Throughout history, there have been many famous leprechauns.

Think about it…

This guy was just annoying, but you can’t deny he was a big time leprechaun:

There’s the psycho “I am the LEPRECHAUN” guy from the series bearing the Leprechaun name:

There’s my boy Mike Brown, Leprechaun while I was at ND:

And now, the newest leprechaun, Dan Collins, takes the reins:

This is the man who will help lead us to the promised land, folks.  Give it up for Dan.  Welcome to the big leagues,  my man.

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Sadly, NBC and Notre Dame will be missing a familiar face when this season eventually, finally, rolls around.  Bea Arthur has left the building.

Silky coiffed Bea Arthur waves “So long” to an indifferent crowd of well-wishers.

Soon after the cancellation of her hit sit-com Golden Girls, Arthur found her way to another passion: Notre Dame football.  Assuming a nom de télévision, Arthur worked alongside former USC quarterback and elf Pat Haden to bring her wry wit, astute observations, and rich, vanilla timbre to homes across America for many years.

We will miss her soulful eyes, her shimmering neck scarves, and the way she’d seamlessly weave a reference to the upcoming episode of “My Name is Earl” into game action.

Gone too soon.  Gone…. too soon.

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…in the last 5 drafts.

• 2009: David Bruton
• 2008: Trevor Laws, Tom Zbikowski
• 2007: Victor Abiamiri, Derek Landri, Mike Richardson, Chinedum Ndukwe
• 2006: Nobody, nada, zilch, zero
• 2005: Justin Tuck

Southern Cal? Well, they had 8 defensive players drafted this past weekend.

• Brian Cushing
• Clay Matthews
• Rey Maualuga
• Fili Moala
• Kaluka Maiava
• Kyle Moore
• Cary Harris
• Kevin Ellison

Naturally, the internet is aflame with talk about how ND did disservice to the young men of Notre Dame who would have been eligible for the draft this year and were not “developed” enough to be picked among the 256. You know, all 8 of them or so (I’m not looking this up. I’ve looked at it too much, and sometimes it’s best to stop looking).

When talk comes up about how ND needed to upgrade its talent to compete with the “big boys” in college football and regain its elite status, keep 2 things in mind: 1) It’s the football equivalent of climbing Everest. 2) ND has made a great deal of progress. They now get to celebrate reaching basecamp. There is a ton of young talent at ND.

The bright side: That’s 8 NFL caliber players ND doesn’t have to face versus SoCal in 2009. Yay! Also, up this high, we don’t have to worry about coming across the Chinese army while they shoot up Buddhists.

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Some of you may have tried to visit the site this evening and got hit with a message about maintenance. No doubt you assumed this meant the unveiling of HLS-3D, and kept hitting refresh on your browser while wearing those 3D glasses you got from Subway, eagerly awaiting the effect of our words jumping right out at you.

But no. We were just updating the engine and backend stuff. You wont see anything different (though if you’re still wearing those goofy glasses, the colors on the site probably look odd). But let me tell you, the stuff we can see “behind the scenes” is freaking awesome. You should see it.

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• Wondering about the sports nutrition dept at ND. Going to follow up on it. #
• Ha. Poodle pete said ‘booty call’ in an interview. Check the roundup 4 link #

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I wont go linking to all of it here, since so much is rehash and/or crap, but didn’t it seem like just a ton of Notre Dame-centric news has been put out this week? Our roundups tend not to focus so much on the Irish and more on the rest of the world of college football, but even just rounding out this week, we’ve got a fair bit of ND stuff to throw down.

The roundup:

• Never go against the local media.
• Auburn and Kansas State are running away from the competition.
• Weis dodges Obama questions better than he dodges his own players.
• The Shark just got the call up to “The Show.”
• ND benefited from great timing.
• It’s a lot of coachspeak, but SoCal’s new models could be as good as (better?) than the old models.
• How often do you hear “bestest” in a word-association game?
• “You can’t convict us! Don’t you know who we are!?“

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Good. Gracious. Lord.

This guy is killing me. Craig Thompson gets an audience with the BCS Overlords and he blows it. COMPLETELY blows it.  I’ll give him credit for good intentions, but he gets an F– for his execution.

Whether you want a playoff or you like the current completely f-ed up system, you have to admit this is the wrong way to go about it.

Thompson rolls into town not with a playoff proposal – he rolls in with a presentation that essentially suggests the BCS gets destroyed and they start over. While this is essentially what we’d all like I’d like to happen in the long run, you don’t go in and say that. “Uh, yeah, hi there BCS. What we suggest is that you go die.”  How did he expect to accomplish a SINGLE FREAKING THING?

Here’s what he suggested:

1. 8 team playoff
2. Scrap the entire BCS ranking system – no more computers, no more polls.  Replace with a ‘committee’
3. Teams 9 and 10 in those rankings play in a ‘BCS Bowl’.  (Is this supposed to be the carrot here?  1 lousy bowl with the #’s 9 and 10 teams?  Ugh)
4. Change revenue sharing (no doubt so that the MWC gets more)

This is so typical of American ‘leaders’.  This is an issue that kills deals in business, academics, sports, you name it.  It goes something like this:

Thompson to underling ass-kisser:  “You know, we have this presentation to the BCS coming up.  We need to get a playoff bc the current system isn’t fair to us”

AK:  “Agree completely, sir”

T:  “While we’re at it, we should ask that they quit operating completely – I mean, those guys don’t want their jobs really, and they don’t make any money, so they shouldn’t mind”

AK: “Great idea, sir!  Totally logical to take that extra step”

T:  “And really, the MWC should get more money out of the deal – we should essentially get the money the system saves by getting rid of the BCS.  That’s only fair.”

AK:  “Right on, sir! Shall I give you a foot massage?”

In the end, Thompson got greedy.  He figured he’d ask for everything in the hope of getting something.  Instead, he’ll get nothing at all. 

The BCS sucks.  Everyone knows it, including the BCS.  The problem is money, and power.  So, you have to get a proposal in front of the BCS that does 2 things:  1)  Let’s them retain power  and 2)   Makes them as much, or more, money.

That’s why this is the system that works, at least to get things started with a playoff:

• BCS remains the governing body in charge of the national championship and the ‘big’ post-season bowls
• No, MWC doesnt get more revenue
• BCS polls and Computer ranking system remains in place
• 4-team playoff with the top 4 teams as ranked by the BCS at the end of the season
• 1 vs 4 plays in the first BCS bowl.  2 vs 3 in the second.  Winner vs Winner in the National championship BCS bowl.   The games rotate to each of the different BCS bowl locations each year.
• The 4th BCS game features traditional picks based on that location’s particular history.  (e.g. Rose Bowl gets Big Televen vs USC if they’re not in BCS)
• All other bowls remain as they are – glorified revenue-generating exhibitions with little meaning beyond fun, recruiting and some dollar signs for the networks and the schools, and excellent extension of the CFB season.

This proposal would’ve maybe, POTENTIALLY been actually considered by the BCS.  But nooooooooo, Thompson had to go and propose a bunch of crap that muddies the whole thing.  8 teams is too many (just like the English), and it’d take too long.  And I know there was a somewhat legit claim by a team ranked outside the Top 4, but you have to cut it off somewhere, and how often will that happen anyway?  Shouldn’t be too often.  If teams consistently run the gauntlet, they should crawl up into that Top 4 at some point.  

You can’t ask the BCS to disband the BCS.  And no, the MWC has no bargaining power right now.   You’re on the outside looking in buddy!  The goal should’ve been to get a playoff considered, not beg for scraps.  Ludicrous. 

My proposal keeps the BCS in power, should make them more money (with more high-powered matchups), and gets us a playoff with an actual, for-real champion.   

Thompson you wasted your time, our time and the BCS’ time, and it’s “efforts” like this that will keep the debate in a quagmire for 20 years before we finally get it done.

This isn’t tough Craig.  Understand what they want – see where it intersects with what you want – and go with that.

No wonder the MWC is stuck on the outside looking in.

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This is what they serve you in the off-season…

First, what the hell?

Second, what the hell?

And then, what the hell?

And to finish, what the hell?

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This movie had its flaws, but this is a classic fire-me-up speech.

Let’s get fired up!…to wait til August?

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Almost all of them. Good positions in college and the pros for the most part.

Just not Ty.

Shocking.

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Only Tebow.

Sophomore John Brantley threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns, ran for two scores and led the Orange team to a 31-21 victory over Tim Tebow’s (7-of-9 for 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) Blue squad.

Tebow took Brantley around Florida Field for a victory lap after the game, with the duo getting high-fives from some of the about 50,000 on hand.

Well, why not? He’s Tim Tebow right? Who cares if he lost while playing mediocre? He’s going to lead a freaking victory lap! He’s Tebow!

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I mean, winning. Forever.

“Cheating to Win Winning Forever” is the title of the forthcoming book. In it, Pete will talk about how he hooks recruits up with cash sells USC’s great academics and ghetto picturesque setting to bring in the most morally malleable best talent, how Reggie Bush led by example on and off the field despite taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from shady dudes and how that reflects Pete’s great leadership style, and how the LB corp at USC spends a lot of time in the gym taking steroids working out with great intensity. (which reflects Pete’s own hard-work ethic).

Great! Can’t wait to check it out.

“Winning Forever. Without Getting Caught.“

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Per Domer and BJGator, it’s a long time before anything else really happens in CFB. We may get a few commitments from recruits here and there (man, I hope so, we need the players, and we need the news to keep us alive!) but other than that, it’s going to be pretty dead from now til Fall camp starts. And it’s freaking 139 days until kickoff!

Winter of Discontent indeed. Right in the heart of Spring and Summer.

C’mon recruits, you’re our only hope!

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I awoke this morning to my wife singing Happy Birthday to me and my 9 month old daughter sitting next to me on the bed with a huge 2-tooth grin, using my cheeks as a percussion instrument. The kid’s got rhythm, but she plays everything on the downbeat. Anyway, at that point, I had a decision to make: Gear up and head out for the Blue Gold Game, or go to the best pancake place on earth to have birthday pancakes and see my daughter’s first experience of pancakes ever and then off to the zoo to see my daughter’s first experience of a giraffe. I’ve been to many B&G games. I’ll probably be to many more. And the result of the game wasn’t going to cause my guts to turn in knots, so guess which option I picked.

By the way, if you’ve never watched a 9 month old see a real giraffe for the first time, I highly recommend you try it.

Luckily, the lately-constantly-improving UND.com posted video of the event online, so I can watch and rewind to my heart’s content, thus I can poke, prod, and comment to my heart’s content. Here’s what I think I’m seeing…

• ND may well have some lateral movement problems on the left side of the OL. That, or Ethan Johnson is cat-quick. Ethan Johnson is cat-quick, so then maybe ND doesn’t have lateral movement problems. We could keep trying to figure this out, eventually boiling down to Big Bang Theory, or we could just move on.
• The play where McCarthy lights up Rudolph: Awesome. Buzzkill: The flag that would have been thrown by any conference affiliated ref in any real game because one of the LB held Armado Allen on his route to the point of spinning him around. Anti-Buzzkill: Allen moving out to the slot could be a real problem for opposing defenses this season.
• Hughes is healthy right now. I hope he stays healthy this season. Last year, against SDSU, he hurt his right leg, and after that his moves to the left were just not effective. I’m not even sure I saw any moves to the left. In this game, he tends to drift left again, just as he did in 2007. This is a very good thing. This is his natural running style.
• Speaking of natural running styles, Jonas Gray ain’t got one. Maybe it’s the lack of film on the kid, but he looks as comfortable going left as he does going right. I hope he learns to hold onto the ball, learns his blocking assignments, and gets onto the field quickly.
• Duck, Duck, Goose: Ever wondered if you’re no fun? Watch the highlight of the entire defense playing Duck, Duck, Goose in the endzone after Blanton’s TD return. If you love it, you’re probably fine. If it makes you even slightly uncomfortable, consider the possibility that you’re not much fun at all.
• Blanton will be a Team Captain Someday: I love this kid. When Charlie promised “nastiness” on the field, I think he was picturing kids like Blanton playing their positions in whatever way will most likely end up utterly destroying the opposition in the only way that matters; the score. It came as no shock at all that his TD came from jumping a slant. The kid sees slant throws in his dreams like I see Oreos.
• Well look at that – Armando Allen with vision. Funny what seeing the field better looks like. More cutbacks, fewer instances of getting plowed by the defense and possibly dropping the ball.
• Crist was in Early and Often: Crist went into the game in the series following the Blanton INT TD. No doubt a teaching opportunity for Clausen. But I also get the feeling Weis is, for the first time in his HC career, grooming a QB to be prepared to take over for the starter, be it Clausen leaving for the NFL or going down due to injury.
• Lots of Catches: Sure seemed like the defense caught the ball carrier more than plowed right over a ball carrier. I suppose this is to be expected, given the size of the defense. And sure, there were some nice hits delivered. It’s just that catching ball carriers often results in a half-time look at the stats where the opposition holds a 50% time-of-possession lead. This was the same sort of thing I noted while watching the Oklahoma drill videos from practice this spring. Lots of high fives for the defense after a catching tackle. Oops. There’s that knot in my stomach.
• Closer Than It Appeared: I hope Weis surprises the defense with some steaks tomorrow or soon after watching the scrimmage film, because that final score of 68-33 might as well be “47 hoohahs to eleventyone bimipags.” I know a close game like I know porn: I see it.

That’s about all I feel comfortable with trying to divine from the video of the game. And that’s all divined from some pretty light material. And even if the material were full of “full 22″ clips and easily identifiable personnel groupings, I’m not sure I’d want to try to delve deeper. No doubt someone will freak over Clausen’s numbers without any appreciation for the circumstances of the scrimmage. No doubt we’ll all come up with ways to describe the expected difficulties the defense will have with good running teams (I’m currently working on an analogy involving the Blue Ridge Parkway). No doubt we’ll all drive each other bonkers until kickoff against Nevada. (Freaking Nevada!) I guess it’s time to just enjoy some warmer weather, prep for our pre-season materials, and look forward to Phil Steele Day.

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This is a freaking monstrosity. Via NDN via Rakes of Mallow, here’s an ad that popped up early on the interwebs with this year’s “The Shirt”.

For the first time since my freshmen year, I will not be getting The Shirt. It’s just so God Awful, that one must take a stand at some point.

What color is that anyway? Flesh-color? Nude? Are we trying to camo the shirt so it looks like the decals are on our skin, like Tattoos? Who the F IS IN CHARGE OF THIS UGLINESS? Was the goal to think up a color, ANY COLOR, that has nothing to do with Notre Dame? The only criteria is that The Shirt has NEVER been that color before, so, ooooooh, lots of people will want it?!?!?!?

Give me a break Shirt People, whoever you are. I’ll give $10 directly to charity and forego this ‘worthy cause’ this year. In fact, if you would go ahead and do what’s right and PRODUCE THE SAME COLOR THE SHIRT EVERY YEAR SO THE FANS HAVE SOME SENSE OF UNITY, I would buy the shirt every year AND give an additional chunk of change to whatever charity you want. Sound good? No? Because you’re idiots? Okay then, at least you admit it.

The strategy is horrible, the product execution is even worse. And that’s every year. This year they’ve gone way beyond the call of duty in making it te-rri-ble.

Whoever’s in charge of this should be fired. And the students working on it should get a D-, and be banned from interviewing if they graduate this year (they’ll just embarrass themselves). They only avoid an F bc they actually produced a shirt.

Disgraceful.

Please, no one buy it. No one wear it. Vote with your dollars and wear a Kelly Green shirt from a past year this year. Leave this thing on the shelf.

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