Irish Updates

Once again Friday night the Irish women dominated anyone who steps onto Alumni Field, beating Florida State 2-0. Schuveiller and Knaack both scored with Kerri Hanks assisting both. They’ll face Stanford in the Final Four Friday at 330 CST. The game should be aired on ESPN2. Stanford is 22-1-1 and of course the Irish are 25-0. Watch the game!!!

Irish basketball improving their home winning streak beat up on Furman without the big man Sunday afternoon. The streak is now 39 wins, which is a new record! McAlarney drained 9 threes, enough said! He’s got 32 threes in six games this season. South Dakota tomorrow night. How about the women’s basketball, now 6-0, rolled up on ranked Michigan State as well this weekend. Men’s hockey is now number one for only the third time in history!!! Right now the Irish have 6 teams in top 25 rankings and 4 breaking top ten!

Watch the Brey and the boys play South Dakota today online 630 CST! Women play Eastern Michigan at 6 as well... GO IRISH!!!

Weekly Steamers

This weekend, my Steamers go out to Mizzou, Oregon State, and of course, Notre Dame. I didn’t watch the entire Border War, or as our pussified society now must call it, the Border Showdown, but I did watch most of it. The lack of defense was evident but consistent with Big 12 play this season. Mizzou wins because they rolled down the field to score after letting Kansas score within 5 minutes but left a buck fifty on the clock. Not only that, they let Reesing march down and toss an egg to a wide open Meier to score once again leaving UM only a few seconds of desperation play. A great game, but Missouri should have pulled that one out. Oregon State had the chance to lock up the Pac-10 and secure a BCS Rose Bowl bid to play Penn State. All they had to do was win the Civil War at home this year and failed miserably. 800+ yards of offense they allowed! They controlled their own destiny and flushed it right down the pooper! I never expected Notre Dame to win, even if Weis was pleading for believers all week. I’ve been a homer all year, but I know a sure loss when I see one. What I did expect is that Charlie would not be out coached once again as he was the week before at home, at senior day, against Syracuse! I did expect to see a first down in the first half. I did expect for them to at least cover the spread, which was a record 30 points. Guess what they did.... laid a big fat turd where they used to play football. Pathetic is the only word I can use. How about the second worse loss in history, only second to last year’s drumming. They scored three points and gained less than a hundred yards. Jimmy threw for...wait for it...41 yards! They did not get a first down until almost the forth quarter. To top it all off this weekend, Cincinnati, who had locked up the Big East already, beat up Syracuse 30-10 this week when they had virtually nothing to play for bud pride. At least someone cares to beat teams they’re supposed to beat. Just for that, Notre Dame gets an extra steamer!

Is There Anything Left to Defend – The Charlie Weis Era?

I don’t know that there are any redeeming qualities about the play of our beloved Irish anymore. I’ve read for the past 5 years about how Tyrone Willingham destroyed the program and how Bob Davie started an era of losing and how Charlie Weis was to turn it all around. At what cost, more importantly, at what time is this transition going to occur? If I were a betting man, well, I’d put my wallet away...’cause it just ain’t happening. The argument was made for the off field improvements Willingham made which no one can discredit. I believe he had the highest graduation rates ever. And through it all, as conservative as he was, he was a stand up guy, even after a winless U Dub season. Guess what, that and 50 cents will get you a coke when it comes to saving your job as head football coach at the University of Notre Dame. It’s about winning football games. It’s about beating our rivals. It’s about upholding tradition. It’s about bringing National Championships to South Bend! He was cut loose. So lets talk about winning. Bob Davie’s Notre Dame coaching career ended with a .583 winning percentage. Tyrone Willingham’s was cut short with a .583 winning percentage. Before Saturday Charlie Weis’ winning percentage was, you guessed it, .583. Now he holds the sole third turd position at .571 behind Joe Kuharich and Gerry Faust at 1 and 2 respectively.

So how can anyone in an official capacity support Weis’ continuance with a worse record than his past two predecessors? Davie had a 30-19 record at this point in his career. Weis is 28-21. Willingham didn’t even get a forth year to worsen his record. Records aside, from what I can remember, Davie’s and Willingham’s losses were not as bad as the ones we’ve witnessed over the past two years.

I look at virtually every other major college football program and changes they’ve made in the past which led to their recent success. While there are a few more recruiting restrictions and maybe a few more challenges that come with the job, there’s no conceivable reason Notre Dame should not be able to have a coaching staff which breeds success and produces championship caliber teams year in and year out. It’s an unfortunate decision Swarbrick has to make, but a necessary one nevertheless. I’m not talking about the decision as to whether to keep Weis, but to choose the next boss. I’ve never heard of forth time’s a charm, but let’s hope that is indeed the case.

New Winning Traditions

It’s time to get out of your box and support your Notre Dame winning programs right now! If you call yourself a Notre Dame fan, you should know that the 24-0 ladies soccer team is now playing in the elite eight in their tourney against Florida State. If they pull out another win at home they’ll play either Stanford or Portland which is no joke either way.

Mike Brey and crew proved last night they are legit but have little time to relish in a close win against Texas as they face #1 North Carolina tonight. They pretty much handled Texas with no problems with the exception of the last 30 seconds where they let Abrams shoot easy threes to make it close. The game was really not a one point game though.

So watch the friggin game tonight! Support the other teams who are actually winning right now.

The Lone Steamer, Notre Dame v. Syracuse

There are just no words in the English dictionary to explain the loss to Syracuse at home. If there ever was a sure thing, even more so than USC’s 29-½ point favor this weekend, it was Notre Dame to beat a 2-8 Syracuse at home. Everything pointed to a Notre Dame win; Gregg Robinson’s departure at season’s end, dome team playing outside in 20 degree weather, Notre Dame coming off of a squeaker to Navy where they should’ve won big, oh yeah, and how about Syracuse’s 2-8 record! Does it seem every week there’s some sort of reprehensible event which unfolds? Once again play calling and Jimmy Clausen’s play prove to be counterproductive at best. This loss more than any this season is unacceptable and now I cannot help but to sit my ass on the back bumper of the Fire Charlie Bandwagon.

Lou Holtz anybody? More on that later!!!

So this week, Notre Dame football gets the only weekly steamer award, albeit a few days late, it’s theirs alone. The one game I get to at South Bend was the one game I was sure to see a win...thanks for letting me down!

Returning to Glory, Episode II: The Fans

It is my nature to not only bitch and complain about more things than not, but I’ll also suggest alternatives and solutions. In this and subsequent episodes, I’ll offer some of my keen observations and what should be done if the program will ever truly return to glory.

There’s something to be said for fan attitude. My Saturday’s pretty much revolve around college football, which revolves around the weekly Notre Dame installment. We sit here and watch at least a few minutes of every game aired as well. Every week I realize that Notre Dame fans, while probably superior in sheer numbers across the country, are far inferior in attitude. I watched the Penn State v. Michigan white out game in envy. It seems every single fan in attendance is committed to making that place a friggin’ nuthouse. I was at Kyle Field to see the Aggies beat Army and let me tell you, even in a down year against a mediocre opponent, those fans bring it, week in and week out. Every home game is a maroon-out and is pretty damned impressive!

Why is it I always feel like I’m the youngest Notre Dame fan around? I know that’s not the case, but what do we get to see on TV…Regis Philbin and those two fossils calling the home games on the Notre Dame channel. Regis pumps me up! When I want to get fired up, I think about the toughness of Regis and want to smash somebody’s skull in! There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of asshole to show every once in a while. I’m afraid of what type of signs I’ll see if College Gameday ever makes it to South Bend. I’m not saying Notre Dame fans don’t get fired up. But when I read about intimidating joints to play in, we always here about the same stadiums and never one in South Bend. To change, it starts with us! Leave grandma at home and bring your ballzack instead!

Clausen Critique

I’m going to take a moment and dive into minutiae-ville for a few and discuss some things about young Jimmy Clausen that has bothered me this season. While these points are all small by themselves, taken as a whole, they damage the offense’s productivity.

First is the play action compared to the hand-off. What is the point of play action? In most cases, its to make the defensive backfield commit to the run play, to dupe them into making that step forward where once they realize it’s not a run, they’re out of sync and hopefully out of the coverage pattern. In a pro-style offense the play action pass is a pivotal piece and selling the fake-me-out hand off is paramount. When a run is dialed up, look at how Clausen does it. He sticks his arm way out with one hand holding the ball to hand it off to whomever, whether it be run up the gut or off tackle, whatever. Okay fine, what’s wrong with that? Nothing other than you can tell it’s all the way and it always is. Now a proper play action would be to utilize the same mechanics but instead of handing it off, he pulls it back in last second to his gut, holds for a split second and hits an open Tate or Floyd down the sidelines. This is not how it happens though. Clausen’s play action move is to double hand the ball and barely stick it out for a fraction of a second, while the back barely sells the handoff either. It doesn’t fool anyone anytime.

The next point is obvious…he’s staring down his receivers all too often. In the beginning of the season, he did very well moving the ball around to everyone. For some reason now he’s looking at Floyd or looking down Tate and that’s it. Once he realizes defenses are hip to that game (those two for the long ball), he’s almost at a loss and lately either throws it away because he spent too long staring at them, or he tries to force it which ends up as a pickle. Kumara has had some hiccups, but he’s still 6-5 and he’s got the talent. Tate and Floyd are obvious playmakers, and Grimes and Paris are great 3rd receivers complimenting Kumara. Rudolph, even if a rook, has shown he’ll have Fasano/Carlson hands down field as well. Basically…mix it up and don’t stare them down.

Third point, for God’s sake man running out of bounds for a two yard gain is better than chucking the ball to the cheap seats. We all know you’re not a running QB; we saw your frustration this week and some Navy clown almost ripped your head off. I’m not saying, although I’d love it, you have to put your pads down and rip off a few extra after contact. But sweet Jesus, you don’t have to toss the ball up to the cheerleaders because your there’s 8 in coverage. Even every once in a while, the 6.4/40 will get you a couple yards!

My final point, clock/timeout management, it’s some of the worst I’ve ever seen. There is no conceivable reason why you should have to burn a timeout in the first few minutes. If you see an odd coverage, call an audible to counter and roll with it. If it’s busted play, so be it, but you’ve got to manage those timeouts a little better.

Now I understand Clausen is still young, I get that. The real problem I have is that these are all very coachable offenses and doing so is supposed to be Charlie’s wheelhouse. I’m no expert by any stretch of any imagination, but I can see these flaws that I believe hurt the offense over the course of a game, and when the team plays a bunch of squeakers, a few botched plays makes a difference.

Just Another Couple Days at the Office...

The Irish women advanced to the third round after a squeaker past Michigan State 1-0! Once again, Rose Augustin scoring first, and last, in the 73rd minute. They will play Minnesota, probably on Friday.

So something must be in the South Bend water lately…at least this past weekend. Irish hockey remains unbeaten for the 6th straight game. The women’s hoops start off their season beating ranked LSU and the men lay the wood to South Carolina Upstate.

I was a little worried about a number nine start to the season, but that soon disappeared as Harangody and crew were back at their normal business. It’s hard not to have high expectations this season. The past two years, although no one expected that much, were still huge disappointments. They were better than Winthrop and better than Wazzu if you ask me. This year they’ve got the target on their back so we’ll see how they handle it. Regardless, they looked damned good today. I really didn’t see anything that concerned me, even if Upstate kept it close in the 1st half. The Luke’s were unstoppable as Harangody laid out 30 and 14, and Zeller was 4-6 from behind the arc with 18 pts. and 5 boards. 50% shooting, 25 assists and 42 rebounds, good start to the season.

A couple of hoops notes, I’m not a fan of the three-point line change. The problem is my 3 pt. shot percentage, which up until now was a respectable 11.3%, may take a hit this season. I expect my shot will be off a bit during this adjustment period. Now if they could just go with the 9 ½ foot basket, I could slam on some fools!

Weekly Steamers

Every week I’ll give you my take on the week’s biggest turds.

1. Michigan Wolverines – Rich Rod and his wonderful spread offense now owns the record for most losses in a season for our storied rivals. 129 seasons! Ironic…I see a 3-9 record in your very near future.

2. Notre Dame special teams – After scoring the first touchdown off of a blocked punt you never cease to amaze as you allow not one, but TWO onsides kicks in the last minute and a half of the game. I’ve actually never seen anything like it. But buck up…you will be exemplified for years to come when teams feel they have no chance in hell to come back two scores in the last minute…”but remember when Navy got two in a row!”

3. The referees in every USC game – No surprise here. Every week they’re always good for a few missed calls, drive extending calls, and always a couple of game-changing non-calls.

4. Billy Gillespie and the UK basketball team – Good job preparing all off season there Billy. You left the Aggies high and dry only to coach better talent to a worse record. Nothing like starting off the season right, just like last season…with a defensive epic FAIL! Oh Billy Billy Billy, Ashley and Adolph disapprove…

5. Troy State Trojans - You make me re-type this entry as I had LSU zingers ready to roll.  You go up 31-3 only to quit and allow a 29 pt. 4th.  Seriously. In your defense, the game wasn't televised here in the Republic, so I wasn't able to witness the usual Les Miles shadyness always present in Baton Rouge.

6. I think every single week the Bowl Championship Series will cap my list. As my five month anticipation of the greatest tournament in all sports rises, I can only dream of the day when the big shots will chuck it up as a loss and move on. Playoffs are inevitable. How many more Debacle Years do we have to endure for you to realize it just doesn’t work?

Congrats to you all. Instead of success, you laid a giant growler in it’s place. 

Notre Dame v. Navy thoughts

First Half
I sit here baffled, awed at what I’m forced to witness. It’s like some sort of bizarro world. It is unbelievable to me that a team which snapped your 40+ year winning streak would not be punished to submission. Some observations...

First and foremost Clausen’s confidence is in the toilet right now. Ever since the North Carolina pickle to start the second half he has not been the same. I don’t have the answer, but I do know, whatever the staff is doing with him right now is not working. If this continues, how long before we see a change? At what point of liability is enough to sit him down?

The play calling once again is atrocious. I saw three third down conversion possibilities squashed from poor play calls. Robert Hughes is not an outside runner. He’s not going to turn the corner on anyone; he just doesn’t have the speed. 3rd and 4, and they run Jimmy Clausen keeper? I’m speechless. And for God’s sake, out of a timeout, they line up in a goofy direct snap play? WTF is that about?

Any other team and this would be blowout already. There’s not much else to say.

Second Half and My Conclusion...

Well, the second half started off a little better. But it’s what they should have done. I’m not all that impressed when you do what you’re supposed to which is beat a cream puff Navy team. Okay, some observations…

They ran the ball well, but again, I expected them too. It was obvious CW chose to deal with Clausen by taking him off the front burner and have them run the ball all game. I’m not sure that’s what he needs, and like I said above, I don’t know what the right answer is now, but I do know it ain’t whatever they’re doing.  And I also know, there's a 6-4 230 lb. freshman waiting for his chance too!  

I’m a Golden Tate fan all the way. This guy has all of the intangibles and obviously what it takes to be a superstar…but not on the return team. I don’t know what spurred that decision, but it sucks. Reverse it immediately.

I’m all for good sportsmanship. I hate to see teams like Oklahoma and USC consistently lay up 70 spots on mediocre opponents; it’s a joke. But as a coach, I would like to have more than a three-possession cushion. Especially with dodgy special teams play and 10 friggin’ minutes left. If you think any team in the nation cannot score three TD’s in 10 minutes…well, you’ve got shit for brains. And that move to play second team players with 10 minutes left and in the red zone is a shit-for-brains move. Pound the score in, go up four scores, then play to run the clock out. It almost cost two games now!!!

There are just no words that can explain losing two onsides kicks in the last minute-30. For the sake of saving my four letter expressions for the USC game, I have nothing to say about it right now.

Either way, they get a win. But I will say this. I hope they get their shit together before going to Cali. While I certainly don’t expect a win, I hope as always, to not see a massacre. F.U.S.C. – GO IRISH!

Let's talk about chicks man...

After winning another Big East Championship, the undefeated Irish women’s soccer team is now making their run at their third national title. The home-unbeaten streak is now at 2 million games after beating the University of Toledo Rockets 5-2. Carrie Dew was first on the board in the 7th minute. Rose Augustin followed with a pair of goals in three minutes in the 13th and 16th. Melissa Henderson and Erica Iantorno capped off the Irish scoring in the 36th and 77th respectively. They’ll face Michigan State this Sunday at home once again. A little HD coverage here in Texas would be nice!

Other business...
The men’s team lost a close game to USF unfortunately, 2-1, who will play St. Johns for the Big East title.

Mike Brey and the fellas will tip off the season at home defending their, now 37 game, home win streak against USC Upstate Spartans. While most D-1 programs schedule their first few games against tomato cans, you can never underestimate anyone. Ask Billy Gillespie what he thinks about Gardener-Webb last year and…wait for it…wait for it…Virginia Military Institute about creampuffs! Preseason preparation is paramount…how does it go, Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Muy importante senor! Nevertheless, Coach Brey will have his guys ready to roll.

A Little Home Cookin'

Congratulations to the University of Buffalo Bulls, who are now bowl eligible for the first time since 1958. Their 4 OT win over the ole Akron Zips put them over the 6 win mark. Whether or not they get a bid is yet to be determined, regardless if they win out or not, they are certainly worthy if you ask me. Coach Turner Gill has turned that program up-side down and unfortunately (for UB) will most likely move on in the very near future, as his name has been tossed around for a few of the coaching vacancies this season. According to Wiki, the Bulls were invited to the Tangerine Bowl in 1958, but refused the bid due to the fact their black players would not have been eligible to play. Right now, they are holding down first place in the MAC’s Eastern Division with two games remaining.  Watch out for the new D-1 powerhouse folks!  

Returning to Glory, Episode I: What does this really mean?

The fact is Notre Dame fans were spoiled during a majority of the Lou Holtz era. I believe if you take any of his squads from ’88-’93 and time warp them to recent past seasons, they win 6 consecutive National Championships! Yeah, that’s a homer call; blasphemous to Satan himself, Pete Carroll and all of his evil minions, ala Les Miles, Mack Brown, and Bob Stoops, but those Notre Dame teams trump all we’ve seen through the BCS Debacle Years. But I’ll take off my blue and gold goggles for once and look at the more recent history sans ’88-’93.

Save 1977 of course, you would have to go back to the early 70’s, during Coach Parseghian’s, time to really appreciate the successful storied program we always hear about. And being only 29 years old, that was a little bit before my time. Again with my dodgy math, I’ve added up the wins from ’78-end of Willingham era again leaving out ’88-’93. 133-87-3, or reality to Notre Dame fans, 133-90 is the outcome. That would be an ass-whuppin’ 59% winning percentage over the course of 19 seasons. So, I ask again, what the hell are we talking about when we say “Returning to Glory”? It sounds nice; it sounds a lot better than “attempting to develop a winning season after a string of mediocrity”, but really, the Rock ain’t comin’ back. Last time I looked Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden aren’t on the commitment list for 2009. It’s time to stop reveling in the past. It’s time for change, for the future, and for a “New Glory”!

And so it begins...

The maiden voyage into the mind-numbing nonsense that is this blog.

I think it’s safe to say now that we were all a bit spoiled by a 4-1 start. But rather than point out the obvious flaws right now as well as the many disappointments we’ve had thus far, I figured my first post should remain positive. For some reason my optimism is unwavering even if every week the wind from the Fire Charlie/Bench Jimmy bandwagon passing by is strong enough to blow my hat off. While every Saturday after a tough loss, I may grab the hand of the last fan hanging on to that wagon as it passes by, I release last minute to realize, even after dropping 3 of the last 4, it still ain't that bad. I’ll yet again hope for victory, even if only to keep the Mark Mays of the world quiet for one more week.

While I read the message boards regularly, there are some who refuse to acknowledge, or maybe just don’t realize, or better yet blocked it from memory, where this team was only last year. Assuming they win 2 of 3, which most should agree they should, that would result in a 7-5 season, average I’d say. But a four win improvement over last year. On a team of mostly sophomores and juniors, is it safe to say they could show the same improvement next year? That remains to be seen of course, but that would put them at 11-1 if my dodgy math proves right. The one loss being to BC of course! I quickly dove into some quick stats, just to pull some numbers and decided the results warranted recognition.

2007 2008 +/-
Scoring offense 117 69 -48
Yards per game 120 50 -70
Pass ypg 110 21 -89
Rush ypg 116 95 -21
1st downs 115 43 -28
3rd down conv. 112 66 -46
4th down conv. 45 100 +55
Penalties 67 77 -10 (higher # better)

In all offensive categories with the exception of 4th down conversions the team has significantly improved. Yards per game; they were dead last in ’07, now 50th. Scoring, tied for second to last; now 69th. While there’s no doubting room for improvement, no one can deny the numbers. This is pretty much the same nucleus as 2007, most of who will be here in 2009. At this rate of improvement, they are on track to be a top 20 team in most categories if not better. Ironically, perhaps the best turnaround season was Coach Holtz’s ’99-’00 transition from 0-11 to 8-4, but even if the ’08 season ends up average, wouldn't it be a top five seed for turnaround seasons?