By Way Of Explanation

Several folks have asked "Why the beef with Ntre Ame? What did they ever do to you?"

Well, actually, nothing. Nothing but three huge wins for my favorite squadron.

In fact, in college I was a ND fan (secondary team), and I've always liked Lou Holtz.

So, here's my issues:

1. They are considered an elite program, even though they haven't been relevant since the 80's.

Let's be honest, Irish fans (both of you)- you are not elite. You were, then the University decided that academics are more important than football. That's a great thing. Really- it's the reason I chose the college football program and my alma mater. It's also the reason why Urban Meyer went to Florida instead of South Bend. But please stop telling us you're on the same level as U$C, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio State. Compare yourself to Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt. Heck, this year you can even compare yourself to MACh1gAAn. We'll even help you point and laugh.

2. Because they are considered an "elite" program, they have their own special clause in the BCS which means they get paid even if they aren't bowl eligible.

3. Because they are considered an "elite" program, they don't feel the need to be in a conference; choosing instead to play "traditional" rivals that more often than not give them an easy schedule.

4. Because they are considered an "elite" program, when they do have an offensive star , they are automatically in consideration for the highest awards in the country, even if their stats are against poor opponents.

5. They canned a coach because of his record and hired another one who was shortly fired for lying. They then selected their first African American head coach. After some success, he struggled to find players who fit his system, and was fired after three years, even though the University stated that "From Sunday through Friday our football program has exceeded all expectations, in every way. But on Saturday, we struggled. We've been up and down and sideways a little bit."

6. He was replaced by an alumni with a promising and yet shady resume. This coach had early success with the players that he recruited, and was praised for this success, while every downturn was blamed on the previous coach.

7. The new coach is labeled an Offensive Guru, although the results have not proven this to be anywhere near true.

8. Because they are considered an "elite" program, any recruit that they pursue is considered an elite recruit, even if all signs point otherwise.

So other than that, I've got no beef. But just so you know, this is something that has been thought through and isn't just an opportunistic "piling on".

And there's a lot of that going on-Slate (from 2007, reprinted today) Notre Dame's Charlie Weis: Still the Worst Football Coach in the Universe.

My personal favorite, seemingly from a disgruntled Irish fan: Chuck Weis.com. Great resource for stats of the debacle that the Dome oversees.

Irish fans, you can "wake up the echoes", but you'll need to do a couple of things:

• Admit the mistake of firing Willingham/hiring Weis. If that also means replacing Weis, then so be it.
  
• Be honest with your expectations and with your place in the current pantheon; you have every reason to be proud of your academic prowess and that you have true student athletes.
  
• Finally, enjoy the season and what occurs therein.
  

Same as every other college football fan. Nothing special.

Update: Ty Willingham? Still classy.

"It's not just my issue, it's a college football issue -- we have to give coaches a chance to do their job. Because now we have coaches ... especially some of the minority coaches ... they are losing their jobs after 2½years. That's not right."

"I have tried to take myself out of the situation as much as possible. Other people will not let that die. I can understand that from one perspective."

"For me, the experience was a steppingstone, hopefully not a steppingstone personally but a steppingstone for African-Americans. The sad thing is the way all of it happened. There was that somewhat ghosted image that we were not successful. That's not the truth. Of the three years there, two of those were bowl teams."

"One thing no one has ever disputed is that our program was run the right way. That should identify clearly that African-Americans have the ability to run one of the largest corporate football programs in this country in the manner that it should be done. So hopefully it was a steppingstone for all."