After considering all of the candidates for a couple of weeks, and reading everything I could get my hands on about the potential candidates out there right now, I am finally prepared to endorse a candidate for Athletics Director at the University of Notre Dame: Steve Orsini, currently at Southern Methodist University.
The straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, was this article about the hiring of June Jones at SMU.
Southern Methodist was the first and only recipient of the NCAA's feared "death penalty" back in the 1980s, and has not been any type of contender since, with only one winning season since (6-5 in 1997). The hiring of June Jones constituted a major paradigm shift at SMU - hiring an elite coach and paying him as if you were already a top 25 program. And to fund this bold move, Orsini personally put together a group of alums to pay the salary.
That kind of drive and vision is exactly what this athletics department needs. Kevin White was a great administrator that did many wonderful things for Notre Dame athletics. However, he never seemed to engage some of the University's most powerful tools - namely, its tradition and history, and wealthy and dedicated alumni network. Orsini managed to do this at a program that had been dead for over 20 years, reinvigorating the entire program.
This is the type of vision that will find a way to make an Alabama - Notre Dame series fit into the NBC contract and current scheduling commtiments. The type of vision that will ensure that every hire is an upgrade, and that every facility is top notch. The type of vision and leadership that can bring all of Notre Dame athletics - not just football - back to the apogee of collegiate athletics. He can bring the Notre Dame basketball team back to the Final Four, and restore Notre Dame's place at the pinnacle of college football. He can build on the solid foundation that Kevin White has laid and take this university to the next level.
8 comments:
I too like Orsini, but do you think he can get it done with BCS negotiations? How about facilities?
I just have this awful feeling that they are going to hire within the current Athletic Administration staff (John Heisler). He just put his feather in the cap with sealing the deal with NBC for five more years.
Hopefully they can land Orsini or someone with some BCS clout!
you might want to double check your photo media boy.
Anon 4:15, Yes that is June Jones in the forefront, but Orsini is on the left hand side of that picture.
Thanks master of the obvious....
I know it's Orsini in the background. But why would "Domer Law" use this one unless he thought it was a pic of Orsini? It's a horrible photo. There are about 50 others on the net that would make more sense than this picture for an article about Orsini.
You're not fooling anybody. You know so little about college football that you don't know what either Orsini OR June Jones looks like. That is pathetic. You have no business writing a blog about college football.
Dude, if you don't even know what Orsini looks like, you probably shouldn't be offering an opinion on it.
I did a google search for Orsini, and this picture kept coming up.
I admit, I have never met the man, and don't have any idea what he looks like.
That does not make me a poor writer, or not knowledgable about college football.
Regardless of what he looks like, his resume speaks for itself.
Sorry friend, but it does cause you to lose credibility. Whether you want to admit it or not... the fact that you don't know what Orsini looks like means you have no business blogging about the guy and "endorsing" him as the next Notre Dame AD.
A real journalist would have done his/her homework before writing an article. A real journalist would, at the very least, know what he looks like. This is exactly the type of thing most real journalists are talking about when they bash bloggers.
Dude, there's nothing wrong with not knowing what Orsini looks like. 99% of the CFB watching population probably wouldn't know what Orsini looks like either.
But then again, they don't operate a blog and try to act like they are authentic sports media and that their opinion matters or that anybody cares to read it. They just tune in on Saturday and root for their favorite team. There's nothing wrong with being an ordinary fan.
You on the other hand (like almost every other ND blogger out there) thinks you know something about this school that the rest of us don't. And you get all pissed off when a real journalist (i.e someone with an education in journalism and who gets paid to do it for a living) has something negative to say about bloggers. Then you go off half cocked and blog about how bloggers don't get any respect.
Well newsflash genius, the reason you don't get any respect (other than from other bloggers) is because you post a picture of June Jones in an article about Orsini.
You can either get all pissed off about my comments and retort to them like a little bitch who can't take criticism, or you can think about what I'm saying and apply it so that you don't make an ass of yourself in the future.
Frankly, I don't give a shit what you do. It's your blog... But the next time you go off half cocked and make a blog entry bitching and complaining about how bloggers don't get any respect, you might want to stop and think about why that is.
I have never claimed to be sports media or a journalist.
I am a Notre Dame alum, and a lawyer by trade.
This is my hobby, and I write for fun and to add my opinion to the ether of the information superhighway.
If you want journalism, go to cnn.com, read the New York Times, or tune the radio to NPR.
This is just my take on the world of Notre Dame football. Please, don't take it so seriously.
That said, I try to, within the time constraints I have, do my best to provide a well-researched and balanced view of the state of Notre Dame football.
Also, as I said in my earlier post about blogging, every source of news has to be taken with a grain of salt.
I live in South Bend, and I have friends in and around the program, as well as access to all of the local media and gossip. And yes, I do think I know something about this school that no-one else does - that is the beauty of perspective.
Also, for someone who thinks my writing is so poor and unworthy of attention, you spend an awful lot of time reading it, thinking about it, and then drafting a response to it.
So I must have done something right, despite screwing up one picture.
Wacko:
I enjoy reading your blog. Keep up the good work.
I dislike people who call you friend and then proceed to stab you in the back repeatedly. On top of that, they don't have the balls to identify themselves other than as "anon"...to heck with him/her.
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