Limited practices
Because of exam schedules, coaches being out of the road recruiting and the early bowl date, the Irish will use only 10 of their allotted 15 bowl practices this year.ND's first two practices were Saturday and Sunday. Players won't practice again until Friday and Saturday, but they'll lift and run twice this week in the interim.
During exam week, which starts Dec. 15, the players will lift and run twice during the week. Then there will be a limited practice Dec. 18 for the players who don't have Friday exams. The Irish will practice once more in South Bend on the afternoon of Dec. 19, before departing later in the day after all exams are finished.
They'll have four practices in Honolulu, one each day from Dec. 20-23.
So if the Irish only look to be running at 66% effectiveness in Hawaii, I guess we'll know why.
If nothing else, it's a nice, built-in excuse for losing the game. "But they had 50% more practices to prepare!" Of course, this all flies in the face of Weis' statements that you always accept a bowl bid because of how valuable all that extra practice time is to a program.
Something with this entire operation is just broken.
By Mark December 9, 2008 - 2:49 pm
Harumpf.
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By The Biscuit December 9, 2008 - 2:57 pm
whoever decided that not changing the finals schedule was desireable is a moron.
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By The Goose December 9, 2008 - 3:04 pm
I’m worried the decreased number of practices adversely affects chuck’s inclinations to have charlie jr. run the wildcat offense for a couple plays.
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By domer.mq December 9, 2008 - 3:21 pm
Or whoever didn’t ask for the exam schedule to be altered is a moron.
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By mark December 9, 2008 - 3:39 pm
I guess 10 is better than 0, if that’s my choice, but really, you would think we could have found a way to get the full 15. Then again, the further we have gotten into the season (i.e. more practice time) the worse we seem to be, so maybe only 10 practices is really a blessing in disguise. Man I want to win a bowl game.
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By Jim December 9, 2008 - 3:51 pm
They have reduced practices…Yes, but I’m not willing to consign them to the scrap heap.
I am excited to see what they will do. If they win, great springboard for next year. If they lose, at least they will have tried. That is better than some have suggested who believe we should turn down a bowl.
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By The Biscuit December 9, 2008 - 6:42 pm
Definitely take a bowl. Definitely alter schedules as needed to ensure max practice time to prep for bowl. Definitely win bowl.
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By jack christa December 9, 2008 - 8:07 pm
OK! ND is happy to be going to the Sheridan Hawai’i Bowl. I’m too. A good match up..ODDS HAWAI’I -1
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By jack December 9, 2008 - 9:25 pm
Mark has it precisely right. The more we practiced this season, the worse we performed. See our quarterback’s record.
Uninspired coaching leads to confusion and ineffectiveness.
Limit the number of practices, by all means.
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By Publius December 9, 2008 - 11:10 pm
“We’ll do it live!”
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By www.southbendblarney.com December 10, 2008 - 12:23 am
10 extra is better than none, but the team needs 15. I know the school is all academics first, but they need to be more flexible with how they do things. Giving athletes tests at different times can still be the “right way.” Notre Dame’s stubbornness and refusal to adapt are part of the reason the program is where it is.
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By The Biscuit December 10, 2008 - 11:49 am
totaly SBB. we NEED 15 practices here. NEED it. this game can set the tone for next year, help reel in this year’s recruiting class, and keep the 2010 recruiting momentum going (Weis is WAY ahead on the 2010 guys). this should be given huge priority by Swarbrick and Weis and the big cheese guys, and exams and such should’ve been moved around a bit to accommodate.
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