They need some sense slapped into them!

Dagnabbit!  Rackemfrackemgarbleygoop!  I used to walk uphill both ways to school!  Get off my lawn!!! Other older person sayings!!!

This kid needs some serious edumacation.  Since when do Notre Dame students (and DILLON GUYS in particular) write in to the Observer to defend other institutions???  And especially institutions as hated as Penn State????

I am writing to make evident another cheer performed at our football games that is clearly a signature cheer at a different school. I’m talking about the different parts of the stadium shouting, “We–Are–N–D” in response to cheerleaders holding up the respective signs. To anyone like me who has been an avid Penn State fan for most of his life, this cheer completely infringes upon Penn State’s trademark “We Are Penn State.” For those oblivious to Penn State’s cheer, the song officially called “Kernkraft 400″ by Zombie Nation is sometimes played in Beaver Stadium after a good play, and there is a point in the song when the entire stadium (100,000+) chants in unison, “We Are Penn State” If you are still skeptical, a quick Youtube search for ‘Penn State Zombie Nation’ might be worthwhile. Now don’t get me wrong - I would pick ND above Penn State any day, and so I have no complaints about just the student section doing the “We Are (clap clap) N.D. (clap clap)” at appropriate times, but the official cheerleader cheer that gets the whole stadium saying it needs to be eliminated. The concept of the entire stadium chanting “We Are…” is, I believe a Penn State tradition.

Kid, you’re killing me.  First of all, your argument is flawed because you grew up a PSU fan.  We already know this makes you 90% moron.  Second, the PSU cheer you reference, linked below, is NOTHING LIKE THE ND CHEER! Compare yourselves…

Lame PSU Cheer   (embedded video not working today, sorry for forcing you to click on a link - the horror!)

ND Cheer

Yes, both have the words “We are INSERT SCHOOL” in them.  Okay, so they share two words.  Two words that are shared by EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE FREAKING COUNTRY THAT HAS A “We are INSERT SCHOOL” cheer - which is EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE FREAKING COUNTRY.

The difference is in presentation.  Notre Dame’s chant is a once-a-game ritual telling the world that “We Are Notre Dame.”  Penn State’s cheer is a raucous mad-house of a cheer with a cheesy pseudo-techno chant song in the background.  PSU students yell it quickly and jump up and down.  And they do it over and over and over.   ND fans say it slowly and the rest of the stadium is silent waiting for their letter.  The PSU song is led by whoever controls the sound system, ND’s by the cheerleaders.  This isn’t even nuance, this is night and day people.  What is happening to the Notre Dame education that this kid can’t get this? 

And you know what the worst part is????? The ND chant was created BEFORE this PSU crap. How do I know? Well, let’s check out the history:

I went to my first ND home game in 1996. In that game, we did the “We Are N D” chant. The freaking lame-ass KernKraft Zombie Nation song this kid loves so much came out…you guessed it, AFTER THAT. In 2000 to be exact.  So ND was doing this cheer FIRST.  Kid, just because you heard that version first because you grew up a PSU fan, doesn’t mean it CAME first. I mean, I’m sure you think an iPod came before a Walkman too. Sheesh.

This kid is just saying random things with no logic or facts to back them up.  I don’t rely on the argument about ND doing it first though, bc ND didn’t invent a cheer with “We are INSERT SCHOOL”…Yes, I know, shocking!!!! Unbelievable!!!!  There are a ton of schools that used it before ND.  But not in the same way. Not in the ND way. 

The kid’s right in that ND shouldn’t copy the Trojan War Chant.  We shouldn’t have the leprechaun running out with a buffalo ala the Colorado Buffaloes.  But this letter to the editor is absurd in its defense of PSU and in the way that defense is made.

Pretty soon he’ll say that ‘yay’ or ‘whoopee’ are copyrighted.  Give me a break, kid. 

Some may say this is minor.  Why are you spending so much time on this Biscuit?  There are more important things - like the Bailout, ND-Stanford, Cops being Gestapo on ND’s campus, discussions of Hot Pockets and such.   Well, I say it IS important.  Because if this is what ND students call ‘logic’, and this is what they think is important we have failed in 2 major ways as an institution:  1)  We’ve failed to help kids use their brains, at all   2)  We’ve failed at brainwashing kids to love ND over any other school they ever even thought to like a tiny little bit.  It’s ND or nothing baby.

Go Irish. 

Wait, no…I can’t say “Go INSERT TEAM” cuz other people use that.  Hmmmm…

Let’s go…nope

Here we go…nope.

Shit.

Irish be Good!

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Dear Jimmy,

Hey, Jimmy.  It’s me, the President of your Almost-Fan Club.   I’ve been almost a fan of yours for years now.  You almost had me with your ESPN showcase from your high school glory days.  You really almost had me with your “I’m going to make the other team hate me” bravado.

It was all coming together.  

Then, last season happened.  I did not waiver from my status as almost a fan of yours.  I understand you lost so many games so that future victories will be all the more sweet.  

With an off season of focusing on football and not on partying, I knew we were so close.  And then, Jimmy, you almost threw it all away.

Your hair, Jimmy.  Your hair.  I cannot support Charlize Theron’s character from Monster tooting the horn on the return to glory train.  This was supposed to be a letter begging you to cut it before it ruins our chances.  

And then, Jimmy, you saved the day.  You had a teammate give you a proper trim.  Something that says “I let my teammate cut my hair because I care about the right things,” rather than something that said, “I’m blissfully ignorant and/or I might murder you.” 

So, thank you, Jimmy.

We are now ever so close to having that wonderful relationship of fan/player.  All you have to do now is learn how to look off your receivers a little bit more.

Your fan, almost,

The Hype Machine

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Below is a letter I’m sending to Lou Nanni. In case you don’t already know, Lou is in charge of overseeing the fund-raising efforts of the University of Notre Dame. The letter is my response to what I consider unethical treatment of Notre Dame students, alumni, and guests during home football weekends. I’m also CC’ing Fr. Jenkins, president of the university.

Update: At the bottom of the post, I’ve included the address of Mr. Nanni and the address of Fr. Jenkins. Also, I’ve slightly modified the original letter to include mention of the Indiana State Excise Police.

Dear Sir:

I’m sure the responsibility of overseeing the fund-raising activities of the University of Notre Dame is a difficult one. I just thought you’d like to know that your job is being made more difficult thanks to the efforts of the NDSP, the South Bend Police Department, and the Indiana State Excise Police, and the inaction of the administration of the University of Notre Dame.

It’s been brought to my attention, far too often, that students, alumni, and guests of the university, particularly on football weekends, are being abused – there’s no other word for it – by local law enforcement agencies. Several horror stories have been relayed to me by fellow Notre Dame graduates, and unfortunately I’ve witnessed some terribly embarrassing activity by the NDSP in the last few years. Luckily, I’ve never been a victim of either agency. Sadly, I can only consider such a fact to be a bit of luck on my part, despite always behaving in a responsible manner while visiting Notre Dame. The actions of these police squads, whom should better be called “brute squads,” have become a real problem for the university, and yet the university seems to be turning a blind-eye. In fact, the University of Notre Dame, through their inaction and lack of response to this problem, seems to be sponsoring the unconscionable, often absurd, activities of the South Bend Police Department, the Indiana State Excise Police, and the NDSP. So long as that sponsorship continues, I will no longer financially sponsor the University of Notre Dame. So long as the Notre Dame administration does not act to resolve the discord between the Notre Dame community and those in charge of serving and protecting that community, I will no longer donate to the University of Notre Dame.

No doubt, if you take this letter and your job seriously, you’ll review my donation records. Hopefully you do not consider me “small time.” As a 2000 graduate of the university, I’m fairly young, and I have enormous income potential and a real penchant for holding a grudge. Take this matter seriously, Mr. Nanni. Make sure your superiors take this matter seriously and act on resolving these issues, or you won’t get a dime from me in the future.

As you may gather from the letter, I have not, to this point, donated a ton of money every year to the university. However, I do donate annually, but I will not be doing so this year, even if the problems are resolved immediately. There needs to be some punitive action by alumni for the absurd actions by the South Bend Police Department, the NDSP, and the inaction by the Notre Dame administration. I encourage you to take the same punitive action. Donate the money you’d normally give to the university to a worthy cause, by all means, but not to an organization that sponsors abusive behavior by law enforcement agencies.

Further, if you do choose not to donate this year, be sure to let the university know why. Send your own letters to Mr. Nanni and Fr. Jenkins.

Addresses:

Louis Mario Nanni
405 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574 631 6122

Rev. John I. Jenkins
400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556

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PSU - IL

Wow. That White Out thing is sweet. Seriously, why can’t ND get a home field advantage so blatant? Can’t we just get ONE t-shirt color? Can’t we get such a crazy, loud crowd? But please please please never ever EVER play that stupid moronic song (over and over) and definitely don’t ever play such a cheesy sound effect as that horrid, horrid ‘cat growl’ thing. Lord, they’re killing me with that.

PSU will win the Big Televen.

They Still Suck

I don’t care if UM (sucks!) beat the #9 team in the country. They still suck. UW trying to run out the clock in the 2nd qtr is absurdly bad coaching. My call for the skunkbears? 6-6. Maybe. While DTK would love to think that the schedule gets easier, IU and Northwestern ain’t all that bad. And despite this win, UM (sucks) still sucks.

Georgia Learns that You Can’t Be Elite Just Because of the Skillz

Georgia was ranked highly largely because of the names at skill positions. Solid QB. Great RB. Good WRs. Flashy players here and there. What they learned today is that this game is very, very often won in the trenches in the college ranks. In the pros, everyone (for the most part) has a solid Ol and a solid DL. So the skill positions make the difference. In college, there is a great deal of difference in these areas. Alabama had a clear advantage in the trenches, and the result showed. 31-0 at one point? Wow.

SEC Madness

I was hanging with a guy from Georgia tonight, and it’s amazing how much these people drink the SEC kool-aid. Of course, USC losing fueled the fire. I dont get how USC losing means the SEC is better than it was on Wednesday, but that’s typical CFB fan logic. Meaning, there is no logic. Morinicalalysis.

The Top 15 has been dominated by the SEC, but that will change as the season goes on and impression is replaced by data. Yes, the SEC has good teams. But so does the Big 12 (Missouri, OK), Big Televen (PSU) and Pac-10 (USC is still pretty good).

Notre Dame Beats the Most Boring Program in History

Hellllllllllllllllllllllllll yes.

This is the team we’ve been waiting to see. Notre Dame came out and decided to suck it up for 15 minutes. Then, after about 2-3 minutes passing in the 2nd quarter, this team came alive offensively. The ball flew through the air. RB’s made blocks. Defenders played tight coverage and made things happen (can anyone say Blannnnnnnnnnnnnnnntoooooooooooon?). It was a sight to see.

This isn’t a perfect team, but improvement is there and there is NOTHING TO DISPUTE THAT.

Last year we won 3 games all year. This year we started 3-1. Last year we took a few games to get a passing TD. This year, Jimmy is on fire. Last year we looked lost and confused. This year we don’t look like a well-oiled machine, but players know their roles and what to do when for the most part. You know why? Because we’re no longer Frosh and Sophomores. Instead we’re Frosh, Sophomores and Juniors. We have 1 more year under our belts, and it shows. We’re better at D. We’re better at O. We’re better at emotion, at playing as a team, at execution of the game plan and at handling adversity.

We came out flat as hell this week, but we overcame it. Goooooooooooo Irish.

Jimmy Is Legit

I saw so many passes today where I stepped back and said “holly hell NYND (the only other cat in the chat room) did you SEE that pass?” Jimmy’s touch was beautiful today. He put passes right on the money, and with serious zip when needed. This kid will be a FORCE in 2 years. And we’re already seeing the emergence of a solid player with good, good skill.

The Running Game Comes Alive

Just when I was about ready to cash things in on that ‘vaunted’ right side of Stewart/Young, they come out and destroy some people, along with a little help from Rudolph. We were finally able to run with some consistency. Purdue’s DL isn’t the most amazing set of athletes, but this is still very encouraging. Loved to see it.

Armando’s Statement Game

The kid today showed what he can do. I think that AA fits Charlie’s style of game-planning better, and it may be that he’s featured more in the future. That said, CW plans for things based on the opponent, so this may be way wrong. But my guess is that this is the AA Show until there’s reason to believe that something else is a better call. Hughes and Aldridge will still get carries, but AA will be the featured back. Rather than the other way around.

Fresh Input

Kyle Rudolph, Robert Blanton and Trevor Robinson were BIG contributors today. These guys are freshmen. FROSH. Seriously, it’s their first college football season. We’re DEPENDING on these guys. And while they’re top-rated recruits, that’s a big ask. At USC, they’d have 2 years to develop before they were put under this kind of pressure. Those small mistakes and issues they’ve had, I’m okay with that. They’re growing up quickly, and I saw TONS of improvement in Rudolph’s blocking in particular. Can you imagine all these guys as Jr/Srs? Watch out.

Wow. This Combo WILL Be a Force

Jimmy at QB. Floyd, Tate, Walker, Rudolph at the WR and TE positions. Yards. Points.

Good QB Pressure

Though the sacks stat doesnt show it, we put a lot of pressure on Painter today to force some bad throws, and to keep him from setting his feet. The D wasn’t perfect, but they held when needed. The ability to shut down/disrupt Sheets early on was a key to the defensive gameplan. While he came back and was more affective later in the game, our ability to force them to be one-dimensional early was huge.

Tackle? Anyone?

I was disappointed in our inability to open-field tackle in this game. In the first few games I saw this as an area of strength. But we had troubles shedding blocks and wrapping guys up today. This was disappointing.

Defending the Slant

We couldn’t do this last week. We couldnt do this early this week. We could do this later in the game this week. Yay adjustments.

The Refs Owe Us Another 7 Points

That was a freaking catch.

Summary

Solid game from 5 minutes into the 2nd qtr to the final whistle. We need to come out and play fast sooner. We need to wrap up better and avoid costly penalties. But this team had rhythm on offense. This team had confidence and swagger. It had a balanced offense, and these guys had fun today. It was great to see.

Can someone please gag and bag every tool that called for CW’s head in the past week? Thank you.

GO IRISH.

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• No Gameday Chat this Weekend
• ESPN College Gameday To Attend Notre Dame/Southern Cal Game.
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Does everybody know what time it is?

I’ll be on VERY sporadically, as I’m on vacation (the best plan ever for Purdue week). But Biscuit should be around and hopefully so too shall the regulars.

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And Richard Jackson is finally home.

There was a lot of speculation about Jackson’s departure from the Irish this year.  There’s little doubt that the solid depth chart, especially with upcoming stars Golden Tate, Mike Floyd and Duval Kamara on it, was at least a PART of the decision.  But, it appears that it wasn’t THE reason for his leaving the team.

The real reason is much more important than playing time:

“I was really homesick at Notre Dame,” he said. “I had a lot of reasons I needed to be at home. My daughter is 16 months old, and I was missing out on a lot with her. Every time I got home, she would have learned something new that I didn’t get to see. It took her awhile to get used to me being around. I didn’t want her to go four or five years only seeing me three or four times a year. I want to be around her right now so that she knows, ‘That’s my dad, and he’s going to be with me every day.’

“My granddad isn’t doing so well, and I didn’t want to miss this chance to be around him,” Jackson said.

I won’t ever fault a guy for making a choice like this.  Be it a superstar starter or a walk-on scrub.  Family and being with family is more important than most things in this world, and I can’t begrudge someone that choice.  If I was him, I’d probably have done the same thing. 

I think it’s a shame that he couldn’t do both, and get an ND degree to help secure his future, but I’m happy to hear that he’s back with his daughter and grandfather, and is able to continue playing under 30-second-life-ND-coach-O-leary.  

Best of luck Richard. 

HT:  BGS

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Last year it was Stanford. The year before UCLA? This year - Oregon State Beavers.

USC is quickly becoming University of the Sudden Choke. Although, it’s not becoming sudden, or surprising anymore. It’s becoming routine.

In the past 3 seasons, USC has been STACKED in terms of talent. S-T-A-C-K-E-D. They’ve had clear paths to the MNC each of those years, and each year a team ’sneaks’ up on them. Even though, especially this year, they talked about how they WEREN’T GOING TO BE SURPRISED THIS TIME. THEY WERE GONNA BE FOCUSED. THEY HAVE THE LEADERSHIP AND DISCIPLINE TO BE FOCUSED…enough to lose to Oregon State.

There’s something about this program, this team (this coach maybe?) that just can’t stay focused. They followed up a shellacking of “good” OSU ohio version with a comfy bye week and an upset loss to “not as good” OSU Beaver version. Imagine the surprise.

Don’t do it, it’s a trap!!! No, seriously, PAY ATTENTION…

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This week I have spent a lot of time trying to drum (hilarious pun! most exciting thing to happen all week guaranteed!!!!!!!!!!!) up topics to write about here on HLS.  I came up with a ton of options:

• Recitation of Geometric Proofs
• Flossing Techniques:  Forehand vs. Backhand analysis
• Slug Racing
• Junior High Civics Class
• Golden Girl Re-run Marathon:  Friend or Foe?
• Purdue Football

But, in the end, they’re all just way too boring to spend time on.  Ah well…

Anything else out there that’s as boring as the Boilermaker program?  Anyone? 

Frye? 

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Last week, we asked you which team would rebound from a tough loss, and y’all seemed to go with the easy pick: Fresno State over Toledo, but it took a 55-54 OT win for the Bulldogs to prove you right. This week, we’ll try to make the question a bit more challenging.

Both Washington and Michigan (sucks!) haven’t played a game since September 13th, allowing them to stew in their loss juices for 2 full weeks before they get to hit someone from a different locker room. Michigan (sucks!) has to be wondering just what they’ve got on their hands, losing to a ND team that can’t seem to run against anybody but them. Washington has to be wondering what’s coming their way. Willingham, somehow, survived the bye week and looks like he’ll survive the season. Can they use the bye week to regroup and begin the work to save their coach’s job? Do they want to?

Which team will use the bye week to their advantage and pull off a win this week?

• Washington (haha!) vs a 2-2 Stanford (77%, 99 Votes)
• Michigan (sucks!) at #9 Wisconsin (22%, 28 Votes)

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Raleigh, NC - Already having to deal with the impending retirement of their football savior, Joe Tiller, at the end of the 2008 season, Purdue University graduates around the country are finding it harder and harder to feel connected to society at large. The latest blow to their already fragile psychologies was the sudden announcement that the Bennigan’s chain of restaurants has shuttered their doors forever.

“It’s been a long, cold month,” said 2000 Purdue Grad Dennis Thompson, now living in Raleigh. “I mean, I had a real relationship with Bennigan’s, or ‘Ben’s,” as me and my friends liked to call it. We had some great times there. Great times. Hell, back in the day, I took my prom date to Bennigan’s. How do you get back a lost piece of personal history like that?”

Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, the news has made Purdue alumni doubt their place in the world. Michelle Barton (Purdue ‘03), now of Schaumburg, Illinois, who goes by “Miche,” among her friends, explains, “There was just nothing like it. Nothing like the warm embrace of their baked potato soup with the bacon in it. Real bacon. And the soothing color of all that Blue Curacao in their mixed drinks. And my husband, he’s also a Purdue grad. He used to tell me there was just nothing like finishing a long week of work at the plant with a cold Killian’s Irish Red at ‘the bar,’ as he liked to call it. Luckily, we live in Chicago, one of the great food cities of the world. They may take our Bennigan’s, but they can never take our Olive Garden.” Asked if she’d ever tried one of the several dozen establishments within Chicago regularly listed on top of national restaurant rankings or mentioned in a litany of food critiques, this reporter simply received a glossy, blank stare.

The close relationship between Bennigan’s and other such national food chains and Purdue graduates is easy to explain, says sociologist Leroy Gunther, “People tend to seek out like-minded people. Establishments like Bennigan’s serve as meeting places for like-minded people. Yesterday’s town square is today’s faux-mahogany bar. Everything about Bennigan’s served to relate to a certain type of people, and Purdue graduates fit that profile. Just look at the decor in a typical Bennigan’s. It’s full of silly pieces of tchotchke. Then think about Purdue University and that gigantic drum of theirs. That big drum is just a big, silly piece of tchotchke.”

Pictured Here: Purdue Tchotchke

Some Purdue graduates are taking the news in stride and seeking out alternatives for their expendable cash. Tom Welters, 1997 Purdue graduate and resident of Denver, says he’s found a new home for his social activities, “I admit, I’ll miss feeling a connection with the Irish people every time I bit into a Bennigan’s Authentic Irish French Fry, but I’ve found someplace even more authentically Irish. It’s called ‘Fado’.’ How do you like that? ‘Fado’,’ heh. It’s great. They even play soccer on their big televisions. I have no idea what’s going on during the games, but I think I’ve found HQ for St. Patrick’s Day, 2009, if you know what I mean!”

The troubles for the Purdue graduates could get worse before they get better. Word in business circles is that many Baker’s Square locations could be closing in the coming months, practically annihilating the typical Purdue graduate’s ability to provide dessert options at holiday dinners, and the entire chain of Ruby Tuesday’s has entirely eliminated all evidence of tchotchke from their outlets, essentially turning their backs on the Purdue graduate revenue stream.

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After 2 posts trying to talk people back off the ledge (although I’d prefer to see certain people jump already - you know who you are) in the last few posts, this post takes the other side of the coin.  Things weren’t great on Saturday, and so I’ve deemed it necessary for me to outline what I think went wrong, and some random ideas on how to fix it.   You’ll note a bit of sarcasm in here, and yes, it’s there.

Problem 1:  Fumbles.

Solution:  Hold onto the freaking ball.  Thankfully, this one isn’t too tough to figure out.  You teach young players to protect that ball like it’s the holy grail.  Nothing gets that ball loose. Nothing.  Take a hard hit?  Hold onto the ball.  Run into a freight train?  Hold onto the ball.  Get your ACL ripped up over your head?  Hold onto the ball.  This one’s pretty easy to implement.  It’s practice, strength and concentration.  Experience helps a lot too.  Just do it.

Problem 2:  Picks

Solution:  Most of our picks this year have been on Jimmy.  I think Jimmy has made vast improvement, but he has to know when to go for broke and when not to.  Even if the play is a downfield pass from the 30, you don’t HAVE to throw that pass every time.  There are options and he needs to use them.  The other issue, which MQ eloquently outlined below, is route running.   The WRs need to run good, crisp routes.  Whether they think the ball is coming their way or not.  Anything else is either 1) lack of understanding that this is important which is a youth/coaching problem or 2) laziness, which is often a youth/coaching problem.  Figure it out.  Fairly easy to implement, but it really just comes with maturity.  Shocker, the youngness of our QB/WR corps creates challenges.  SHOCKING I say.

Problem 3:  No Running Game

Solution:  There are 2 here.  Either the OL and the RBs need to develop very quickly and figure out how to play a zone blocking scheme, or the entire thing needs to be canned in favor of a more straight-forward/direct/easier to execute scheme.  Given the lack of progress here over 2 years, I’d say the latter is the way to go.  Give these guys some nice easy assignments and let them tee off.  The Zone Scheme is amazing if you can get it to work.  Well, it’s not working because our players can’t execute it.  This is something that is easily fixable if the staff wants to do so.  It requires a major adjustment midway into the season, but it’s better to do so now than December.  We need a running game to complement our passing game, and we’ll have one with this change.   This is a longer-shot of actually happening, as Weis is a pro-style guy and is probably pretty attached to the scheme.  Here’s to hoping he gives it consideration.  Barring that change, it will just take time for the backs and OL to get there, if they ever will. 

Problem 4:  Getting Busted at an Off-Campus Party the Night After a Loss and ~6 Months After Getting a Freaking DUI

Solution:  I’m not sure what I suggest here, other than getting Yeatman to have an f-ing clue.  1) You just got your ass handed to you - it’s not time to party.  2)  You got a DUI for DRIVING ON THE FREAKING ND SIDEWALK WASTED - it’s not time to party for YOU.  AT ANY TIME UNTIL YOU’RE 21!  This is just poor, poor judgment.  I’m not saying that kids shouldn’t get to party in college.  I’m just saying that you need to figure out your priorities.  You know how disappointed everyone was, including you, with what happened in the spring.  You went and talked to kids about not drinking and such.  Now you go get busted 3 games into the season, and at the least hurt the team due to an already-lacking depth at TE. I don’t know what CW/the admin should do, but Yeatman should most definitely take a look in the mirror and figure out what’s going on in his head.  This is not a commentary on the strictness of local ND police (which is lame), or ND (which is lame) or the drinking age or anything of the sort.  It’s a comment on a player that made a second terrible choice, and will likely pay for it.  As will his team(s).  This is up to the kid and administration. I have no clue what the admin will do, but I have serious doubts about Yeatman’s ability to make sound life decisions.  It’s not like he was slinging crack on the corner, but this is questionable decision-making at best.

Problem 5:  Kicking game

Solution:  Get a snapper that can snap the ball well.  Yes, this sounds easy and we know it’s not.  But it’s the only solution we have.  The kickers do look a lot better this year.  Do they look great/amazing?  No.  But there are stronger legs and more accuracy.  But there’s not a lot of confidence.  To get good results from kickers, you need confidence.  If you’re standing there wondering if you’re going to need to chase the snap and try to run away from 300 pound monsters on every kick, you’re not concentrating on kicking.  And we need that concentration.  So find a long snapper that can do the job already.  Unless there’s just nobody that can long snap, this isn’t too tough.  Takes practice, time and repetitions.  Time/experience.  Amazing how this has popped up a few times.

Problem 6:  The Sky is Falling We’re Terrible Everywhere There’s No Improvement Fire Charlie Now.

Solution:  Shut up you twit, have a beer and take a nap til December.  Then call me and pass your ‘oh so sound judgment’ then.  This has absolutely no chance of ever being implemented. And this is sad.  But I’ll try:  I triple dog dare you people that are calling for Charlie’s head now to hold off, and make that call in December.  If we’re sub-.500, I say ‘call away’.  If not, you get to drink a big glass of shut the hell up for an entire off-season.  

Wanna take that dare?  I didn’t think so.

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Literally a Student Manager sitting there typing in the down, distance and the MSU defense so the coaches didn’t have to do it later.  He should’ve been in the stands or anywhere other than the coach’s box, yes. One of the coaches should’ve pulled him out of there to do it elsewhere, yes.  But it’s also a 3-tier box and the kid was in the 3rd tier, with the coordinators down in the 1st tier, so it’s not like the more senior guys knew.  This is routine data gathering that they give to a student manager to free up a coach.  He just sat in the wrong chair (clearly not knowing that wasn’t okay).

Anyway, it’s great fodder for the haters and the message board people.  It shouldn’t be great fodder for you.  I’m sure this kid feels pretty badly about it, and I’m 1000% sure no one else at ND Football cares about this anymore (well, they shouldn’t have to - but you never know - someone may force them to).

Here’s Charlie’s comments from the presser if you’re interested:

Q. The whole thing about the laptop, do you expect to hear anymore about that, and did you find out more about exactly what happened there?
COACH Charlie Weis: Because I had to do the due diligence on this one last night. You know, when we go on the road, what we do is a student manager is assigned to just, from a defensive staff standpoint, because it’s not on the offensive staff, okay, is assigned to type in on a laptop the down and distance in the defense. So when we come back here they can give it to (video coordinator) Tim Collins, and when they’re dubbing the tape for the next morning, it will just it just reads across, 1st and 10, under, bear. Whatever it is.

Now, you’re allowed to do that. But the one area where you’re not allowed to do that is in a coaching area. It wasn’t a coach doing it, but it was a student manager.

But their (Michigan State’s) coaches box is a 3 tiered one where the main coaches sat on the first tier and GAs and those guys sat on the second tier, then there was a third tier.

So we had a guy up there that was putting in the down and distance and the name of the defense so when we came back he wouldn’t have to stay up until 3:00 in the morning punching the stuff in.

To be honest with you, if he were sitting next to you in the press box, that’s perfectly legal for him to do the exact same thing. So if we were at fault, it was for the fact that he was at the top of the three tiers (in the coaches booth) doing exactly that.

 

Q. Do you respond a delay do you report to NCAA?
COACH Charlie Weis: I’ll say it to whoever. But I told them yesterday the same thing I’m telling you. Because at first, when an official came over to me, I said we’re doing what? So I was talking to Haywood at the time on the headset. I said: Have you got a laptop up there? He goes no. I said to the guy who came over across the field, I said: We don’t have a laptop.

Three minutes later I’m still talking to Haywood. Haywood said, hey, one of the student managers up top has a laptop. I said tell him to take the laptop and put it underneath his desk. Which he did. And he cooperated with anything that happened right there.

What I did, when I was walking off at halftime, I grabbed one of their coaches, I don’t know which one, but I grabbed one of their coaches to tell them exactly what I’m telling you so that he knew exactly what I was telling you, because as I said, after the game, I was unaware that the student manager was inside the press box doing that, inside the coaching box doing that instead of outside the coach’s box doing that.

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Because there are a lot of them about after the Irish got done laying them in East Lansing, so we might as well do something with ‘em.

A tough loss and a bitter pill. I was listening to the Irish Eyes podcast this past week, and Mike Frank had “Coach D,” as a guest. Coach D kept talking about how this particular Irish squad was going to win some games it maybe shouldn’t and lose some games it definitely shouldn’t, and as I sat there, listening, I just kept thinking, “yeah. I really don’t like this game.” Sure, on paper (ignoring the point-spread papers), ND certainly has better talent, and if ND could “just stop Ringer,” then MSU should implode and ND should win. By definition, this was one of the games ND should not lose - like SDSU but without the SDSU ineptitude - and so, like a young, mistake prone team, they lost.

Thus far this season, after the MSU game, ND has managed to lose 9 turnovers. 4 turnovers to SDSU nearly lead to the unthinkable. 2 to UM(s!) really sort of managed to slow down the Irish and keep them from making a true blow-out of it (largely thanks to jumping on UM(s!) first 3 turnovers). And now 3 lost turnovers to MSU’s one finally stung the Irish. Really, as things were going, it was only a matter of time. We can debate the Irish’s lack of a competent running game or the coaching staff’s odd play-calling for days (I’m sure we will), but you cannot debate the power of the turnover. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.

Just think, for a moment, if ND manages to cut their turnovers in half in the next 3 games. How much better will this Irish team look? In the MSU game, the 3 turnovers killed a drive of 5 plays and 56 yards, gave MSU the ball on ND’s 14 and lead to a MSU TD, and killed a drive of 6 plays and 51 yards. Sort of uncanny, considering against SDSU, Hughes fumbled the ball to end a 73 yard drive at the 1 and Clausen threw a pick in the endzone after ND intercepted the ball and gave the Irish possession on the SDSU 17. But hey, turnovers are, after all, part of the game, so protect the damned ball!

Thoughts and whatnot that are 2 phast, 2 phurious to place into an articulate treatise:

• 7 Runs Resort. It felt really weird watching this Irish squad try to run the ball on the first 7 plays from scrimmage. The call to run on 3rd and 24 was probably smart, and, really, that drive was killed by our veteran right tackle who decided to get “nasty” with a personal foul penalty. Better to just try to keep from having a big turnover there. The next series was sort of a surprise, with the 3 runs by Armando Allen in a row. I’m pretty sure they were all on the script, and Haywood was still just trying to manage the game and get into some sort of rhythm against a not-too-explosive opponent. That’s fine, but I’d have thought 2nd or 3rd down might call for an attempt at play-action. It was pretty obvious after the first 5 runs that MSU was going to sell out stopping the run. At least try to make them pay. The end-around to Tate was sweet to see to start the 3rd series, partly because it gained a nice chunk of yards (should have been a TD), and partly because I just knew it would lead to a fake end-around later in the game for a TD pass to a streaking-down-the-middle tight end. I just knew it. I hate when I know things and they’re completely wrong.

  I also hate when OCs call stretch plays to the boundary or short side of the field. I see it all the time, and it works about one out of 10 times. Of course, it’s quite possible that some of them were audibles by the QB. Part of the problem there is you might be at a point where you trust your QB to adjust plays at the LOS, but not so much that you’d let him call an actual play rather than just call “the running play option from this pass play.” And then you’re jammed up because out of this particular pass play, the running play is a freaking stretch to the boundary side. Gah!

• Still just a sophomore. I admit, when I learned of Jimmy Clausen, and how he was so polished that NFL draftees didn’t want to practice with him for fear of looking bad, I thought he’d skip right over that whole “needs to mature” thing. Don’t get me wrong, Clausen does seem to be maturing. He’s getting better at reading defenses, making plays, and being a leader. But make no mistake, he’s still right in the thick of that whole “needs to mature” thing. Most of all, he needs to mature to the point of realizing that 1st down on the opponent’s 30 yard line doesn’t mean, “take a shot at the end zone no matter what.” I’m virtually certain that on the rather large number of picks Clausen has thrown in the end zone, the called play didn’t look like this:
  
  
  
  So JC really needs to work on finding the routes that aren’t called “go run under it, jump, and catch it.”

  That said…

• How To (Not) Run an Out Pattern. So, you’re a receiver, and you’re on the short side of the field. The ball is snapped, you look your mark (the guy lined up against you) in the eyes, and start your route. Now, being an excellent route runner, your first 5 steps are really hard. This is called “driving your man off the line,” and is meant to look like you’re going to just run a go. But while you’re doing that, your mark leaves you for a corner blitz. And you, knowing that your man is the blitzer, are now a hot route. So you run the appropriate hot route, breaking off your original, deep route and cutting hard to the outside in one step. You then run full speed to the boundary as you look back for the ball. Unless you’re a ND receiver, in which case, you might notice that your mark took off, so you “break off” your original route and sort of make this curbing turn to the sidelines which, while you do so, increases the distance between yourself and the QB and provides an angle to the ball for the rotating safety who’s jumping the out route and can because the QB, as instructed, throws the ball to where you should be and you aren’t there since you ran an out route so bad that fans on internet chat insisted that you’d actually run a flag pattern. A very, very curvy flag pattern. This is, of course, all hypothetical, and so it’s only hypothetical that such play results in the safety getting a drive-killing, point-swinging INT.
  
  
  
• But Mummy, You Said I Could Have Some Candy! Listen, Veruca, I don’t give a damned what Charlie Weis said when he was hired about having a “nasty” team. I don’t particularly care about what he said with regard to pounding it this summer. He could say the sky is purple and all the children in the land will be blessed with angelic singing voices and full stomachs for all I care so long as he produces a winning football team. Going onto internet message boards and quoting him as a way to make a point that he hasn’t delivered is only making one point: You’re a whiny little bitch. If you’ve got an issue with the way the team plays, then use some facts to support an argument. Don’t go about crying because “he said so!” It’s obnoxious at best and just down right creepy at worst. You’re like the psycho girlfriend that all your friends wanted you to dump. Got an issue with the performance of the running game? I do. Know how I’ll make my point? By pointing out that ND is 111th in rushing offense. I don’t care if Charlie had said ND’s gonna be a bunch of apoplectic pixies who wing it around the field 70 times a day, I’m still going to take issue with 2.7 yards per carry a lot faster than I’ll care about some quotations you had to Google to get verbatim. Nicely done, Mr. Memorex. It’s people like you that cause administrations to go and hire Bob Davie, King of the Managed Expectations.
• Stop. Just stop. Biscuit did a pretty nice job of saying it in his own way, but let me say it in mine: Some of you need to shut the hell up. The internet provides far too vast an audience for those of you with far too little knowledge of the program or of how the freaking sport is even played for you to go spouting off. You’re hurting the program the same way CNN’s Crossfire was hurting the country. Stop opening your Notre Dame Football Almanac and dry-humping the pages involving the 1988 team. You can only learn from history, you can’t resurrect it. And in case you haven’t noticed (which you haven’t because you don’t f-ing pay attention), the entire college football game has changed an awful lot since 1988. Joe Moore’s offensive line coaching may work in today’s game. It may not. You don’t have any more clue than I do you mumbling sack of mental deficiency.
• I Don’t Think Dad Remembers My Name. If you catch yourself asking someone else something akin to, “how long has it been since ND beat the teams it was supposed to beat?” Consider the fact that in 2005 and 2006, with far less overall talent but more mature players, ND beat some of those opponents so badly that we were all laughing at hilarious pictures of Purdue DC Brock Spack over and over again. Then go get checked for Alzheimers.
• Yes. I do have concerns. But they’re pretty obvious concerns. The team can’t turn the ball over at this rate and even expect to have a winning season. Think about it, in 9 games, the ND defense has created 9 turnovers, and yet the Irish Turnover Margin sits at 0 because the offense isn’t protecting the ball. Protecting the ball means not throwing it up into the endzone for the home run every time you’re within the opponent’s 30. It means knowing when you are down and making sure you don’t let some punk rip the ball out of your hands while your knee is being popped out of the socket. It means fighting for the ball.

  I’m not sure if the turnovers can be blamed on youth. I do think it’s interesting that Brady Quinn, while Weis coached him, set records for total number of pass attempts without a pick. I think it’s interesting that Darius Walker almost never lost a fumble during the Weis era. And I think it’s interesting that they were juniors and seniors at that time. Maybe they’d just been playing long enough to have learned a lesson. Well, sophomore Irish dudes who keep turning the ball over, there’s your freaking lesson. Maybe you weren’t listening when the coaches yelled at you over and over again to protect the ball. Maybe you’ll listen now.

  And yes, the running game is just pathetic. I’m not sure why people thought the Michigan (sucks!) game was clear evidence that all of ND’s rushing woes were fixed, as the Irish only managed 3.3 yards per carry in that game, but I don’t blame you if you’re stunned simply for the fact that the Irish managed just 0.7 yards per carry against MSU. I submit that if it holds true that the offensive line knows the play, and the defensive line does not, and if it holds true that the offensive line knows the snap count, and the defensive line does not, then no amount of poor technique or bad scheme, save for asking the ball carrier to run backwards for a few steps on each play, can suffice to explain 0.7 yards per carry. Maybe 2.7. Maybe 1.7. Not 0.7. So there’s got to be something else, right? Something else has to explain why a relatively bland defensive front just bent the ND offensive line over the line of scrimmage. I’ve got a feeling it has a lot to do with this (HT: BGS). Not being able to regroup after success can be obvious at the skill positions, but it can be devastating at the line of scrimmage. Yes, I do wish Weis had some sort of coaching magic to get these guys properly focused, but mostly I just hope this is another lesson these guys have learned this week.

• I’ve got your definition right here. Of all the dumb things that get tossed around by fans of a football program, perhaps the dumbest is the notion of a game being able to define anything about anything. Leading up to the Michigan (sucks!) game, people were arguing that it could be a season-defining game. Then most of those people decided the UM(s!) game didn’t make any sort of definition about this team clear, so they tossed that out and called the MSU game a “defining game” for this squad. And now that the game’s over, they’re tossing out the idea that the Purdue game could define the season for the Irish. You know what will define the season for ND? The freaking season.

That game sucked. Let’s move on… to the most boring week in blogdom: Purdue Week. Damn. May as well have a week off to stew over the MSU loss.

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Listen, all you ridiculous over-reacting emotional fans out there.  CALM THE F DOWN.  Last week, I tried using the dude.  Clearly, this didn’t work.  This isn’t a post for everyone, but it’s a post for you some.  You know who you are.

The same ‘fans’ that were talking about going 11-0 into USC are now damning the players, coaches and entire program bc of a single loss!  Did you seriously think we’d go undefeated this year?  Did you think we’d go from 3 and freaking 9 to amazing in a year???  What does improvement mean to you people?

Look, MSU is a decent team.  Are they great? Nope.  Are they better than SDSU and UM (sucks), yes.  They’re a upper-mid Big Televen squad and we were 9 point dogs.   They’re much more experienced than we are.  We start a 2nd year player at QB.  Their guy is a 5th year.  Their RB tutored under a pretty solid starter for a few years, and played a bunch of downs, and is now the #1 back in the country.  Our guys are 2nd years and haven’t had the experience he has, after a year of getting butchered last year.  I could do this all day.  Point is, we played a decent team, we didn’t play great, and therefore we lost.  Against SDSU and UM (sucks), which are a mess, okay was good enough. Today it wasn’t.  Why are you crying like the sky is falling?  I’ll tell you why - you have ZERO perspective.

You think turnarounds happen in 1 off-season. You think going from Davingham to NC’s happens quickly.  It. Does. Not.  You have to look at a bigger picture to get this folks, and a lot of you do not (thank the Lord for those of you that do). 

Today’s game wasn’t some shellacking.  ND, despite screwing things up left and right, kept in this game.  If but for 5 plays, this game would’ve been totally different.  Those plays?

1)  The Jimmy fade for no reason into double coverage pass.  Jimmy will learn to check this off at some point.  Today, he hasn’t learned it yet.  We get 3 here and the game is different.  We get 7 and I’m very confident we win.

2) Missed FG #1.  While the 2nd shanked FG hurt, this one changes the complexion of the game. 

3) Floyd’s fumble.  We take MSU 3 and out and then drive ~60 yards just to turn the ball over on the 10.  UGH.  We go in for 6 here and everything changes.

4) The stop on 3rd and goal where there was NOT interference. That was a BS call, and it gave MSU 3 more chances at the end zone.  That was not PI.  That was not 6.  A no-call there changes the game, as MSU takes 3 and we stick in it.  Not to mention, it took them ANOTHER 3 downs to get in, and it was barely there (our red zone D is solid)

5) The other 3rd and short where they BARELY got in. I’m not sure if he was in on this one.  We stop them for 3 there and this is a different game.

What’s the point?  Point is, we’re on the road.  We’re a young team and a re-developing program and we’re in a dogfight with MSU. ANY ONE OF THESE PLAYS goes differently, and the game is different.  Not all of them.  Not a few of them.  ONE of them.  We were THIS close to taking this game, despite those mistakes and errors.  That means we’ve improved.  The same types of mistakes last year lead to a 30-point-plus crushing.  This year was different. That is a good thing.

It’s not like this was a steamrolling.  This team didn’t look hapless or confused or inept. It looked like we played okay, but made a few mistakes that lost us the game.  Calling for players/coaches heads after a hard fought loss where we just couldn’t overcome our own mistakes is simply foolish.  One or 2 plays change, and the outcome is different and you’re all singing the team’s praises and talking about a return to glory.  Can I puh-lease get some perspective here, and a little patience? ‘Course not.  But I’m going to ask for it anyway.

Is mediocrity okay at ND? No.  Should we always be in the NC hunt?  Yes.  Are idiotic fans that call for coaches’ heads every week okay? NO.  But poor teams (last year) don’t become NC teams in a year.  It’s a process, and asking for/wishing for anything else is just a pipe dream.  That’s why it’s a PROCESS.

For me, nothing has changed.  This is still a 7-5 team, that gradually improves as the year goes on.  Recruiting continues to be amazing and the talent gap shrinks and is reversed, and we’re in the NC hunt in 2010.  People, it’s not 2010 yet. Slow your roll.

That is all.

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