ND v. FSU

Even after the pretty lackluster performance Saturday against North Carolina, I still feel like Notre Dame can pull off the upset in Tallahassee against Florida State. And as the days pass, I'm becoming more and more convinced that the best chance for that to happen is if Jameis Winston is their quarterback on Saturday. Here's my logic...

If Winston is suspended, the team starts to rally together and develop an us-against-the-world mentality. They have confidence in the backup after the Clemson game, so they know they can win without Winston and now they have a ton of motivation. They've also just been dropped from their perch at #1 down to #3 so they'll definitely have the whole, "No one gives us any respect" card to play as well. That can't carry you through a season, usually, but it can be enough to go crazy on emotion for one game and pull off the improbable.

If Winston plays, it's with the weight of his looming autograph scandal and his student code of ethics trial for his alleged sexual assault two years ago. I really believe Winston gives zero fucks about either of these issues, but they are a huge distraction to him and the team. The focus is completely on answering questions about these items and less about the game Saturday. He and the team will say all the right things about just being focused on Notre Dame, but you know it's a cloud and you know it will be an impact. And if he gets rattled early (which would be nice to have happen to an opposing quarterback, for a change) the wheels can really come off.

So I'm counterintuitively rooting for Winston to be available. Although, to reference my post from last week, should Notre Dame pull off the upset, the storyline quickly shifts to how Florida State was distracted by the events heading into the week and Notre Dame will get a big asterisk next to this victory and will still need to prove themselves against Arizona State, Louisville, and Southern Cal...

Outcomes Change the Narrative

Everett Golson and Ben Koyack saved my anniversary dinner. On our way to dinner we listened to Stanford's fourth quarter touchdown to take the lead then walked to a bar to watch Notre Dame's last ditch effort. The rest is history and I was able to enjoy my lobster pot and the wife her first crab cakes in 3 years, along with an exceptional butternut squash lobster bisque.

As we sat at home afterwards and watched the chaos of Saturday unfold (with an eye on the Nationals as they went into extra innings), Steph turned to me and said, "You're just staying up so you can watch the highlights and see what everyone says about the Notre Dame game." Of course I was! I couldn't wait to see everyone have to begrudgingly accept that maybe, just maybe, Notre Dame has a decent team this year.

Heading into the game all the talk was about Stanford's number one defense in multiple categories and Stanford's "hit-you-in-the-mouth" offense featuring the explosive Ty Montgomery. How could Notre Dame possibly deal with that? Most were picking Stanford.

Well, Notre Dame dealt with it. And could've made this a snorefest if a) Golson didn't gift Stanford a touchdown with a fumble on his on 10 yard line, b) Golson didn't give away potentially 7 points with an interception on Stanford's 2 yard line, and c) Notre Dame doesn't throw away 6 points on two bobbled field goal holds.

So I was eager to see Notre Dame's acceptance. But it never came.

Instead the story of the game became Stanford's inept offense. Every major college sportswriter not affiliated with Notre Dame took this angle or simply didn't mention the highly anticipated game between the 9th and 14th ranked teams in the country.

You know, you absolutely just know, that had Stanford held on to win this game gets a LOT more mention, even with all the craziness that occurred in the CFB world on Saturday. You know the talk turns to Notre Dame still not being tough enough. Of their early season success just being an aberration due to a weak schedule (one that, FWIW, many were calling the hardest in the country before the season started).

I don't know why I get worked up. This happens year after year after year. I should be used to it by now, but I always just expect things will change. Oh well, maybe if Notre Dame can pull the upset in Tallahassee they'll make some noise, but based on history the story will just change to how Florida State isn't the same team it was last year and was due for a loss.

ND Hodge Podge

We hit the real start of the football season this weekend as Stanford comes to town. I thought I'd take the opportunity to discuss a few ND topics of interest...

The Five
So the ND Honor Code finally held the hearings for the 5 ND football players this week. They should have their ruling within the next week, as early as today. Much mental anguish has been thrown around the interwebs with regards to ND admin's slow pace in resolving this situation. Here's what you need to know.

• ND does and always will place academics above everything else. Sports are a distant 2nd at best, and may be 3rd with the Catholic identity edging it out for 2nd.
• The pace of this investigation has been slow, but ND will NOT mess this up. 
• There has been no special treatment because these are football players.
• Clearly, these 5 players did something wrong. How bad their mistake was is the subject of the investigation and hearings. So if anyone (including them) wants to complain, they need to remember that it was the players who started this mess.

Much of the complaining has to do with the fact that they are being held out of football activities. Guilty until proven innocent. A typical complaint goes like this, "If they are exonerated, they were punished by missing over a quarter of the season for nothing!" While I agree that it doesn't make sense to take this extreme step (at least let them practice), you have to understand history. This situation involves a paid student employee of the athletic department. What her involvement is, we don't know. However, if you recall the one and only time ND received NCAA probation, it was because Kim Dunbar gave gifts to a player she was dating. The NCAA determined she was a booster because she paid $25 to go to a QB club luncheon. So that is why ND self-reported the current situation to the NCAA. I doubt this will have any NCAA implications, but ND will take no chances on getting a penalty. I think their deliberate approach to this situation will make that very unlikely.

ACC and Scheduling
I am loving our association with the ACC. We have 5 power conference games locked in. They rotate to new ACC sites every year. Lots of new opponents and stadiums to check out. It covers HOT spots we need for recruiting. Our Bowl opportunities are better than ever. Looking ahead, it look like Swarbrick is looking to diversify the schedule. We have series scheduled against Georgia, Texas, A&M and OSU. I envision a future in which we hopefully play one team from each power conference every year. Without a conference championship, we need to be able to compare ourselves to other conferences for playoff selection. An ideal future schedule format:

• 5 ACC teams
• 2 Pac 12 (USC, Stanford)
• 2 B1G (rotate Purdue/MSU and occasional OSU or Michigan)
• 1 SEC (Georgia and A&M currently)
• 1 Big 12 (Texas coming up)
• 1 Navy

Stanford
I see almost everyone seems to be picking Stanford to pop ND's bubble. I can't even believe it. The pure ignorance is mind-numbing. Go back to 2012 and read my preview of the ND Oklahoma game. I hit it dead on. I don't often make predictions, but this one seems too easy.

• ND is better than 2013.
• Stanford is worse than 2013.
• ND lost 27-20 at Stanford in 2013.
• That loss was aided by 2 4th Q picks by Tommy Rees.
• Our QB is now Golson who can make plays.
• The game is at Notre Dame.

It seems pretty obvious we should at least be favored in this game. Stanford isn't the bruising juggernaut of the past 5 years. They are in transition. I think our O is good for a few scores, and I don't see them taking advantage of our solid D. I call ND victory 24-13.

Season Prospects
So the inevitable question. Do we make the Playoff? Clearly it is too early to make that call. A big win this week helps a LOT. FSU may be the season. We also cannot slip up against AZST and USC. I'll be all-in if we beat FSU, and we will be in prime position if that happens. A close loss to FSU keeps us alive, but the only way we get in with 1 loss is if we look better than the Big 12 and B1G champions. I don't see that happening. Assuming we are 11-1 with a loss to FSU, FSU is in. Whomever wins the SEC is in. Whomever wins the Pac 12 is in. The B1G is down, and could lose out. A 1 loss MSU will be difficult to skip in favor of ND. Conference Championships are a big criteria. Even tougher is Oklahoma should they win out or have 1 loss. If we beat FSU and them stumble late, we could edge out FSU with 1 loss. That may be our best shot, but it has always been tough to overcome a late season loss. I think the only way we get in as an independent is undefeated. Some hard years ahead until the Playoff expands to 8.

Roger Goodell Is Now the Scapegoat

I am going to take a very unpopular position here. I am going to defend the NFL and Roger Goodell in their mishandling of the Ray Rice domestic violence suspension.

The NFL is a microcosm of America. There are overwhelmingly good people in the league. There are also bad people. Cheaters, drug users, alcoholics, murderers, rapists and (as brought vividly to the public conscience with an elevator security cam) wife/woman beaters. In this respect, the NFL is no different from any other field of employment in America, be it teachers, politicians, doctors or whatever. The big difference is that the NFL is almost completely in the public eye. (That and the multibillion dollar revenue, which we'll get back to.)

So is it any wonder that the Ravens and the NFL woefully mishandled the Ray Rice situation? The legal system struggles mightily with sexual assault and domestic violence issues. Just look at the Ray Rice case. His fiancee (whom he has since married) did not press charges and strongly supported him. I'm not saying that makes it OK. I realize that part of the problem is that many women feel that they deserve this or are willing to ignore it for love, money, stability or whatever. That puts a prosecution in a tough spot. Ray Rice avoided jail time and got pre-trial intervention, with the charges likely to be expunged.

So what is the NFL to do? The prosecutors gave him a slap on the wrist. His wife sat by his side and pled for lenience. Rice fully admitted to what he did and said he is in counseling to get help. Goodell gave him 2 weeks suspension. He could have given him more, but what is the precedent? It's more than the legal system did.

Obviously, that wasn't enough, and the subsequent release of the in-elevator view has sparked a firestorm of what did who know when. It doesn't matter. This is a position that the NFL, or any other workplace cannot win in.

I think Goodell's biggest mistake is taking on the role of sheriff  when he became commissioner. There is no way to clean up the NFL, just liek there is no way to clean up America or any society. There are going to be bad eggs. It's an impossible standard for Goodell to be judge, jury and executioner for everyone in the NFL. Just look at our legal system to see how complicated it has become to simply dole out justice in America. The NFL is a SPORT!!! It's not a courtroom.

My solution to this mess if I am advising the NFL? I think Roger Goodell should step back from his role as moral policeman of the NFL. As commissioner, he should review and dole out punishment regarding on-field issues only. PEDs, drug use, blows to the head, spygate, bounties. Anything off the field would be a legal matter. Then, each individual team would be free to decide if a player needs any additional punishment - just like any other employer. In this case, Ray Rice would have been fired from almost any job if this had come to light. If the Ravens decided to keep him to make the team better, they would be BLASTED by fans and media, and would feel an impact financially. No different than if a teacher put his wife in the hospital. He'd be fired.

In no way is this a defense of Ray Rice or what he did. Make that point clear. I am just trying to say that Roger Goodell and the NFL have painted themselves into a corner. It's an impossible task for them to maintain, but they have tried to do this because of the money. They want to protect and grow the game, but you can never prevent the bad apples from doing bad things. I think America is well beyond the naive mindset that puts football players on a pedestal. Most reasonable people realize football players have the same problems as the rest of society.

Let's let society deal with the players when they do wrong. Let the NFL stick to football.

A Very Special Blog Post

I'm going to take some time off from the NFL. It isn't just because of everything recently with Ray Rice, although that was the straw that broke the proverbial back, it's because the NFL is out of control. And, repeat after me - IT'S JUST A FUCKING GAME!

We can start with Ray Rice knocking his fiancee out cold. If you've seen the video, it's difficult for me to judge which is the worst part - the fact that he appears to strike with zero hesitation, the visceral, raw violence of the act, or the staggering lack of concern from Rice as Janay Palmer's head strikes the elevator railing and she lays unconscious on the ground. Disgust can be evenly distributed, starting with Rice, moving to the prosecutors who viewed this video and decided not to press charges, to the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens who took almost no action until it was clear that their attempt to blame Parker had blown up in their faces. Nevermind who saw which video and when, what do you think someone getting knocked unconscious entails? It's horrifying, no matter who is perpetrating it upon whom.

The whole concussions ordeal plays a part.

The Jonathan Martin bullying, racism, and organizational support for such actions plays a part.

But I guess it's really just my overall perception of the NFL today - it's out of control. This isn't about setting a good example for my kids (won't somebody think of the children?!). If I'm relying on the NFL to teach my kids about how to treat women and bullying and racism, I'm a failure as a parent. No, this is because IT'S JUST A FUCKING GAME! And we have adults across the country that are simply way too invested in this. John Walters said something really great today commenting on another media personality's comment about how (paraphrasing) she was struggling to reconcile her values and beliefs with her love for football. His response - you don't! Why do people feel the need to reconcile their values and beliefs with a freaking game?! I mean, I love soccer, but I'm probably going to pull my boy off his soccer team if their team name is the Little Hitlers and they're asked to wear adorable little mustaches.

America is way too addicted to the NFL, and there seems to be a notion that there is nothing we can do about it. But there are things we can do - turn off the tv, don't buy tickets, don't buy merchandise. The only thing the NFL listens to is money.

I love football. I love watching football. And I hope that the NFL can get their shit together enough so that I can watch and enjoy the games again without feeling like a horrible person or a spectator at the Coliseum in Rome. It's fall, the weather is nice, kids have soccer. I'm sure I can find something better to do than spend Sunday afternoon (and Monday night, and now Thursday night too because,  NFL) on the couch - unless of course, you know, Little Hitlers. Although the mustaches would remind me of a virile, young Ian Rush

2 Down, 10 to Go

Some quick thoughts 2 games into a surprisingly (so far) enjoyable Notre Dame football season.

Everett Golson
I can't say if ND would have dropped either of these first two games with Rees at the helm, but I can say they wouldn't have been as comfortable. There have been at least a half dozen plays each of the first two games that would've been crushing setbacks with Rees under center. Golson's ability to elude the rush and keep plays alive and then just toss a frozen rope is purely something that Rees was not capable of. I'm pleasantly surprised at how good he's been this early

DeVaris who?
I was really concerned about the receiving options when Daniels was suspended, but Fuller, Prosise (55yd drop not included), Carlisle, and Brown have been awesome. These new receivers have speed and hands and have been really fun to watch.

KeiVarae who?
I was equally concerned with losing potential All American corner back Russell, but Riggs and Luke have filled in so well this defense hasn't missed a beat. Granted, there hasn't exactly been a murderer's row of receiving opposition, but the secondary has acquitted itself nicely through two games.

BVG
Diaco was your prom date's dad. BVG is the guy you'd asked to buy beer for you after prom. There's no way ND is getting the contributions from the underclassmen with Diaco still in charge. There's also no way that BVG doesn't drive a Camaro, likely an IROC-Z.

This Is Pretty Awesome

Sometimes MLS is a-okay.

http://fansided.com/2014/07/19/make-wish-helps-xander-bailey-suits-sounders/#!bjaeZy

Video in case you can't read...

I Believe

I
am proud of our team and its accomplishments in the 2014 World Cup. We survived the "Group of Death"™ and advanced for the 2nd straight time to the knockout stage. We played inspired football, and had a lot of memorable moments.  In perhaps the best example yet that American soccer has arrived, NOBODY wants America in their group and teams hate playing us. They know we are physical and will outrun them for the entire match.

I Believe
that Jurgen Klinsmann is one of the best coaches in the world, and the PERFECT coach for our team. Seemingly every button he pushed came up aces from roster selection to training to starters and subs. I even love his pressers and mind games. He's such a pro. We are in very good hands going forward in 2018 and hopefully 2022.

I Believe That
I will miss ESPN (did I just type that) and their coverage of future World Cups. They finally figured it out - except that whole Alexi Lalas mistake. Fox has the next two World Cups, and I hear Gus Johnson is the lead play-by-play guy. Look, I love his enthusiasm calling football or hoops, but the dude knows NOTHING about soccer. Please Fox, just port in the ESPN personalities and roll.

I Believe That We
will see a Copa America Centenario that is better than Euro 2016. All of South America will be in it, along with USA, Mexico and 4 other CONCACAF nations. This will give our MNT a real test leading into the next World Cup, something we have not had before. And it's all in the USA. I like our chances to advance deep. This may be a game changer for us. I think we MUST plan a family gathering around a venue and watch a couple games.

I Believe That We Will
be awarded the 2022 World Cup within the year. Whether it's impossible heat (averaging 115 right now during the World Cup),  outcry over 1000's of deaths from migrant laborers building stadiums, or the huge scandal rocking Qatar and FIFA regarding bribes, I think their bid is untenable. America is one of the few countries ready and willing to host the World Cup on almost a moments notice. It was our year anyway!

I Believe That We Will Win
a lot of games with many of the younger players on our current roster. Yedlin is going to be a stud. Green could finally be that creative genius we have lacked for creating goals. We have great young defenders, and our defense should be almost intact (without Beasley) in four years. Who knows who develops in the next four years, but MLS is slowly improving. I think we could have a roster that competes with almost anyone from a skill standpoint. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Already the Best World Cup Ever?

We're 2 days in, and already I have noticed a HUGE difference in this years World Cup. Where do I start? Okay, Brazil. The time zones are perfect for us lazy US fans. All the games start in the afternoon and early evening. Imminently watchable. The visuals from around the stadiums are awesome. The fans are insane, and TONS of supporters from many of the teams have made the trip to liven it up. The crazy weather is fun to watch on TV. I also love all the unrest in the country, but we'll get back to my reasons for that later.

The coverage is next. ESPN has ditched their traditional broadcast team of a bunch of washed up American has beens. Now, they seemingly have a former superstar from every national team rotating in to the pre and post match coverage team. The game crews are top notch. Of course the glorious HD broadcasts are great. However, now I can watch every game on any computer, TV, smartphone, and I can even listen to them all on Sirius radio if I'm in the car!

Of course we then get to the play. The first 2 days of matches have been maybe the best I've ever watched. Wide open games, lots of shots, lots of scoring. Amazing goals. I still can't even believe that first goal by Robin van Persie. I've never seen anything like that. Heck, even a 1-0 win had 3 disallowed goals, so the score was a bit misleading. I also love the minor tech improvements to really improve the game. Goal line tech is long overdue. How about the spray foam to mark 10 yards on free kicks? Brilliant! I can't wait to see what's next. The only thing I pray for is a miracle run by USA to advance through the group stage.

A lastly, back to that unrest in Brazil. I think FIFA and the world are watching closely. Cost overruns, unfinished stadiums, grass that looks like a cow pasture (how do you not grow grass in the Amazon?), massive protests and transportation breakdowns. This all in the foreground, while in the background MASSIVE allegations are facing Qatar's bid for 2022. I think FIFA will eventually have to reopen bidding for 2022. No other country can be ready in time other than the USA. It isn't Europe's turn, so everything bad in Brazil leads toward USA 2022!!!

Oh one last thing, did I mention... NO VUVUZELAS!!!!

This is Why We Don't Get Nice Things

Soccer scribes in the US are still up in arms over Landon Donovan getting cut from the World Cup. Here's why you need to take all that hyperbole with a grain of salt:

That could mean left back stays with Beasley, whose experience will be important to have somewhere on the field in pressure situations, especially without Landon Donovan in the squad. With wing players Alejandro Bedoya, Brad Davis, Julian Green and Graham Zusi all on the roster, Beasley would have a tough time cracking the midfield anyway.

Are you kidding me!? The USA needs Beasley's experience on the field like it needs a hole in the head. Wait, I take that back. If the USA needs the experience of a sub-par winger getting burned all day long at left back and forcing others to cover for him, Beasley is definitely the guy. So he's not good enough to crack the midfield against the likes of Bedoya, Brad Davis, and Zusi, but, sure, line him up against Ronaldo and Goetze. That should end well. The only worse possible choice at left back would be Jonathan Bornstein, and, thankfully, Klinsmann ended that nightmare immediately after taking the job.

I mean, really, experience is overrated to a large degree. The reason for Donovan and Beasley's breakout performances in South Korea was that they had little experience and, as a consequence, very low expectations. Those expectations would later derail Donovan's career and they drove Beasley into obscurity. There are a few must-have's in the US lineup:

• You need Clint and his attitude.
• You need Bradley and his vision, motor, and distribution.

There. That's it. Howard is maybe the next most valuable, but I watched enough EPL to be comfortable with Guzan. Anyone trying to sell you on experience - and using Beasley of all people as the example! - doesn't know what they're talking about.