Irish Basketball...the Remaining Few

I don’t know that there’s anything worse, as an Irish fan, to look at the remaining schedule and see @ (2) UConn, (10) Villanova and St. Johns at home. St. Johns of course dealt Notre Dame a blow near the start of Big East play. I also don’t know that there’s anything the Irish need less than three must wins at the ass end of the season. Unfortunately for all of us, that’s what they’ve got. The ugly fact is every single team in the Big East was dealt a turd sandwich this season, so Notre Dame’s final three is truly not much worse than any given Big East team.

Another unfortunate fact is that the few teams with more favorable remaining schedules are the few teams ahead of the Irish. Cincy finishes up with Syracuse, USF, and Seton Hall. West Virginia has USF, DePaul, and Louisville. Syracuse’s remaining three possibly favors that slim chance of assisting the Irish with Cincy, Rutgers, and Marquette, but it is ‘Cuse, and we all know how that goes. Providence ends up with Rutgers and Villanova. Yet another problem is that Cincy, West Virginia, and Syracuse all beat Notre Dame earlier so that renders a tie worthless.

The good news, though, is that those conference records are 9-7, (3x) 8-7, and Notre Dame at 7-8. There’s not much room for error, but that proves to be the similar fate of all the aforementioned teams.

The formula is rather easy. WIN. There’s not much else they can do. I will never make a prediction, but I will say a W tomorrow would rank among the NCAA’s upsets of the year. There’s no better time to stroke a little ‘Irish Luck’ than tomorrow afternoon!

Layin' A Buck O' Three - The Hard Way...

Just a few hours before I watched Michael Finley and Roger Mason drain 10 of the Spurs’ 13 three pointers from 6 rows up, Ryan Ayers and Kyle McAlarney drained 11 of the Irish’s 13 tres in Providence today. The two combined for 53 as the Irish put up a bill for only the second time this season, the other being back in early December against powerhouse South Dakota. I think its safe to say if the boys play as they did today and even more so how they did against Louisville a few games ago, they should have a good chance at a low bid in March. The schedule is favorable playing Rutgers at home, at UConn, then finish up with Villanova and rematch with St. Johns at home. Of course anything is possible in the Big East.

Just What the Digger Ordered...

Of course any chance at a lame play on words including the great Digger Phelps, I’ve got to take it. Last night the Irish had the chance to loose eight straight for the first time since Digger was boss. They failed to capitalize. With the exception of beating up Texas earlier, this was by far the most satisfying beat-down this season. There are two points of emphasis, which I believe warrant improvement. One, they were unable to lay a bill on the Cards, and two, beating Pitino by 40 would be much sweeter than by 33. Mike Brey and the fellas should remember this for next season, or better yet, the Big East Tournament shall they meet again.

Major football announcment today, Chucklebuck Weis will also consume the role of Offensive Coordinator in 2009. This is an interesting move...not at all! This seems to be consistent with the long list of gimmicky moves Weis seems to invent. In the past, I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second believing the genius-ness was far too complicated for my feeble mind to understand, because of course, as everyone knows, we’re talking about the offensive guru Coach Weis. Over the mind numbing attempts to contemplate these decisions over the past couple seasons, it’s become evident I’m either just too dumb to understand them, or these war plans are maybe more like connect the dots with missing numbers rather than detailed schematics of brilliance in the form of offensive innovation. Me thinks they just no worky. Please prove me wrong for once, but I gotta believe we may be at the last ditch effort for changing up the titles and coaching lineups here. I also read there may be another inbound NFL-er to fill the defensive line coach position. My opinion on that another time... but hey... Te’o is still Irish right? Hell yes he is!

When Name Alone is Not Enough...

Then what? What happens in a world where the words Notre Dame football flirt with irrelevancy? Are we living in that unfortunate reality now? How long does a National Championship coach retain his job? 5 years... 10 years... lifetime membership in the ‘Jolly of the Month’ club? Ask Lloyd Carr, or Phillip Fulmer rather. The pattern shows that Bob Stoops is next! What about for a program? How long without a championship can a college football program consider itself among the elite? Assuming of course championships are not only desired, but expected. The real question is, when a coach has neither a recently minted ring and a case displaying trophies etched with dates older than the recruit, what then does he sell to the kid? What can the coach hang is hat on? The Willingham school of ‘Notre Dame 5 stars will come to me’ was a proven failure and certainly would not work now. That idea may very well have worked in the days of Devine and Parseghian. They had the checks that Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy wrote in the decades before. The parents of those recruits lived the glory years, so yeah, Notre Dame football sold itself. What does Weis have to sell? What makes a Manti Te’o, or Jelani Jenkins, or Byron Moore choose Notre Dame over Southern California, Texas, Oklahoma, or Florida? While I love the snow and sub freezing temperatures, I can understand it’s not much of a selling point compared to the hotspots of the south. While I like attractive, smart, and maybe little nerdy type of a woman, I can appreciate the differences between the women of South Bend, Indiana and coastal California. And while given the choice now between being pushed passed my comfort level to achieve my maximum potential, and maybe getting to half that point with little or no effort, at 18, I certainly would have chosen the path of least resistance. (Not to mention maybe my pops get a new house close to my school...unofficially of course) So is the promise of a supreme education, strict enforcement of rules, and crummy weather enough to sway the decision of young Te’o; time has yet to tell? Or is the lure of Rockne’s ghost yet significant enough to still sign top recruits year after year with a championship-less coach and no NC in the past 20 years?

February 4th could not come fast enough...