap. Oh, and with multiple teams clinching playoff spots last night the flagship EsPN channel was showing a poker tournament. Poker. Just two more reasons I hate EsPN.)