"Even though we're similar academically, we're in a little different boat as Stanford and Notre Dame," said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. "We've been consistently winning since 1995. They're still saying they can do it, but we're doing it."


when you're getting legitimately owned by the head coach of northwestern, it's time to re-evaluate your program.

why are we worried about what ND fans think? they aren't in control of their program or the schedule they get.

Catholics. Meh.

WaltzingMathilda: why are we worried about what ND fans think? they aren't in control of their program or the schedule they get.

no but they can control the undeserved air of superiority that they carry around.

Notre Dame hasnt been a good football team in a decade. Between them an OSU fans I dont know which one i hate more.

thomps: WaltzingMathilda: why are we worried about what ND fans think? they aren't in control of their program or the schedule they get.

no but they can control the undeserved air of superiority that they carry around.

i don't think they can. i'm pretty sure it's a required minor discipline. freshman year, all the courses teach them about the wonderful, storied history of ND football. sophomore year, every student has to write a treatise on why the film "Rudy" saved America, junior year is all about how to give jobs to alumni under any circumstances, and senior year they learn how to make sure that within 5 minutes of meeting anyone it is clear to all persons involved that they graduated from Notre Dame.

Hasn't this been widely accepted for years now? Even within the ranks of Notre Dame nation?

thomps: when you're getting legitimately owned by the head coach of northwestern, it's time to re-evaluate your program.

Heheheheheh.

I tell you thish kid Jimmy Clausen ish the next Ron Powlus!

Honestly, I don't think most Notre Dame fans anymore think they are "entitled" to be in the National Championship discussion just because they are "Notre Dame". They have had enough poor seasons as of late to realize they are not the program of 20 years ago.

Now, on the otherhand, USC fans and poll voters.....

True story about ND superiority in general:

My father in law and I were playing golf at a resort course once, and we got hooked up with Notre Dame Guy. You know the type, ND golf shirt, navy blue shorts, ND golf back, ND head covers, even little ND logos on his golf balls.

All he did was talk about how great a school ND was. He also kept making inferences that because I went to a public university, I must not be that smart. For the record, I went to a top 20 engineering school and got a EE degree.

Anyhow, after a while, he turned his big mouth to my father in law. Started hammering him about whether he was smart enough to have made into a good college. Finally, he asked where HE went to college.

Without missing a beat, my FIL, a quiet guy, says "I did my undergrad at Yale and got my MBA at Harvard."

(Which is true, BTW.)

Mr. Notre Dame didn't say a word the rest of the round.

Title game: Alabama vs. Texas
Rose: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Fiesta: USC vs. TCU
Sugar: Florida vs. Cincinnati
Orange: Georgia Tech vs. Iowa

No Boise St? I can't wait for the whining....but but but we beat Oregon and.....UC Davis and San Jose St even though are team wasn't feeling great for those games.

Rankings and Bowls should be determined by # of quality wins, otherwise why bother scheduling any meaningful games.

I still can't understand why ND is on TV for every single game. I can think of about a dozen other games I'd rather see that ND v. anyone.

spqr2001: I still can't understand why ND is on TV for every single game. I can think of about a dozen other games I'd rather see that ND v. anyone.

well i think the navy game was good for a little bit of schadenfreude.

spqr2001: I still can't understand why ND is on TV for every single game. I can think of about a dozen other games I'd rather see that ND v. anyone.

they have a shiat ton of fans. that's a lot of eyeballs for advertisers. and that, my friend, is how TV works.

I am pretty sure that Notre Dame fans understand this. It's been quite a few years.

So who will "Belligerent Celtic Ethnic Stereotypes" lose to this week?

WaltzingMathilda: they have a shiat ton of fans. that's a lot of eyeballs for advertisers. and that, my friend, is how TV works.

Plus those fans are dispersed nationwide and, it being a competitive school academically, they have some money that advertisers want. Plus they negotiated a TV contract, because they're smart... even if it has recently allowed the rest of us to witness some serious debacles at their expense.

Drunk Astronaut: True story about ND superiority in general:

My father in law and I were playing golf at a resort course once, and we got hooked up with Notre Dame Guy. You know the type, ND golf shirt, navy blue shorts, ND golf back, ND head covers, even little ND logos on his golf balls.

All he did was talk about how great a school ND was. He also kept making inferences that because I went to a public university, I must not be that smart. For the record, I went to a top 20 engineering school and got a EE degree.

Anyhow, after a while, he turned his big mouth to my father in law. Started hammering him about whether he was smart enough to have made into a good college. Finally, he asked where HE went to college.

Without missing a beat, my FIL, a quiet guy, says "I did my undergrad at Yale and got my MBA at Harvard."

(Which is true, BTW.)

Mr. Notre Dame didn't say a word the rest of the round.

These big programs get down for a while, but they usually make a phenomenal comeback. Notre Dame has been down for a long time though. I thought they should have revived by now. How many years has it been?

The biggest comeback lately has been Alabama. Post Gene Stallings has been like the Great Depression. Could have been worse though. They really wanted Rich Rod bad. Looks like Saban may have turned things around, that is if he can do anything in the post season.

Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy...

spqr2001: I still can't understand why ND is on TV for every single game. I can think of about a dozen other games I'd rather see that ND v. anyone.

Notre Dame has a contract with NBC to boradcast all those games.

Dr_Retriever: These big programs get down for a while, but they usually make a phenomenal comeback.

as a nebraska fan, it is my duty to believe this statement.

factoryconnection: Plus those fans are dispersed nationwide and, it being a competitive school academically, they have some money that advertisers want. Plus they negotiated a TV contract, because they're smart... even if it has recently allowed the rest of us to witness some serious debacles at their expense.

Exactly. With CBS and the SEC, ABC/ESPN with a Big 10/Big 12/PAC-10 game of the week as well, it's not a bad move for NBC. There's not much left that they could get exclusives on so you might as well take the next best thing.

Pitt is favored by 6.5 points. I hope that's low balling it.

ScouserDuck: spqr2001: I still can't understand why ND is on TV for every single game. I can think of about a dozen other games I'd rather see that ND v. anyone.

Notre Dame has a contract with NBC to boradcast all those games.

The past couple years, it's been more of a Borat-casting of those games, amirite?

/Hype? Plenty.
//Winning? Not so much.
///Sat through PSU-OSU Saturday, still stinging.

Rapmaster2000: I tell you thish kid Jimmy Clausen ish the next Ron Powlus!

People with speach impediments should not be announcers. I don't care if that is a violation of ADA or not, but ESPN I change the channel everytime he comes on the air.

/I am afraid his spittle will short out my DVR...

Yeah, every year there is an article like this, and the next year Notre Dame receives a totally undeserved top 25 ranking. ND will always be ND.

Rapmaster2000: I tell you thish kid Jimmy Clausen ish the next Ron Powlus!

Ah yes, Lou Holtz. The same guy who picked Notre Dame to go to the BCS NC game at the start of the season.

If he and Lee Corso got their own show together, people would watch just out of morbid curiousity.

Maybe ND could borrow a few of those SEC referees to 'officiate' some wins for them.

Most ND alumni I've met have been good people.

The bandwagon-never-set-foot-on-campus fans, that cheer for ND just because they used to win, however, are a bunch of idiots.

Rapmaster2000: I tell you thish kid Jimmy Clausen ish the next Ron Powlus more retarded than a downs syndrome convention!

FTFM.

\he could blow a first and goal from the one inch line with the other team fielding six walk-ons, a paraplegic, and four cats

I think what certain people are missing is that football programs are not built by mistake. They're largely the result of making them a priority. Football is a priority at Notre Dame, therefore, they get some undeserved recognition. Football is not a priority at Stanford, and although they have a really, really nice team this year, they don't have the money behind them to try to force the issue of Stanford being an elite program for the next century or so.

Mainly for this reason, there's a lot more discussion in a given year about Notre Dame than Stanford.

Follow the money.

And, yeah, I'd be pissed too if I were a "donor" and my investments weren't paying off.

I'm pretty sure the BCS knew who was going to play in the big games before the season started

ND sucks. But I will take my hat off to their academic standards and graduation rates.

Quasar: Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy... Rudy...

mactobain: Maybe ND could borrow a few of those SEC referees to 'officiate' some wins for them.


REVREND!
/hot!

Dr_Retriever: These big programs get down for a while, but they usually make a phenomenal comeback. Notre Dame has been down for a long time though. I thought they should have revived by now. How many years has it been?

The biggest comeback lately has been Alabama. Post Gene Stallings has been like the Great Depression. Could have been worse though. They really wanted Rich Rod bad. Looks like Saban may have turned things around, that is if he can do anything in the post season.

I just hope FU kills them in Atlanta then they lay an egg in the Superdome.

Next year they lose a lot of players to graduation and take a step back, and hopefully UGA and Tennessee rebound in terms of recruiting. A couple 4 or 5 loss seasons and $aban gets a brick through his window and leaves for Penn State/Michigan/Notre Dame.

Also heard a rumor that Texas A&M wants to offer $aban 8-10 million a year after the season. If they do that I'll become an aggie booster just to enjoy the wailing and gnashing of teeth in Tuscaloser.

The entire premise of this article is flawed. I know lots of ND fans, including alumni and a few people who played football there long ago, and they all know that the Fighting Irish aren't nationally relevant anymore. They're angry about it, but they know.

Don't we go through this every year?

JohnBigBootay: ND sucks. But I will take my hat off to their academic standards and graduation rates.

They only let the white players graduate.

Go Navy!

/hubby is a big Navy fan
//at least one of us was happy on Saturday
///come on, Dawgs, another win (or two) would be nice

you have pee hands: The entire premise of this article is flawed. I know lots of ND fans, including alumni and a few people who played football there long ago, and they all know that the Fighting Irish aren't nationally relevant anymore. They're angry about it, but they know.

Agreed. Personally I'll have more respect for them if they stick to their guns and continue with the high graduation rates than if they dumped all that shiat in favor of mimicking the football factories.

Lost Thought 00: They only let the white players graduate.

They have black players?

Bocanegra: Don't we go through this every year?

Yes, but it is a little more interesting this year because it's another year that there are calls for Weis' job, and they're getting progressively louder.

The thing is, I think that Weis seems like a truly decent human being, but that doesn't really matter with a rabid fan base who only cares about winning and pretends to care about academics.

It's going to be difficult for Notre Dame to storm back on to the national scene. Part of the problem is that it's going to take many years to do, and the other part is that I don't even know if Jesus himself could pull it off.

Of course, if you're Notre Dame and you're going to keep firing coaches after a few years, you're killing any chances you had at rebuilding. My guess is that other coaches use the whole "you don't even know if the coach is going to be there the whole time" argument to dissuade kids from going to Notre Dame.

Link (new window)

Bud Light Presents, "Real Men of Genius" (Reaaaaal Men Of Genius)

Today we salute you, Mr. Delusional Notre Dame Fan. (Mr. Delusional Notre Dame Faaaaaan!) Season after season, year after year, you try to justify your absurdly high preseason ranking. (Clutching at straws!) You scramble to make futile attempts at damage control when the Irish lose to a grossly inferior opponent (How'd Navy score fifty fouuuuuur?) Inevitably, you'll bring up the past, and boast of National Championships won 40 years before you were born. (Those were the daaaaaays!) You will point out that you have more wins than any other program as though that is relevant to the current season. (Been playing since the 1870s!) Go on, ignore that home loss to your archrivals in the regular season finale and continue to believe that you'll defeat your bowl opponent with striking ease. (We'll win by thirteeeeeeey!) So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, oh Emperor of Excuses, and take comfort knowing that when you don't finish in the top 25, you'll be back to number three when the preseason polls come out next year. (Mr.Delusional Notre Dame Fan!)

Last year, I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see Navy Beat ND. Two in a row is just sweet !

dogdaze: Bud Light Presents, "Real Men of Genius" (Reaaaaal Men Of Genius)



Beat ya to it :)