I'm very comfortable with our arrangement with the ACC. I don't really think we fit in the B10 other than geography, and in the modern football world geography is not really that big a deal, how close is Lincoln Neb to Rutgers and MD? What I do see is a conference with more institutions that are like ND. Duke, Ga. Tech, Wake Forrest, Boston College, UVa, all outstanding academic institutions and not huge schools, UNC is also a great academic school. I don't know much about Syracuse size or academics, but I've been told that Clemson is a very solid academic school and I know NC State is also a solid school as well as the Univ of Miami. Maybe FSU is more the "state" school. Also by being associated with the ACC we also by proxy have more entry into the states that dominate the ACC which are in the rapidly growing South Ease and MidEast so our recruiting will be easier since players will be able to play 5 games a year against ACC competition with ND road games at ACC sites. Not exactly the same as if we were located in Atlanta for example, but still gives us a little bit of a southern footprint. B10 is dominated by the large state schools, exception Northwestern. We're just a better fit in the ACC IMHO.
All excellent points, Terry. My head knows that it is the right affiliation for ND. My selfish heart wanted us playing several away games a year within a 1 to 4 hour drive from my home. However, it was never meant to be. The B10 would have forced us to give up our independence, and that for me was THE deal breaker.
:idea: I agree with Terry. The ACC is the closest fit for ND on that side of the Mississippi River. The 12Pac fits academically, but not geographically. I think the ACC is the best fit for the Irish considering everything. The only other thing that I can think of would be a brand, new conference, made up of private, academic schools. That might include ND, BYU, Northwestern, etc...
Summary of Swarbricks interview on Mike and Mike this AM. I didn't listen this was posted on another board. * Athletics has nothing to do with the investigation. It's a university matter * Nature of the investigation forced us to make a public statement - because of potential of eligibility issues, they needed to be held back from practice * Not a matter of a second offense * It's not like somebody detected an anomaly on a paper and got pushed aside. That's not how ND works. It started with compliance, got notified to athletic department and moved on to General Counsel * Investigation went on for a while before Kelly was informed * Nothing in this investigation pointing to a tutor, academic advisor. It's a student to student matter. No evidence of institutional involvement * Nothing seen here so far has to do with Brian Kelly or the athletic department involvement * Can't characterize the issue going beyond these 4 players. Very confident this is not a larger institutional issue * Thousands of emails have been reviewed or read * When players were interviewed Friday morning that was the first time they were interviewed (by the assistant provost, and not direct involvement of athletic department) * No timetable. Investigation will be done regardless of any athletic concern. Hard to predict timetable * Players will not be playing if season starts and investigation is still ongoing
As I read through all the stuff over the weekend some things are starting to become clearer. 1. This doesn't seem to rise to the level of academic scandal, or massive academic fraud that most national and local writers would like it to be. 2. It seems to be isolated to a few players and it seems to be looking like some players had another student look at their papers for spelling and grammar errors. This person didn't write the papers for them. If that is academic fraud and cheating then I'm going to turn myself in retroactively. 3. Of course ND says the investigation is ongoing so maybe some thing will come out that a player did actually not write a paper that he turned in as his own. But I don't think even if that is true that it will rise to the level of "massive" and systemic academic problems with athletes at ND. 4. Daniels dad said his son had Kevare Russell's girlfriend read over his papers for errors that was all. If true then Daniels should be in the clear. 5. Al Lesar wrote an article sort of damning the whole team, implying that Kelly has not recruited the RKG's and that is the problem. But from what I've read none of these guys were academic risks. We all remember that Tony Rice was an academic risk and wouldn't have been admitted to ND except under the prop 48 rule. So being an academic risk is not in itself a disqualifying situation, it's some how figuring out if that kid will actually take advantage of the tutoring, the academic resources, go to class, do the work and turn in papers on time. It's not hard. I lost all respect for Al Lesar after reading his latest on this situation.
Thanks, Terry, for these updates. I'm glad to hear Swarbrick's comments. He's an outstanding attorney, so anything he would say would be properly measured. I also appreciate your observations above. Like your comments on conference affiliation, they are well thought out and sensible. Re: Lesar. I read a Chicago Tribune article by David Haugh, who established himself long ago, when he wrote for the SBT, as a hater. He's gloating in the form of severe criticism of Kelly. I find it sickening.
ND <r>let me just cut to the chase here:<br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Lesar and his ilk can rot in hell for all I care.<br/> <br/> In the end I'll bet we will find out it is exactly what Daniels is saying and not the huge academic scandal the media want to make it. I'm also betting all these players will be on the field for ND this season at some point if not starting in a couple of weeks. <br/> <br/> Now do you think the media that our making all these broad accusations will come back and give an apology after they have been proven wrong? THAT will be a long wait and deep into the last pages of what ever rag they represent.</r>
Geez Terry, almost all schools now have tutoring areas where students can get help with their papers for grammar, punctuation, etc. That is not cheating.
Bill I would agree with you. I'm back and forth on this whole thing, and to tell you the truth there is nothing but speculation out there it would seem that somebody thinks something was done. Naturally I hope that the results are that it was just somethings that aren't cheating, but whatever the result is I hope it's fair and open. I don't condone cheating and if these kids did then I'm glad that ND isn't trying to sweep it under the rug. It's about integrity. I just hope the process is fair and they either get fairly judged and punished or that they can get back to football with no clouds over their heads.
Watching Bengals @ AZ Cardinals on NBC. Eifert out for Bengals. Don't know why. Mike Floyd looking good for Cardinals. Robert Hughes at RB for Cardinals.
ND side note... Does anyone buy the shirt each year? Why do they change the T-shirt style each year? One year it's a tight fit next year really loose now this year very thin material. I feel like it won't survive many washes at all.
I haven't seen this year's shirt. Is it Under Armour? They have these shirts that are thin and breathable, but will outlast most of your cotton shirts.
Not made by UnderArmour. I used to buy them but I don't anymore, no particular reason other than I sort of just got tired of them
Alumni note: The Bears have chosen Jimmy Clausen over Jordan Palmer as the backup to Jay Cutler. The race appeared to be a dead heat, but the Bears obviously had their reasons for keeping Clausen.
I'd like to see Clausen succeed but I doubt if he'll ever be more than what he is doesn't have the great arm strength and is a little slow a foot. He made his bones in HS and college on being a very accurate QB. I see that Brady Quinn did not play in the Dolphins last game vs Dallas so I assume he's going to be glad he has that opportunity at Fox Sports to start another career.