An Open Letter to Kevin White, University of Notre Dame Athletic Department
domer.mq - 9:59 pm
Hey Kev!
Wazzup!
Ha! Remember when, like, everybody was all, “Waaaaaa Suuuuuuuup!”
“Waaaaaa Suuuuuuuup”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
“Aaaaaaaa”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Ha! Good times. Sorta like back when Notre Dame played a national schedule that made the rest of the world stand up and take notice. Back when we didn’t play Duke, because Stanford was our Duke. Now Stanford’s our Stanford, and f-ing Duke is our Duke! What the hell, Kev? You’re letting me down, man! You’re letting Our Mother down, Kev. You don’t want to do that Kev, my boy. We are very, VERY Loyal Sons, and we know where you get your dry cleaning done. If you don’t want your shirts to start getting extra starch in the summers, then you’d better shape up.
But man, have I got a deal for you! Seems another program with a grand tradition has this big-talkin’ coach who has thrown down the gauntlet, so-to-speak, and that gauntlet is now in your lap. How’s that feel, Kev? Feels sorta harsh, don’t it? Kinda like when you apply for every damned home game and don’t win a single freaking ticket harsh, eh Kev? Huh? Yeah!?
I digress.
Just imagine Kev: Battle of the Titans. The most successful college program in football history, Notre Dame, against a program that seems to pull National Championships out of it’s rear every time a cheerleader sneezes, Alabama. Imagine the ticket revenue, Kev! Imagine the ratings!
So, yeah, if you could go ahead and make that happen in between re-negotiations with Adidas and new negotiations with Champion, that’d be swell.
In fact, scratch that, Kev. Dump Adidas. Go back to Champion. I’ve been trying to think of what good Adidas has done for us, and this is all I could come up with:
[youtube]1dPt5LHg6Dw[/youtube]
Thanks, Kev! TTYL!
Her Loyal Sons
PS – Ooh! I almost forgot, here’s our suggestion for making room in the Schedule for Alabama:
Dump SDSU and Nevada from our future schedules. Don’t worry, they’ll be able to recoup their paydays when Michigan clamors to schedule them.
gwzimm
Love it
July 11, 2007 at 10:21 pmirish
“Our Mother” and an F-Bomb in the same paragraph. Realyy nice! I bet your mother is proud of you?
July 12, 2007 at 12:16 amdomer.mq
irish,
- a) The “f-bomb” isn’t even there. I used the term “f-ing.” It could stand for “freaking,” “frolicking,” or “farfegnugen.”
- b) You should have written “I bet your mother is proud of you.” B/c you weren’t asking a question.
- c) Give me a break. It’s a blog about ND Football. Various terms come up when talking about ND Football. During the davieham era, those terms came up a lot.
July 12, 2007 at 1:52 amOrenchuk
I’m glad you put it down on your blog because frankly this issue needs more limelight. Stupid AD playing cream puffs. We wonder why the hell ND isn’t taken too seriously. We need a strong schedule across the board.
July 12, 2007 at 7:56 amWertzy
Orenchuk, I agree that the schedule needs some tweaking, but, you can’t go play a schedule that is strong “across the board”. You need to maintain some of your traditional rivals (Navy, Stanford, Purdue (maybe, ya know the whole Indiana thing). And while I agree about the sad state with Duke, Nevada, SDSU on the schedule, two of those were done in order to get BYU on the schedule early one year as a warm-up before UM (of course, we lost, so it didn’t work out all that well). But rather than have a schedule of UF, FSU, da U, UM, USC, OSU, UT, Oklahoma, LSU, Cal, (oh what the hell, I’ll use the BE), WVU, Rutgers, the schedule needs to be balanced with top tier teams from across the nation, mid-level conference opponents that expand the national exposure to recruiting areas, and our traditional rivals.
Plus, this 8-4-1 (home, away, neutral site, but a home game) thing needs to shift back to a 7-5-1 format, because: 1. No good team that will actually generate any media/public interest will just agree to come to ND without a reciprocation on ND’s part (Alabama, LSU, UF, UM, etc). 2) The nuetral site games need to be against quality opponents, if we can’t arrange a home-n-home with em, that way, they get some exposure as well due to the site location possible closer to home, even though it is an ND home game. 3) Every media critic will point to our schedule and say, “Well of course the did so well, they played 9 home games.” They would say 9, because although not exactly true, it makes for a better story.
Just my $.02
July 12, 2007 at 10:06 amRyan
You hit nail squarely on the head Wertzy.
July 12, 2007 at 10:11 amdomer.mq
Wertzy,
July 12, 2007 at 10:23 amLike Ryan said, you’re right as rain. (Ryan stole my other way of saying you’re right.)
Anyway, I think our schedule is very strong, but this year’s is so top heavy as to be ridiculous. And to play Nevada and SDSU is just laughable. No disrespect to them intended, but in the matter of playing teams we “outclass” on a talent level, that’s left for the Academies. And the moves to get BYU as a “warm up” a few years ago was so myopic as to be negligent on the job. That’s White’s failing.
White’s completely mismanaging Notre Dame football, and he’s not even doing that well with the rest of the sports either. Your point about the 8-4-1 thing is great. The problem is White sees the schedule as part of an “arms race.” What he’s forgotten is ND doesn’t need to be in that arms race. This is what happens when you have people in key roles at ND that don’t “get” ND. See also Davie, Bob and Willingham, Ty.
gwzimm
Because ND has the NBC deal, and they want ratings, we cannot schedule the SDSU’s, Nevadas, etc of the world. Michigan can schedule App State or Penn State can schedule Akron because they are auromatic wins, and they won’t be on TV anyway.
I would love to see the Irish play a series against Alabama, LSU, Florida, et al. Let Michigan play high schools for all I care.
July 12, 2007 at 11:26 amOrenchuk
Wertzy, I wasn’t advocating hard teams across the board. I in fact had something in mind of what you stated. I didn’t really convey that. Me fail English? That’s unpossible. Anyways your analysis is spot on.
July 12, 2007 at 12:00 pmThe Biscuit
I think it’s a double-edged sword. We schedule too many tough games and everyone says it’s an impossible schedule and there’s no way we win an NC with a schedule like that. So the AD and ND react, but they take it way too far. They want to soften the schedule a bit (which I actually agree they should compared to some of the absurd gauntlets teams have had to run in the past 5-7 years), but they go all the way to Duke and SDSU? Ugh.
There is a middle ground of which MQ and Wertzy are speaking, and somehow White skipped right past it.
Scheduling isn’t as simple as it seems, but some of these games are just way beyond being right.
Hopefully they can right the ship without going back too far the other way such that we end up playing 11 Top 20 teams.
July 12, 2007 at 2:01 pmThe Biscuit
ps – f that.
July 12, 2007 at 2:06 pmThe Biscuit
pps – check out the news column on the right (AOL Sports) – we made our own news RSS. nicely done MQ.
July 13, 2007 at 11:43 amTide311
This is a great article. Just a few problems. Pulling out championships every time a cheerleader sneezes? Between Alabama and ND….who was the last one that one a Championship? Thats right….Alabama. Well as much as I’d love to see Alabama play ND in a bowl game, I would settle for a home and home series. Because we all know ND is like marijuana…they get SMOKED in Bowls. Try joining a conference too while you are at it.
July 13, 2007 at 11:50 amPeterKlima
Funny stuff. I would go to SB to see that game.
But “[t]he most successful college program in football history” is Michigan. That’s if you measure success in wins or winning percentage. (Seeing as how NCs are “mythical” it is the only real way to measure success.)
July 13, 2007 at 1:15 pmBad Kermit
I TOTALLY agree. Wins and winning percentage are the absolute BEST way to measure how great a program is. Because the quality of the team’s opponents has NOTHING to do with the amount of wins they can rack up.
When I capitalize words like that can you tell I’m being sarcastic?
July 13, 2007 at 2:51 pmThe Biscuit
Which fan was the last ONE to use the word ONE for the word WON? At least we know which school is actually a school.
I am TIRED of the join a conference comment, tell me this: why the hell WOULD we? We’d have to be morons. Or Alabamans.
July 13, 2007 at 4:21 pmThe Biscuit
Oh, and you can talk smack when you’re ABOVE .500. Sorry, forgot who I am talking to. That means you have to win more than half your games. Like being 7-6 rather than 6-7.
July 13, 2007 at 4:26 pmMotu Proprio
Would love to see this game happen. I know Bama fans are praying their rosaries that Saban makes it happen. You guys may get another shot at Leslie Miles, after this season. The talent he’s inherited is gone and his mouth is writing checks. After Lloyd Carr is fired, er retired you’ll see ole Leslie across the sidelines at Michigan. Say what you want about Carr but at least he’s like those crotchety old guys from the ‘Grumpy Old Men’ movies, which makes him funny. Miles has the personality of Alabama’s two bishops (administrators). Once Miles drains Carr’s talent at Michigan (which will benefit all of you because recruits will go to ND instead of Michigan)he’ll run off to coach the mini wolves.
July 14, 2007 at 1:44 amGreg
Man why do some Bama fans have to go on other teams boards and blogs and make asses out of all of us? I’ve been an Alabama fan since birth and always will be, and I truly think this is a great idea for both teams. Not only does it provide more national exposure for both programs, but it also opens up recruiting avenues into both areas (seems like ND is starting to own Florida recruiting). I definately have a respect for ND and it’s storied program and would welcome a renewed rivalry between two of college football’s greatest programs.
July 14, 2007 at 2:05 amChris
Greetings from Tuscaloosa!!!
Wouldn’t a Bama/ND be great!? Alabama really wants it to happen – and actually had it scheduled a few years ago – but the ND athletic administration axed the deal. If you will remember, the Alabama AD – Mal Moore coached at ND under Faust – and it was Coach Frank Thomas, the Gipp’s Roommate and QB for Rockne that lead Bama to National Championships #4 and #5. There’s a lot of tradition and connections between the two programs, and I for one, would love to come to South Bend for a game – and I’d love for all the Domers to head to Tuscaloosa.
Ya’ll keep pleading the case up there – and let’s make this happen.
July 14, 2007 at 6:10 amChris
This just in from today’s Birmingham News
Irish can’t make Tide fit in schedule
Saturday, July 14, 2007
IAN R. RAPOPORT
News staff writer
TUSCALOOSA – The chances of Alabama and Notre Dame facing off in a regular-season football game in the foreseeable future appear to be extremely slim.
“It’s not for lack of interest,” said John Heisler, Notre Dame’s senior associate athletics director who is in charge of scheduling. “I just don’t know where we’d put them.”
Two days after Alabama coach Nick Saban proclaimed his interest in upgrading his out-of-conference schedule by adding the Fighting Irish, Heisler told The Birmingham News that a new agreement with the Big East makes finding room for programs like Alabama nearly impossible.
Beginning in 2011, Notre Dame, an independent, has agreed to play three Big East teams per year, a request that was made when Miami and Virginia left the conference in limbo by jumping to the ACC.
“Those commitments will give us more home-and-home games than we know what to do with,” Heisler said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with (not wanting to play) Alabama.”
It was during a speech to the Rotary Club of Birmingham on Wednesday that Saban admitted to being “crazy” because he wants his teams to play one big-time intersectional game each season.
“I’d like to play Notre Dame,” Saban said. “We played them three times at Michigan State and beat them three times. That was a great national game, it creates fan interest and TV will always jump on those games.”
He also named Penn State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and North Carolina as teams he’d like to play. The Nittany Lions and the Yellow Jackets are already on future schedules.
The Irish won’t be.
According to Heisler, he intends to schedule seven home games per season, one off-site home game, and four road games. Already in place are long-standing matchups with Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue and some combination of Southern Cal, Stanford and Navy. Throw in the three Big East teams, and there is little flexibility.
He has scheduled SEC teams in the past, such as the Tide and Tennessee, and Georgia has asked to schedule a game. But he hasn’t talked recently with the Tide.
“Unless something changes, it would be pretty tough to do,” said Heisler, who added he wasn’t sure when the Big East agreement would end.
E-mail: irapoport@bhamnews.com
July 14, 2007 at 6:40 amChris
You guys need to burn the ND Athletic Department switchboard up starting Monday.
July 14, 2007 at 6:44 amAlwaysTide
ND and UA are definitely the two most storied programs in college history. Bama has the best bowl record of ALL schools. Bama is second to ND on TV.
The two schools playing each other on a home & home basis would be great. ND could get to play in a new 102,000 seat stadium (BDS) while in T-town.
ND is to the North and the Catholic Church what UA is to the South and the Protestants.
I think Saban would definitely enjoy the challenge. We just need ND to get off the pot
July 14, 2007 at 6:26 pmof gold and fix that schedule.
The Biscuit
I dig the more positive and insightful posts since my last rant. Much appreciated Bama fans!
I would dig a home and home, hopefully it will happen at some point. Looks like the flexibility doesn’t really happen until the early Teens. Ugh? 2015? I am getting old.
July 15, 2007 at 12:40 am