I'm curious how many angry emails you got for the Notre Dame comment last week: "a ridiculous pipe-dream for a team that's still being overrated because of the brand name." – CP A: Not as many as I got last year when I suggested the defense was going to stink and that the Irish weren’t remotely close to being able to hang with the top teams. What angry Irish fans who think I’m biased don’t understand is that I desperately want Notre Dame, more than anyone else, to be really, really good. It’s always better for the sport when the Yankees of college football are good because of all the publicity generated. However, there’s a flip side to the notoriety. Had Notre Dame been in one of the BCS leagues last year, it wouldn’t have come within 50 miles of the BCS. This year, the lines still stink, the defense will still be lousy, and Quinn, Samardzija, McKnight and Walker aren’t there to carry things on offense. Think of it this way; without Quinn last year, Notre Dame doesn’t beat Michigan State or UCLA, and I’d argue it wouldn’t have come up with the win over Georgia Tech in the opener. That’s a 7-5 record, and now the Irish appear to be a little worse. Now, if/when I’m wrong and the Irish goes 5-1 out of the gate, I’ll give out all the due respect and love, but from where I sit, it’s my call that this won’t be a great first half of the year.
This guy has personal issues with the Irish that are beginning to shine through his comments. To suggest that a team that is re-building it's entire offense may get off to a rocky start does not exactly qualify him a Nostradamus. Who is this clown anyway?
It does seem he is fervent in his negativity on the Irish but I think that may be a response to the hype machine that the Irish are also all about.....by their very nature as a team followed all across America by the "subway" alumni and media.
George, I believe him when he says he wants ND to be good. I said in the first topic that I can understand his rationale for predicting a poor season. To me, this clown is no different from the fanatical ND fans who have no life and whose emotions get so twisted up that they spew negativity at every turn. They really want ND to be good, but their fear of the unknown overwhelms them, and they point to all the negative reasons for the team to fail to live up to their expectations. I'm familiar with this type of mindset. Heck, we've all run into someone like this at least once. It's an old shtick, but it continues to get coverage because it's about ND. Notice that he's crowing about his correct predictions from last year. It will be interesting to see if he eats humble pie when he's wrong, but you can be sure I won't lose any sleep over it.
ahhh bull <t>if ND were in a BCS conference last year they wouldn't have been near a BCS bowl game??<br/> <br/> kiss my ass. i got two words for ya:<br/> <br/> Wake Forest</t>
If you look at all the players ND lost, it's easy to say they will be bad this year. Plus a new QB. I myself feel that the O-Line will be very good this year and they will be able to run the ball. Other side, the D is questionable, I feel CB's will be better with the good young kids developing well. Coach Brown I think will get the D to work. Now as far as the D-Line, that will be the ??? if they will be able to put any pressure on the QB. Hey with the recruits coming next year (hopefully) this year will be a nice year to sit back and watch the progress and if they win a few tough ones early it will be a big bonus. Charlie said he won't have to worry about the D this year with Coach Brown there so hopefully can do something with the offense. Side Note.....I met Coach Brown a couple months ago. I can see what kids mean when they say he's a great guy. He was running late but still waited a couple minutes to chat ND football with me and what a great vibe he gives off. Hopefully our problem with ND's Defense will be solved....
What "hype machine"? The Irish get accused of self-hyping all the time but I don't see it. We don't hype them on here... we're just fans and we've been damn realistic about the team. Explain yourself.
Typical comment by someone who "hasn't been there".......who doesn't understand the decades-long passion of the millions of followers of ND football through good times and bad. What he characterizes as a "hype machine" simply is the appetite of millions of followers for information. This appetite is not fed by ND itself. It is fed by both friendly and unfriendly media because the media want to satisfy the people - both anti and pro-ND - who pay their bills. Even in our down years, ND football always has been relevant in the spectrum of college football because ND football is interwoven in the history and tradition of the sport. That's not hype. It's fact.
Good point on WF Corey. The hype machine I refer to is certainly present in the media. On the fan side maybe it's the unending "we're better than you may think" attitude that seems like hype after quite a few letdowns...especially in BCS bowls as of late. Most of the time I personally don't think the Irish are as good as you guys think but I don't base that on negative feelings for ND or "wishing" ND to be bad. I just sometimes tend to be more realistic in my assessment of the Irish as the season progresses and it becomes apparent just what kind of team they and their opponents are. I am sure that I lean to the positive side on the Gators also but I am the first to admit it when they are mediocre (Zook) and are not performing up to Gator fan standards (Zook). Not so sometimes with you guys on the Irish.
90% of the "hype" surrounding the Irish in the mainstream media is negative. ESPN annually whips on the Irish like no other school. To elaborate on what Sid said, we are proud of our national schedule every year, a schedule that takes the Irish from coast to coast and far south to far north. Most conference schools rarely travel more than a couple hundred miles from their campus and never leave their time zones or climates. If you don't think those are huge factors then you're kidding yourself. The Irish take a lot of heat for playing the academies but they are honoring traditions that are as old as the schools themselves. The NBC contract is at the root of a lot of this animosity. Some of you guys have been predicting for years that we would be dumped due to poor ratings but that has never happened. You're riding high with the Gators right now so you feel justified in passing judgement on Notre Dame. But when you cycle down, as you inevitably will, the Irish will still be the #1 national attraction in college football. Ain't it cool 8)
Funny thing about the NBC contract, is that sure it's nice that our home schedule is on every week. But the dollars we get from that contract really aren't much different than what a conference member gets from their TV contracts. So the jealousy over $$$ is irrational, and as far as the exposure that we get from it, well for the most part the elite programs in the BCS confrence are on TV every week in their area, and if they aren't it's usually because they are playing somebody really bad in a non-conference game and nobody wants to pick it up. Bottom line is that the NBC contract is no where near the advantage for the Irish that conference members fear it is. Terry
re: "If ND were in a BCS conference last year they wouldn't have been near a BCS bowl game??" Two more words: Boise State
ND Hater <r>It really almost not worth giving these types the time of day. Anyone who REALLY knows what is going on with ND now knows that the Irish are probably a year or so away from having anyone make comments like that and keep a straight face. Yeah, the Irish will take their lumps this year and we know why. Thanks mainly to a couple of very lackluster recruiting years by the great Tyrone Willingham recruiting machine(main office located at the South Bend golf course) ND has hardly any experince let alone numbers in the JR and SR classes. It's all right though cause CW and CB are busy getting ND back to where they should be on the talent level and we will begin to see the fruits of their labors on the field soon enough. The Irish will soon be kicking everybody ass all over the field on a regular basis just like the Holtz days and then some. <E>8)</E></r>
Lou Holtz was a huge big game coach...very formidable. Charlie Weiss was a great coach for Bellichick but so far in his own huge games at ND he has a little ways to go. We will see. "But when you cycle down, as you inevitably will, the Irish will still be the #1 national attraction in college football." The Gators don't have to cycle down for that to happen.
Notre Dame <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> CW hasn't had anywhere near the talent on board as Lou did <B><s></s>yet.<e></e></B> When he does, I'm convinced he'll win lots of "huge games" . Right now he's winning all the games he should win the talent he has. something Bob Davie and Tyrone W. had trouble doing. <E>8)</E></r>
:roll: Charlie has beaten Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Pitt, BYU, UCLA and USC was awarded a victory on an illegal play. All of this and more was done with Bob Davies old recruits... The funny things about these 'big games" is they stay big if the Irish lose, but become small when the Irish win... Remember, this guy said 2-5 or 1-6...
That idiot Mark May on ESPN college game day had the Irish going 1-6 to start the season two years ago and lived to talk about it. Talks cheap.
Perhaps I'm wrong but didn't Ga. Tech play Wake in the ACC Championship game? Didn't ND beat them at their place at night to start the season. Just what was so tough about the BCS ACC? He's full of crap.
ACC and Big East, two BCS conferences. He's forgotten that there is more than the B10, P10, and SEC involved in the BCS. He needs to have dialogue with someone who can expose him as a clueless fraud.
Dodger, Those seven wins you refer to came over teams that went a cumulative 48-38. By contrast Meyer's best seven wins while at Florida vs. OSU, Iowa, LSU, ACC Champ FSU in '05, Georgia twice and Arkansas in the SEC Championship game came over teams with a cumulative record of 67-23. When Weiss has multiple wins over teams with those kinds of seasons then I think you will have a better point.