The Dollar

So here we are are, celebration has brought us together. Just as two kids pretending to live the dream in backyards across the USA. Here in the dorm of all dorms, at the college of all colleges, we come bearing gifts of spirit, joy, and happiness. Notre Dame and the vision of the Four Horsemen in an October Sky, against another overrated opponent. Wisconsin, and Barry's coming-of-age legacy against the Ghost-of-Christmas past and Joe Paterno. The weekend has simply already defined itself full of a tradition without equal. Five kids, from five different walks-of-life trying to chase the dream, with the hopes of one day finding the answer to the do's and don'ts of things.
Charlie and his boys, equipped with $40 million security chasing the dream of a Golden Dome and another National Title. Barry and his band of tricks, track champions and athletes equipped with a spirit section as large as Charlie's waistline along State Street trying to capture that dream for one last time. Ron Dayne came and went, but now, one man named Calhoun is vying at his own Cadillac Dream. The dream of NFL riches and fat contracts can wait, but for one man, the hope of Barry's last dance in State College water down the dream.
Campus' with lakes, Mendota and St. Mary's, coming together like a wave on a Fall Day to form the covalent bond leading to greener pastures and championships. The wait is over, the time is now for Charlie's opening act and Barry's last dance to come together and set the tone for the next generation of kids playing ball on Main Street.
A weekend in South Bend we will all never forget. To dry streaks, student sections, and fat rings, lets chase the dollar blowing in the wind along Main Street.

Opposing Viewpoints

So here's the flip side to that little piece of journalism that Broadway posted. Jason Whitlock is an idiot. He's a fat idiot who flips the race card like a light switch, and a sensationalist who takes small pieces of mistruth, mixes and matches them with skewed facts and revisionist history, and writes a hot-button story that gets people talking, but really has no basis in truth or fact. He's like a good action movie. A couple of car chases, a quick flash of tits, some cool guns, a bad ass actor, and saving the day at the end. It's fun to follow, but it'll never be mistaken for great cinema.

The way I see it, Whitlock made a few mistakes. Comparing 8-0 to 5-2 is stupid if you don't compare the way that they got there. No offensive touchdowns until game 3, smoke and mirrors, and some stellar defensive play. I'll be the first to admit I was on the Ty bandwagon, and also was extremely upset when they fired him, but you don't offer extensions for past work, you offer them for what you see future value to be. Let's not be so quick to dismiss the failures of the Weis regime. Being down 17 and coming back to tie it. Taking it to the No.1 rated team until there's 7 seconds left. And let's slow down before we go blow Buddy Tevens for an alledgedly close game versus Stanford. Leinart was out all night banging the Palo Alto chapter of the Matt Leinart fan club, and Reggie Bush had his eyes on some Asian hottie from Stanford all game. Also, let's not look at the schedule now and see it as some cakewalk, that's revisionist propoganda. The same people who say this are the ones who saw ND going 1-5 or 0-6 to start the season. It's interesting to note that after ND beat teams, they plummeted. If you provide a blueprint (see Purdue, Michigan, and Pitt) for beating teams, it's simple to replicated a proven formula.

Finally, the biggest difference in Ty and Charlie is the regime they are saddled with at ND. Long gone is Monk Malloy, a man who never understood PR or the value of positive buzz. He guided the ND ship through the Kim Dunbar fiasco without saying a word. He let Joe Moore's age discrimination suit be handled in the media's glaring light, and he even threw his own school under the bus after they removed Ty after three years. Mind you, we could've used a little positive spin back in the day. Is it such a big deal that a 25 year-old townie wanted to bang a couple black guys on the football team? But because she dropped 20 bucks to go to a luncheon to scope out her men, she became a booster. Why didn't we hear that back then? Because Monk is a douche.
So in walks Father Jenkins and we find a man who's actually heard of the internet, someone who occasionally smiles, and a person who doesn't have the personality of a planters wart and the public persona of clymidia. And what happens when a story is produced (fabricated actually, by a Michigan grad, posing as a reporter for the NFL network)? Why Notre Dame makes the biggest college football news of the week, without playing a minute that week. Gone are the days of waiting around and getting kicked in the media. Gone are the days where we let coaches and recruiters paint the picture they want because ND sits idly and says nothing. So they extend Charlie, give him the money that perceives him as the best coach in the country, and create a news story better than any rumor can start.

But as for Whitlock, he's still a big fat bitch who writes about as well as Bob Sansevere on the girls high school hockey tournament.

Finally Someone Said It....

Excerpt from Jason Whitlock, 11/1 per ESPN.com :
"Notre Dame has beaten a mediocre Michigan team, a Dave Wannstedt-coached Pittsburgh team that is .500 only because the Big East is terrible, the third- or fourth-best team in the Mountain West Conference (BYU), a bad Purdue squad, and a Washington club with one victory (vs. Idaho). Please don't tell the CIA I told you this -- this information is classified top secret -- but the combined record of Weis' victims is 17-24. I know, I know. You turn on the TV, pick up the newspaper or click on the Internet, and you're led to believe that Notre Dame, under the ingenious direction of the "Great Weis Hope," is undefeated, having hammered USC, Texas and Virginia Tech all in the same weekend. Sadly, it's not true. Weis' greatest accomplishment so far is that he led Notre Dame to a close loss against USC. Buddy Teevens (Stanford) and Karl Dorrell (UCLA) put the same thing on their résumés last year. But they're still waiting on their 10-year, $30 million-$40 million contracts. In case you've forgotten, in 2002, Tyrone ran up an 8-0 record against Maryland, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Air Force and Florida State. Six of those teams -- all but Stanford and Michigan State -- played in bowl games that year. The combined record, including bowl games, for those eight clubs was 60-43."

I'll admit I've been the leader of the Charlie Weis bandwagon many of times this year, most notably last night when I heralded him as St. Charlie mainly in a sly attempt to lock up some horny Notre Dame chick for the weekend (To be discussed later). However, I think what Jason Whitlock did is respectable considering that no one has ever questioned Charlie Weis once this year. I think he's doing a remarkable job, but the circus he is creating is not worth the 5-2 record that comes along with it. Look at the numbers, the preseason Top 25 that had Michigan, Tennessee and the Charlie Strong, Spread-Option Gators in BCS bowls are long gone. In comes traditional, but not our generational powers like Penn St., Alabama, and ND. With all due respect to these teams, part of me wants to believe that there emergence has to deal with them fufilling expectations and many other traditional powers failing to do so. Florida St.-loss to Virginia. Michigan-started 3-3 while its cross-state rival was busy banging up ND in Charlie's first show in South Bend. Tennessee lost to Spurrier and SC w/ Lou Holtz's players (scary thought how good they'll be w/ real ones). Continuing, Oklahoma- try UCLA, TCU, the list goes on. Florida- Bama', LSU. Iowa-lost to Iowa St. Alright, Penn State did their job vs. Ohio St., Bama' did it vs. the hated Gators, but ND has one close one on their resume that they might have gotten too much credit for. Think of this, UCLA and Stanford both took USC the distance last year despite better numbers out of Leinart and a more balanced USC team. ND did it in green jerseys, half-way across the continent, on national TV, with Leinart throwing two picks and crying like a bitch. Also, remember their is four unbeatens sitting atop the BCS standings. I find it hard to believe no one has ever argued that Virginia Tech, Texas, and USC have created a stockpile atop the rankings and a scrurry for the remaining at-large bids among a handful of talented teams.

I will say it again that I am a firm believer in the circus that is the Notre Dame Football Team, a team that has garnered more media attention since October than the conflict in Iraq. Depsite my calls for a Brady Quinn 2006 Heisman, next year's national championship and Touchdown Charlie next to Touchdown Jesus, I am reminded by my Wisconsin counterparts to not get to ahead of myself. Remember ND still Aesop Schwap'd Michigan St.- twice-the-loser in the Big Ten, and actually moved up in the polls after wins at Purdue, Pitt, and BYU. 5-2 is respectable, 9-2 would be even better. But it could Bowl Season until Notre Dame truly has another chance to prove themselves. So, for now, I think it is alright for someone like Jason Whitlock to question the Charlie surge and his $30+ million payoff because it is going to take a BCS win for Notre Dame to prove that this isn't just another long holiday, like 2002, in South Bend.

A Public Service Announcement to Umpires

Dear Umps,

Please do not support this uprising any longer. The Trash Sox are not a lovable group of scrappy ball players. Affording them extra outs, ridiculously bad calls, and other gifts of poor judgment give hope to other scoundrels, cheats, and bloodthirsty villains. Look at this sloppy bastard who gets to be called a hero. His wife is probably waiting for him to call, or hoping that he can pick up the kids, but instead he's out drinking and hugging slutty bartenders who have bad looking bellybutton rings and communicable diseases. This is not the team that you want winning the World Series. For the sake of Chicago and rebuilding costs, this victory will cause looting, raping, and pillaging that's a lot worst than the torching Mrs. O'Leary's cow caused back in the great fire of 1871.

KONERKO, WHERE'S YOUR WIFE?

Allowing that pitch to Jermaine Dye be called a hit batsmen is like allowing Satan a second chance at redemption. Jermaine Dye is a bad person. He cheats on his wife (with a girl I know, no less). He also is a slow swinging, sloth-footed, over the hill outfielder who now looks as if he should be signing a contract for 8 million a season and playing another 5 years. I will spare you all the embarrassment of what's to come. JERMAINE (2 months from now) I want 4 years, 32 million, a private jet to fly my girls from town to town. I also want a endorsement deal with Meth Labs Made Easy and Southland RV rentals to endear myself to White Sox fans everywhere. In exchange, I will give you four years of batting .245, 30 more HRs total, and over 300 games lost due to injuries caused from me being out of shape and fat. I am worth all of this because my performance this season trumped the last 6 where I did absolutely nothing as was as good as Jacque Jones versus lefties.

LOOK AT HOW BAD HIS GAME IS...FAG.

Also, please do not let AJ Persucksy fake you out with Bush league baseball. No matter how hard he runs and flops down to first base, it still doesn't make it right. AJ was a bad ambassador for baseball when he was a Twin, and we let it fly because the Chosen One wasn't ready yet. But, it doesn't make it right for you to clearly signal strike three and then, just because you are intimidated by Ozzie Guillen's "muffstache" (Doesn't it look like a porn stars basement?) that you don't have the stones to get it right. Please do not be intimidated by father-son ump assaulting meth addicts, even though Chicago judges don't do anything other than slap them on the wrists and give them clean needles.

So next time something slimy happens, like hit batsmen, caught third strikes, or even Ozzie Guillen trying to steal more of the spotlight from his players because he was never good enough to get it done himself, start using your head. You have a bunch of good people wearing Astros jerseys. Players who won't sell out and do ATV ads, won't spend their money on Al and Alma's South boat cruises on Lake Michigan, guys who actually know how to read and write (4 White Sox's went to College-- zero have degrees), use your head. Besides, do you want AJ Persucksy to have a real line when he's sucking down jello shots with pigs?

ME NEITHER.

92% CHANCE SHE'S GOT CRABS.

IS THAT LOW FAT WHIPPED CREAM AJ?

Wrap-Up

You know there is something wrong with the world when despite the baseball playoffs, conference championship races, heisman conquests, and the NFL, we only have ND/USC to talk about. But, maybe, it was just that great. The perfect place, the purest rivalry and a field cluttered with more than a handful of low-round draft picks caused Joe Pa's last stand and an Axe to take the high road.
Whether you saw the game amongst the gold cluttered fans under the watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus or saw the close in a below-average dinkytown bar, it was something you'll remember forever. As a lifelong Notre Dame fan that also happens to be St. Paul's most famous Notre Dame reject, I almost felt at the crossroads throughout the whole game. I mean here I am spending twice as much as I do in Madison on beer, trying to savor a great unexpected win that skyrocketed the Badgers' Big Ten chances into atmospheric levels, watching Charlie Weis give almost the greatest halftime recruiting video of all time and wondering how ND gets away with it? I complained about the Coach K AMEX commercials during March Madness, but this was much worse. Here was CW making ND out to be bedlam in front of what could've been ND's largest NBC viewing audience since 11/13/1993 (when Lou Holtz and Co. put an end to Charlie Ward's 16 game streak). And no wonder a solid group of prospects have passed on So Cal in favor of So Bend (20, to date). But, in the end, it was heartbreaking. All burdens aside, it was one that I just wanted to see ND win. I new a win would put them right back to where they were on 11/13/1993. Granted, CW might have them back there by next September when Brady begins the next great ND Heisman chase, but it would've been fun to seem them get right back there on the grandest stage: in front of the USC Trojans and Fredo himself (Thanks, Bill Simmons). Sure, Reggie Bush could have ran a marathon inside the hashes at Notre Dame Stadium Saturday and should probably thank ND for handing him the Heisman (much like it did for Leinart). But the setting was reserved for Leinart. Whom I'm not going out on a limb by calling him the NCAA's playboy, but also one of the greatest performers our generation will witness. Throughout our childhood, stars were riddled with pasts resembling rap sheets (Randy Moss, Peter Warrick, Warren Sapp, too name a few) and here was this kid who passed up the comfort of an NFL contract defining himself while rolling into the endzone. He might have mixed it up w/ Simpson and Lachey, but he didn't fail a drug test, kick someone in the head, or get about $10 grand in free stuff while headlining his competition. Sure, Notre Dame has a right to be disappointed for falling inches and a Reggie Bush push short. But, it proved there back to being respectable. No more Willingham's, Davie's, or option quarterbacks running a west coast system, just Charlie and his bag of tricks with the hearts of Irish faithful and perhaps God himself in the wings.

A Black Heart

Games like Saturday make you want to not like sports. Sitting amongst 80,000 of your closest friends (or more like 75,000 friends and 5,000 sworn enemies) and then for 59 minutes and 53 seconds believing that the near impossible, or at least the mostly improbable was actually going to happen makes you realize why we watch sports, why we compete, and why we scream for people we don't know but who wear our favorite uniforms or go to our favorite schools. It makes look up at a full moon after four and a half hours of pure sports amazement and realize there is no where else in the entire world that you'd like to be at that moment.

And then that happens.

A 4th and 9. A fumble. A crowd of students running on the field with the clock running out and the scoreboard nearly confirming what you had hoped would happen but were always quietly bracing yourself for the disappointment of it not.

But never did you see it playing out like that.

I don't have any friends left on the team, nor do I have any real affiliation other than standard, non-contributing alumni status. But I can't think of a worse feeling than the minutes after the loss. A collective gasp, a vacuum of air leaving South Bend. Watching the enemy run all over your field and celebrate the miraculous theft of a football game, after getting dominated in nearly every facet of the competition; it makes you want to hate sports. Or remember that the feelings that you were feeling at that very moment, the anger, the heartbreak, the disbelief, that those feelings, and the very opposite of them are why athletics are what's great about our culture.

I, along with CW, don't believe in moral victories. But if there is a moral to any of this, it's just the reconfirmation that sport and athletics has the ability to affect the human condition more than nearly any other event happening today. So whether it's a pushed in, should've been spotted two yards back QB sneak, or a 2 out, 3 run HR by a visitor that's down to it's last out, the emotions of athletics are as American as anything else red, white, and blue.

But it doesn't make it suck any less.

Thank You Harding Park

While much attention was focused this past weekend on stadiums in New York City, State College, and Ann Arbor; I couldn't help but take my eyes off the beauty that was the Harding Park Golf Course. Located on the shores of Lake Merced, tucked beneath the beautiful skyline and heavenly fog of San Francisco, CA; this historic course played host to the best golfers in the world in what went down as one of the greatest tournaments of this already memorable PGA Tour season. Tiger's triumph at Augusta, Jason Gore's coming out party at Pinehurst, Lefty validating his first major with victory at Baltusrol, and Chris Dimarco and Fred Couples leading the U.S. to a much needed victory in the President's Cup all highlight the season; but what went on Sunday in San Fran was nearly as impressive. The two most popular players in the world going toe to toe down the stretch with a Zeus-like display of power and precision led to roars that the 49ers can only imagine hearing on Sundays. The tournament not only had Tiger Woods fighting injury and his driver to win his 6th tournament of the season; it had Long John Daly, dreaming of a Tour Championship and Ryder Cup berth between each mammoth tee shot and pull of Diet Coke. There was Monty trying to avoid another close defeat on the California coast (see Pebble in '92 and Riveria in '95) and Sergio attempting to thrust himself into Top 5 conversations. However, as Daly's putter left him down the stretch and Tiger ceased another World Golf Championship victory, the real winner was Harding Park and the PGA Tour.

Tim Finchem, PGA Tour Commisioner, derserves a great deal of credit for insisting that the renovated Harding Park be thrust onto the national stage. By playing on such a demanding and traditonal layout, it was nearly guaranteed that the best players would rise to the top of the leaderboard on Sunday, creating the television buzz that the Tour needs in the fall to rival football and the baseball playoffs.

With rumors running rampant that the tour will reveal major scheduling changes in 2007, possibily resembling a NASCAR like championship shootout in September, one trend must continue. Like they did at Harding Park, the Tour needs to continue to grant old traditional public courses the chance to shine on a national stage. The classical course set up not only guarantees that the best players will show up in the field, it also generally guarantees that they will play well. Additionally, and even more importantly, it gives the public a chance to play courses where the pros play. Local kids growing up in San Fran can try and make the 3 footer that cost Daly the championship. I can drive out to New York and spend a night in my car in hopes of playing the course where Tiger claimed his second US Open. It gives weekend hacks a chance to be dreamers and low handicappers a chance to beat the best. No longer are resort courses that run $250 a round and TPC clubs that cost $75 grand to join the only places to focus PGA Tour events. Lessons on how to run a great event can simply be learned from Bethpage in '02 and Harding Park last week. I for one am already looking forward to the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008.

ND-USC TV Intro...

My intro for the ND-USC game on October 15, 2005:

When summer is finally forgotten, as daylight dwindles each day, look around the corner...just beyond Main Street. Chances are there's game in a backyard; Children in the midst of imagining, some with a notion, innocent but powerful. You eagerly followed your team, listening to that distant voice. You couldn't sleep after a victory and couldn't wait for a day when it might be your time. Then that day arrived, that moment, that affirmation, when you were told you were special. And so you worked and you sacrificed, pointing toward that October day in the Fall when all of America would be watching you, watching your team....the kind of day dreamed of in a back yard just around the corner from Main Street.

Here are the questions confronting #1 USC. Are these to be the Trojans that at last run the full gauntlet of grueling competition and withering expectations? Is Matt Leinart to be USC's repeat Heisman Trophy winner? Will Pete Carroll and the Men of Troy yet again be crowned national champions? Will the 27 game winning streak simply jump to 28? But between these hopes and their fulfillment there is the myth: the stadium in South Bend...and history's team, Notre Dame.

Eleven national titles. Seven Heisman Trophy winners. No other school has won as many championships. No other school has had as many All-Americans. And in their home, you also play against their past: galloping shadows from 1924, echoes of legendary coaches. In South Bend, they've become accustomed to teams chasing championships, and now, after a 12 year hiatus at the hands of Davie, Willingham, and Malloy, there comes a re-birth: a new cadre - Charlie - joining Mary atop the dome - bringing with him 4 superbowl rings, offensive wizardry, and a 40+ inch waist line...inspired by a tradition without equal.

So here we are - a game in a perfect place...when it actually matters. A collision for history. One school hoping to stay atop college football's summit. And another hoping to return to glory. Notre Dame and USC. The coming of a day dreamed of...in backyards...just around the corner from Main Street.

Weekend Warriors

A pleasure to be here gentlemen and sports fans. Wanted to share some insight from the weekend that was, and the weekend to come. Lost in shuffle was some good golf in San Fran. John Daly certainly made a push for a spot on the Ryder Cup team but also might have given us a glimpse into the crystal ball when he started getting the yips on the back 9 at Harding Park. I haven't seen pulls like that since a quota pts tournament off Cretin and Marshall. Even with his silly goatee, young Eldrick T. was looking quite legit, battling a cold flat stick himself and still burying Serg and Manteets, and JD the Hooters rep. Best sign of the tourney? Tiger being upset that Daly missed the three footer to lose. That's a sign that he's comfortable with his game and ready for a big '06 season.
the big ten
Do you deserve capital letters when the conference plays like this? Ohio State? Michigan? Iowa Purdue? Get serious. Penn State is waiting to crack and Minnesota and Wisconsin already showed us the fatal flaws in their cinderella hopes. If you think Penn State is going to run through the rest of these teams with a jugs machine as their QB, I wouldn't hold your breath. (Unless you're Paul Walker from Into the Blue, which sets a new record for movie scene where guy can hold his breath so long that it's ridiculous. Play along in the movie. Or don't, because Broadway's the only one willing to do mouth to mouth.)
Confessions of a compulsive gambler
I don't think the weekend could've gone any worse. If I were a betting man, these were the games I would've liked. Nebraska over Texas Tech, Oklahoma to keep it close, UCLA to fold per usual, ASU to rattle Oregon's cages, Wisco to stomp on those little uppity prepsters in Evanston, and The Ohio State University to thump JoPa and his nittany lions.
Whoops.
Sidenote: If you're JoPa, what proves you are more out of touch? 1) Wearing that stupid towel around your neck. I thought he got in a car accident on the way to the game in his 1987 Lincoln Town Car and had a sore neck. 2) Doing that stupid dance at the pep rally and proving that you should be at the nursing home in the Notebook reading to some broad who won't remember the story anyway or 3) Telling all the recruits scheduled for visits to not come that weekend, because he wouldn't be able to show them enough attention. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That was the best weekend of football Penn State had in the last ten years. And you don't want kids there because you can't take them to all you can eat at Old Country buffet? Get a clue? What's next, you're going to invite them to the early mass on Sunday and to watch Carson reruns on Friday night? JoPa, you and John Gagliardi should get together and drink warm tea on a swing for the next couple autumns, your best days are behind you. And Tressel, maybe you should lose the 1950s school teacher look and just keep playing kids who admit to taking $500 bucks from boosters. A snake is a snake is a snake, even if he looks like a nerd.
The Upcoming Weekend
I hope the Wisco secondary takes a look at film this week and realizes the truth: They f-ing sucked. Nothing burns my buns worse than watching poor defensive play, and the game plan put together by Barry, Brett, and possibly Bucky couldn't have possibly been that bad. The website is already started for www.play37.com. That being said, what makes a secondary look better than Bryan Cupito with 2 sprained shoulders? Cupito has a better chance of blowing Maroney than the Badger secondary. And I got a feeling he's already giving Lawrence a little something after his crappy arm is forcing nine men in the box.
Is it me or is everyone a little too eager to jump onto the ND bandwagon? Is it really an upset if 58% of America is picking ND over USC? Maybe what bothers me is that everyone is saying it's going to happen, but it could be that everyone wants to be bold, even if they won't be right. The real sign of what people believe will be the spread's movement, which opened this morning at 11.5 and has yet to move....
Thought of the Day: Did Matt Leinart sleep with Jessica Simpson? If not, could he? If so, was that a potential sticking point for Nick Lachey and force him into the eyes of a 19 year old Ohio State student while in town filming Gameday? I'll get the answers this Saturday when Lachey is in town for Leinart's football game vs. the Irish.