That's one way to look at it. Another way would be to wonder why people are happy that the players responsible for a 4-8 season are coming back. There's something to be said for the latter.
Sid if the players who had the 4-8 season don't come back, then we don't have a team and ND football is done!!!! :shock: :lol: Also huge upset win for the Irish over Louisville, somebody said Rick Pitino as the coach at Louisville has never won at ND. This team might be better than I thought it would be, Matt Farrell is having a great year. And to think, the internet experts said he'd never contribute and that TJ Gibbs would have his job by January!!
ND <t>Sid,<br/> <br/> I don't think McGlinchey can be held responsible for the 4-8 season. The majority of the problems were defense related and more specifically, the DC in my opinion.</t>
McGlinchey came in with a ton of hype this year and jsut could not live up to it but he was solid for the most part. I thought both the center and the right tackle were below average and the real rpblem up front. But Kelly's predictable offensive formations make it fairly easy for a defense to deploy effectrively against an O-Line.
Guys, I'm not saying I don't want them to come back. I'm just saying I'm not excited about it. I have faith in George's analysis of the O-line because he pays close attention to that part of the game and I don't. Tim, I also understand that one player is not responsible for the team performance, but I would suggest that there were big problems on both offense and defense. I also am not forgetting about that minor aspect of the team's performance....coaching. Bottom line: If George says McGlinchey's presence is a plus, then I can be happy about his return. :wink:
Don't worry Sid, I'll hold you a spot on the bandwagon!! Just kidding! I know what you are saying, and you are right and it's a feeling that fans all over the country have when they try to get excited about returning players from a bad team.
Apparently, the big games for the mens' BB team are not selling out. I received an email announcing limited tickets available for the Clemson game, the same email I received prior to the Louisville game.
All the sites are reporting that Kelly has hired a couple of new S&C guys, one of them, Matt Balis, was with Diaco at UConn, but has previously worked with with Urban' Meyers S&C staff at Utah, Fla and then UVA and Miss State with Dan Mullen. The other guy is from IMG Academy, Dave Ballou, and reportedly is very up to date with all the "new" techniques and equipment, etc. Paul Longo has been reassigned to "Special Asst" to the Head Coach a designation that Bob Elliot has held for a few years. Elliot reportedly was always the go to guy for defense vs the option attack of Navy for Kelly after that disaster with Diaco in the first Navy loss. Also rumors that the Irish will be doing a week of Spring Drills at IMG like Michigan did last year. Personally I don't like it, but it certainly didn't hurt UM's prep for the season and I'm guessing the players won't mind a week in Fla.
Irish Women cruised by Wake Forrest last night, and face a tough Miami squad at Coral Gables on Sat. The Men will be at home vs Clemson on Sat another solid ACC team that will be a major test for them. Next month baseball, lacrosse and softball will getting underway. Irish Baseball is totally off the charts in a bad way, not only not ranked in the top 40 but not even in th3 91 other teams receiving votes. Lacrosse should be good again, top 10. I haven't seen anything about the womens lacrosse but they will likely be a good squad as well. I haven't seen any softball rankings but Irish likely to at least start the season in the top 40 program is pretty solid. Baseball...don't know what to do about it, Aoki has had some time to rebuild but doesn't seem to be able to get it done.
Hockey plays Michigan Tech this weekend.... I wondered where the heck Michigan Tech was so I googled it...Wow it's so far up the UP that it's almost Canada. Beautiful picuture of the campus which is on some river and the river was frozen over ...I guess I understand why they play Hockey at Mich Tech!!
He's a USC guy! Was on that '95 squad with Keyshawn Johnson, which high stepped their way to South Bend in '95 highly ranked and all, Keyshawn a Heisman candidate. Left the with tails between their legs after a 38-10 beat down by the Irish. Powlus was spectacular that day, as was Mark Edwards and everybody should remember that hit Kinnon Tatum put on the USC back on the goal line causing a fumble.
ND <r>Terry,<br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Yes, I remember it well!<br/> <br/> Keyshawn was on the cover of SI preseason that year.</r>
Yes. One of my regular dockets when I practiced in both Michigan and Wisconsin was located near Houghton. Lots of white knuckle winter driving memories. During the early 20th century, that area was awash in money due to mining and there are some incredible old buildings like the Calumet Opera House which are great artifacts from that era. Because of the high amount of ore in the soil, a bricks used to make those buildings have a rust tint to them which gives them a unique beauty. Some of the roads have that same tint. Think the snowfall this year is a little high. Their record was around 370 inches in the late 70's.
Bob Crable is finally going into the College Football HOF. He is the 46th Irish player to be named. I'm sure Bobda remembers this play very well!! <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VdmEtZpC4Vk" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Institution Players inducted Notre Dame 45 USC 40 Michigan 31 Ohio State 25 Yale 25 Army 24 Princeton 24 Alabama 20 Navy 20 Oklahoma 20 Tennessee 20 Harvard 18 Minnesota 18 Penn 18 Pittsburgh 18 Stanford 18 Nebraska 17 Penn State 17 Texas 17 California 16 Northwestern 15 Washington 15 Georgia 13 Georgia Tech 13 Wisconsin 13 Purdue 11