Coming soon...

All of my quiet desperation and long hours of solitary obsession over my blog has finally begun paying dividends in my quest for complete world domination.

I will be added to the blogroll of a new website under construction called Write On Sports. Now, I will be read by 10s of people every year! At this rate, I will have taken over the world media by 3765.

Seriously, I'm excited about being added to this new website, and hope that I can get a little bit more exposure for my writing as a result. I'm also hoping to be part of the ranking poll again this year, but I will let you know more about that as it comes.

As I'm getting ready to wrap up my Spring Previews by the end of the week, I will be working on my massive Notre Dame Season Preview - a multi-part breakdown of the Irish for the 2006-2007 football season. It should be even bigger and better than last year's, with (hopefully) some insights from former players. Stay tuned...

Woo-Hoo, Pictures!

I'm going to start playing a little more with pictures from here on out, as I get more and more obsessed with writing about America's Greatest College Football Team Ever.

So, this post is mostly a way for me to start playing with the picture settings on blogger. And what better way to do so than with this beautiful picture of Our Lady perched atop the Golden Dome and a proud pic of the leprechaun. As you see, I am using these pix to pretty up my template for blogging as well.
I'm still not sure what half the stuff in the template editing window means, but I'm starting to get the hang of this.

Bear with me for a little while if my blog starts looking all wonky. I'll try not to goof it up too much.

2006 Spring Opponent Preview - North Carolina Tarheels

Top player: Ronnie McGill, Sr., RB
Make-or-break player coach: Frank Cignetti, Offensive Coordinator
Biggest offensive strength: Running backs
Biggest offensive weakness: Quarterback
Biggest defensive strength: Secondary
Biggest defensive weakness: Defensive Line depth
Spring Depth Chart

North Carolina will be a middling ACC team this year, just like they have been going back forever. The biggest questions in the North Carolina program this spring are all on the offensive side of the ball. Their offensive coordinator for the past several years retired, and replacing him is Fresno State Coordinator Frank Cignetti. Cignetti has a daunting task ahead of him to install his offensive scheme. The quarterback situation is unsettled, as Nebraska transfer Joe Dailey and Redshirt Freshman Cam Sexton battle it out for the vacant starting position left by Matt Baker's graduation. In addition to losing their starting QB, they must replace 4 of their top 5 receivers from a year ago. However, their running game should be solid enough to keep this offense in games, with the tandem of Ronnie McGill and Barrington Edwards leading the charge.
The defense is a little more settled, with some good experience and talent returning to the secondary. Their safeties in particular are worth noting - Kareen Taylor and Trimane Goddard. Last year's leading tackler returns to the linebacking corps in Larry Edwards, but their is little experience behind him. The most precarious part of this defense is the line, which has some solid starters, but very little depth behind them. There is no Julius Peppers in this group, so don't expect too much pass rush.
Overall, this should be a good, physical team. However, their lack of playmakers on either side of the ball will keep them from breaking out this year.
Notre Dame should handle this team easily, unless they come in distracted and unfocused. They need to be disciplined on special teams, with speedy and shifty Brandon Tate toting the ball. As long as the Irish play within themselves and don't get sloppy, this game should be over early in the second half.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Prediction
9/2	Rutgers	W
9/9	Virginia Tech	L
9/16	Furman (Div. I-A)	W
9/23	at Clemson	L
10/7	at Miami	L
10/14	South Florida	W
10/19	at Virginia	L
10/28	Wake Forest	W
11/4	at Notre Dame	L
11/11	Georgia Tech	L
11/18	North Carolina State	L
11/25	at Duke	W

All-Time Greatest College Football Teams

Many fans of other football teams like to claim that their team is the greatest football team of all time. For example, Alabama fans claim they are the best, 'cause they have more national championships than anyone (simply not true outside the state of Alabama). Michigan fans like to point at their total wins and winning percentage as proof that they are the all-time best (although they fail to mention the lack of championships or that the Irish are right on their tails in winning %). Southern Cal fans like to talk about their recent success and the fact that nobody has more Heisman winners than them (although the Irish have the same number - 7).

Any rational view of the evidence through history has Notre Dame head and shoulders above the rest as the most storied college football program in history. But don't take my word for it - look at the numbers:

School	Winning %	Recognized Championships	Heisman Winners	All-time Wins
Notre Dame	74.31%	12	7	811
Southern Cal	70.02%	10	7	732
Alabama	71.15%	11	0	774
Michigan	74.33%	7	3	848
Oklahoma	71.02%	7	4	754
Ohio State	71.05%	5	6	775
Nebraska	70.64%	5	3	802
Texas	71.23%	4	2	800
Tennessee	69.70%	4	0	752
Penn State	68.78%	2	1	772
Georgia	64.17%	2	2	693
Louisiana State	63.57%	2	1	670

Responses to common arguments from Notre Dame haters:

Notre Dame was only good for a little while way back when; they haven't been good in ages.
Notre Dame has won at least one championship in each decade from 1920s - 1980s (with a near miss in 1993 to miss out on winning a championship in the 90s)
1920s: 1924, 1929
1930s: 1930
1940s: 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949
1950s: 1953
1960s: 1966
1970s: 1973, 1977
1980s: 1988
No other team can even come close to making a similar claim.
USC and Alabama did not win any championships in the 40s, 50s, or 80s.
Michigan didn't win in the 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s.
Oklahoma didn't win in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s or 90s.

But [Miami, Florida State, Washington, Florida, Boise State, Yale, Princeton, Maryland, etc.] aren't even on your list, despite their [championships, winning percentage, Heisman winners, etc.]
I limited the above list to teams that have played at least 1,000 games, have an all-time winning % of at least 60%, have won at least 2 Recognized National Championships (at least one of which occured after 1950), and are still playing college football on the Div. I-A level.
This is an all-time best list, not a "best since they started playing" or "best of the decade" or "best while they were still playing" or "best of their era" list. You're not that cool. Deal with it.

Notre Dame doesn't deserve credit for being good because they didn't play in bowl games for many years.
Bowl games used to be exhibitions and didn't "count" for anything. This is why Alabama claims a 1973 championship despite losing to the Irish in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame refused to play in bowl games because they conflicted with final exams. Notre Dame has participated in bowl games for as long as they have had any impact on the national championship. Claiming that Notre Dame doesn't deserve credit for seasons that they didn't participate in bowl games is like claiming that Benjamin Harrison lost the 1892 election because he lost the popular vote. It's just wrong.

"But [Michigan, Southern Cal, Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee] has won more championships than that! Their website says so!" or "Notre Dame's website says you've only won 11 championships, and you're claiming 12!"
The numbers used in the chart above are the recognized championships according to the College Football Data Warehouse. Michigan "claims" 4 more championships than the recognized number. Ohio State and Tennessee claim 2 more, and USC and Alabama claim one more.
Notre Dame claims one less, as they only claim AP national championships after 1936. Therefore, they do not claim the 1953 championship - Maryland won the AP and UP poll that year. Notre Dame was 9-0-1, while Maryland was 10-1-0. Notre Dame was selected by the National Championship Foundation and the Helms Athletic Foundation. The College Football Data Warehouse has decided to recognize Notre Dame as co-champions for that year (due in part to their unbeaten record).
I chose the recognized championships from the College Football Data Warehouse because I felt that it would be less biased (and less confusing) than any other method.
For the record, Notre Dame has won more AP national championships than any other team. If you count all of the major selectors, Notre Dame has been selected as the champion in 21 different seasons.

But my team is really better than your team because of [number of draft picks, all-americans, hall of famers, etc.]
Notre Dame has had 30 unanimous first team All-Americans, more than any other school. They have have 78 different consensus All-Americans as designated by the NCAA, more than any other school. Overall, Notre Dame has had 177 selections on All-America first teams, more than any other school.
Notre Dame has had 41 players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, more than any other school. We've also had 5 coaches (surprise - more than anyone) elected to the Hall of Fame as well.
Notre Dame has had 9 players elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (although if the person you are talking to is basing their argument on what players did AFTER they left school, they've already devolved into a completely different topic).
Notre Dame has had 132 players drafted into the NFL. I'm not sure if this is more than anyone else, but it is more than Southern Cal (120), Michigan (107), and Alabama (94).I got tired of counting. If you want to go count your school's draft picks, go here.

But my school [graduates players, has better academics, higher GPAs/SATs, more Nobel Prize Winners/Astronauts/Actors, etc.]
Again, this argument is about college football history, not which school is best academically. However, I'd be happy to compare our graduation rates with anyone in the country.

We have a bigger stadium/fanbase!
We have a broadcast deal with NBC to broadcast our home games nationally every week. And we have had 148 consecutive games televised. Now tell me again about your fan base? Notre Dame could sell out a stadium much larger than our current 80,795 capacity, but we don't want a stadium any bigger than we've got. We sell out our stadium every week (179 consecutive home sellouts) and don't need to build a monstrosity to prove our fan base is bigger. Notre Dame developed a national fan base during the Rockne area, and has the largest, broadest fan base of any university. (We also have the largest, broadest group of Notre Dame haters in the country for the same reasons)

In short, when it comes to any argument about the most storied program in college football history, Notre Dame is now, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, the greatest college football program in history.

End of discussion.

SBT just went crazy...

After my glowing review of how adeptly Weis has handled the media, the media snapped back this week, as two South Bend Tribune, uh, writers? decided that they wanted to spend ALL WEEK attacking Notre Dame with innuendo, and passive aggressive association.

The "writers" started with a legitimate criticism of the over-the-top nature of the Jimmy Clausen commitment.

However, the two hacks in question decided that, despite having to write several more articles this week, they would just tap dance on the integrity of the Irish football program through unfounded hints and allegations.

The article "Into the Gray" is an insult to journalism. First they start with a policy stated almost 4 years ago under a different coach and regime, then assume that that is the continued policy of the new coach. Then they hint that Coach Weis violated NCAA rules in the Claussen commitment press conference, but have no actual connection between Coach Weis and the Claussen family, the PR firm they hired to put on the press conference, or anything having to do with the press conference. Except that the kid put on the press conference to announce that he is coming to Notre Dame.

They bash Weis for "allowing" an ESPN film crew to follow the much-hyped recruit during his visit to the Spring Game. They have no proof that the Coach or administration did anything to orchestrate such contact, beyond the fact that ESPN (much like the bitter "reporters" at the SBT) were given press credentials. They argue that Coach Weis should have somehow stopped the ESPN crew from pursuing a story, due to some outdated policy. However, previously in this same article, these writers had bashed ESPN for getting their shadows in an Irish Sports Report (ISR is published by the SBT) writer's picture of the recruits. They quote bylaws and a vague comment from notorious say-nothing Athletic Director Kevin White. But there is no evidence of wrongdoing, and all they do is insinuate that Coach Weis violated NCAA regulations.

I could deal with one poorly written article, as the SBT is no New York Times or Washington Post. However, this poorly written story now has snowballed into what appears to be a concerted effort on the part of the SBT to attack the football program with hyperbole and innuendo. They compare Claussen, by all accounts a well-behaved, intelligent, Christian boy who works very hard to a cocaine snorting failure USC quarterback. They compare Weis' current recruiting success to USC's recent recruiting success, then suggest that as a result the Irish will have problems like USC is facing right now (Players being given $10,000 per month apartments, players' families being given million dollar homes to live in, and a sexual assault charge). Then, Jason Kelly (usually a middling to decent writer, if not very talented) suggests that the current Irish recruiting machine is just like the notoriously unscrupulous recruiting of the "Fab Five," a class of 5 basketball recruits for the University of Michigan which accepted cash handouts from millionaire boosters to come to Ann Arbor, forcing UM to furl their Final Four banners from that era.

Usually, the SBT has been even handed with the Notre Dame athletics teams. They criticize when criticism is warranted, and praise when praise is due in their commentary. However, this recent spate of unsubstantiated drivel is highly uncharacteristic, and appears to be a campaign initiated by the Tribune administration to attack Weis' recruiting practices.

On message boards, this is speculated to stem from a perceived slight on the part of the SBT, who feel that national media outlets have been given far better access than the SBT, and that the SBT is jealous.

I don't care what the reasons for the attack are, but I am disappointed in the SBT, and as a result, I will not be purchasing the Irish Sports Report this year as I normally do. I know that my actions will have no impact on the reporting in the SBT, but at least I can feel like I've done my part.

In fairness, the South Bend Tribune Sports writers are separate from the writers and staff of the SBT as a whole. I have no issue with the rest of the SBT, except that the editor-in-chief and other administrative persons signed off on (or possibly even orchestrated) such a series of unsrupulous and inflammatory articles. The University should pull their credentials entirely.

Weis = media darling

I just finished listening to Colin Cowherd (from Eastern Washington) talk to Kirk Herbstreit (former Ohio State QB). They both quickly stamped out yesterday's talk about a poorly written article that claimed Notre Dame had engaged in negative recruiting. The kid accredited with making the statement (Jamie Cumby) issued a prompt clarification and retraction. Also, the university in question (Clemson) issued a statement as well.

Herbstreit stated that Coach Weis was the most candid coach he has ever spoken to, and absolutely does not believe that he would ever engage in any such behavior. Then, Cowherd started going through his perseason top ten - The Irish were #1, and Hebstreit agreed.

Two years ago, the Jamie Cumby incident would have been a major story that dragged on for weeks, as fork-tounged Willingham refused to actually denty negatively recruiting in between blah-speak about moulding young men.

To see the difference between Coach Weis and Willingham, all you need to do is listen to them for a couple of minutes. The following are the most recent examples:

Coach Weis:
"I find it quite amusing a student-athlete already enrolled at another university has decided to be the team spokesman on Notre Dame recruiting practices. We do not use negative recruiting tactics. If supporting Notre Dame academics can be misconstrued as speaking down on another school's academics, call us guilty. This is an obvious case of negative reporting against Notre Dame by other institutions. Maybe they should look in the mirror."

Coach Willingham:
"My first order of business was to identify exactly what is a blog? My first resource was to ask one of my children to define and inform. Their definition of a blog as "an internet chat site of posted personal opinions and ideas," left me a little unsure, not that they were incorrect. Not being comfortable with that definition I sought a more technical definition, and Google provided the technical assistance: "A public web site where users post informal journals of their thoughts, comments, and philosophies, updated frequently and normally reflecting the views of the blog's creator." I do not know if I fit either definition exactly, but this will be my initial journal or newsletter. . .
"I have always believed that it is extremely important to have a sense of self and direction. Our football program must develop that knowledge of "self," and what the team desires to accomplish. . . Not only stretch our talents and skills, but provide a strong foundation for life."

I'm sorry, but Ty Willingham is uninspiring. He spends all of his breath paying lip service to integrity, and all of his time playing golf - I don't think he spends more than 10% of his time coaching. Coach Weis spends all of his breath and time representing the interests of the university, the football team, and his players.

And he is damn good at it:

Herbstreit (ESPN) on last year's recruiting pre-season:
"[Notre Dame] won’t have a problem in recruiting. There have already been eight to nine verbal commitments from very quality players. To receive that many commitments this early is rare; something is happening there. Weis did a great thing in hiring his staff, he went out and hired former head coaches and recruiting coordinators from big conferences who can coach and recruit." (Notre Dame signed a top 5 class)
"I like the future of the program. A lot of high school kids want to play there and recognize what Weis has done in the NFL and three Super Bowl rings. High school kids want to know who can get them to the NFL."

#1 recruit and Notre Dame commit Jimmy Clausen:
"Honestly, I wasn’t really looking at Notre Dame before Coach Weis came. I was real honored and blessed to get a scholarship from a guy like Coach Weis that has three Super Bowl rings on his fingers. It all came down to Coach Weis."

Colin Cowherd (ESPN):
"You have to be blind or in severe, irreversible denial to not see ND recruiting is back in a big way."

Gene Wojciechowski (ESPN):
"If it's possible to quantify an attitude, a confidence, then this program feels different. It is more sure of itself. It has its swagger back, which figures, since Weis could write the definition of the word in your Webster's. "

Dennis Dodd (CBS):
"Weis is very, very good at [controlling the message]."
"Weis waved his wand in 2005, turning an uncertain, unaccomplished wannabe into his Next Brady."
In a Mastercard commercial parody: "There are some things about being a football player you just can't teach. For everything else, there's Charlie Weis."
"Weis is a veteran coach with all the answers. Really." (in coach Weis' second year)

Stewart Mandel (Sports Illustrated):
"I was there [for the USC-Notre Dame game] that day, and what I saw was an extremely well-coached team that gets the maximum ability out of every player on the field."

Tim Dahlberg (Associated Press):
"In just one season, Weis has resurrected a team that was foundering under Ty Willingham and restored the vaunted Notre Dame name to the top of college football’s elite. He came within a whisker of beating the nation’s No. 1 team in the game of the year, made a Heisman candidate out of quarterback Brady Quinn, and brought back the swagger in South Bend."

Best Fight Songs

1. Notre Dame - Notre Dame Victory March
2. Southern Cal - Fight On
3. Michigan - Hail to the Victors
4. Tennessee - Rocky Top
5. Ohio State - Fight the Team Across the Field
6. Navy - Anchors Aweigh
7. Army - On Brave Old Army Team
8. Oklahoma - Boomer Sooner
9. Nebraska - There is No Place Like Nebraska
10. Alabama - Yea Alabama

Honorable Mention (fight songs):
Mississippi - Forward Rebels
Texas - Texas Fight
Texas A&M - Aggie War Hymn

Honorable Mention (non fight songs):
Mississippi State - Battle Hymn of the Republic
Auburn - Eye of the Tiger
Iowa - In Heaven There is No Beer
Ohio State - Hang On Sloopy
Stanford - All Right Now
Notre Dame - Rakes of Mallow