So it appears that Fat Charlie has gotten a reprieve (depending on how you look at it) and will be back to coach the Irish next season. It's, of course, funny to talk like that since the guy has another seven years on his existing contract. And I do still think there's the chance that he gets canned next week as UND has proven themsleves unscrupulous before and could very well be currently sniffing around discreetly for other candidates who won't a) turn them down (ahem, Urban!) or b) lie about their resume (ahem, George!). Okay, though, assuming the Big Manatee is safe for another year, you might think it's time to put away the UND Haterade for the season because, really, what more can happen to them? Well, I have an answer for you.
Notre Dame currently -- eagerly -- awaits their bowl invite. And while we all wish nobody invites the mediocre 6-6 squad, you know somebody will. And Notre Dame will go and collect their paycheck.
One thing that's not often pointed out, though we try to do it as often as we can, is the fact that Notre Dame's last bowl victory came on January 1, 1994, when they eeked out a win over Texas A&M, 24-21. That was almost fifteen years ago, folks. I was in high school. Boilerdowd had hair. Tim was thin. I mean, it was a long time ago!
But that's not where they can set yet another mark in futility. No, we've heard loads about how this is the worst two-season stretch in UND history. But if UND loses their bowl game, they will drop to 6-7 on the season (after a 4-1 start, no less), which would be their second straight sub-.500 season. And do you know the last time that happened? 22 years ago, in '85 and '86, during the Gerry Faust to Lou Holtz transition.
Being able to compare any UND team to one from the Gerry Faust Era is fun, because Domers who remember Faust's teams almost vomit when you bring him up. Try it, it's fun! And a team run by such a schematic genius as Chuck Weis being compared to a Faust team, often considered the darkest period in UND history?
Well, that would just be a shravesty.
8 comments:
It amazes me how the morons at thebiglead.com kept saying that ND would fire ND and hire Urban Meyer. They seem to forget (or probably don't know) that Urban rejected them before taking the Florida job. He would be insane to leave Florida, one of the top 5 best jobs in the country IMO.
Check out this commentary from Seth Davis about Purdue. I can't disagree with anything. It's pretty spot on except for saying that Keaton Grant can't be a consistent scoring threat.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/seth_davis/12/04/hoop.thoughts/1.html
Yep, Urban Meyer saw that sinkhole for what it is and avoided it. And he's done pretty damn good at UF. Winning a national title, as it does most places, will buy you a lot of good will.
The funniest part of the entire ND saga is that they honestly believe they should be in the national title mix on some sort of regular basis. It's just laughable. Those days are gone, Domers. You're a mediocre program in an undesirable part of the country (not to knock my buddies in IN but it's not Texas, Florida or California), with a heavy religious overtone. Plus, the program is simply polarizing -- there's no in between for most people... you either fiercely love them or venomously hate them.
Living in Indiana isn't so bad; South Bend is a SHITHOLE though.
Just in case someone thinks ND has improved this year, look at the records of the teams on their schedule - much worse than last year. Do you think they would have won a game in the SEC. I guess they did make a 3 point offensive improvement against So Cal. And to top it off, during one of the few minutes I watched ND on TV this year, the "unbiased" announcers said that ND's skill people were as good as anyone in the nation. What is he smokin'.
What's amazing is when you look at their schedule next year. They'll be lucky to pull off another 6 win season. I know it's crazy to make predictions over a year out, but let's remember that Weis has been horrific against any team with a pulse.
2009 Notre Dame Football Schedule
Sept. 5 NEVADA- Win I guess
Sept. 12 at Michigan- I see a loss, as UM will be back
Sept. 19 MICHIGAN STATE- loss
Sept. 26 at Purdue- I push because I know nothing about Purdue 2009
Oct. 3 WASHINGTON- Win
Oct. 10 Open Date
Oct. 17 USC- Loss
Oct. 24 BOSTON COLLEGE- Loss
Oct. 31 vs. Washington State (at San Antonio, Texas)- Win, but what's with the location?
Nov. 7 NAVY- Push, but more likely a win
Nov. 14 at Pittsburgh- push, more likely a loss
Nov. 21 CONNECTICUT- I have no clue, so I'll say push
Nov. 28 at Stanford- First look says win, but Stanford is definitely improving and so this could actually be a loss.
I see 3 for sure wins, then a couple likely wins. I see them with little chance against UM, MSU, USC or BC. The rest are toss ups to me right now.
Do you think they know this? There's no way they won't have to fire him next year. He's going to be out of a job.
It's got to be that they can't sell this job to anyone.
And who would want the job in the first place? I mean, if you're going to coach at a school that expects to win 10-12 games every year, shouldn't you at least wait to take over until they're coming off a disappointing 7- or 8-win season?
And yeah, Indiana isn't exactly a hotbed of talent, and even if it were, Wisconsin and Michigan and Michigan State and Ohio State will be knocking on those doors right behind you. (Hopefully Purdue as well, but right now I'm not sure we would take that many recruits from the Manatee's replacement.) Of course Ohio and Illinois and maybe Michigan have more players, but then you overlap with several other successful programs. (And for that matter, there are some other schools that might be drawing players now. Heck, if you went to Central Michigan, at least you'd be going to a bowl game every year. Of course, we own them.)
The sad thing is that Notre Dame will still probably get above $1M from the BCS this year, and won't even have to show up...
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