Kelly Green

No Country for O-Linemen

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:02:00 +0000

That was South Bend during the Willingham years, according to Michael Collins.

It's thorough, logical, indisputable and devastating. Required reading for anyone at a loss to explain last year's sack total, or dismal offensive performance in general.

Washington Huskies: The Fannie Mae of College Football

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Time to play "How Many Verbals Does Washington Have This Year!" Ok, who wants to start us off?

Hmm.... I'd recommend going a bit lower, Coach.

Nope, still lower. Getting warm though!

Sorry, wishful thinking.

Rivals

Scout

But hey, I guess this is just more of us crazy Notre Dame fans making excuses for Charlie's disaster in 2007. Nothing to see here, folks!

Really. Nothing.

UPDATE! Apparently this blog has readers among the Willingham regime. Wouldn't you know it, Ty landed his first verbal today. And a quarterback, no less! But considering the way Tyrone recruits linemen (supra), this kid would be wise to take out a life insurance policy while he still can.

Thoughts on Swarbrick

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:29:00 +0000

So you've heard that ND is set to name Indiana attorney Jack Swarbrick as its new Athletic Director. While it's difficult to judge this hire based on the scant relevant information we have, I'm inclined to view it positively.

First, I like the fact that Swarbrick is an attorney. With him at the helm, we shouldn't see a repeat of an O'Leeeeeery type disaster. He'll be careful to make sure ND's athletic programs are run cleanly and under the letter of the rules.

Second, I don't mind that Swarbrick has not been an A.D. or similar position at another university. Judgment, not experience, is important for this position. Unfortunately, we won't know how good Swarbrick's judgment is until he's made some important decisions.

Third, he's an ND graduate. I consider this an absolute requirement.

Last, it's a positive that Swarbrick has connections and familiarity with the NCAA. ND's Athletic Director, more than any other school's, acts as an ambassador for the school's interests. The biggest example of this is in the BCS. While other universities are represented by their conference's rep in the BCS, ND is represented by its A.D. and does not have a conference to support its interests. Swarbrick likely will be competent in this area.

Don't Buy ESPN's Blue Ribbon College Football Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Just in case anyone was contemplating purchasing the world wide leader's "in-depth" pre-season publication, check out the following snippet from the Notre Dame section…

"Not only, however, was there a thought, there was an entire thought process, which Weis described in detail on Feb. 8, nine days after hiring Jon Tenuta as an assistant head coach in charge of the defense, a move that demoted former assistant head coach Bill Smith to the athletics community relations staff."

Demoted former assistant head coach Bill Smith? First of all, it's Bill Lewis, not Bill Smith. Second of all, he was the defensive backs coach, not "in charge of the defense." Third of all, he wasn't demoted… he retired from coaching in order to undergo double hip replacement surgery. And fourth… what's all this about Tenuta being in charge of the defense? He was hired as our new linebackers coach. Four glaring errors in one sentence. All of them would have been caught with even a cursory checking of facts.

"Although it didn’t go down in the smoothest way possible for Weis, which has been a theme of his tenure with the Fighting Irish, he appears to have landed a good coach in Tenuta, whose last job was as Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator."

Apparently, "things" not "going down" in a "smooth" fashion has been a theme of Weis' tenure at Notre Dame. Like that time he heartlessly demoted assistant head coach Bill Smith, or that time he inexplicably replaced veteran quarterback Brady Jones with true freshman Harrison Ford in the 3rd period of that game against the New York Mets.

So in conclusion, ESPN's Blue Ribbon publication is pure, unadulterated garbage. Go buy Phil Steele's pre-season magazine instead.

Happy Independence Day

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:34:00 +0000

Schoolhouse Rock's take on our independence:

Another:

...and a classic:

Ty-In

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:45:00 +0000

The jury that will decide the wisdom of extending Charlie Weis's contract so much so early is still out, unfortunately. (Although the trajectory of Irish recruiting classes certainly augurs well for him.)

However, central to Mr. Wojciechowski's and other various malcontents' arguments that Tyrone Willingham's firing was unjust is that, had he only been given more time, Ty could have acquitted himself better. But the jury hearing this case is nowhere near any kind of acquittal.

I realize that many Irish faithful wish to move on from the subject, but Tyrone's name and the circumstances of his termination still quite commonly appear in present-day criticisms of the Weis era, and most recently, of Kevin White's departure. But conveniently left out of nearly all these sob-stories relating Willingham's canning, Notre Dame's insidious racism, and obligatory "Weis is fat" commentary is Ty's post-ND coaching career. When the pundits give up their warped apologies for Willingham, I will cease debunking them.

An overview of Husky football under Ty:

- an 11-25 record overall
- a 6-20 conference record
- highest conference finish was second-to-last
- 2007's worst defense in the Pac-Ten
- no defensive line (this year, the top two defensive ends on the depth chart have a combined career total of 3 tackles)
- a fan-base screaming bloody murder

Ok, the last bullet is somewhat subjective speculation, but it is my general impression after skimming a few Husky message boards.

And while we're speculating, it's been suggested that anything less than a .500 season will almost certainly spell doom for the Willingham era in Seattle (absent the Seahawks tapping him to be assistant equipment manager).

And what's Willingham doing to steel himself for, by the looks Washington's schedule, a nightmare of a season that could devastate his coaching career?

You knew that was coming!

In all fairness, Ty was playing in a charity tournament, so more power to him. But that doesn't mean I can't wallop him for this gem:

""You need a little luck," he said. "Take a football and go stand in your back yard. Hold it out in front of you in both hands and drop it. If it bounces straight back up, you don’t need luck.""

Luck is nice. So is teaching your players not to drop the football in the first place.

The Irish people, despite being labeled as such, have been anything but lucky throughout their history. So, too, is true of Irish football: what matters far more to our success, both in the past and in the future, is hard-work, fundamentals, focus and determination.

So keep relying on luck, Ty. Lotta good it did you in that sand-trap.

White-Out

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:47:00 +0000

Kelly Green has heretofore remained silent about Kevin White pulling a Matt Doherty on Notre Dame (a little farther down Tobacco Road this time around), so I felt it was time to weigh in on this truly earth-shattering even in my alma mater's athletic history. After all, as Gene Wojciechowski has proclaimed, Notre Dame "will never be the same."

Well.

If by "the same" Mr. Wojciechowski means not having another athletic director who throws his school under the racially-stigmatized bus, then... we can only hope. In any event, Dr. White's apparently delicate touch is probably better suited for Duke, where race relations have as of late been in a bit more dire a predicament than the mere firing of a mediocre black head football coach with a penchant more for the links than the gridiron.

According to Wojciechoski's twisted logic, White apparently had the power to (and deserved the credit for) hiring the first minority head coach in Irish history. However, the decision to jettison Willingham was made by the greedy, amorphous, shadowy cabal known as the Board of Trustees, led by the sinister Fr. Jenkins. I could swear that Wojciechowski writes under the psuedonym "Dan Brown" from time to time. If so, he should stick with it, as it is far easier to remember how to spell.

No, Gene. Whether or not Notre Dame will ever be the same in the return-to-glory sense will have very little to do with whomever replaces Dr. White. That task right now rests on the shoulders of a big and big-hearted old alum from New Jersey, and a few green but talented and hard-working young men, all of whom love their University with all their hearts. All the best to them.

And all the best to Kevin White, who has described his mood upon being hired by Duke as "euphoric." Certainly the whole of the Blue Devil administration is sharing in his euphoria, as a Kentucky judge has sided with its argument that Duke, after going 13-90 over the past decade, is of such poor caliber that Louisville lost nothing when the Blue Devils welshed on the remaining three games of their series with the Cardinals.

A university that considers itself no different than any other Division I school. I'd be euphoric too, had I just found my dream job.

My 2008 season prediction: 8-4

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:01:00 +0000

In my first three season predictions combined (2004-2006), I was off by a total of only 1 game. So my confidence was high leading into last season. Then I predicted a record of 9-3 for the 2007 season.

Needless to say my confidence has now been thoroughly and totally broken. Nevertheless, I'll give this year a shot:

- San Diego State: WIN - If the team is as bad as it was last year, then there'll be no such thing as a "safe" game this season. Michigan lost to App. State last year. Anything's possible. But I'd say the odds of us being that bad again this year are low. Our defense last year consistently made the same mistakes. Tenuta will correct those mistakes and I expect our defense to be our rock this season. The offense is another story. It's not humanly possible for it to get worse than last year (when it looked like my highschool's defense would have shut them down), so the only direction is up.

- Michigan: WIN - This one will probably be an ugly game. Michigan's offense will stutter, still trying to learn their new system. Tenuta's aggressive blitz package should match up extremely well here. If ND's offense sticks to the basics, it hopefully can put up a few points. I'm glad this one's at home.

- @ MSU: LOSS - To be honest, this one was a flip of the coin for me. I have no clue. MSU has their QB back as well as Javon Ringer back at running back. I suspect MSU will be much improved over last year, though they are only returning 6 starters on offense and 6 on defense. If our defense is reduced to guessing with its stunts and blitzes, we'll get burned.

- Purdue: LOSS - Another tough call. Purdue loses some key defensive talent, but reports are that they have some promising replacements. On offense, they return their top runner and they return Painter at QB. Even if our defense plays decently, I don't see our offense keeping up. Purdue is in the middle of a coaching transition, and its results will be interesting to see.

- Stanford: WIN - Hopefully this is one of those "safe" games that actually will be safe.

- @ UNC: WIN - Ditto. I've heard that UNC could be a surprise this year. I'll buy it when I see it.

- @ Washington: LOSS - I think Washington was better than their record last year, as they put up a fight in a handful of somewhat close losses. Their schedule this year is as imposing as it was last year. They have a new defensive coordinator and a new special teams coach, both of which were needed changes. So they'll be tough and they'll be playing emotionally, with all the press the game will be getting (Willingham versus ND, omg!). Because of that coverage, I really really really hope I'm wrong on this one.

- Pittsburgh: WIN - Pittsburgh returns a lot of starters (total of 15), but their schedule up to this point is kindof a joke. Besides that, I have no clue.

- @ Boston College: WIN - Matt Ryan is gone at QB. We gave them a good game last year. This year they'll be weaker and we'll be better.

- Navy @ Baltimore: WIN - So Navy is no longer an automatic call. Still I can't think they'd beat us two years in a row, especially with a new coach.

- Syracuse: WIN - See: Stanford and UNC.

- @ USC: LOSS - Well miracles are possible I suppose. But I don't count on them. Even if ND is much better than I could imagine this year, they'll still be facing a stacked USC team on the road. Signs point to a blowout.

...

So that's 8 wins and 4 losses. Level of confidence: very low.

NBC renews ND football contract

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:12:00 +0000

The current contract expires in 2010; the new agreement extends that to 2015.

Huh, how could this happen?? Columnists declared ND irrelevant years ago....

Defending Notre Dame against irrational and unfounded hatred

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:43:00 +0000

Last weekend I had to endure an experience with which I'm sure nearly every ND fan can relate. I was at a party and everybody was a few beers in. I was talking about college football with a couple friends when another guy at the party overheard our conversation and took it upon himself to berate Notre Dame.

He boldly claimed that "there is no such thing as a student athlete at Notre Dame; academics there are a joke for athletes." So what evidence did he offer to support that claim? That's right, nothing coherent.

When I pressed him on the matter, he weakly offered the fact that his older brother had been denied admission to ND, despite having a higher SAT score than the average ND admittee. Ignoring the fact that one's SAT score is not the only academic criterion for admission, his brother's ordeal hardly sheds any light on the rigor or lack thereof of the curriculum of student athletes at ND.

Having been a student who lived on campus at Notre Dame for 4 years, I saw first hand the legitimacy of ND's academic load for athletes. Of course that didn't matter to this ND hater.

So I changed tactics. I asked him why he was so vehement in attacking ND and its student athletes and if he would share that passion against other successful Division-1 schools (I discussed the latest embarrassments at Michigan). He would not.

And thus I realized that I had encountered yet another example of irrational and blinding hatred against Notre Dame. I find it tiring constantly having to defend ND against this hatred. Rational argument is useless when employed against the irrational.

All Notre Dame can do is let its actions shut the critics up. Talk softly but carry a big stick.

In principle I'm comfortable with leaving it at that. But something tells me that when I'm at a party and I encounter another wannabe ESPN commentator ND hater, I'll feel compelled to argue my heart out.

Q & A with Ivan Maisel

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Ok, Ivan the Terrible isn't really here to answer any of these questions I have about his latest column concurring in the assessment of the "unprecedented state of health" of the BCS. But perhaps some of our more intrepid (i.e., brain-washed) readers will be so kind as to defend him. Either that or, like me, suffer the ignominy of having to agree with Pat Forde, who is advocating for a play-off. I'd say pick your poison, but that cliche implies too happy a death to account for this dilemma.

1. Will you admit to the reality that the present system is, in truth, nothing but a two-team playoff? If it is, why only two teams? If it's not, why not?

You cite that "[t]here's a reason that the ratings are up, that the last decade has given us more excitement and controversy and enjoyment and outrage than we can stand." You claim this is due to heightened importance of the regular season in the reformatted BCS.

2a. Is the new system the sole factor responsible for this increase in ratings? Might college football's exploding popularity also have something to do with any of the following: multiple offspring of cable sports television networks; nights other than Saturday chosen for broadcasting games; increased exposure on alternative media like the Internent and (excuse the hubris) blogs; a rash of stadium constructions/renovations; NFL-caliber coaches taking jobs at universities; increased parity, to the point where even a team from the part of college football that does deign to devalue their regular season by following it with a play-off can defeat, (ahem) on the road, a team from the part of college football that does not?

2b. The NFL has also grown similarly in television ratings this past decade. How do they determine the their league champion, again?

2c. If the lack of a "play-off" increases the importance of regular season games, and the BCS is, in fact, a two-team play-off, wouldn't your logic dictate that, upon switching from a system with no play-off to the present one, ratings would decrease?

2d. Why should anyone, other than your bosses, care more about television ratings than about accurately deciding which is the best team in college football?

You assert that "what is wrong with the BCS ... is not that only two teams get the chance to play for a national championship in the postseason. What is wrong with the BCS is how those teams are selected." You go on to argue that our problems with the present system would be ameliorated if we were to hand over the selection of the two teams to a disinterested panel of "commissioners and athletic directors".

3a. Why would these individuals be any less biased and self-interested than the coaches of the teams from their own schools and conferences? Should I really trust Jim Delany's vote to be more neutral than Jim Tressel's?

3b. To support this assertion, you give the example of NCAA basketball. Do they trust their own method of post-season selection enough to invite only two teams to it?

4. If the regular season is so important, why do you and your colleagues release preseason polls? Would it not be even more exciting without them?

In 2006, in what has been hailed as "the greatest regular-season game of all time" (apparently despite the fact that neither team saw fit to play any defense), Ohio State defeated Michigan 42-39. Although many argued that the championship game should be a Buckeyes-Wolverines rematch, the Florida Gators, clearly in hindsight the best team in college football, squeaked into the title game by .0101 points in the subsequent BCS standings.

5. Is one one-hundredth of a point a margin of error that you feel comfortable with?

6. You claim that, with the BCS, the regular season "matters". How much did it matter to the following teams?

a. 1999 Marshall
b. 2004 Utah
c. 2004 Boise State
d. 2006 Boise State
e. 2007 Hawaii

All finished the all-important regular season undefeated; Utah and 2006 Boise State finished even the post-season unbeaten.

In 2007, the New England Patriots finished the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record. The Cowboys, Packers, and Colts all had 13 wins. And the New York Giants were 10-6.

7a. Did the regular season not "matter" to the Patriots?

7b. Who would have been selected to the championship game under the present system?

7c. Who deserved the Lombardi Trophy?

Can You Image if Weis sent Clausen to San Quentin?

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Tim Tebow Recruits Hoodlums, Thugs

Looks like Charlie was right after all!

An Unprecedented State of Suck

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:53:00 +0000

After the cabal of NCAA football conference commissioners soundly rejected a reformatted "plus one" system of determining the championship of college football, ACC commissioner John Swofford had this to say about the current method (and I use the word "method" quite loosely):

"The BCS is in an unprecedented state of health."

As a lawyer, I'm trained in the ways of spotting flawed logic. And this whole excuse that a playoff in football would somehow cheapen the regular season happens to be the biggest example of sophistry in college sports that hasn't come out of Lee Corso's brain (and I use the word "brain" quite loosely.)

Let's end the verbal gynmastics right now. Wikipedia, which is never wrong (according to Wikipedia) defines a play-off as "a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion." To reiterate, a play-off need only be one game by this or any other sensible definition. The only real quality that a play-off need possess is that it not be a part of the regular season.

Sound familiar? Well, it certainly should, being that college football does indeed have a play-off, and it's called the BCS Championship game.

We are not, then, discussing the merits of whether there should be a play-off; rather, we are talking about degree. Right now, we include two teams. In basketball, we have 64(ish).

The regular season can tell us, in a general sense, which teams are the elite, but nearly always fails to clearly determine which one is the best. A play-off is the tool to be used for that task. In evaluating any play-off system, one must balance two competing goals: selecting enough of the most qualified teams from the regular season to be eligible for the post-season, and on the other end of the spectrum, not selecting so many teams that it defeats the purpose of having a post-season to begin with. The BCS commissioners, allegedly, fear the latter evil so much as to want avoid a "play-off" altogether, for fear that the post-season would become a second-season and thus devalue the regular one. As a consequence, they sacrifice the first goal almost entirely.

If we were to take the commissioners at their word (see: Bridge, Brooklyn), then the logical conclusion of their argument is to eliminate the BCS altogether and simply declare a champion after the regular season is over. This would place the maximum value on all those beloved regular season games. And just think, (Big Ten commissioner) Jim Delany: Ohio State would enter 2008 as two-time defending champions!!!

Of course, it only took one more game to prove that the computers and voters had erred in giving the Buckeyes the #1 ranking. They were both unable to account for differences in schedule strength, conference opponents and various other factors that confused them into thinking OSU was a better team than LSU. And the same held true the year before that.

Eliminating the championship game and declaring a champion after the regular season ends effectively draws the line at one team. And as the past two seasons have proven, this is a system with a great potential for error. The present system draws the line at two teams, which, while certainly more preferable, is still fraught with the possibility that we might be overlooking a better team. A four to eight team play-off would reduce this margin of error to acceptable levels. True, even then some teams who feel deserving will be left out, but time and feasibility constraints must be factored in after we get beyond eight teams.

But hey, as Kevin White said about the issue "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Perfect, we're back to talking about "unprecedented" states of health. Here are some examples of other entities basking in unprecedented health and unbroken-ness:

Amy Winehouse

North Korean civil liberties

The housing market

Dennis Kucinich's presidential campaign.

DURRRRRRR!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Notre Dame is so bad that even a retard can score three touchdowns against us…

Michigan wide-receiver Mario Manningham scored a 6 (six!) on the Wonderlic examination. This is roughly equivalent to an IQ of 72, placing him on the low end of the "borderline retarded" range. If he had answered one less question correctly, he would be declared legally retarded. The fact that he stayed academically eligible to play football for three years at the University of Michigan represents the absolute pinnacle of academic fraud.

Here is a definition of the term "borderline retarded" (scores between 70 and 79):

"Limited trainability. Have difficulty with everyday demands like using a phone book, reading bus or train schedules, banking, filling out forms, using a video recorder or microwave oven, etcetera, and therefore require assistance from relatives or social agencies in the management of their affairs. Can be employed in simple tasks but require supervision."

We're talking about a guy who has trouble operating microwaves and should probably be under the care of the state, receiving passing grades at a major university for three years. I wonder how many credits he received for "independent studies."

And now for the heart-warming true story of Mario Manningham, as portrayed by two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks…

Non-emasculating photos

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:34:00 +0000

After Sean's art house photo of the Golden Dome, these photos have a tough act to follow...

[click here for the full size photos...]

Sean's B/G Game Observations

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:14:00 +0000

Attendance

Boy was I wrong when I predicted 15,000 fans or less. There were probably around 30,000 people there. After last year’s debacle, that’s a heck of a lot of loyalty.

Weather

Rained moderately when we arrived at the parking lot around 7:45 AM, but stopped by the time most people arrived. Turned out to be a beautiful spring day, and I even got a little sunburn.

Game Observations

Like Luke said, take these observations with a grain of salt. Junior Jabbie was last year’s B/G game MVP and ended up fourth on the depth chart.

I zoned in on the tackles as frequently as possible, and it would appear that Paul Duncan might have improved slightly. The fact that the left side of the line didn’t implode on literally every single play indicates to me that strides have been made. Sam Young, on the other hand, was miserable. He had multiple false starts, multiple holds (some went uncalled) and lost several matchups against our unheralded defensive line. I’d have to agree with Luke and call him a bust, because he’s already got more experience than almost any offensive lineman in the country and he’s still a liability and can’t beat Paul Duncan of all people for the left tackle spot. I didn’t focus on the interior line as much, but it’s hard not to notice Chris Stewart. He’s 340 pounds of man-mountain and should be a real factor in our ground game.

Clausen looked better than ever, and should have answered any lingering questions about his arm strength on that 60 yard bomb in the fourth. He threw some bullets over the flat that proved he has more arm strength than we’ll ever need.

Grimes looks great. Reports that he came into Spring practice in tremendous shape and had an excellent camp seem to be substantiated. Kamara had a few easy drops, which would support the unsettling rumor that he’s been dealing with concentration issues this Spring. However, his game-winning catch in the corner of the end zone was a thing of beauty. Tate caught at least one pass that didn’t involve him running as fast as he could in a straight line, so he’s at least doubled the number of routes he’s memorized. I’m generally more optimistic about our receiving corps than most, but I would still like to see Floyd make a contribution this season.

Hughes was pretty impressive, but I have no idea what to make of that. Like I have said before, runningback is the most overrated position in football. A great offensive line will make a mediocre tailback into an all-american, and a poor offensive line will turn an all-american into a McDonalds employee. I’d love to see Hughes moved to fullback and Aldridge getting the nod at tailback. Allen has done nothing to impress me since he got here, and that trend continued on Saturday. Gallup may see some time as our hurry-up offense back, a la Junior Jabbie, but that would be the greatest possible extent of his contributions. Too much talent in front of him. Paskorz replaced Schwapp on one play and got absolutely tracked by a linebacker.

Plenty of four down-linemen sets on Saturday. I think this is a reflection of my theory that Tenuta is secretly in charge of our defense, and that is what he is used to working with. Williams looked like he had a great game, constantly getting double teamed and not ceding any ground. Again, this could be due to the fact that our offensive line couldn’t block my sister last year.

Harrison Smith is a baller. He’s similar to Tommy Z in that he just seems to have a knack for making big plays. Let’s just hope he’s more controllable than our mohawked maniac.

I thought the corners had a great game. I believe Charlie when he says he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to play four corners. Gary Gray was particularly impressive given his lack of experience.

Recruiting

For all the complaints I have about Charlie, I will never count recruiting among them. In fact, I would argue emphatically that he is the best recruiter in the nation. At the very least, his consistently excellent results merit him consideration for the top spot, along with Pete Carroll, Mack Brown, and Urban Meyer. However, those other three coaches are located in the three most stocked talent pools in the country (SoCal, Texas, and Florida), whereas Indiana might produce one legitimate Division I candidate per year. Carroll, Mack, and Brown also have beautiful weather, hot/slutty women, and degrees in ballroom dancing to sell. Notre Dame has lake-effect snow, fat chicks, and a rigorous academic experience to offer.

Despite these disadvantages, as well as fielding the worst team in the history of organized sports, Charlie reeled in the #1 recruiting class in the country last year, and he’s not slowing down a bit. This weekend, we landed Cierre Wood, the nation’s top runningback and #3 overall player, along with Tyler Stockton, a four star, 300 pound defensive tackle from New Jersey. Reclaiming the top spot seems unlikely, as recruiting services tend to reward quantity over quality and scholarships are tight this year, but it would appear that we are headed towards Charlie’s fourth straight elite recruiting class. Way to go, big guy.

Odds and Ends

The new turf looks great. Construction underway on Duncan Hall, the law school, and a new engineering building. DeBart quad pretty much torn to shreds. Campus is beautiful... trees are starting to bloom. Couldn’t ask for a better way to spend a Saturday. Hopefully Luke will have some pictures up soon, but in the meantime, I leave you with my artsy fartsy picture of the Dome.

Golden Dome - Click Here

Initial BG observations

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:44:00 +0000

Been up since 4:30 in the morning, so I'll keep this brief for now. We'll have more thorough analysis tomorrow along with a photo album.

All of these thoughts must be taken with a grain of salt, considering that the competition is ourselves and not in a 100% game situation. My general conclusion, though, is that we looked sharper than in last year's BG game. I make that judgment primarily based on the number of unforced errors, of which there were fewer this year.

Clausen: looks bulkier... He only had the opportunity to throw a couple long balls, but each of them looked a fair amount stronger than any of his passes last year. His decision-making also was speedier.

O-Line: I didn't get a chance to watch these guys as much as I would have liked. Duncan's play was better. The consensus in our group however was that Sam Young is a bust. His play was terrible.

Running backs: Hughes stood out the most, in my opinion. He exhibited the same impressive strength as last year but he was making better cuts in the backfield. Allen looks like the quickest guy on the field, but I'm not sure if he'll be a star back for us. Behind that line, I'm not sure anyone can.

Receivers: Grimes and Kamara both looked good, though Kamara had a couple dropped passes. I really really really hope this is not a sign of things to come for him this season. With his height and moves, he has to be an integral part of the offense.

Defense: I'm not sure what to think yet. Thoughts??

Blue-Gold scrimmage coverage

noreply@blogger.com (Luke) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:36:00 +0000

At least 3 of KG's writers will be present at tomorrow's scrimmage game. I'll get some good photos and we'll be sharing our observations and analysis this weekend.

We're also going to be throwing our traditional tailgate beforehand, and if it goes well enough, we won't be in a position to liveblog the day :-)

IRISH BEAT SKUNKBEARS!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:46:00 +0000

Notre Dame defeats Michigan 5-4 in OT to advance to the NCAA hockey championship game against Boston College on Saturday.

Brian, can we get some figures on what percentage of the Irish hockey team is enrolled in the college of business?

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:45:00 +0000

One of the mainstay's of MGoBlog's argument that it is literally impossible to give these kids a quality education, is that it is quite impossible for a football player to juggle academics with a *gasp* 40 hour a week commitment.

"Large Group of Academically Underqualified [sic] Persons +
40-hour-per-week-year-round-commitment +
Grad rates at or above the University Average =
X

Solve for X, and you get the kind of stuff detailed recently by the Ann Arbor News.I mean, duh. The only group of people dumb enough to believe you can take star athletes whose uninspiring high school GPAs are almost entirely fraudulent already, give them a full time job, and then get those star athletes to graduate without hijinks are dickwad Notre Dame fans…"

I call bullshit. There are 168 hours in any given week. Let's say you really like your sleep and need 9 hours of sleep every single day. That leaves 105 waking hours. Subtract 40 for football and you've got 65. Say you’re also taking a ridiculous, totally unrealistic 20 credit course-load, which means you're spending roughly 20 hours in class each week. That leaves 45 hours. Spend 3 hours each day eating, napping, bumming around, etc, and you've still got 24 hours left to study. That's more than an hour of studying for every hour you spend in class. Need more study time because you're a dumb inner-city kid from Detroit? Sleep for 7 hours a night, take a normal 15 credit course-load, and only screw around for 2 hours every day. Now you've got 50 hours to study every week (over 7 hours every day). You can study for more than an hour per classroom hour AND spend more than an hour per classroom hour meeting with a tutor.

I'm not saying it's easy to be a student athlete. There are a lot of demands on your time and everyone wants to have a social life too. I'm just saying it's not "OMG-impossible-put-them-all-in-general-studies-give-them-A's-for-learning-how-to-use-day-planners-its-the-only-way." Sure, I would admit that the demands associated with being a football player actually do rule out the possibility of being a geothermal chemistry major with a minor in molecular robotics, but there's no way that you can't maintain a C average in pretty much any normal college major while also working for 40 hours a week, especially if the University bends over backwards to give you personal tutors, flexible scheduling, and any other academic resources you could possibly want. Honestly, how hard is it to get a degree in English? Anthropology? Marketing?

As frequent commenter Hoss so eloquently puts it, Brian has bought in to "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Just because most of these guys are black and from poor neighborhoods does not make them incapable of learning in the right environment. If you give them the support they need - by constantly monitoring their progress, providing them with personal academic counselors and tutors, and exhibiting genuine care for their intellectual well-being - instead of resorting to "hijinx" like relegating them all to a worthless major that basically acts as daycare for football players or throwing credits at them for tracing the outline of their hand with a crayon and then making the picture into a turkey, then they really can succeed in a college environment.

Schools like Michigan see football players as mercenaries who were hired to do a job and care about them only insofar as they are eligible under NCAA guidelines. Fans like Brian attempt to justify this attitude by positing that it's literally impossible to educate them properly… but how can they possibly say that it's impossible to do things the right way if they've never even tried? It would be one thing if they had attempted to legitimately educate athletes in the past and failed. At least then they would have some reason to believe it's impossible. But to just throw them all into the "General Studies School for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Want to Do Other Things Good Too" and just assume they're all too poor, black, and stupid to even attempt to educate is bigotry, plain and simple. It's also downright frustrating for them to assume that everyone else simply must be cutting corners like them. Notre Dame works too damn hard at cultivating these kids to be accused of academic "hijinx" by douche-pumps like Brian.

I've witnessed first hand just how hard Notre Dame works to provide our athletes with a quality education, and believe me when I tell you that the academic disparity between incoming Notre Dame and Michigan recruits is not nearly as large as many Notre Dame fans would like to believe. Sure, we require a few more high school credits, won't admit JUCO transfers, and avoid the obvious bad apples, but there might be ten players, tops, on Michigan's football team that wouldn't have been admitted to Notre Dame. We're taking the exact same type of person and achieving vastly different results, and it's not due to any hijinx, shenanigans, razzle dazzle, or any other form of tomfoolery.

Brian, it's really not that hard to believe that you can do things the right way if you don’t give up on these kids before they even start.

I wouldn't pick your bracket on this, though...

noreply@blogger.com (Emperor Dan) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:50:00 +0000

As the NCAA Tournament kicks off today, we can already put the Irish in the Final Four. Academically speaking, that is.

Along with Purdue, Butler, and Western Kentucky, if the Final Four were determined by player graduation rates, Notre Dame (at 91%) would be in San Antonio. (And how about 3 Indiana schools sneaking in there!)

Brian would likely cite this as more evidence that ND coddles its athletes and pads their grades. Unfortunately, no relevant data exists for the Michigan basketball Wolverines, as the study didn't account for teams who failed to make even the NIT.

Day Four

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:38:00 +0000

Kelly Green's coverage of the Ann Arbor News' coverage of the University of Michigan academic scandal continues. The NCAA, as usual, has reacted quickly and decisively in an attempt to preserve the integrity of the game. NCAA president Myles Brand issued the following statement.

"…"

I… er… well, I'm sure he's getting around to it. After all, he's a busy man, what with Reggie Bush being given a car, a house, and thousands in cash while playing for USC. In fact, he just released the following update regarding that investigation.

"…"

No? Nothing? Well, at least he got Illinois' mascot banned for being offensive to the Illini tribe. Lord knows those brave natives have been through enough alrea… what's that you say? There's no such Indian tribe as the Illini and never has been?! Oh god dammit! When did the NCAA become such a clusterf*ck?!

Anyway, let's take a nice deep breath and get on with the shew…

Part four of Wolverine-gate was by far the biggest waste of time in the whole series. It seems those nefarious characters at UM's athletic department have been using student passwords to enroll athletes in general studies courses. You might want to sit down for this next part. Apparently, this practice violates OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY POLICY! For shame!!!!
Way to go out with a bang.

Business School Concentration Myth Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:44:00 +0000

According to the University, about 20% of the undergraduate population (roughly 8,000 students) is enrolled in the business school.

20% X 8,000 = 1,600 Business Majors

According to the Princeton Review, a little over 75% of the Mendoza School of Business is comprised of male students.

75% X 1,600 = 1,200 Male Business Majors

Thus, 30% of the male student body (1,200 / 4,000) is enrolled in the business school.

According to the official Notre Dame media guide, 31% (31 out of 99 players) are business majors.

Statistically speaking, football players are no more likely to major in business than the general male student body. I believe we can officially put this argument to rest.

On the other hand, I suppose this gives Brian ample evidence to support the theory that Notre Dame "funnels" its entire male population into the 3rd ranked business school in order to cover up any statistical discrepancies between the football team and the general student body, making us just as bad as Michigan. I know that sounds like a joke, but I honestly wouldn't put it past him. After all, he is the conspiracy theorist that provided us with this picture, proving that Henne was in… and that Michigan's tight end is like 12 feet tall.

The Saga Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:56:00 +0000

Day Three of the Michigan series, much like day two, is totally devoid of anything we didn't already know. Today's installment: Almost every single Michigan player majors in general studies, despite the fact that only one to two percent of the general student body majors in said program. Wow. Real groundbreaking stuff. Didn't know that a thirty second google search counted as research for a four part series these days.

The only interesting snippet from the whole piece was the following section, which illustrates the University's utter lack of concern for their student athletes…

"Although general studies accounted for 1.6 percent of all undergraduate degrees conferred at Michigan during the last academic year, Acho [the football team's senior academic counselor and co-director of Michigan's Academic Success Program] said she would be 'very comfortable' if every football player followed such a degree path.

Asked if there was any concern over the percentage of athletes in general studies, Acho said, 'Why would there be? It's one of the degree programs.'"

Come on… this "degree" teaches students how to convert degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celcius, and you're not even the least bit concerned? I suppose you can't expect this person to admit any wrongdoing, but the flippancy of her response is just disgusting. These players are just meat to an administration that knows full-well what it's doing to them.

I also found the following paragraph to be pretty funny, even though the topic has already been discussed on this blog…

"There is no foreign language or natural science requirement in general studies, and students do not have a stated major. Instead, the degree requires half of a student's credits to be in upper-level courses, spread out over three or more subject areas."

Half of your four years as a general studies major must be in junior or senior classes?! You're a junior or senior for half of your four years! I absolutely love this defense of the GS major. Every major in every college in the world requires you to take junior and senior level courses when you're a junior and senior! That's what makes you a junior or senior!!!!! As Luke stated previously, that's like saying half of every day is required to be PM!

Here's hoping part four is a lot juicier.

Ann Arbor News: Michigan Lacks Academic Integrity; Sky Reportedly Blue; Puppies Discovered to be Cute

noreply@blogger.com (Sean) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 03:49:00 +0000

An interesting article entitled "University of Michigan Athletes Steered to Professor" just popped up in The Ann Arbor News. My initial reaction: duh. When the vast majority of the football team is funneled into something called "General Studies," a major that less than 1% of the general student body even knows exists, it's not a giant leap of logic to assume that some of the professors are, shall we say, fans of the football program.

"At least 48 athletes have taken two or more independent study courses with Hagen; nine of those 48 have taken three or more… Michigan athletes described being steered to Hagen's courses by their athletic department academic counselors and, in some cases, earning three or four credits for meeting with Hagen for as little as 15 minutes every two weeks… When asked what they learned in Hagen's courses, some athletes described being taught how to take notes, use a day planner, make a calendar and manage their time."

It would appear that the article's author, Jim Carty, is trying to drum up some sort of scandal. However, after reading the article in its entirety, there's really no scandal to be found. Yeah, there's a professor who is basically giving out credits for free to the football team, but you can say that about 99% of colleges with Division I football programs. Besides, even if this was somehow out of the ordinary, the limp-wristed NCAA would never go after one of the most influential programs in the country.

This isn't to say that the article is totally devoid of interesting points. The following section, for instance, illustrates just how uneven the playing field is for Notre Dame.

"Last June, six weeks before football practice began, Perry Dorrestein, an offensive tackle, was below the 1.8 cumulative grade point average required by the Big Ten Conference to be eligible to participate in college athletics. Dorrestein, at the time about to enter his sophomore year, said the football team's academic counselor encouraged him to request an independent study over the summer term with Hagen. By mid-August, Dorrestein had received an A in the four-credit course, raising his grade point average to 1.91, above the 1.8 that permitted him to successfully appeal to be allowed to play football. Eligible to play this fall, Dorrestein moved into a backup role and appeared in four games."

Maybe our starting nose tackle wouldn't be enrolled at Ivy Tech right now if we had thrown some credits at him for learning how to use a day planner.

Another point that I found to be interesting was the fact that nine players have taken three or more of Hagen's "independent study" classes. At three to four credits per course, some Michigan football players are being given AN ENTIRE SEMESTER'S worth of guaranteed A's in Hagen's courses. A whole semester. That's one eighth of their entire college career. An entire semester's credit for learning how to "use a day planner" and "make a calendar." Three courses requiring 15 Minutes of work every two weeks over the course of a 20 week semester equals a net output of 7.5 hours. That's 1.6 college credits for every hour of work done. Now I've taken a few easy classes in my time. I think I showed up to freshman year astronomy a total of four times and still received an A… but to receive somewhere between 9 and 16 credits for learning to use a day calendar is an outright mockery of the term "student athlete" and smacks of academic fraud.

Am I surprised? Not in the least. Such is the craptastic, big-money world of college football. Michigan is no different than pretty much everyone else. Only a handful of teams (ND included) do things the right way, and they all suck at football (ND included) thanks in part to this competitive disadvantage. I guess I'm particularly disappointed in Michigan because they are an otherwise solid academic institution. They should be setting an example, not lowering the bar.

Oh well… I guess it is what it is. I'm still damn proud that we're sticking to our guns and maintaining our academic integrity, but I'm growing increasingly pessimistic that the playing field will ever be level again. When situations like the one described in this article are par for the course, and not even a blip on the NCAA's radar, what hope is there for any real change?

UPDATE: As it turns out, this article was only part one of a four part series. Part two came out today, and was pretty much a waste of ink. The gist of today's segment:

"[A] disproportionate fraction of students admitted at rock-bottom level are scholarship athletes in certain sports."

Stop the freaking presses! Reduced admissions standards exist for football players?! Someone give this man a Pulitzer! I'm starting to think this guy is Michigan's Eric Hansen, a local writer with the crazy idea that a published vendetta against the home team will somehow get him noticed by a larger paper.

So yeah, part two sucked, but it did contain the following money quote:

"Asked if Michigan could offer its student-athletes an academic experience similar to that of a typical student and still compete at the highest levels athletically, Basten [a UM professor] didn't hesitate. 'No,' he said."

No comment necessary.

There was also a pretty funny anecdote about one of the football players not knowing what "bureaucracy" meant. Good stuff, but I know of an ex-ND football player who didn't know what "prophylactic" meant, so glass houses and so forth. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but we gave him the academic support he needed and he walked away with a meaningful degree and a future outside of football.