Welcome Golden and Harrison to the fold..

One of the biggest hurdles ND has to overcome every year in recruiting is the fact that South Bend is not the hometown-- or in the home-state-- of many of the top recruits in the country. So kids are often faced with the dilemma of staying close to home (and Mom) at the nearby, often state-affiliated school, or travelling way up north to the cold-weather climate of South Bend.

I don't mean to diminish in any way the significance of this decision for these young men. It's not a trivial thing to consider at 17 or 18 (or 19 in Jimmy Clausen's case) years old.

As a kid growing up in the Northeast, it was a big deal for me (NOT a college football recruit in any way) to choose to go to a school as far south as Kentucky. I got a lot of looks from people-- basically asking-- why would you want to go there? Everything you could ask for academically is available here... so why go anywhere else?

But for whatever reason, I felt it in me to go out and try living in another part of the country-- strike out on my own, in a sense, I guess.

So it gives me all the more respect for these guys from places like Florida, California, and (lately) here in Tennessee who have been choosing to attend Notre Dame. The climate, the academics, the football schedule-- none of them are soft. So to leave the comforts of home and move up to a place like ND-- even as amazing a place as it is-- I applaud these kids for striking out on their own and taking the chance on themselves. I don't think they'll regret it, whatever their football careers may hold.

Just watched Harrison Smith's press conference (hat tip: BlueGraySky)-- which comes hot on the heels of another great Tennessee Catholic High school product, Golden Tate, going Irish. Now here's a kid who lives in Knoxville, within sight of Neyland Stadium, says he's been a Volunteer fan his whole life, and is the son of two Tennessee alums (who were flanking him while he made his announcement)... and he chooses Notre Dame. It's just so good to see a kid that age make a bold, independent move like that. And I'm sure the Vol Nation is shocked-- imagine a kid wanting to leave the comforts of home for a Charlie Weis training camp.

Ah but there were those two magic words-- Charlie Weis.

And so the Irish have (verbally anyway-- always remember CJ Leak) two of three of the top Tennessee recruits-- with, as BGS points out, the third getting set to announce his commitment to either ND or Tennessee on January 6.

So does anyone really think Charlie would take the Giants job? The New York tabloids are all over it, practically begging for Charlie to consider it. And being a Giants fan, I would be even slightly conflicted if it were any other Irish coach, at any other time.

But with the way things are coming together in South Bend-- and more significantly, with the way they're falling apart in New York-- it's hard to imagine for me that Charlie would heed the call to come home to Jersey.

Midnight Drum Circle

You know, one of the best things about being a student at ND in the student section at games (in the first row our second year there) was getting a chance to be so close to the ND drums down on the sidelines.. just came across this video of the midnight drum circle before the Stanford game this year. It's seven and a half minutes long and it just totally takes me back...

Memo to ESPN: you better start getting this straight..

Okay, listen... when you're writing about the whole Charlie Weis/Tom Brady/Brady Quinn angle, it's one thing to make the Brady-play on names... but seriously guys...

I mean, has anyone else spotted this?

The case for Quinn

Brady Quinn will not win the Heisman and it's a shame.

Allen Barra at the New York Sun makes the most compelling argument I've seen in print for why Brady Quinn should win the Heisman.

Here's the money quote:

The uncritical acceptance by so many writers and commentators of Troy
Smith's Heisman worthiness reflects an attitude that has become popular in
college football over the last couple of decades, namely that "the best player
on the best team" — or at least the player on the best team with the gaudiest
stats — is automatically the best player in the nation. This has resulted in
some relatively undistinguished quarterbacks winning the Heisman, most notably
Charlie Ward in '93, Florida's Danny Wuerffel in 1996, Florida State's Chris
Wenke in 2000, and Oklahoma's Jason White in 2003. All of them played for teams that were ranked at or near the top at the time they won the award.

A careful look at the record convinces me that Troy
Smith is destined to join their number. But whatever happens to Smith in the
NFL, Brady Quinn put up numbers this year that were at least the equal of Troy
Smith's, and he did it against tougher opposition and with far less help from
his teammates. By any objective yardstick, he deserves the nod over Troy Smith
as the outstanding college football player of the 2006 season.

Going for it..

According to Len Pasquarelli this morning, more and more NFL head coaches are going for it on 4th down-- and aggressive offensive linemen are loving it, apparently...

It's a regular trend. A phenomenon.
And yet there's not one mention of Charlie Weis in this article. How can that be possible?
I have nothing scientific to back this up, but I'm fairly certain that going for it on 4th and 6 wasn't nearly so popular until sometime last year, after Charlie had done it 8 or 9 times.

Welcome home, Andy.

I know, I know. New York isn't Andy Pettitte's home. Houston is. It's where he's from biologically.
But can anyone deny that New York is where his baseball family lives? It'll just feel right to have him back in pinstripes.
Welcome back, Andy.
Let's just hope that he's still as clutch in September and October as he used to be.
And nevermind my misgivings about the Yanks continuing to pursue over-the-hill veteran pitchers while neglecting youth. The Yanks got Pettitte back without having to sacrifice prospects-- unlike the deal they made for the so-far-disappointing Randy Johnson-- and so far this off-season, the Yanks appear to be learning their lesson that front. We'll see what the rest of the winter holds.