How could you ever think of passing up on a Bowl game? What if your son was a senior and was given one last chance to put on a ND uniform and the school nixed it? Not right for these kids who put so much hard work into it. When that bozo Corso said ND shouldn't go to a bowl game I wanted to tell him thats why he isn't a coach anymore. As a coach, you tell your Seniors, sorry we aren't gonna go, and see their reactions. Obvious reason is practice but way more than that...
I've re-thought it and you make a good point, NDFan77. It is a reward to the players. How much worse could it be than last night? Play on.
George: "Tony, I gotta job for ya". 2 Ton Tony: "Who da mark Boss?" George: "I'll let ya know once you get to Rhode Island..." 2 Ton Tony: "You got it Boss"
If Charlie gets fired ND will take the field in 2009 with its fifth head coach this decade. Congrats Irish, you've turned into the Raiders. Even if Charlie stays there must be wholesale changes to his staff. Last night they were only a couple of Sanchez errors away from a 50 point loss (I only watched the first half so I never got to see them actually get a first down). This on the heels of a home loss to a terrible Syracuse team that included the indignity of the Irish being pelted with snowballs by their own fans. The team, and the program are a total mess right now and someone has to pay for it.
Krebs why don't we go back to not going to bowls at all, that way we don't have to worry about whether or not we were worthy or wheter or not the players want to go. It would be simpler.
Terry is pissed at me and I'm not sure why. Hey Sid, I know Ball State is good. But it would be a chance to salvage something out of the ashes. It would be good for both teams. Latest in the coaching rumors....in order of desire on ND's part.... 1. Urban Meyer 2. Butch Davis 3. Brian Kelly 4. Jon Gruden Supposedly all four have been contacted and none have said no yet.
More fuel for the fire... Detroit newspaper is reporting that defensive coordinator Corwin Brown is interviewing for the HC position at Eastern Michigan U.
I know but think of it as a group hug thing. if we go to Houston, we could always go kidnap the good dentist.
With all due respect, can't we put the Gruden rumors to rest? He's a well paid, successful pro coach whose team is leading their division and will be going into the playoffs. Those aholes over at ND Nation drank that Kool-Ade the last time and they're doing it again. I sort of laugh at the Kelly rumor. 2 yrs. ago he wasn't good enough for MSU although he was coaching 75 mi. up the road at Cent. Mich. Now he's a coveted top tier coach? And then there's the Meyer rumor. Sure, he's got a Heisman QB, he's in a recruiting hotbed. He's one game away from another NC game and he wants to move to snowy South Bend to put up with the clowns, jerks, and garbage that look for a new coach after every loss? Please, he's not going to ND unless he's fed up with large bugs and mildew. Now the Butch Davis rumor is a distinct possibility. Big time program coach, seems to be recruiting some top players, and most of all, he's coaching football at a school where basketball is king.
:lol: :lol: :lol: And I'll bet his house has enough bug and mildew control that it's not a problem. It makes me wonder why anyone thinks a guy who has now recruited his type players, is adored by Gator fans, has a great recruiting base and is at a school that ranks there with the best football programs would want to leave. I want to see him continue beating FSU for about ten more straight. Seriously, your post makes a lot of sense as to who might be available and who might not. Butch Davis would be a very good coach in my opinion.
ESPN bowl projections for the Irish.... Hawaii in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl or Brigham Young in the Poinsetta Bowl. I sure hope its the former but I don't know why.
I'm pissed because Krebs doesn't want to watch the Irish play another game he projects that on the kids and the team. He ignores the fact that in terms of the developement of the team more practice and games helps them. I obviously can't speak for the kids, but unless these kids are completely different from others who play sports they almost all want to play one more game. Heck why else would walkons subject themselves to what they do, most never even see the field, they are just cannon fodder for the varsity. They don't even get scholarship money, will certainly never play on Sunday and earn money. Yet they love playing the game. Why would 5th year Sr's come back all over america and play another year when most of them won't gain a single thing from it other than 1 more year of playing the game. I wish Mike Annello would go to lunch with George and explain to him why kids who have nothing to gain want to play one more game, even if their coaches are lousy.
OK, Let's smoke the peace pipe, Doc. In a post above I declared that I had re-thought the situation. From a players standpoint, I agree. Let's play the bowl game. Nice locale, nice trip, a reward for a seaosn of hard work. No argument here. From a practice standpoint, let's be honest. Practice what? You are a golfer; if you have bad mechanics you can spend hours at the range but when it is all said and done you are still a lousy golfer because you have practiced bad techniques. What can 15 more practices with Latina,Heywood and Weis improve upon? In four years they have without question regressed. I would choose the Hawaii Bowl because it a nice trip. Also, I don't think we want to play BYU. In any case, you are not coming anywhere near me witha drill until you make nice
Re: bowl speculation. I would be very surprised at a matchup with BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl. BYU is effectively the host team of the Las Vegas Bowl. Their fans fill the stadium due to the reasonable proximity to the school and the very large Mormon population in Las Vegas. Of course, anything is possible. Re: bowl or no bowl. We did not go to bowls during my time there. The policy changed in 1969, I believe, to going to bowls if the game would have a significant impact on the national championship or our high ranking or both. I recall that the thinking was, it had to be a meaningful game vs. a team ranked higher than us. At that time we could afford to take that position because there were fewer bowls and we always were in the conversation. It's much different today. We all know how things have evolved over the last 15-20 years re: # of bowls and what it takes to qualify. The playing field has leveled significantly re: Notre Dame, and we are in the lower tier looking up. Ugh! But it is what it is, and we need a bowl game to 1) satisfy the majority of fans who want to see their beloved Irish on the field, regardless of how mediocre our record is, and 2) get a better picture of where we really are headed, up, down, sideways. For what it's worth, the way we lost to USC has smacked me hard in the face. I am really down about it. I still will not participate in the mass hysteria, but I'm re-evaluating my feelings about the whole thing. I can say at this time that I pretty much feel the same as Corey.