Not Top 5 for me...

Okay.. all I'm going to say about the ND-USC game is this:

1) Green Jerseys: Nice move, Charlie. Even with the outcome, I like the choice.

2) why should a team benefit by fumbling the football? (how you can fumble backward to the 1/2 yard line is beyond me as well, but we won't go there). Why should the clock stop for this if the player remains in bounds?




3) Reggie Push. The guy doesn't even know it's illegal to push the runner over the goal-line...
Picture two guys from Southern California, lisping behind mouthpieces:
"Hey dude, I just scored."
"Yeah dude. I like totally just SHOVED you."
"Thanks, Dude."
"Dude."

Dan Patrick says guys get pushed across the line all the time without it being called. That's the group-think now-- it happens all the time. Gotta call BS on that one, Dan. If it happens every Saturday, then give me the name of a Div I player who assisted a runner across the goal line last week? or the week before?
And in a game-deciding touchdown?

That said-- Charlie Weis says he'd have done it if it were him.
Speaking of Charlie Weis.. the guy is just class, out and out.
Went to the SC lockerroom to congratulate the Trojans and then used what he said to them as a lesson for his 12 year old son-- that it's easy to be nice when you win; it's a whole lot harder to be nice when you lose.

Gotta say, it was a fabulous game, from what I hear.
Yeah, I didnt' actually get to see it because I was out of town for my college Homecoming and the current members of my fraternity preferred to watch the Louisville game. Dickheads. And they bought crappy cheap beer and only had one bottle of Maker's Mark. Who teaches these kids these days? I guess they won't be getting my usual check for the 'house fund' this year.

Positive notes from the game:
1) Oh my God, for all practical purposes, we just beat USC!
2) ND is back! No question. And the media is jumping all over themselves to announce it.
3) It just gets more and more clear every week: Jeff Samardzija is the man!
4) Were it not for SC's game-saving drive in the final minute, we'd all (well, okay, maybe just me around here) be talking about Brady Quinn's final drive.. and his drive for the Heisman. See this from the Sporting News story on the game:

Weis had a short chat with Brady Quinn before Notre Dame's
last possession, when the Irish were behind 28-24 with 5:09.
"I said, 'Hey,
buddy, this is the type of drive that legends are made,"' Weis said. "He looked
at me and he knew exactly what I was saying to him."
Weis told Quinn he was
going to call a bunch of three-step drops and quick slants.
"We're going to
get them reeling, we're going to get some yards and runs after catch," Weis told
Quinn. "We're going to go down there and score. I go: 'Be patient, we have
plenty of time."'
Quinn was 4-of-4 passing during that drive for 53 yards,
while Darius Walker ran the ball three times for 29 yards. Quinn capped the
drive with a 5-yard run, scoring a touchdown when he stretched his right arm
into the end zone as he was being tackled.

The other thing the national media is jumping up and down to do is call this game 'the greatest college football game of all time.' Well, I must say, I'm with Coach Weis on this one: this won't be one of my Top 5 games.. because we lost. It was a great game, no question about it. But ask a Kentucky fan how they feel about the '92 Christian Laettner game-- think they call that one of the greatest games in college basketball? Not likely. I'll take ND's victories over Miami (31-30 in 1988) or Florida State in 1993 any day...

That said, Gene Wojciechowski did write a really nice story about the game.. and from what I saw, he was the first to dub the game the 'Greatest of All Time'.

Oh.. and let's raise a toast to Tommy Zbikowski for knocking a cocksur Reggie Bush on his ass as he tried, literally, to waltz into the end-zone:
[this from the Wojciechowski article]

It takes arrogance to do what Bush did during that same drive: bolting through the line, sprinting into the open field, grandly gesturing with one hand as he neared the end zone, and then slowing down just as he crossed the goal line. That's when Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski, who never gave up on the play, popped Bush with a hit the USC tailback so richly deserved.

Future opponents take note: Zbikowski never gave up on the play.

This much is certain: I'll be in LA for the game next year.