Funny. It really seems like a year ago I did a “Cabin Fever” edition. I must be cracking up because we just had our 35th snowfall of the freaking season.
The Roundup:
Well, it’s been 96 days since a Notre Dame Football Player has taken part in an organized football activity (I’m not counting Senior Bowl or NFL Combine activities), so I suppose we can make it 28 more days.
The Irish football program has released their 2008 Spring Football Practice Schedule.
2008 Spring Football Practice Dates
Day Date
Wed. March 26
Fri. March 28
Sat. March 29
Mon. March 31
Wed. April 2
Fri. April 4 – Notre Dame Football Coaches Clinic
Sat. April 5 – Notre Dame Football Coaches Clinic
Mon. April 7
Wed. April 9
Fri. April 11
Sat. April 12
Mon. April 14
Wed. April 16
Fri. April 18
Sat. April 19 – Blue-Gold Spring Football Game
Given that schedule, we’ll only need to suffer through 140 days between the Blue-Gold game and the season opener against San Diego State. Of course, if we had an AD worth his paycheck, we’d only have to wait 133 days, but who’s counting, right?
Of special note is the fact that the “Coaches Clinic” is now open to “fans” as well. And yup, at least one of us is planning to attend. (We long ago stopped thinking we could have ever played for Notre Dame, but we still dream that we could coach Notre Dame) So if you’re planning to attend as well, let us know and maybe we can meet for beers.
At the coaching clinic, ND Special Teams Coach, Brian Polian’s father, Bill Polian, President of the Indianapolis Colts will be speaking. But I’m particularly interested to hear from the other 2 speakers, Mount Union College HC, Larry Kehres and Grand Valley State HC, Chuck Martin. In 22 seasons at Mount Union, Kehres has lead the Purple Raiders to 16 undefeated seasons, including an undefeated streak from 1995 to 2004 and 9 D3 National Championships. And at Grand Valley State, Martin has won two D2 National Championships in 3 years of helming the Lakers and currently holds the nation’s longest active winning streak (28). These guys clearly know how to coach, and with records like that, it really doesn’t matter on what level they’re doing it. In fact, these guys tend to have to do what they do with some challenges unique to their divisions and programs, so hearing what they have to say in the context of Notre Dame Football, a program with its own unique set of challenges, should be very compelling.
Meanwhile, as Notre Dame has only planned their Spring activities, several programs have already fully begun their spring practices.
My initial reaction to all this news about various programs already starting their Spring Practice is jealousy. Jealousy that their fans get to consume some actual news about their respective teams so early in the year and jealousy that their schools are located in geographies that lend themselves to such early activities. It’s still the “dead of winter” in South Bend, after all. But when I give it even a moment’s thought, I think, “Thank God that’s not us.” Because this ND teams is still very young, and probably more than anything right now, this team will benefit from 28 more days in the weight room. Sure, you can still hit the weights and run sprints in Spring practice, but if you’ve ever really worked on a dedicated weight regimen, you know that 100% dedication to that program is the only way to maximize gains. And this very young team really needs to maximize their gains. So rather than thinking, “we’ve got to wait 28 more days for some ND football,” I now think, “Crap! They’ve only got 4 more weeks worth of weight training before the Spring!”
In case you’ve had your head buried in the sand…
ND hoops has a shot at the Big East Title and is a likely 3 or 4 seed in the tourney. We don’t talk much about hoops here, but we support the team and watch the games, so this is our cheerleading post. Go Irish!
ND will take the Big East and pull out a 2 seed. You wait and see America.
Well, it was a long day for a Tuesday, but we end it on a high-note. Sean Salisbury is no longer plaguing the hearts and minds of our nation’s youth via ESPN. That’s right. Just in time for ESPN the Weekend, Sean Salisbury has been fired “left to broaden his horizons.”
On the same day former Vikings receiver Cris Carter joined ESPN, the network plans to announce ex-Vikings quarterback Sean Salisbury will be departing after a 12-year stay as an NFL analyst. Word is Salisbury’s contract was up and ESPN decided not to renew.
Here are the statements from both sides:
Sean Salisbury: “I want to thank ESPN for 12 great years of talking football on TV and the radio. I have grown as much as I can at ESPN and decided to expand my horizons. I have created a brand and it’s time to expand into other opportunities in TV, radio, Internet, publishing, movies and public speaking, among others. My resume speaks for itself as a football analyst, and I believe I can talk all sports with the best of them.”
ESPN’s statement: “Sean Salisbury has made many contributions to our efforts for the past 12 years. We thank him and wish him all the best.”
I don’t watch ESPN because I don’t have cable. The internets pretty much allow me to keep on top of EVERYTHING anyway, so why should I need 24-hour “news” and “sports” coverage? But this is just outstanding news. Any time Sean Salisbury is employed by a broadcasting company is a time when every man, woman, and child runs the risk of dying just a little bit inside by accidentally assaulting their minds with the detritus spewing from Sean’s mouth.
Here’s to Sean expanding on his “brand” at least 1,000 miles in any direction away from any sentient being.
Maura Weis has penned a book about her experience raising her daughter Hannah. Of course, all proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Weis’ foundation for the mentally/developmentally challenged/handicapped, Hannah and Friends.
From first-hand experience with children with global developmental delays, autism and mental retardation, I encourage our readers to pick up a copy and help out a worthy cause. And maybe learn something along the way.
From first-hand experience with Maura Weis, I can say that this cause and her family’s well-being is all that drives her. And I believe that, because of this, the book will be a good one.
Hey, look MQ, we’re in Delaware. What’s in Delaware?
Right.
The Round-up:
Junior!
No, not that Junior.
Juniors. As in, the dudes who will be seniors next year. In High School. Who will, a year from now, make us happy or sad on signing day once again.
While this year was obviously a kick-@$$ year on the trail for Charlie, Corwin and company, the coaches are already looking to next year’s players. And, actually, have been for a while. We all know about the insanely early start the Irish had last year, landing a ton of early commitments that ended up being the core of the class. While USC looks to be the team out to the early start this year, ND’s staff is out there in force once again making the rounds.
Although Ty Willie helped implement a rule (let’s call it the Handicap Rule, yeah double entendre!!!) that keeps Charlie at home during the early part of this year, ND’s staff is doing its best to make waves with the young recruits once again. Targeting the right kids with the right goals and the athletic and academic fit for ND.
So far the Irish have extended a select number of offers. Here’s the run-down of the official offers made to date:
Cierre Wood – RB from Oxnard, CA. 6′0″, 176 pounds. Of note: Yours truly got hitched on the beachin Cierre’s hometown. Also of note: Oxnard is actually pretty fun, despite the name/rep.
Craig Loston – Safety from Aldine Texas. 6′1″, 183 pounds. Of Note: Early 4 star on Rivals.
Chris Bonds - DE from Columbia South Carolina. 6′4″, 262. Of note: No relation to Barry.
Dalton Hilliard – Running Back from Honolulu, Hawaii. 6′0″, 183. Of note: Honolulu is on the island of Oahu. Which is the most popular tourist destination in the state along with Maui, but is NOT the “Big Island”. Remember that when planning vacation/honeymoon.
DeVonte Holloman – Safety from Charlotte, NC. 6′2″, 205. Of note: Early 4 star on both Rivals and Scout. Coolest name so far in the offeree list, but nowhere near Golden or Slaughter in the overall ND name rankings. DeVonte’s game is much better than the movie with Kevin Bacon where you actually don’t get to see Kevin Bacon. But he was really acting!
Devon Kennard – DE from Phoenix. 6′2″, 225lbs. Of note: Early 5 star on Rivals, 4 star on Scout. Big competition for Devon, from USC, Michigan, and everyone else. Also of note, I never know if you’re supposed to put a word that ends (like Devon) before or after a very similar word that keeps going (like DeVonte) when doing alphabetical order. So, sorry if that’s all F-ed up. I guessed.
Eric Shrive – OL/DT from Scranton, PA. 6′7″, 285. Of note: Scranton is where “The Office” is set. Love that town.
Isaac Holmes – Defensive Tackle from Hoboken NJ. 6′3″, 290. Of note: Duval Kamara’s cousin. Inside game is good game.
Jamarkus McFarland – DT from Lufkin, TX. 6′3″, 280 pounds. Of note: Early Rivals 5 star and Top 100 player. Heavy Texas lean, though. Don’t do it Jamarkus!
Manti Te’o – Inside Linebacker from Honolulu. 6′1″, 225. Of note: It’s starting to seem like somebody on the staff has been enjoying the islands. Also, SICK name. Jumps to #1 in the class. Can totally picture a MAN-TI, TE-OOOOOOOO cheer when this dude crushes an opposing QB in Notre Dame stadium. Manti is also shy. No picture on the profile.
Marlon Brown – Wide Receiver from Memphis, TN. 6′5″, 205 pounds. Of note: Early 5 star on Rivals. Friends with current ND WR Golden Tate.
Shaquelle Evans – WR from Inglewood, Cali. 6′2″ 190 pounds. Of note: According to Tupac “Inglewood is always up to no good”. If being up to no good means slicing through opposing defenses with lightning quick speed and sick hands, I get it.
Xavier Nixon – Offensive Tackle from Fayetteville NC. 6′6″, 275 lbs. Of note: Lots of more-local competition from Clemson, SC, NC State and Miami. My boy is ‘not a crook’. Peace!
In addition to these 13 offers, there is a TON of mutual interest out there, and I’d expect more offers to be flowing as kids qualify academically through test scores, etc., and as Charlie’s Recruiting Army keeps the trails blazing.
Here’s to the Recruiting Class of ‘09 matching or out-classing our stellar Class of ‘08.
Brian at Mgoblog (I will not link there, you know where it is anyway) often says stupid things. Recently he said smart things about Saban’s penchant for over-signing though, so we know he CAN be rational at times, despite his misguided love for skunkbears. But today, he said another stupid thing. And since there’s NOTHING going on in college football right now, I’ll just call him out on it. Then we’ll get a few Michigan (sucks!) fans who will come over here and yell “3-9!” and “you suck!”, and similar such sentiments which will have nothing to do with the argument presented below. Then I’ll point out their idiocy and then we’ll all move on to the next moronic thing that a skunkbear fan says. Fun.
Brian’s post is about a potential scandalistic-type-thing coming out of Michigan. Something around academics and all that. We don’t know what it is yet, but we’re excited to learn about it. I know it’s kind of piling on with all of the DickRod issues and all, but it’s really just kind of fun.
Michigan loves to toot its horn about its academic integrity and all that, but it’s all very selective. They love to ignore their graduation rates for African American players, for example. Anyway, I digress. Kind of.
The line in the post with which I take issue is in the following quote:
There is the separate question “should athletes be taking independent study classes en masse,” the answer to which is definitely “no.” But that’s life when you have players spending something like 40 hours a week year-round on their chosen sport.
C’mon now Brian! Seriously. For a dude that espouses the academic rigor of his alma mater, and the high standards to which the institution holds its athletes, this is absurd. The first part is good – you don’t think your football players should all be taking cake classes (’independent study’). That’s good! Good! Now, we all know that they are taking those cake-walk classes, but that’s another discussion. You get a point for WISHING your school did it the right way at least. Congratulations.
It’s your next line that’s the problem: But that’s life when you have players spending something like 40 hours a week year-round on their chosen sport. No, that is NOT life!
That’s MICHIGAN when you have players spending something like 40 hours a week year-round on their chosen sport.
MICH-I-GAN. That’s not “life” at Notre Dame. That’s not “life” at a number of schools that do it the right way.
For a guy that spends so much time calling out other schools for their lack of academic rigor, you should do some looking in the mirror. After all your attempted attacks of ND’s academics as they relate to athletics (which is just funny and lame -my favorite is when you say that ND must be EASIER for student-athletes because they actually graduate) and pumping up of how much the skunkbears REALLY DO STUDY, shrugging your shoulders at this kind of academic laziness and irresponsibility is hypocritical, and just simply weak.
Pure Skunkbear.
More specifically, how did they get to this point? Don’t get me wrong, Michigan has always always always sucked. But this is just getting ridiculous. How’d they get here? Let’s review.
First, they hired a Dick. Literally. Just a big shady Dick that shreds his former program’s docs. Just a huge scummy Dick that pays you back 37.5 cents when you lend him a buck. A big ole Dick that cleaned house, firing the entire UM staff.
So then what? His players leave. I mean, they all leave.
So what’s a Dick to do? I mean, he did his best Urban impression, but still needs ‘athletes’ for his squad. What does this Dick do?
He oh-so-desperately holds open tryouts. 19 year old tuba players are lining up for d-line. Juniors that last played in middle school are sweet Running Back prospects.
Sad.
So apparently, these are the “Champions of the West” taking the field next year:
Victors Valiant my ass. The day #38 there hits the hole and powers through for a 4 yard gain is the day that Michigan football has truly made history.
Awesome. Dick gets what he deserves.
The whole Terrelle Pryor recruiting saga has reached the level of absurd. Rumors abound on a nearly daily basis. I’ve taken to ignoring most of them because, well, I think he’s going to be a massive flame-out in one way or another and he’s not going to Notre Dame. Still, this rumor is interesting only because this is an incredibly boring day in College Football.
The story is that during chapter at Tri Delt, they allegedly gave one of their young ladies an award because she allegedly had sex with Terrelle Pryor when he came [to Michigan] on his recruiting trip. Well, I’ll just let them explain:
“Every week at chapter, someone gets the Outstanding Tridelt of the week award. This week it was given to one of the younger girls. One of our seniors asked what she did to win the award? Immediately, a group of girls started laughing and about 5 girls said at once “she slept with Pryor”. But it is true… our chapter adviser was there, you could just ask her. Or you could just go looking for that paper plate award.”
No wonder he doesn’t want to buy the cow, he’s getting the milk for free!
The Powers That Be are Letting Us Down.
The Roundup:
If those links made you feel bad on a Friday, check out these links and feel better:
Who IS freaking Reggie Bush? And who are these old school mafioso lawyers he has hired on to defend his ‘honor’ and the USC football program from Lloyd Lake and his accusations of cash, money, records during Bush’s time at USC?
I mean, really. Having an armed gunman come along to a deposition of the star witness in the case against Mr. Bush points STRAIGHT toward innocence. Pure, sweet football-playing innocence!
Not really. Not at all. These thuggish tactics SCREAM to the world that Bush is guilty, that he knows he’s guilty, and that he knows he’s going to get caught unless he does something extreme. And these thuggish tactics also show that Reggie Bush, like many a pro player, thinks he’s above the law. That he and his legal team can do whatever they want.
Lake was prepared to testify under oath about the $291,000 in alleged extra benefits his failed sports agency gave to Bush and his family. But that testimony was scuttled after Lake and his attorney, Brian Watkins, say they discovered Bush’s attorneys had brought an armed observer to the proceedings. Watkins and Lake said Bush’s attorneys – David Cornwell and Kevin Leichter – refused to reveal why the man was present. Lake’s attorneys said they interpreted his presence as an attempt to intimidate their client.
“All Cornwell said was that this guy was working for the law firm of David Cornwell and that he has a CCW (carrying concealed weapon) permit,” Watkins said. “The guy sat with his arms folded the whole time, staring at Lloyd. Then he opened up his jacket and you could see that he had a gun on him. I asked (Bush’s attorneys) to identify him, and they refused to even tell me his name. Then after going back and forth about it, they told me his name, but wouldn’t tell me who he was working for or why he was there. I wanted a business card or something that explained who this guy was.”
Watkins said the man followed Lake in “an intimidating manner” almost immediately after Lake arrived for the deposition, which was set to take place at the San Diego law offices of Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw and Pittman. Watkins said that after following Lake, the man sat down in the area where the deposition was to take place. Watkins said the man didn’t identify himself, and instead stared at Lake before eventually opening his jacket to reveal a handgun. At that point, Watkins said he asked that the man leave.
Watkins said he halted the proceedings when the armed man moved “only eight to 10 feet away” from where the deposition was set to take place. He said a court reporter and videographer were in the room when the incident took place.
“I’m stunned by their conduct,” said Lake’s other attorney, Paul Wong. “We take this matter very seriously. You shouldn’t be able to bring a gun to a deposition and threaten people. We don’t even allow police officers to bring their guns to their own depositions.
Before this, I thought of this whole thing as an interesting aside in the saga of USC’s relative dominance over the past few years. Maybe one of many symptoms of a program that may not do things the ‘right way’. But now, I’m invested. I am rooting with all of my soul for the downfall of Reggie Bush AND his legal team. I hope he loses his Heisman, I hope USC loses their NC that year, and the Bush Push win over ND. I hope Reggie gets found in contempt along with his lawyers, and I hope they’re suspended if not disbarred. If this doesn’t result in some serious repercussions for all involved, there are some big-time issues witn the process.
Next time someone dings my car and we go to swear an oath that we’re telling the truth about what went down, I’ll just bring this guy.
Because apparently this is okay.
Reading up on the change of duties for Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber in the Mundane Night Football crew (read: They’ll be on TV less often), I stumbled on this:
P.S.: Sunday, Soltys also said the contracts of ABC/ESPN college football announcers Dan Fouts and Tim Brant, who worked together on West Coast games, have expired and won’t be renewed.
I never really had a problem with Fouts as a broadcaster, at least insofar as thinking he really had it out for ND. Readers could probably give me a litany of reasons to believe that Fouts clearly had an agenda, but I just don’t remember him very well. Perhaps that was his problem. I thought he was serviceable as a color guy, but I was completely dumbfounded the first time I heard him to play-by-play. I kept thinking the real play-by-play guy had keeled over right next to Fouts and was dying by his side, which would explain Fouts’ distracted way of explaining every third or fourth event occurring on the field.
Fouts, when he did manage to describe a play, tended to deliver the information like a twice divorced high school history teacher who only managed to show up to school each day because his pension would be taking effect in just a few years and he didn’t mind passing time ogling the young girls. Consistently placing emphasis on the wrong syllables, Fouts was his most confused and mystified when doing Notre Dame games on the west coast, as mapping jersey numbers to names in his head seemed to take the form of a cruel joke. My one clear memory of him as play-by-play man was when he announced “Brady Quinn on the tackle,” after a Tom Zbikowski play. Perhaps he was sacked often as a player.
Florida State has released it’s 2008 schedule, shocking the college football world. The Seminoles have revealed that they’ve decided to play absolutely nobody until September 20th, 2008 – at least 2 full weeks after all other college football programs begin their seasons.
“Daggum bummfuzzled whotinanny wazoo,” said a huffalumped Bobby Bowden when asked about the new schedule. “Has anyone, I say, has anyone seen Charlie Ward? I need to talk to him about some new plays I got in mind for next week.”
Well, the response to New HLS left a lot to be desired, so we’re going to have the consultants and the engineers go back in their lab and work on the layout a bit more. Still, we do have some changes we really want to get to, like:
It’s an ambitious set of new features considering we have other jobs that, you know, pay us money, and even India is getting pricey for outsourcing.
Thanks,
Management.
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