Weis vows no mercy in training camp Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...eenstein,1,591339.column?coll=cs-home-utility A year ago Notre Dame football was in tatters, desperate to recover from two dreadful seasons and the controversial firing of Ty Willingham. Now Notre Dame's only serious threat is overconfidence. And coach Charlie Weis knows it. "Come August 6 when [the players] come back, don't worry about them reading the magazines," he said Tuesday. "Don't worry about them trying to live up to the hype. Because I will be unmerciful. "Every time there's a mistake I'll say: 'I guess you're reading the papers again, huh? That's right, you're an All-American, you're an up-and-coming Heisman Trophy winner, you don't need to listen to me.' It's going to be a bad training camp. It's going to be good for me, but bad for them." That was vintage Weis. As he embarks on Season 2 in South Bend, he remains full of bluster and bravado. And an occasional touch of self-deprecation. "It's kind of funny when people look at some pudge-ball head coach, they always worry about how much energy you have," he said. "I have plenty, OK, and I always will. I have a lot of gas in the tank." Weis, coming off a long recruiting trip, spoke Tuesday in Chicago to a pro-Notre Dame crowd at the annual Westwood One luncheon. The radio network formally introduced its new play-by-play announcer, Don Criqui, who will replace Tony Roberts. But Weis' presence overshadowed Criqui's appearance. As usual, Weis was all business. "I believe that there's only one person who should be speaking for Notre Dame football, and that's me," he said. "That's my responsibility. "When prognosticators say: 'How are you going to do this year?' Well, I'm not stupid enough to give that answer. Every time we play, my goal is to win that game. And I'm very short-sighted. … I'm only worried about Georgia Tech on September 2 at 8:08 (Eastern time). So if you're down there, time your drinking accordingly." Weis expects his players to report to South Bend on Sunday for summer school. "With one exception," he said. "We have some long-haired pitcher for the Cubs who I think is going to be shipped out to Boise for about a month, get himself a few dollars and then come on back to training camp." The Cubs drafted right-hander Jeff Samardzija in the fifth round and are said to be close to signing him. Samardzija set several school records as an Irish wide receiver. Weis said he didn't know enough to talk about Samardzija's baseball prospects, "but I know he's a first-round draft choice in the NFL."
I'm both excited and scared for this upcomming season. For a lot of reasons, of course I'm excited because we have as much talent comming back on offense as I can remember in a long time. Quinn and the WR/TE are as good a group as we've had, Quinn esp. Last time we had a QB who was comming into his Sr. season as hyped was when Rick Mirer was a senior. Also we are a team loaded with stars, guys who are getting a lot of pub. Quinn, Zibby, Samardizja, plus some secondary guys who have a lot of potential for great seasons, like Darius Walker, Victor Abiramri, Ryan Harris, Derek Landri and Trevor Laws. But it scares me that these guys are getting so much off season publicity, Quinn already has his family screening agents, TommyZ is a fighter, JeffS is a minor league pitcher. I hope Charlie is up to juggling all the ego's, expectations and stuff that is whirling around the program right now. I hope the players are able to focus on the season and not look too far ahead to the $$ and NFL fame that awaits them. That '92 team had a ton of talent and a lot of players drafted in the NFL so many that I don't know how they lost any games, but they did. Terry
Scared? Poo poo... I say we go on the attack and keep attacking until we're the only ones standing. The Irish are never alone. Here we see Father Corby riding along the line of the Irish Brigade at Fredericksburg, giving absolution as the lads attack the stone wall at Marye's Heights... Faugh-a-Ballaugh! Clear the way!