God, I hope so!

“I don’t come here to leave and take a job in the NFL in three years. This is
not a stepping stone. This is an end-all for our family,” he said. “When we come
to Notre Dame, we come here with the intent of retiring here.” - Charlie Weis

Yes indeed!

Ah, the good old days. The cover of Sports Illustrated from October 24, 1988.

Bandwagon

Just watched the tape of the Purdue game (finally!) last night and Bob Davie (who was doing the color commentary for ESPN) said at least twice "I'm on the Charlie Weis Bandwagon"... just thought that was interesting coming from a guy who took a talented Irish team 7 years ago and helped them to underachieve so badly....

Also.. and maybe more interestingly, Davie made the remark (something like) "Charlie Weis is giving a clinic here tonight. And he'll be giving a clinic again next year... and I'd like to attend that clinic..." I don't doubt it that you would, Bob. Don't doubt it for a second.

Heisman voters: please take note of the Mighty Quinn...

The Irish beat BYU 49-23.. and Weis puts on another clinic.

Well, Kirk Herbstreit said it-- what we've kinda hoped might possible be true (but never really believed anyone outside the NotreDameNation would notice)-- that next year, Brady Quinn will be the man to beat for the Heisman...

But this year, Quinn is staking his claim.
Today's numbers-- 32 of 41, for 467 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Stovall caught 4 TDs-- a school record.
Samardzija picked up 2-- his seventh straight game with a TD catch (also a school record, I think)... so although he didn't catch the three I'd hoped for him, you won't hear me complaining.

You know, watching ND games now-- someone said Weis' post-game press conferences are like coaching clinics-- well, I think watching his games are like watching football experiments. Today, it was as though Weis said to himself, "Let's see what happens if we don't try to run at all." The book on BYU was that they were all about the passing game.. so Weis decided to fight fire with fire and just let Quinn get pass-happy today... and it worked beautifully.

Half-time note

One quick note from half-time...
Irish lead 21-10 at the half.
During the half-time show, they did a little segment on the USC-ND game and they quoted an officiating source (unnamed) with the NCAA who said that although the 'assisting the runner' rule is on the books, "it will never be called."

Well then.. sounds like the rule books needs some revising, doesn't it?
I move for an amendment!

Go Irish! Beat Cougars!

I don't really have a lot to say about this game. Haven't had a lot of time this week to read much about BYU. The Irish come into the game ranked #9 by the AP (who didn't drop them an inch after the hard-fought loss to USC) and #16 by the newly released BCS... and while I have defended the BCS in the past, I am truly perplexed by this year's first poll... I think the whole thing lost a balancing force (and the credibility to go with it) when the AP subtracted itself from the equation. This Harris Poll or whatever is just not a good or reasonable substitute, from what we've seen so far.

So BYU has this 'Air Raid' offense, from what little I've read. The only problem with that for the Irish... our one weakness on Defense is our secondary... so unless the D-line can really break through and create havoc for the BYU Quarterback before he can throw the ball, this could be another shocker for the Irish... but this time, not in the positive way it was last week. And that's the last thing we need is a 'let-down' week after teh strong showing against USC. We've finally got people believing the Irish are for real-- they're finally playing like they're for real. We don't need to let that slide away with a poor performance this afternoon.

So please, Defense. Be swift and merciless. Get to the Quarterback and don't let him 'air it out' as they're fond of doing.
And on offense, I'd love to see Jeff Samardzija have a 3-TD day... maybe another couple of TDs for Darius Walker.. and let's have the two of them join Brady Quinn in the Heisman balloting...
Wishful thinking? Why not!

So glad I'm not an SEC fan...

Thank God I'm not a UT or Alabama fan. For that matter, I'm glad I'm not an SEC fan.
How bad must it feel to be a fan of either school with these images splashed across the front page at ESPN?

Images aside, the story is pretty good-- if you like sordid stories about highschool coaches 'selling' players for $150,000 payoffs.. and then the kind of sleazy sting operation orchestrated by Tennessee boosters (and one former US. Attorney General-turned-liquor-store-owner-- no kidding) to bring the whole ring down.

So where does that leave us now? With UT's coach Fulmer being escorted by THP into Tuscaloosa... and an ESPN story that revels in the ramblings of every drunken booster it can find...

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.

Sick week...

Have had no time for blogging this week.. too much work, sick family, then sick me...

But I did want to login just long enough to say two things:
1) no I didn't get to see the SC game last Saturday (that's a story I will have to tell).
and
2) Holy Cow, the "Shark" is the MAN!

California Dreaming...

Who can resist it? What would it be like if the Irish could pull of the upset this weekend and beat Southern Cal? Impossible. Too crazy to even be imagined. I won't allow myself.

But...

Southern Cal is, of course, ranked #1. The Irish come into the week at #9, benefiting from a couple of losses by Top Ten teams over the bye week.
And the national media seems split. Papers out west like the LA Times seem to be talking up some of the (virtually invisible) weaknesses of the Trojans-- pointing to the weak first-half performances USC has put up in its last three games. Then again, in each of those games, the weak first-half was followed by a dominant second-half performance. So who knows what Trojans team will show up. First half or second?

Likewise for the Irish, who've had some games (especially early on against Pitt and Michigan) in which strong first-half performances were followed-up with underwhelming (at best) second-halves. And how will the Irish Defense really stack up against that vaunted USC O-line. We know the defensive secondary will have to play way over their heads. And finally-- if USC has a weakness, it would appear, similar to the Irish, to be the defense. So the intrigue, as all the pundits are saying now, will be to see how Weis's Offense matches up against Carroll's defense.

Again, I say: Remember the Pats of the mid-90's. Those were the Pete Carroll Pats... can he really be such a genius?

I'll be out of town on Saturday at my college homecoming.. no idea what the internet connectivity situation will be over the weekend, so the blog may go silent.. but I'll have my eye on the game as much as possible. May have to have a pledge come bring me scoring updates every 10 minutes or so.. hehe!

Musings for the week

1. Bryce really is a good sleeper. I don't really have anything to complain about, given what a light sleeper Aidan was. Bryce has spent much of his baby-hood sleeping on my shoulder.. but I'm doing what I can to gradually change that, moving him to the bed earlier and earlier. He's taking to it pretty well. And I find that we don't have to worry about him waking nearly as much as we did with Aidan-- who could be woken by the sound of the cat padding down the hall outside his door. In fairness, Sylvie is not all that quiet a cat, though.

2. The best show on television is, without a doubt, Battlestar Galactica-- but it's on hiatus until January (!)-- so my guilty television pleasure of the moment is Boston Legal. The stories aren't all that great... but Allen Shore and Denny Crane are just too much fun to watch.

3. Looks like this may be the end of the road for the Yankees. In their 5-game Divisional series with the Angels, they took the first game (with a great performance from Mussina) and looked like they were in pretty good shape. But then the Angels took game 2. And last night, as Chicago was completing their sweep of the Red Sox in their series, the Yanks gave up 11 runs (after rallying from 5 runs down to take the lead 6-5)-- and Randy Johnson got chased in the 3rd-- to lose again 11-7. So now they're on the ropes.. and the only way to win is in 5 games.. which, even if they wind up winning, spells certain doom in the ALCS...
(photo: nydailynews.com)

Missed another one..

Irish win! over #14 Purdue, 49-28... but most of those 28 points came in the last part of the game, when it was already well out of reach for the Boilers...

So the Irish are 4-1 going into the bye week before the biggest game of the year against Southern Cal.

That said, again this week, I missed the game.. not because of regional coverage (or lack of it), but because I was out of town at a friend's wedding.

Another ND grad at the wedding and I kept going back to the bar in the back room at th reception hall to catch glimpses of the game and get the updated score.
I was stunned each time I saw the score in the first half-- 14.. 21... 28.. to nothing? Can it be true?

And Samardzija made yet another SportsCenter- worthy one-handed grab at the one-yard line to setup a touchdown...
The national media is really starting to pick up on him.

So I've got the game on tape and will try to watch it this week...