The D-I “management council”, whatever that is, recommended an all-out ban to text message use in the College Football recruiting wars today.  ESPN has a little writeup on it if you’re interested:  http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/news/story?id=2841603

I’d say that overall this is a good thing.  Think about how many messages those top recruits must get.  Even if a school doesn’t have a shot, it wouldn’t hurt to text right?  Wouldn’t you just LOVE getting texts from powerhouses like Indiana (PA) and Kent State?  And if your parents didn’t have the prescience to get you an unlimited texting plan that bill could add up right quick.   And really, who wants to deal with messages like these:

“Hey there big fella.  Come on out here to Southern California and play for us.  You’ll get to live in a slum, learn to cheat with the best of them (I can hook you up with Reggie Bush in a conference call like THAT), and hang out with Snoop.  It’s cool - all that weed was medicinal.  Nothing bad, seriously. Just sign on the dotted line baby!  - Petey”

“I have never, ever seen an arm like yours.  Seriously, not once in my life.  I will build my offense around you, you will be my star.  I will build my life around you.  You can have my kid’s room and live with me, I will adopt you and make you my son!  Have you heard about how we have the best graduation rate in the universe?  No?  Oh…well, ignore the stories that I’m recruiting 7 other quarterbacks, it’s all about YOU my boy.  Come be a Gator.”

“I have $10,000 reasons why you should come to Illinois.  Just stop by and I will tell you all about them.  Better yet, I’ll leave them all in an unmarked briefcase resting in the third garbage can on the right as you drive on to campus.”

“Honestly, you’ll live through the home games because you’re a player.  The only things in danger at our games are visiting fans, cars and couches.  That’s all they burn.  OSU is great!”

Overall, it should be a good move for the kids, and work in ND’s favor as well.  Charlie has a presence, and that can lead to results more and more when the phone and in-person recruiting becomes more important.  Plus, works as hard as or harder than the other guys to bring in the talent out there.  Of course, enforcement can be a problem, but the honor system, education and the occasional threat is all you have to monitor the other rules on phone calls, visits and emails as well.

And some will try to work around it.  In fact, there are rumors that crazy deposed MSU Coach John L. Smith is starting a new carrier pigeon business based on the news.  “These babies will fly any message you want straight to whichever recruit you’re targeting.  Seriously, they know where they are.  And they never crumble under pressure. Never.”

  +    =    ???  

Only time will tell. 

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• NCAA: no mor teh txtng. Charlie Weis: :-(
• Shout! Shout! Let it all out!
• Help End (one of) The Dumbest Rule(s) In Sports

Today is DomerMQ’s birthday. If you know him and see him, punch him. If not, feel free to wish him well in the comments. Happy birthday, you ornery old curmudgeon.

Yes, that is a real cake.

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• Happy New Year to All of You Out There in CFB World!
• Friday Roundup: The Big Misunderstanding Edition
• There Is A God, And He Wants Me To Be Happy

106 is the key number here.  I don’t mean to say it’s the exact number, but it makes the point.  The source is sketchy, but I can guarantee he’s not off by more than 50.  And even then it’d still be embarrassing for those little midwestern nuts. 

106 it is.  Hehe, funny.  To us.  Sad for OSU fans and Troy Smith.

What’s the number 106?  It’s the number of projected draft spots that separate Brady Quinn’s current mock draft position from Troy Smith’s.

BQ sits at #7 in Todd McShay’s latest mock draft.  Troy Smith?  #113.  Quinn could go as high as # 1, and is quite obviously a First Round pick and definitely Top 11 (with 11 being worst case scenario).  Smith could drop as low as the 120’s or 130’s, making him a solid Round 4 or Round 5 pick.  Ah, the greatest college football player in the land…wait, what???

After all the ballyhoo and the debate, it’s a pretty telling fact.  (I mean, this is coming from McShay, who I consider 85% dumb.  Even he couldn’t screw this one up.) 

Here’s the thing - how can the greatest college football player in the land be the 113th or the 120th or the 99th best player (at best!) in the draft?  Or even if you go by position, heck, Mr. Smith should start running routes - because becoming a WR in the NFL will be his best shot at seeing the playing field.  It’s because Smith wasn’t the best player in the land.  He was just on a good team that had a solid run in a so-so conference.  Oh, and he had the hype.  That too. 

Now, I’m not going to say that BQ had a better season than Troy.  He didn’t.  I won’t say that BQ deserved the Heisman.  But of course, neither did Troy. 

And clearly NFL scouts, coaches and owners know more about talent than the Heisman voting committee.  How many of those old Heisman-vote-having goats would you want running your favorite NFL team’s sideline?  None?  Right.  And that 106 spots makes it pretty obvious that one of those groups is REALLY wrong.    Can you guess which?  I’ll give you odds…maybe 106-1?   Uh yeah, I’ll take the NFL guys.

What I will say is that Brady Quinn is clearly a better player, with more talent, than Troy Smith.  All those NFL guys are dead on with where these guys fall out compared to one another, based on talent:  it’s not even close.  People (OSU fans and the delusional) will say that the NFL draft is irrelevant - a ton of time has passed, workouts have happened, people forget, people remember, blah blah blah.  But that doesn’t hold water.  It’s not like Troy was a consensus Top 10 pick and then dropped based on his combine performances and/or film reviews by the coaches and scouts.  He was ALWAYS a late pick.  He was never even considered to be a potential pick in the first TWO WHOLE ROUNDS.  So don’t bring that up here - doesn’t work.  And worse, none of those workouts or interviews moved him up in the draft at all. 

“Hello there Mr. NFL Scout. Check out my Heisman Trophy.  Oh, you’re not interested?  You just want someone that can play?  Okay then, thanks for your time.  Unless you want to see me run a few slant patterns…”

Which brings up the sad state of the Heisman process.  It’s not about the best player in the country anymore.  It’s about the best player…that also got hyped early on, that also has a good team around him, that also won a bunch of games.  Brady benefitted from some of these things, but was penalized severely for others.  Other players weren’t even looked at because they were never, and could never, be hyped.  Or their teams lost. 

Whatever the case, things aren’t right in the Heisman process if they somehow end up choosing a “Greatest Player” that gets picked in Round 4 of the draft.  At the very worst, whoever wins the Heisman should go in one of the first two rounds.  Barring any Rudy-esque season-long magic.  Something needs fixed, or soon enough the award will become one big joke.  And that would be sad for college football.

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So there have been a few articles today about Illi-bringthe-Nois’ Spring Game.  A few are linked over there on the right of our page here.  I find these articles funny.  Let’s break it down shall we?

Point 1:  After stealing a few of our recruits this past February (and by stealing, I’m still not sure if I mean it figuratively or literally), Illinois came to Chicago to hold their Spring Game at St. Rita’s, which is in a traditionally Irish neighborhood. This is somehow supposed to be a challenge to Notre Dame in some way, shape or form.

Why this is lame:  First, it’s Illinois’ Spring Game.  Does ANYONE care?   Second, yes it’s located in the heart of the South Side Chicago Catholic League and yeah, ND recruits there.  But it’s not like this has been some bastion of ND recruiting over the past 15 years.  We get guys from South Side Chicago, and it’s an important area.  But we’re not pulling 10 of 20 from the entire city, let alone one 5-block radius.  Give me a break, fellas.  ND’s stronghold is the MIDWEST, not a single state or city, let alone a neighborhood.

Point 2:  This shows that Crook Zook is putting the “…fight back in the Fighting Illini”. 

Why this is lame:  Ummm, no it doesn’t put any fight in anything.  It shows that Zook knew no one would show up for a Spring Game on Illinois’ campus.  Not fans, not players, maybe not even the coaches.  It would just be that boring.  Only Purdue’s game would be a smaller draw.  And with that big ole drum, it might even surpass U of I.

Point 3:  2,000 fans showed up because they were so excited to see the team play.  Even though it wasn’t that nice of a day out.

Why this is lame:  2,000?  2,000?  More people than that show up to the Dillon Hall Pep Rally each year to see Crackhead smash plates on his forehead. 

I mean, if anything, that’s just depressing.  And that’s after moving the game to Chicago, where 99.9% of all U of I attendees grew up, and went back to upon graduation.  The ND Blue-Gold game is projecting well North of 30,000 fans this year.  Verdict?  U of I = lame.

Given this, I can’t imagine how any of this could make a recruit excited about playing for the school.  You can head to ND, where 30,000+ people want to see you practice, or you can go to a school where you have to drive 2 hours plus to get a crowd, and it results in 2,000 people showing up.  Makes that Illinois program seem big and important, don’t it?

I’d like to see ND bring the Blue-Gold game to Chicago next year.  Just to show Zooker who runs football in the Midwest and in the city.  Problem is, I don’t know if the Bears would let the team play on Soldier Field, the only venue large enough to handle a game of such magnitude. 

Now THAT would be an invasion.

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• And a Little Bit of Defense Too.
• John L. Smith on MSU’s Loss to Illinois: Seriously, Weis Wasn’t Even in the Replay…

…named HerLoyalSons.com?
Yeah?

Well, here’s your chance!

The situation: None of the Loyal Sons can make it to the Blue and Gold Game this weekend. Some of us have weddings to attend, some of us have demanding jobs, and some of us have really embarrassing cold sores. As such, we need at least one, but not more than 20 enthusiastic, Notre Dame loving, HLS reading people to go to the Blue and Gold game in our stead, take careful note of what’s going on, hopefully snap a few pictures of it all, and then submit the entire experience (to: her loyal sons at gmail dot com) in a well written, witty piece of “journalism.” Extra important: Some details/facts and little wit are way better than lots of wit and very little details/facts, unless, like me, you are extra awesome at wit (and if so, why aren’t you already blogging?).
The risk: We guarantee that we’ll post anything you submit to us. Anything*. Those of you with ill-conceived MySpace photos floating on the web-o-sphere should really consider this. We may even attach it to your real name if you don’t also provide us with a funny enough handle. In fact, if you don’t give us a handle, we’ll also assign you the name “Flounder,” because we still think that joke’s funny. We also still quote The Big Lebowski.
The reward: The admiration of men and woman everywhere. And the best submission (chosen either by all the Loyal Sons or by myself b/c I’m too lazy to organize a vote) may even win some free ND thing if A) I still have it and B) My wife didn’t toss it out while she was “Spring Cleaning.” That’s a lot of “ifs,” but the reward could, I repeat could, be pretty sweet.
Special Note: If you do decide you’d like to be a “Her Loyal Son for a Day,” (we’re looking at you, ladies!) please notify us via e-mail at the address over to the right and up a bit (hint: “her loyal sons at gmail dot com”). We’d just like some sense of how many people are going to contribute. We may need to buy extra server space for all of your helpfulness.

*Unless, of course, it could get us in trouble with ND, the “authorities,” our mothers/wives, or God.

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• The College Football Blog Awards Nominations Are Out… (Updated (again))
• Multiple Points of View
• HLS Experts’ Picks Week 2: Battle of the #1s and #2s.

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. Which, naturally, explains why the Friday Roundup had to wait until now. As such, no further explanation need be given.

The Roundup:

• The UN NCAA is going to look into solutions to the Middle East peace problem recruiting craze that is being accelerated due to technology.
• Tyrone Willingham hopes to see more balls and body parts flying in different directions this year.
• UCF is dropping the “Golden” part of their name in favor of just “Knights” to, of course, avoid offending people of Golden heritage.

Finally, one editorial note: Some “talent” from ESPN has been feeding their audience complete and utter BS about the state of the Notre Dame QB race. I think the guy’s name is Joe Schaad, or Joe Scab, or Dip Shit. Something or other. Anyway, ignore the guy. He knows what’s going on inside the Notre Dame program about as well as Anna Nicole Smith knows the inner working of calculus. (Present tense used intentionally.)

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• Friday Roundup: The Biscuit Edition
• Friday Roundup: The “It’s All About Bob” Edition
• Last Friday Roundup: The “You Probably Wont Get Most Of This” Edition

Anthony McDonald, California’s top linebacker and a student of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, has committed to ND!

Looks good on ya!

Welcome to the family, Anthony!

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• Clearly, the NCAA is in Cahoots with the Irish
• Michigan Joins Modern Age: Big House Finally Welcomes the Disabled
• ND Opponent “Bye” Declared Slightly Less Boring than Purdue

ESPN’s Ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber, got a lot of email during her first week on the job.  Most of it was in regards to ESPN Radio’s “talent,” Colin Cowherd, attacking competitor TheBigLead.com over FCC owned and controlled airwaves.  And so Le Anne has responded.

Some of the politer terms my correspondents used to describe Cowherd’s behavior were immature, irresponsible, arrogant, malicious, destructive and dumb. I agree.

The official response from ESPN’s communication department was: “Our airwaves should not be used for this purpose. We apologize.” It is the kind of bland public statement that does little to assuage the anger and distrust of ESPN’s audience over an episode like this. I could not tell from that statement how seriously ESPN regarded the offense, so I contacted Traug Keller, senior vice president, ESPN Radio, to get a clearer idea of ESPN’s reaction.

Keller responded immediately to my request for an on-the-record statement. “We talked to Colin Cowherd, and we talked to all our radio talent, making it clear that you cannot do this,” Keller said Friday. “Our airwaves are a trust, and not to be used to hurt anyone’s business. Such attacks are off limits. Zero tolerance. I can’t say it any stronger.”

That’s all good and well.  This is a nice par effort for someone on the first week on the job.  But it’s certainly not the end.  At least it shouldn’t be.  Traug Keller should fire Cowherd.  He acted as an agent of ESPN (and Disney) in an illegal action against another company.  The dollar figures involved in this episode may be relatively small to ESPN, but not to TheBigLead.com. No matter the dollar figures, this was still an act of corporate sabotage.
Next, the FCC should look into ESPN Radio.  It’s their airwaves.  They should get a full understanding of how and why ESPN Radio decided to abuse the privilege of broadcasting over those airwaves to help destroy a competitive business.

ESPN may not have had a policy about this sort of behavior before, and will likely hide behind that fact as a reason for not giving Cowherd the boot right now.  But they probably don’t have a policy in writing against “talent” going berserk and burning down the entire city of Pittsburgh in some egomaniacal fit either, and that would probably get one of their guy fired.

Then again, maybe the guys at ESPN have already anticipated such a scenario.

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