While these are obviously the greatest cleats ever worn, this piece is not about the cleats qua cleats. It is about what the cleats, and more properly, the colors, mean. For, when the Fighting Irish walk out onto the pitch at Aviva Stadium, they will write another chapter in the history of the F/fighting Irish in Dublin.

The last time Notre Dame and Navy squared off in Dublin, they played at Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Games and scene of 1920's Bloody Sunday. Hours before that day's rugby match was to start, Michael Collins' Twelve Apostles fanned out across Dublin and executed British Intelligence's famed Cairo Gang in a series of murders that make Michael Corleone's efforts at the end of The Godfather look unambitious. By kickoff, the British were out for revenge, and they took it on the crowd. It was not until the Queen's visit to Croke Park and her laying a wreath there in honor of Ireland's war dead that one old wound could begin to heal.

This year's game will be played at the new stadium at Landsdowne Road, less than three miles from Croke Park and itself the scene of an ugly display of violence and sectarianism in 1995, when Irleand hosted England in an international football match. Played months after the IRA laid down its arms, the match showed that The Troubles were not yet over. Some Irish booed "God Save the Queen," while many English chanted "Ulster is British" during "A Soldier's Song." When Ireland went up 1-0 in the 27th minute, the English hooligans had enough, and rained missiles down onto the crowds below. In the ensuing pandemonium, one person died and many were injured as the terrified spectators sought refuge on the field, forcing the officials to cancel the match.

The match, though, had been conceived in a decidedly optimistic spirit, for peace was easing over Ireland. In August of 1994, the IRA gave up their Armalites and in May, the Irish Prime Minister, Albert Reynolds, delivered the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. In that address, through which your author tried to nap and otherwise combat the worst hangover in human history, the Prime Minister challenged Republicans and Loyalists to come together and eliminate the physical and ideological space between them.

That space has been represented on the Irish flag as the white piece between the

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:IrishFlagGPO.JPG

Republican green and the Unionist orange. When the tri-color was hoisted over the GPO in Dublin on Easter Monday 1916, it was an act of rebellion, independence and hope for a united Ireland. The Irish flag, then, is like the Irish cleats: meant to be on display for a short time. The flag symbolizes the hope that the ideological space between Catholic and Protestant will one day disappear, a hope that is now enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, signed at Belfast on 10 April 1998. So it was that exhortations made by an Irish Prime Minister at an Irish commencement bore real fruit.

We will all claim to be Fighting Irish on 1 September 2012, as we do every day. But the Irish, the real Irish, have seen real fighting and real dying and some of them want it to continue. The peace between them is fragile, at best. But in the simple act of lacing up a shoe, Notre Dame's Fighting Irish will advance the ball toward a hopeful goal of peace, fulfilling the wish of an Irish Prime Minister made at their school, before most of them were even born.

Tonight, Subway and I will be hitting the internet airwaves on Blog Talk Radio at 11pm EST and we will be joined by Keith Arnold, the man behind Inside the Irish over at NBC Sports. If you are up late and want to hear some ND football chat, be sure to join us. If you are sleeping, no worries, the podcast will be available on replay so be sure to check back for it.

Finally, if you'd like for us to discuss anything, head over to Twitter and use the hashtag #IBGpodcast to submit your questions and/or topics for discussion.

EDIT: The podcast is now available on replay in the below embedded audio player (Flash required).

To add to my excitement, the guest speaker was none other than Lou Holtz. Lou preformed just as you would expect, fantastic, excited about ND football and its bright future. During that speech, he uttered the following quote that has stuck with me ever since:

"Be careful about that light at the end of the tunnel--it could be an oncoming train."

Little did I know then, Dr. Lou was a prophet. No more than two years later, our BCS birth joy and national title hopes came crashing down to earth in the form of a 3-9 season that included losses to two service academies. The oncoming train ran us over while we were gleefully sprinting towards it.

Frustration has been the overall theme of Notre Dame football ever since Bob Davie took over in 1997. For every good Irish moment, there seems to be multiple depressing ones that overshadow it. It's no wonder that parts of our fanbase readily call for the coach's head these days--no one wants to be run over by that damned train again. Even if some parts of the fanbase, myself included, aren't yet quite ready to sharpen the pitchforks to run Kelly out of town, we sense this inevitable feeling that any progress is fleeting and the other shoe will soon drop.

So just how bad has it been? I took every game since 1997 and plotted the margin of victory or loss, grouping them by year:

Click to enlarge. Note: Some data points overlap and are shown as a single data point (e.g. Three victories by 3 points in the same year shows as a single data point).

While the overall trend has been moving upwards, especially in the last 3 years, it is hard to be overly optimistic about the last 15 years as a whole.

Until 2009, our seasons where marred by being on the wrong end of absolute beatings in the 20-40 point range. The only exceptions to this trend were Davie's first year in 1997 and Weis' first year in 2005; in fact, 2005 was our best year overall during that time with two 3 point losses (Sparty & Southern Cal) and a 14 point loss against the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl. While 2005 provided us with all the hype and hope in the world, the writing starting making its first true appearance on the wall as the Irish reverted right back to the huge losses the following season.

The past three seasons are even more frustrating. Only one loss cracked the 20 point range in which a red-hot Stanford dominated the Irish 37-14 early in 2010, Brian Kelly's first year. The year prior, Weis' squad found absolutely uncanny ways to lose with their worst losses only being a 7 point deficit to both Southern Cal and Stanford. Of course, last season's turnover-prone squad found themselves on the wrong end of close games three times, with only Stanford and Southern Cal having anything resembling a solid victory.

While Southern Cal and Stanford have been a constant thorn in our side the past few years, we shouldn't overlook the maddening case of Michigan. The past three years have netted the same result: a loss by 4 points. Losing these close games are bad enough, but having it happen time and time again to a hated opponent? Brutal.

Granted all of this data isn't awful. There are some highlights in 2005 and 2006 with several 20+ point victories. Thus far, Brian Kelly has also moved the margin of victory up higher and higher towards the positive end as well.

However, it is impossible to look objectively and honestly at this data and not see why a black cloud tends to hover over Notre Dame football and its fans. While the final score isn't the end-all-be-all of statistical analysis, it is easily the one that has the biggest impact and leaves the longest lasting impression in the mind of any fan. Unfortunately, when you have over a decade of such memories to overcome, it takes more than a couple seasons of potential to heal those wounds.

It's ok buddy, we feel your pain.

So the little kids have gone home and now the big kids get the place to themselves.  Let the debauch begin – it’s Senior Week.

I have just a few words of advice for our most recent batch of soon-to-be alumni.  And if you’ve spent four years putting up with my petty French boarding school rules, you can pay attention to these:

You have no responsibilities but to show up alive for commencement exercises, so enjoy one last multiday revel.  This is your final chance to behave like a dissipated libertine…unless you are graduating from the college of business, in which case this week serves as an introduction to your new lifestyle.

I don’t care what quality, state, or condition you are in for the graduation ceremony, but conduct yourself with a little decorum for The Lord and don’t show up to the Baccalaureate Mass blind drunk.  That goes double for all CSCs.

A long black gown is your best friend.  It gracefully masks an unsteady gait, makes an outright stagger look dignified, and can conceal several flasks of top-shelf booze.  Trust me – I wear one every day.

Lads, if the Stadium is swelteringly hot on the morning of graduation, tall black knee-socks and dress shoes can permit you to wear shorts under the gown…or even less.  Trust me – I wear one every day.

Architecture graduates, please don’t make fools of yourselves…oh, who am I kidding.

When you greet your parents upon their arrival for the ceremonies, give your mother several roses or other fragrant flowers.  They will cover the stench of the liquor leaching out of your pores.

As you sit on the historic football field, with the stands half-full of family and friends, and your classmates all abuzz with excitement, you will be shocked to realize that’s the loudest you will have ever heard the Stadium.

After four years of close residential quarters, you no longer have to live with obnoxious, indolent, foul-smelling roommates ever again…until your children hit their teens.

You can now move from carping at Fr. Jenkins for draconian disciplinary policies, to carping at Fr. Jenkins for exorbitant football ticket prices.  But remember, for as long as he is president of the University, it is always all Fr. Jenkins’ fault.

And don’t become maudlin, thinking about how this is over, or that is the last time, or you’re leaving never to return.  You’ll all be back in the fall…like a swarm of plaid-wearing locusts.

 EFS CSC

I'm not even sure exactly where to start on the absurdity of this debate. Maybe it's because the arguments support of college football somehow devolved into calling upon patriotism ("college football is the Statue of Liberty") and using ad hominem attacks ("[this argument] is being argued by well-intentioned people who don't clearly understand the sport").

Maybe it's because the arguments for the banning were built entirely of straw-men. T. Boone Pickens would clearly throw his money around to other non-revenue sports without football. College football has created "the distracted university" that forgoes education. And, of course, the physical trauma, most notably concussions, as a result of playing in the NFL college football.

Perhaps it was the fact that the debate itself occurred in New York City, a place with little emotional attachment to college football due to a lack of a local program.

Or perhaps it was because Jason freakin' Whitlock was called upon to defend college football.

Admittedly, college football is far from perfect and with increased study into concussions coupled along with a seemingly unending stream of scandals, it's easy to see why. The money involved creates such high stakes that, at times, institutions of higher learning turn blind eyes to things they shouldn't, allowing boosters, coaches, and players run wild.

Since the last Roundup alone, a Buckeye commit dropped Ohio State because of a sex offender, who was later arrested, was constantly tweeting at and having other contact with players. The Sandusky case put Penn State all over my newsfeeds this week. And amongst all that, which is just the tip of the iceberg, ESPN threw all kinds of crazy money at the ACC for a TV deal.

Sure there are problems, but banning the sport is the answer? That's cutting off the nose to spite the face and an believably lazy solution to boot. If we seriously entertain this logic, we can justify banning damn near everything.

Anyways, to the Roundup before it gets banned as well

The Roundup

Big East bans their commissioner. Ok, so Marinatto actually resigned; however, there was no doubt that this was ever so slightly forced. Blame the university presidents if you want, but when you the head of an organization that has people looking to go just about anywhere else, you're going to get the boot.

Clearly, we should ban all guns. Well done, Purdue. That's how you get a felony charge to stick, Tommy.

While we are at it, ban pizza. Without pizza, these arrests clearly would not have happened.

In fact, we should ban all snacks. This is clearly out of control.

Is there any way that we can ban OU's receiving corps? Oh wait, they did that on their own? SWEET!

Jim Delany will find a way to ban you from a playoff. Didn't win your division? Tough. Related, I bet Alabama fans love Delany right now.

Just ban all conferences. Delany's BS aside, it would seriously save a lot of headaches. By 2015, 25% of all FBS teams will have jumped ship. It's nearly impossible to keep track of, but thankfully we have a guide that can help us (for a month--maybe).

Want to go Hawg Wild? Since he is likely forever banned from setting foot in Arkansas again, Bobby Petrino clearly doesn't have use for this anymore.

Here's a fantastic reason to never ban college football: Mike Leach. Seriously, this guy could not exist in any other environment. Not only did he do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, but he made sure to not dodge Craig James questions either. As if that wasn't enough, he sent his level of awesome to a new level, acknowledging the "Craig James Killed Five Hookers" meme. #RememberThe5

The Beer

For this week, I wanted to see if a beer happened to fit the whole banning theme. Thankfully, Google delivered:

Dirty Bastard beer was recently banned in Alabama due to its name. A creation of Founders Brewing, Dirty Bastard is a solid 8.5% ABV, allowing this forbidden beer to pack quite a punch.

As the departed MCA would say:

Summer -- A fantastic time to leave schoolbooks alone

Speaking of summer, what is next for the Irish? Here is the summer schedule, and what to expect for each period:

Friday, May 11th - Sunday, June 3rd "Break" - The 11th officially ends Finals Week at Notre Dame, when everyone is free to take a deep breath, relax, and return home. For Notre Dame players, this is the only real time they get to go home and be with their families each year (though they do get a short Spring Break as well), considering they are still occupied with football activities through Fall, Thanksgiving, and even Winter breaks. So this is essentially the players' time to decompress from 11 months of absolutely brutal schedules.

That being said, this four week period is potentially the most significant time of the year for players to move themselves up or down the depth chart. For roughly four weeks, every player is out of the coaching staff's hands, and therefore each player is completely responsible for keeping in shape, continuing to learn the playbook, and working on their individual game. And certainly, all of the players handle these duties differently. This past week, I got to talk to many of the players on the team, and asked them what their time at home would entail as it relates to football, and predictably I received a wide array of answers. Some of the players that sensed they have a great opportunity (mainly eager younger players) ahead of them cited hiring personal trainers, or sticking to the exact regiment that they have during the school year, with the exception of resting instead of attending classes. Other guys talked about working out regularly, but using it more as a healing period for their body and instead focusing on getting their assignments and the playbook down when they don't have homework as a distraction. And then a few of the veterans on the team talked about staying away from football activities altogether -- that clearing their minds and relaxing was the most important thing for them, as it really allows them to refocus when they come back for summer workouts.

But the one thing that most of them acknowledged was that the summertime break is a huge make-or-break period. Some of them expressed interest in working out with each other to develop chemistry with and confidence in eachother, Jimmy Clausen Style. Personally, I am a big of this option.

Monday, June 4th - "Voluntary" Workouts Begin - Starting the first week of June, players can report back to campus for voluntary workouts. While they are completely voluntary, most of the team does report, because players who don't are almost sure to fall behind. The voluntary workouts are led by Notre Dame student-athletes with strength and conditioning exercises supervised by Notre Dame's staff.

Monday, June 18th - Summer Classes Start - By this point, very close to 100% of the team is back in South Bend. Most Notre Dame athletes take full schedules of summer classes, because it allows them to take a lighter course load during the in-season for their sport. This is the first chance that the new freshmen get to balance Notre Dame academics and workouts, although admittedly summer courses tend to be much easier and more relaxed. But it does serve as a good acclimation period.

Friday, August 3rd - Summer Courses End - From late June to early August, Notre Dame players have very few commitments. Typically, they go to two classes each day, followed by moderately intense voluntary workouts. Which leaves them with 18+ hours to do whatever they please. Because it is no secret that the summer is a huge party period for the team, here's to praying that everyone stays out of trouble this year.

**Note** While this is as good a time as ever to restate that I am not officially affiliated with the team, yours truly, GrantlandX, will also be taking summer courses, and will keep everyone up to date on workouts and such.

Monday, August 6th - Practice Officially Begins - This is what all fans salivate for during the summer: the first time that the coaching staff gets their hands on the team since the Blue-Gold Game. We hope to see that self-motivated hard work and dedication pays off for the players, and hope springs eternal for Notre Dame Football success. At this point, we can turn our heads toward the season. Counting down the days until practice already! (89 days from 5/10)

Love It/Hate It? Comment below or tweet me @GrantlandX (REALLY, tweet at me a bit, guys. It keeps me entertained)

Among the many Notre Dame stars last weekend were the football team’s own twins George Atkinson III and Josh Atkinson. After George posted the second best 100 meter dash time in the prelims (10.36 seconds), Josh stepped up in the finals to edge out his brother for 4^th place overall with a time of 10.39 seconds – 7 tenths of a second faster than GAIII, who was 5th. You can see the race: here (Josh in lane 1 [far right], George in lane 4)

Brian Hardin kindly pointed out that GAIII’s preliminary time was the 4^th fastest 100 meter time by a college football player this year and the best time of any freshman college football player. Josh Atkinson’s preliminary time in the 200 meter dash of 21.20 seconds was the third best by any college football this year. Hardin also Tweeted yesterday that GAIII and Josh's times were 2nd and 3rd among ND football players behind the one-and-only Rocket Ismail, who ran a 10.34 in 1991 (if anyone knows what kind of timing system the NCAA was using 21 years ago, I'd love to hear it - any chance that time was affected by a stopwatch?).

Josh Atkinson is faster than every wide receiver he'll cover this year.

So what do we know? These guys are freakin’ quick. We also know that nobody is going to ever again argue that John Goodman has the fastest straight line speed on the team. We saw flashes of George’s brilliance with kickoff returns against MSU and USC, and saw what he could do in space at this year’s Blue/Gold game (now let’s just get him to hold on to the damn ball). Josh Atkinson and Lo Wood are still battling for the second cornerback position, but we shouldn’t expect to see Josh get beat deep too frequently which is comforting for those of us still recovering from “4^th and 9.”

For a little context, Florida’s Jeff Demps once ran a 10.01 (tied for the world junior record), but he also gave up a chance at the NFL to pursue the Olympic trials, weighs about 35 pounds less than GAIII, and can’t break tackles. For more detail about how the Atkinson bros stack up historically, check out this excellent peice by Keith Arnold at Inside the Irish.

It would be a disservice to not mention some of the other Irish standouts from the weekend:

Now, let’s just get bench press machine Ben Turk competing in shot put next year.

You can follow Twibby on Twitter: @HLS_Twibby

An old saw about leadership is that “with authority comes responsibility,” or words to that effect. As a young reserve officer candidate, some such phrase was beaten into my brain and, in later years, I did my best to remember it as I explained myself to my CO for the sins of a non-rate in my division. As you progress up the ranks, you gain more authority, but also more responsibility. This basic fact of leadership, to me, explains the now tortured path on which Tommy Rees walks and, perhaps, why the end of his road may differ from that of Michael Floyd,  or any of the tens of Notre Dame athletes who found themselves on the wrong side of the law and ResLife in the last two years.

Before I go any further, I want to be crystal clear on a few matters: first, nothing in this article should be construed as my professional opinion as an attorney on any of the legal issues presented by Tommy’s arrest or the underlying circumstances. Second, Tommy is entitled to the presumption of innocence afforded to all defendants in the criminal system. Third, Tommy Rees is not quite twenty years old and is entitled to the presumption of human fallibility and the redemptive process.

Tommy has been charged with four misdemeanors under Indiana law, specifically: 1.) underage drinking; 2.) fleeing from a police officer; 3.) “forcibly struggling” with said police officer; and 4.) “knowingly touch[-ing]” said police officer (Brandon Stec, for those of you scoring at home) “in a rude, angry or insolent manner resulting in bodily injury to Brandon Stec, to wit: pain and scrapes.” It’s the last two charges that really have me concerned for Tommy’s future participation in the football program and, perhaps, in the University as a whole.

According to du Lac “[t]he following actions and behaviors are clearly inconsistent with the University’s expectations for membership in this community [and] violations of these behavioral standards will call into question a student’s full participation in the University community: 1.) Violence, or the threat of violence against another person, or any action which causes injury to another. [. . .] 11.) Behavior which causes a serious disturbance of the University campus. [. . .] 12.) Actions which seemingly affect only the individual(s) involved but which have a negative disruptive impact on the University community and/or concern a student’s personal  [. . .] growth.” (emphasis added).

The thing about leadership is that it implicates equal measures of, among other traits, knowledge, judgment, dependability, tact and courage.  After Coach Kelly benched Dayne Crist for the Michigan game last season, he noted that both Dayne and Tommy “are capable of leading our football team.” Coach Kelly put Dayne Crist on ice because Dayne demonstrated he couldn’t get the job done on the field. Tommy, arguably, has shown he can’t get the job done off the field. Leadership does not stop, or start, at the touchline, or in the locker room.

Coach Kelly, to maintain his authority over the program and his place within the University community, is going to have to do exactly what he did with Michael Floyd early on: suspend him.  Then, Coach Kelly is going to have to let the legal and the University discipline processes play out, as he did with Michael Floyd. Only then, and only if Tommy stays at ND, can Tommy go about the task of completing what will have to be an arduous, transparent and verifiable program of “behavior modification and improved decision-making skills.” And frankly, I don’t know that there’s enough time between now and September 1 for Coach to credibly develop and implement such a program and for Tommy to complete it. I hate to say it, but I think Tommy took himself out of the quarterback competition for 2012.

If you're a regular reader, then you know all about the album "Forever Irish" by our friend Ken O'Malley. Ken released the album digitally back in the fall. It's a collection of songs that combine the tradition of Irish Pub tunes with Notre Dame lore. It's a great product, and we've been helping Ken promote.

And recently, Ken got great news - the product has been reviewed by The Bookstore and is on shelves today! In fact, our very own GrantlandX picked up one of the first copies sold the other day.

So swing by and pick up your copy next time you're on campus, or you can order from the ND Bookstore web site.

It's a must-have for ND Tailgaters and Partiers everywhere, and a portion of the profits benefit Kelly Cares and the General Scholarship Fund, so it's for a good cause as well. All songs are on iTunes and Amazon available for download as well.

If you haven't sampled it before, check out the YouTube Sampler:

Thanks for your great work, Ken. GO ARSH!

I will do this with a series of metaphors.  I find that drawing comparisons to football can be very useful, just as various campus statues take on greater meaning when given a football-related identity.  Who would appreciate Moses holding the Decalogue, were he not signaling first-and-ten?  Jesus may be summoning all to come unto him, but clearly he is also performing a dropkick.  With all of our Civil War veterans now passed on, Wild Bill Corby is much better remembered calling for a fair catch.  And “The Word of Life” is simply not a catchy title – though Touchdown Jesus is only moderately less unedifying.  Ted had plans for covering the other sides of the library with more giant mosaics.  An enormous BVM was supposed to face campus.  God only knows what gauche name the lads would have come up with for Her – Unsportsmanlike Conduct Mary?

At any rate, let’s consider finals like a football game.  You are in study days now.  That’s like tailgating.  Seriously, from what I can tell the only difference between reading days and pregame festivities is that you’re not drinking in the parking lots…as much.

When you arrive at your first test next week, that is the kickoff.  If you ace the exam, you will have run the ball back for a touchdown.  If you run out of time and can’t answer the last question, you have been tackled by the kicker.  If you misspell you name on the cover of the bluebook, you should immediately transfer to USC.

If you do terribly on one exam, that is merely a fumble or an interception – there is still plenty of game left to be played.  Get back in there and hold onto the answers this time.  If you do terribly on several exams, your only hope is for a catastrophic storm to blow through so you can make one last desperate attempt to get your act together in the second half.

If you pass a test with flying colors and then forget to hand it in to the professor, you have fumbled on the goal line.  Transfer to Kansas.

If you read all the wrong material and studied all the wrong notes, you have been blitzed.  If the professor told you there wouldn’t be certain material on the exam, and then he puts it on there anyway, you have been clipped.  If you are too dimwitted to remember in which classroom the test will be administered, you belong in East Lansing.

When you have taken half of your exams, but still have half to go, rededicate yourself to pushing twice as hard on the last two tests.  Listen to “American Pie” played by a brass band, if you think that helps.

When you are down to your very last exam, don’t become complacent and turn in a halfhearted effort at studying.  That would be like allowing the other team to kick a last-second field goal (God save us from the Jesuits).  Drive hard until the very last second of the very last test.  Run that pen out of ink.  Break that pencil.  Make the proctor wrest the bluebook away from you.  Give it your all!

Then, when victory is yours, your classmates can rush the field and carry you in triumph into summer vacation.  Soon enough, just as Fall brings a new football season, so too will it bring another academic semester, and you can face the drama, intensity, and madness all over again.  But the football season will be great.

Those are my words of inspiration for students preparing for final exams.  But what do I know – I never took a single exam at Notre Dame.  Hell, I never even graduated from the place.  So I suppose you can call my statue “The First Subway Alumnus.”  I’m not real clear on the concept of a subway, but it sounds better than an “Underground Alumnus,” so we’ll stick with it.

EFS CSC