Notre Dame on Planet Earth

Notre Dame will travel to Michigan to play the Wolverines in a game that has everybody talking for all the wrong reasons. We all know that both teams are desperate for their first win of the season, and that neither team is even ranked anymore. Still, people like to tune in to this one to see how bad it can get. It’s like watching Britney Spears and Kid Rock become the most talked-about stars from the MTV Video Music Awards. I used to think it was like Greece taking on Rome. Both empires used to dominate the world, but now you never hear from one except that your cousin just got back from visiting there and the other is halfway burned to the ground.

But still, maybe this battle is more like an elephant and a lioness both fighting over the last pool of water as the summer ends in the Serengeti. In that case, it’s going to be some good watching, as desperation leads fierceness, and fierceness leads to violence and violence leads to entertainment. So my prediction for this one is that it goes into overtime. Yes. Jimmy Clausen leads the Irish down field in a game-tyng drive to tie the score at 24 apiece. Then, whoever gets the coin toss will win it.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 14, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Gets a Gift!

You were probably hoping that the title of this blog was going to have something to do with Notre Dame football, which could certainly use a gift of any kind right now. They are 0-2 and set to play the Michigan, an 0-2 team that is jut as hungry as they are for anything positive. Of course, they actually just got one from the Michigan Wolverines as their star QB, Chad Henne, is not going to play. But alas, there is no news from the football side of things at Notre Dame just now- no news better than that which the Fighting Irish hockey team just received.

Apparently the Irish just got a $15 million donation for the purpose of building a permanent hockey arena within the current Joyce Center. As you probably know, the Joyce Center is where both the basketball and hockey teams play, so a separate arena would certainly help each team get the needed practice time and help alleviate schedule conflicts and other dilemmas. Plus the new facility should help to land better recruits, more fans, and in general increase the power of the Notre Dame hockey program. The bad thing is that there is nobody to thank, as the contribution was done anonymously. Oh, well. There could be worse problems.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 13, 2007 - Post a comment

Michigan QB Won’t Play

The two winningest college football teams in history will meet this Saturday when Notre Dame and Michigan square off in Ann Harbor. Of course, both programs have seen better days. One program will leave the game this weekend with an 0-3 start, the other will be 1-2, hoping that their win sparks a comeback season and a change of fate for the entire year. Each program has problems at the quarterback position. Notre Dame had a disastrous merry-go-round of QBs in the first game versus the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and then Jimmy Clausen was ineffective versus Penn State.

The Michigan Wolverines have problems of their own. Chad Henne is out and will not start this Saturday. He suffered an injury last Saturday during Michigan’s loss to Oregon, so Ryan Mallett is set to take the opening snap for Michigan. Mallett has little experience as the leader of the Michigan offense, but then again, so does Clausen, so the match up will be interesting to watch. The game itself should be a fun one, as both programs are desperate for a win. I am going to wait to make a prediction on this one on Friday, although most handicappers will put the Wolverines as the favorites.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 12, 2007 - Post a comment

Irish Set to Battle Michigan

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to battle one of their most hated rivals, the Michigan Wolverines. Only this year, the stage has been set in a much more desperate arrangement. The Wolverines are coming off a couple of big-time losses. Their first was one that you undoubtedly heard about even if you were out of town all weekend on out-of-this-solar-system Pluto. The Wolverines suffered one of the biggest upsets in college football history when they lost to Appalachian State in their opening game. Then to make that loss seem more palatable but their season more unbearable, they lost to Oregon by more than enough to keep everybody in Ann Harbor pissed all week.

The Domers are coming into the Michigan game with their own 0-2 season, though less embarrassing than the Michigan record if only because expectations were low to begin with. Georgia Tech and Penn State both kept the Irish from scoring their first offensive touchdown of the season, and their rushing stats are the worst in all of NCAA D-I. So the word to describe this usually epic battle is desperate. This game used to decide who got bragging rights, but now… it might just decide which coach doesn’t get fired.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 11, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Falls to Penn State

Penn State got the better of Notre Dame this past Saturday, so the Irish are 0-2 to start off the year. The Nittany Lions proved that they were superior to the Fighting Irish in almost every respect, beating them 31-10 at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley. Notre Dame whipped Penn State last year, but the favor was returned over the weekend. There were a lot of poor performances and mistakes made, but overall, it looked like the better team won on Saturday, and the blame can be more justly put on the fact that Penn State has put together a very solid program this year (ranked No. 12 in the nation), and they proved it. There was no quarterbacking dilemma to distract, and the first game jitters were gone, so all that was left were two teams playing the best they could. The Irish lost this one, but there are some positive things to look at nonetheless.

Sure, you could point out that Notre Dame failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second straight week, but then again, they did make some gains in the passing game. Jimmy Clausen had a very tough task, trying to throw against one of the best defenses in the country, with little to no help from the offensive line and a rushing total of zero. However, one can be fairly pleased with the defensive effort, which led to an interception return for a touchdown, and did a fine job despite being on the field for about 35 minutes.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 10, 2007 - Post a comment

Weis on the Hot Seat

Coach Charlie Weis of Notre Dame has recently been getting a lot of the blame for the lackluster performance of the Golden Domers in their first game of the season. For example, a recent article in the South Bend Tribune was critical of Weis, but admitted that there is time to recover from what could be his signature loss as a coach. He just might have to do it quickly, because there isn’t much patience in South Bend.

Someone once said, and I can’t recall exactly who, “Players win games, Coaches lose games, and refs ruin games.” Usually this statement is true, at least with perceptions. When a team is winning, it is easy to give credit to the workhorses, when it’s losing, its easy to give blame to the guy in the sweats an the headphones, the one with the bad strategy. It is typically taken as a given that players are going to try their hardest no matter what, but that if they are given a poor plan, or are not prepared, then it is the fault of the overseer. I can see how people would then like to blame things on Weis, whose three QB trial and error plan failed miserably. However, let’s be restrained. It was still the first game, after all.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 7, 2007 - Post a comment

Take a Look at Penn State

If you are a fan of Notre Dame football, then you probably know all about the Fighting Irish. You are at least aware of the quarterback situation. But let’s put that aside for a minute and focus on the opponent coming up this Saturday, the Penn State Nittany Lions. The first thing you will notice about Penn State is the number that appears before their name, something that the Irish do not have: a ranking. That’s right. The Nittany Lions are ranked #14 in the nation, and they didn’t get there for nothing. They returned many of their best players on offense and defense, and they are expected to be among the teams in the running for the Big Ten title.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will also be playing away at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley. But the crowd will be anything but happy for the Irish, who are hated on the Penn State campus. Penn State’s home opener ended in a 59-0 rout of Florida International, with the Lions firing on all cylinders. Many people predict that the Irish will lose this one. Can the Golden Domers pull off the improbable? As we have seen with Appalachian State, anything can happen.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 6, 2007 - Post a comment

Explaining the QB Situation in Notre Dame

The big buzz in the Notre Dame football world is the decision by Coach Charlie Weis to make Jimmy Clausen the starting quarterback- and to decide such a thing well before the opening kickoff. One thing that fans of the Irish might have found confusing was the whole “musical quarterbacks” situation that developed in last Saturday’s game versus Georgia Tech. Demetrious Jones was the starter, but he was taken out after getting sacked multiple times and being largely ineffective. Evan Sharpley was the next guy in, but the same thing happened. Jimmy Clausen, thus, was the third stringer for the Irish. His assent to the starting role after the first week of play is a bit problematic.

Coach Weis had a few questions to answer, and you can either read the transcript from his press conference or watch it live at UND.com. Basically, with Jimmy’s injury, coach Weis thought that he might not be 100% by the start of the game last Saturday, but that by this weekend he should be fine. Some people are still thinking that the QB at any given time is going to be looking over his shoulder at every incompletion. We will soon find out when the Irish take on the Nittany Lions this Saturday.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 5, 2007 - Post a comment

ND Loses; Clausen Gets the Nod

Well, there are two main stories from the weekend to report in Notre Dame Fighting Irish football land. One is optimistic, the other is straight awful. The bad news will come first: The Irish got creamed this past Saturday in their home opener versus Georgia Tech. The Irish went through all three quarterbacks, none of which were able to accomplish a touchdown drive as the Irish lost to the Yellow Jackets 33-3. Of course, the running game was not faring much better, the Irish defense was on the field for the vast majority of the game, the offensive line couldn’t stop an elementary school Red Rover game, and all of it combined to make for the worst first-game loss in the history of Notre Dame football.

The good news is that Coach Charlie Weis has decided to start Jimmy Clausen next week against the Penn State Nittany Lions. This game is expected to be harder than the one against Georgia Tech, but perhaps things will be better considering the fact that we all don’t have the distraction of wondering who will be playing quarterback. And look on the bright side, Notre Dame fans, the Irish might have lost big time, but at least they aren’t Michigan right now.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 4, 2007 - Post a comment


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