Yes, a 3-9 season will humble the best among us. Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says Crewcut Charlie Weis is trying to reinvent himself, starting with his plan to make nice with Notre Dame's grumbling alums.Writes Greenstein: "I've seen Weis walk away from conversations with people in mid-sentence. Harder to do that when you're the first Irish coach since Hugh Devore to lose to Navy."
Later, he writes: "Dr. Phil would applaud Weis' willingness to change. Here's another prognosis: Notre Dame gave a 10-year contract extension, through 2015, to a coach who doesn't know who he is."
But if you want a rip job, read Jeff Jacobs' column in the Hartford Courant. Word has leaked that Connecticut and Notre Dame are finalizing a 10-game series with no games at the Huskies' Rentschler Field. That's right, none. Zip, zilch, zero.
Five games are planned for South Bend and five games are to be split between Foxborough and East Rutherford. And that part seems non-negotiable.
Writes Jacobs: "It sure sounds like it was 'take it or leave it,' and UConn is in the process of taking it. ... Notre Dame has some nerve. Notre Dame must think it's something special.
"And that's when my initial reaction ends and reality sets in. Notre Dame knows it's special. Either you play Notre Dame's game or you're out. And UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway evidently is saying, yes, he'll kiss Notre Dame's blessed rear end."
Jacobs was just getting started:
"Notre Dame has been allowed for too many years to be part of the Big East without being told, hey, bring your football cleats, too, or you're gone. Notre Dame has been enabled by the Big East.
"We've all heard a thousand reasons why having Notre Dame is good for the conference. And maybe all thousand of them are valid. Yet none of those reasons is because it is fair and equitable. If it were, Notre Dame would play football in the Big East instead of making conference schools grovel at its feet."
Thanks to Sports By Brooks.
3 comments:
In all fairness, it wouldn't make economic sense for the Irish to go on the road to play in a 41,000 seat stadium. The last time they did that was a trip to Vanderbilt in the mid 90's and that was a favor by Lou Holtz to his friend Rod Dowhower. A marquee name like Notre Dame is going to be a big draw and it would make sense for an AD to maximize the revenue generated from such a game.
Yeah. I have no idea what playing at an offsite location has anything to do with joining the Big East. The reason they're not playing at UConn is obvious: they have a tiny stadium. Both UConn and Notre Dame gain a lot more by playing at a larger stadium in UConn's "neck of the woods."
For one moment, set aside your attitudes about Notre Dame and look at the situation logically. If they were playing any other large-name program, they'd probably do the same thing, simply because UConn has a stadium smaller than some High School programs.
If the conferences looked out for themselves, they'd shun ND as an Independent. Either ND joins a conference or we won't play with them. All they try to do is cherry pick. Just think, if ND couldn't cherry pick in conferences, they could recruit as well. Sooooo, to get better recruits, give ND the cold shoulder. Simple, eh.....and as a bonus their arrogance will go away too!
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