I'm Back!

I have been so disgusted with ND and their fortunes on the football field that I had no desire to blog about my beloved Irish.
Even when they were 4-1, I wanted to wait until after the USC game and the following "should win" games to make sure they were really back and viable as a major power under Charlie Weis. Alas, they were not as was proven by the season's collapse beginning with the loss to Navy.
Finally they gave up on Charlie and the On the Job Training of a head coach. Charlie is a good egg and we wish him well back in the NFL. He is a great offensive strategist and technician...but not a leader of young men. That was the essential ingredient missing from his skill set and the one which accounted for his downfall. Good Luck, Charlie. We will not speak of you again.
Now, the good news.
We hired a head coach who IS a leader of young men. Any ND fan who watched the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game last week saw something there we have not seen in South Bend for the longest time...a comeback. Brian Kelly lead those young men, down 31-10 just before halftime, to a 45-44 win. He never lost his composure or his confidence in the face of a huge deficit and his players sensed that attitude and responded.
More on Brian Kelly as we move ahead. Press Conference introducing him is at 1:30pm today and a new era has begun.

What a Great Day for an Irish Fan!

I took my brother to the ND at OSU Hockey game for his birthday last Friday and what a perfect evening.

First, we started the ND Pep Rally at the Varsity Club at OSU (for any of you unfamiliar, this was a real treat). The only advantage we had was that the Bucknuts are not hockey fans, so that by the time the students from ND and the Columbus, OH Notre Dame Club got there, the Varsity Club was a ND crowd.

Anyway, who do we meet there but the ND leperchaun, Juan, who autographed an official photo for each of us and we got our picture with him in the "Fightin' Irish" pose.

We get to the hockey arena (a short walk across the bridge) and our seats are in Row 2, right behind the goal and in a very nice spot to give the man in the glass cage advice about whether or not the puck crossed the goal. We shared our views with him often and I'm sure he was appreciative.

Now, to top it off...The Irish score with 1.4 seconds left in the Third Period to tie the game at 3, then score the game winner 55 seconds into the OT.

And all 4 ND goals are at our end!

Happy 51st Birthday, Brother Bob!

Cardinal Sin?

That's what it'll be if we lose to Stanford.
Their mascot isn't a person anymore, or even an animal...but a color! How can our leprechaun beat up a color?
Gimme a break.
We can run on these guys and they cannot cover Tate and Floyd.
They can rune the ball and that has been our weakness, stopping the run, so we need to respond this week.
Harbaugh will have them ready...I have always liked him as a player and a coach, but:
ND-31;
Stanford - 10.

ND Season Decided in the Next Two Weeks

The next 2 weeks will determine if this ND team will merely meet expectations (7-5 or 8-4) or exceed them (9-3 or 10-2 ). We have to defend our home turf against 2 teams we should beat.
I had MSU as a loss in my 9-3 prediction starting the season and they didn't do anything that dissuades me in that prediction.
MSU was just too big and pushed ND around on both sides of the ball. However, ND's 2 turnovers deep turned the tide from what could have been a close game. As Floyd progresses this year, we'll see fewer and fewer mistakes like that and more and more great plays. It is so good to see ND with a couple gamebreakers (Floyd & Tate).
Purdue will try some of the same pushing around, but they don't have the same talent this year as in past years, but ND will need to score points.
That means pass first and set up the run!
ND-31; Purdue-17

Time for the Michigan Sweep

A very good friend of mine from Rotary, Judge Mike, was an ND grad and always celebrated here in the Land of the Skunkbear when the Irish vanquished both Michigan teams in a 2 week period.
Though I have vowed to carry on the tradition, I have had scant few opportunities as Sparty has had ND's number in South Bend.
Two years ago, my son Charlie and I saw a great ND victory in East Lansing when the Irish came back in a furious 4th quarter rally to beat Sparty.
Sparty was so concerned that the Irish were as classless as them that they had already prepared for defeat and had posted "guards" on the 50 yard line to prevent the Irish players from performing a similar classless ritual as they had performed in South Bend the year prior. Of course, the Irish came directly over to their fans and saluted them, then sang tha alma mater.
This is an image that will always define Sparty for me.
ND-31; Sparty-21.
GO IRISH!

ND Opponents Have Mediocre Week One

Irish opponents had a mediocre week one at 5-6:

Cal Poly 29 – San Diego State 27 (SDS had no running game, but still should beat anyone with Polytechnical in their name for crying oput loud);

Utah 25 – Michigan 23 (It'll be one long year for the skunkbear);

California 38 – Michigan State 31 (MSU actually played a quality opponent tough);

Stanford 36 – Oregon State 28 (Nice start for Harbaugh with a conference win);

North Carolina 35 – McNeese State 27 (NC should beat McNeese State worse than this);

Oregon 44 – Washington 10 (Gee, is there a coaching problem in Seattle?);

Bowling Green 27 – Pittsburgh 17 (Wannstadt will be gone at this rate before we face Pitt);

Boston College 21 – Kent State 0 (Pretty lackluster game and crowd);

Navy 41 – Towson State 13 (Middies show their one dimensional offense is enough for Towson);

Northwestern 30 – Syracuse 10 ('Cuse is bad again this year);

USC 52 – Virginia 7 (SC is loaded and Sanchez looks like the real thing);

Purdue didn't play as the MAC was all tied up with the rest of the Big Ten.

Although some have criticized this schedule as weak, I would point out that 10 of 12 opponents are from BCS Conferences (Navy and SD State are the only non-BCS Conference Opponents). In addition, there are NO Championship Division opponents (that used to be 1-AA).

As a contrast, Skunkbear only plays 9 BCS Conference Teams (their Big Ten schedule and ND) and OSU plays a 1-AA (Youngstown State) and 2 non-BCS opponents. I maintain that a BCS team should be penalized for playing a 1-AA opponent. It is a tainted win at best.

Year in and year out I'd put the ND schedule against any in the country.

On to More Important Things - ND Football

They're baaack!
With a fury, the Fighting Irish return.
Make no mistake, this is not the National Championship year, but we can see it from here.
The top flight recruits are a year older; the offense and defense have an attitude; there are actually a few upper classmen and the schedule is not the brutal one as a year ago.
I believe this is a 9-3 year and a mid major bowl game. Just the warmup we need for the 2009 Championship run.
Here is how I see it:
Wins - SDS, Skunkbears, Purdue, The Trees , UW, NC, Pitt, Navy & 'Cuse
Losses - MSU, BC, SC
We won't make it look easy as several of these teams are getting better (Stanford and NC come to mind) and a couple cannot get much worse (Pitt and 'Cuse). Michigan will be a strange one only because of the unknowns of RichRod and his offense and we have a chance to beat MSU though it'll be toughter with a coach we cannot depend on to get stupid (see John L). Also, the BC game is no gimme for them with a new QB and not loaded with 5th year seniors like a year ago, but the game is up there and I cannot in good conscience say they're going 11-1 with the only loss to USC.
I'll be at MSU and would love to make one Home game, but we'll see what the cards have in store for me this season.
Meanwhile we get to see a couple good games this weekend (MSU at Cal will tell us alot and Utah at Michigan has got to be interesting) while also tolerating the usual early season blowouts (thank the Lord I can get the Big ten channel now, I'd hate to miss Youngstown State at OSU).
Off we go...say NO to Politics and Yes to Football!