Irish Blogger Gathering: The Fall of Troy

Living in Southern California as I do, Subway Domer is kind enough to let me be the host for this week's edition of the Irish Blogger Gathering. It's an exciting week here at OC Domer Headquarters. As I type this our daughter is on a plane flying home for Thanksgiving (and the ND v. USC game). She is bringing her roommate with her, and we are going to be seeing a lot of her OC and Notre Dame friends over the next several days. OC Headquarters is as clean and ship-shape as it has ever been, as Mrs. Domer has had us working overtime for weeks in preparation. But now that all the preparations are complete, we can turn our full attention to those heathens who call themselves the "Trojans." I don't think I can over-emphasize the importance of this game to all the Notre Dame alumni and fans here in Orange County. This is Trojan country, and this game is for a full year's worth of bragging rights. I don't know if you have a lot of interaction with USC's bandwagon fans where you live, but I can tell you that the last thing you want to give a Trojan is a year's worth of bragging rights. You might think that having a National Championship, a Heisman Trophy, and two years of bowl eligibility stripped from them by the NCAA would teach them a little humility. You would be wrong.

USC has had a nice little run lately against the Irish, having won eight in a row. It's almost enough to make you forget that the Irish owned USC for 13 years in a row from 1983 through 1995, or that Notre Dame leads the all-time series over USC 42-34-5.

Both of these teams are in transition. The Irish are beginning what they hope will be a long, successful run under new head coach Brian Kelly. USC said a tearful goodbye to Pete Carroll and is now led by Lane Kiffin. It hasn't been pretty for either team this season. USC of course got hammered by the NCAA, and they have lost four games to PAC-10 opponents so far, getting completely undressed by Oregon and Oregon State. The Irish have had troubles of their own, losing five games so far and having been whipped by Stanford and Navy. Yes, whipped by Navy. The Irish have not had any NCAA trouble, but they have been beset by a rash of injuries to key personnel and a tragic death within the program. The good news for Irish fans is that the team is playing its best football of the year behind freshman quarterback Tommy Rees and a defense that seems to have finally got its groove on with outstanding performances against Utah and Army in the last two games, whereas USC is coming off a beat-down at Corvallis and may have lost their starting quarterback to a high ankle sprain.

Which brings us to this week's IBG questions:

1. Notre Dame played perhaps its best game of the year in a win over the Utah Utes two weeks ago. Utah remains ranked at #23 in the Associated Press poll. Notre Dame likewise took Michigan State (AP #11) to overtime before losing on a fake field goal. Therefore the Irish should have no trouble with this unranked Trojan squad. Agree or disagree? Show your work.

Disagree. USC is unranked, but perhaps unfairly. Yes, Oregon and Oregon State whipped them pretty good. But those are two great teams (#1 and #22 in the Sagarin ratings). But USC has also beaten California, Arizona, and Arizona State (#27, #17, and #29 in Sagarin). They lost to Stanford (Sagarin #2) by just two points. You might recall that Stanford beat the Irish by 23.

Although the Irish win over a ranked Utah team was nice, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Irish themselves are unranked in the major polls and Sagarin has them at #37 versus USC's #19.

But, a lot of that is history. Notre Dame is playing its best football of the year. The defense in particular appears to have had an enormous light bulb turn on over its collective head. The challenge for the Irish this week will be to take its high level of play into the Coliseum against a team with athleticism which is a significant cut above that of Utah and Army. The Irish defense was clearly faster, stronger, more athletic than the skill players of Utah and Army. How will they match up against the 4- and 5-star players of USC, even if they are playing with the same focus and discipline? The Notre Dame defensive line dominated the past two games. Can they dominate the USC offensive front?

Notre Dame's backups - at QB, receiver, tight end, running back - were able to outplay the starters for Utah and Army. Can our backups outplay USC's starters?

I think it will be a close game. Our spread O against a USC defense that has been out of sorts this year. USC's dynamic offense against an improving D that has been gashed at times. It may well come down to whether Matt Barkley is able to play. If we can put the Trojans in the same position we are of playing back-up QB, I like our chances. Our back-up quarterback is better than your back-up quarterback!

Bottom line: I like the momentum and mental toughness of the Irish. USC is feeling a bit besieged right now. The streak ends Saturday, as the Irish beat the Trojans 27-24.


2. It is almost time for the OC Domer Player of the Year to be named. This award is intended to recognize the Notre Dame football player or players who played the best when it mattered the most. Suffice it to say that the primary criterion is a consistently high level of play, with significant bonus points awarded for exceeding expectations. Injuries have taken many of the pre-season favorites for this prestigious award out of the running. Who is your nominee for this award, and why?

Well, there is still a chance for a star to emerge against USC and take the prize. And I am very interested to see who the other bloggers nominate. But the obvious candidates for me are Manti Te'o, Chris Stewart, and Tommy Rees. Manti has been a tackling machine and is a rising superstar at the national level. Chris Stewart is just an amazing story of character and perseverance. And freshman back-up Tommy Rees has been remarkable off the bench so far.


3. With a delicate flavor similar to beef, though slightly sweeter than other meats, horse meat can be used to replace beef, pork, mutton, and any other meat in virtually any recipe, though most aficionados prefer it in marinated or spicy dishes. Nutritionally, horse meat has around 40 percent fewer calories than the leanest beef, while supplying 50 percent more protein and as much as 30 percent more iron; and horse fat is considered an excellent health-conscious deep-frying alternative, especially for delicately-flavored foods that are easily overpowered by heavier oils. What is your favorite horse meat recipe?

Filet Mignon

This simple French classic serves 4.

4 four-ounce filets of horse
4 slices bacon
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare exactly as for a filet mignon. Wrap outside of filet with uncooked bacon slice and secure with toothpicks. Broil to taste.

4. Do you miss Pat Haden, who left the Notre Dame television broadcasts to become athletic director at USC?

Absolutely not! It was always a little weird that Notre Dame had a USC guy on its T.V. broadcasts, although I always thought Haden did a good job. But I have been blown away by his replacement in the booth, Mike Mayock. Mayock is outstanding in analyzing the X's and O's, as well as in relating his stories and his impressions of the student-athletes involved in the games.

As an aside, I think Haden was an excellent hire to replace Mike Garrett as USC's A.D.

5. USC is the Notre Dame rival I love to hate. What Notre Dame rival do you most despise, and why?

As noted above, USC is villain #1 in the OC Domer household. It started with watching Anthony Davis and that damn horse gallop all over the field against Notre Dame. Living amongst the Trojan faithful the past several years hasn't helped things. The contrast between flashy, west coast, Hollywood USC and wholesome midwestern values Notre Dame is just so stark for me. It's a clash between two different cultures.

6. Reggie Bush got a car, his parents a house. Cam Newton's Dad was looking for $180,000 in straight cash homey. Can Notre Dame compete for athletic recruits in this environment? Or do you believe these incidents are the exceptions to an otherwise clean recruiting landscape?

I think this type of stuff happens more than I would really care to admit to myself. But I still think there are enough kids of good character who are going to college for the right reasons that the Irish can field a strong football team. I do think, however, that in some parts of the country (cough *SEC* cough) the motto is still "If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'." That's why the sanctions against USC and a strong NCAA response to the Cam Newton situation is so important.

As the other members of the IBG post their responses I will put links to those posts below.

The Domer Law Blog post is here.

We Never Graduate chimes in with some Gary Gray love and USC Hate.

Subway Domer goes on the record, in his own inimitable style.

Frank V. of UHND.com has some love for the Irish secondary.


Go Irish! Beat Trojans!

Lack of Institutional Control

The NCAA has finally spoken on the Reggie Bush & O.J. Mayo investigation. In sum, the committee was wholly unimpressed with the NCAA rules compliance efforts of the University of Southern California and actually dropped the "lack of institutional control" hammer on them.

Here is the NCAA's release which summarizes their findings.

Here is the full 67-page report.

I have now read the entire report. Good stuff. Reggie Bush's parents lived in a house provided by wanna-be sports agents rent-free for a year. Reggie got a nice Chevy Impala, with very expensive rims, stereo, and alarm system, from the same wanna-be agents. Reggie and his folks and some of his friends received various benefits of cash, airline tickets, hotel rooms, and limo service from the same wanna-be agents. Then Reggie and his family stabbed the first group of wanna-be agents in the back and started getting benefits, including a paid "internship" and some travel benefits from a second group of wanna-be agents. This really annoyed the first group of wanna be agents, who then enlisted a USC assistant coach (apparently running backs coach Todd McNair) to pressure Reggie into living up to the deal he made with the first group of agents. The assistant coach denies this ever happened and the NCAA flat-out calls him a liar.

O.J. Mayo (and some of his boys) received cash, a 42-inch flat screen T.V., travel, clothes, shoes, meals and other stuff from some scummy "marketers" who acted as go-between essentially representing O.J. in the recruiting process.

In both cases, what got USC in hot water with the committee was its utter lack of curiosity when confronted with serious clues that NCAA rules were being broken. Time and time again representatives of USC (football coaches and basketball coaches mostly) had information that would have led any reasonable person to conclude that something fishy was going on, and in every instance they chose to essentially ignore the information rather than engaging in prudent follow-up to determine whether there was a problem the University needed to address. The NCAA notes that for most of the period in question the compliance "staff" for the entire University was two people, and that at one point the compliance staff was just a single person. Given the high-profile nature of the USC athletic program and the athletes it recruits, the NCAA strongly felt that USC needed to allocate significantly more resources to its compliance efforts.

To me, the biggest message the NCAA is sending with this report is that the "ostrich" approach to potential NCAA violations by member institutions is not sufficient to shield them from responsibility. Sticking one's head in the sand when the evidence of corruption is swirling around you, so that you can later claim you didn't know anything about it, is no longer an option. I'm looking at you, Pete.

The NCAA was also disturbed by the environment and the atmosphere surrounding the football program and football players at USC. This led to one of the more interesting sanctions imposed: The ban on non-university personnel traveling with the team or being at practices, on the sidelines, or in the locker rooms before, during, or after games. College football's version of the Showtime Lakers just got canceled. Sorry Will Ferrell and Snoop Dogg.

As for the sanctions themselves, I don't think anybody will seriously argue that USC got a slap on the wrist. They are labeled a repeat-offender and the committee states that the decision on whether or not to impose a total T.V. ban was a close one. As it is, the Trojans can only award up to 15 new football scholarships (and carry no more than 75 total) for the next three seasons. They are banned from post-season play for two years. All wins in which Reggie Bush played from December 2004 through the 2005 season are vacated. This means that USC had a combined record of zero wins (all 12 wins are vacated) and one loss (The BCS title game loss versus Texas still stands) for the 2005 season. Unfortunately, USC's loss is not Notre Dame's gain, as a vacated win is not the same as a forfeit. The Irish still record the loss, although I would advocate for a giant asterisk next to the "Bush Push" game in the N.D. media guide. Those are the most significant of the twenty-five different sanctions imposed.

No word yet, as far as I know, regarding the BCS Championship USC won in January of 2005 in the Orange Bowl over Oklahoma. If Reggie played in that game, it stands to reason it would have to be vacated unless the BCS is not bound by the NCAA ruling. Also still waiting to hear from the New York Downtown Athletic Club.

Basketball got hammered as well, and even women's tennis took a hit. Cheating in football and basketball is one thing. But cheating in women's tennis is simply depraved.

It's really, really tempting to gloat. I'll admit I have gloated a little, mostly privately. But to me the big picture here is that the NCAA did something very important today. They took a stand for the integrity of college athletics, and they severely disciplined one of the geese that lays the golden eggs in college football. A cynic might say that they cut off their nose to spite their face. I am instead reminded of the biblical passage:

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.

What does all this mean for Notre Dame? Well, we get to put an asterisk in the media guide, as noted above. We'll get a bit of a recruiting edge against USC for a few years because they won't be able to offer as many scholarships, and the taint of this scandal will hamper them for a while with some prospects. The bowl ban and the scholarship limits will likely hurt USC's on-field performance for a while, which should give the Irish a chance to restore the proper balance to the USC-ND series. Life for a Notre Dame alumnus in Orange County will be a little more pleasant as hopefully today's report will help to tone down the arrogance level of the many USC alumni and bandwagon fans in the O.C.

But I can't help but wonder what Charlie Weis thinks of all this? Notre Dame ended the 2005 regular season at 9-2, the only blemishes on their record an overtime loss to Michigan State (epic comeback from a 21-point deficit) and the "Bush Push" loss to USC. What would have happened if Reggie Bush, who has today been ruled ineligible for that entire season, didn't play that day? He ran for 160 yards and three touchdowns in that game. If USC hadn't played an ineligible player, the Irish probably defeat USC, ending their 27-game winning streak in what would have been one of the biggest wins in Notre Dame football history. The Irish end the regular season at 10-1. Would they have played in the BCS Championship game?

The rap against Charlie was that he never got that "signature win." A win against USC in 2005 would certainly have qualified. Nobody would have questioned his contract extension. Team confidence would have soared. Recruiting would have been even better. Maybe even good enough to prevent, or at least moderate, the disaster we saw on the field in 2007. Things might have been a lot different for Coach Weis. I think I'll probably drink a cold one for Charlie tonight.

Interesting side note: Do you remember Missy Conboy? Missy Conboy is the Deputy AD at Notre Dame and actually served as interim Athletics Director before Jack Swarbrick was hired. Well, it turns out that Ms. Conboy is also a member of the NCAA Committee on Infractions and is a signatory on today's report. I'd love to buy her a drink or two and just get her talking. I'm sure it would be very entertaining.

Madness!

March Madness begins (for real) tomorrow, so time is running out if you haven't filled out your brackets yet. As if anyone in the world could possibly care, I've finally filled mine out and you can see it (if you want), HERE. (After the games begin on Thursday).

Highlights of my picks in this year's Tourney:

• Notre Dame beats Old Dominion, but loses to a Baylor Bears team that makes a nice run all the way into the Final Four where they lose to West Virginia.
  
• #1 seed Duke gets taken out by Texas A&M (game being played in Houston) and thus failing to advance beyond the Sweet Sixteen.
  
• Baylor beating #2 seed Villanova in the other South Region semi-final (in Houston) to advance to the Elite Eight match-up versus Texas A&M.
• #1 seed Kentucky losing to #4 seed Wisconsin in their Sweet Sixteen match-up.
  

My Elite Eight:

1. Kansas
2. Ohio State
3. Syracuse
4. Kansas State
5. Wisconsin
6. West Virginia
7. Texas A&M
8. Baylor

The Final Four:

1. Kansas
2. Syracuse
3. West Virginia
4. Baylor

I have Kansas defeating West Virgina in the final game to win the National Championship.

Crimson Tide Wins OC Domer 2009-2010 Tournament of Champions!

Here are the results of the 2009-2010 OC Domer Tournament of Champions. The Tournament of Champions is an eight team playoff featuring the top 8 teams chosen from a pool of eligibles consisting of the champions of each NCAA FBS conference plus the highest ranked Independent. While it is not a requirement, in most years the field will be comprised of the champions from each of the six BCS conferences, plus the two highest ranked teams from among the champions of the non-BCS conferences and the FBS Independents.

The concept for the TOC is premised upon a simple but very important concept: If you are not the best team in your conference, you aren't the best team in the nation. A corollary to that central premise is that if you are the champion of your conference, you are the best team in your conference. Scoreboard. The TOC is not a beauty pageant. The TOC is not concerned with which team is, in some esoteric intangible sense, the "best" or the "most talented." The TOC is looking for the team that has played the best on the field and has earned the right to play for the National Championship. Didn't qualify for your conference title game? Sorry. Lost your conference title game? Sorry. We're looking for winners in crunch time.

So how did this year's TOC field shape up? Here are the qualifiers (the BCS standings referenced are as of December 6th, which followed the conference title games and which will be used for seeding):

#1 Seed: Alabama (SEC Champion, BCS #1)
#2 Seed: Texas (Big 12 Champion, BCS #2)
#3 Seed: Cincinnati (Big East Champion, BCS #3)
#4 Seed: TCU (Mountain West Conference Champ, BCS #4)
#5 Seed: Boise State (Western Athletic Conference Champ, BCS #6)
#6 Seed: Oregon (Pac 10 Champion, BCS #7)
#7 Seed: Ohio State (Big 11 Champion, BCS #8)
#8 Seed: Georgia Tech (ACC Champion, BS #9)

Very interesting to note that this year's TOC features 8 of the top 9 teams in the December 6th BCS rankings. The odd man out was Florida, which cruised along in the #1 spot for most of the 2009 season until 'Bama manhandled them in the SEC Championship game. Better luck next year Gator fans.

Here are the first round games:

#1 'Bama vs. #8 Georgia Tech
#4 TCU vs. #5 Boise St.
#3 Cincinnati vs. #6 Oregon
#2 Texas vs. #7 Ohio State

You have to figure Alabama handles Georgia Tech (especially since Iowa beat the Yellow Jackets in the Orange Bowl). You have to take Boise State in the mild upset over TCU (since it really happened in the Fiesta Bowl). I took Oregon over Cincy based mostly on power rankings (Sagarin predictor), since neither team played very well in their bowl game. And Texas beats Ohio State (let's assume Colt McCoy doesn't suffer a freak injury in that game).

Therefore, the semi-final match-ups are:

Alabama vs. Boise St.
Oregon vs. Texas

The fun ends here for Boise as the Tide rolls, and Texas with a still-healthy Colt McCoy holds off Oregon in an exciting game.

So the OC Domer Championship Game is: Alabama vs. Texas

I suppose some of the suspense is lost since these two teams played each other in the BCS Championship game. Of course 'Bama held on to win over a McCoy-less Texas squad, even though the Longhorns pulled within 3 points late in the game behind back-up freshman QB Garrett Gilbert. But we're all about the scoreboard in the OC Domer Tournament of Champions, Congratulations to the Crimson Tide!

Some years the BCS "works" and actually pits the best two teams against each other in the Championship game. From this TOC analysis, it seems that the system "worked" this year. But even when it works it doesn't really work. What do you say to the other top teams who won their bowl games (Ohio State? Boise State?) but who never got a shot at the Championship? The beauty of the Tournament of Champions is that it all gets decided on the field.

A guy can dream, can't he?

Bob Stoops Rumors: We've Seen Them Before

The "hot" name right now to replace Coach Charlie Weis right now is Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. But I don't buy the rumors, and I actually suspect that Stoops himself is using the Notre Dame rumors as leverage to get a better contract out of Oklahoma University or other potential employers. We've seen this act before.

Back in December of 2004 the University of Florida had a head coaching vacancy after Ron Zook's demise, and Bob Stoops openly flirted with the Gators but stayed at OU after they ponied up a big fat raise for him.

I am also very skeptical that the University of Notre Dame would consider Coach Stoops to be a good fit at ND, given the record of NCAA violations at Oklahoma during Stoops' tenure or his track record of recruiting players of questionable character and judgment.

Call me crazy, but I'll pass on the opportunity for NCAA probation and the chance to bring violent, gun-toting criminals to Notre Dame.

Michigan's Cheating Scandal Is Serious

The big news in college football the past couple of days has been the report that Coach Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan football program have been systematically cheating by mandating that players participate in football activities for hours well in excess of the daily and weekly limits set by NCAA rules. It has been surprising to me that much of the early spin from the talking heads at places like ESPN has largely been of the "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" variety. Commentators are basically accusing the former and current Michigan football players of whining about the hard work required to play Division I football, even at a lesser program like Michigan's. (Cheap shot. Sorry. Not.)

Here, very quickly, is why I think the current scandal at UM ought to be taken very seriously.

1. It's an integrity issue. As an NCAA institution, Michigan has agreed to abide by a certain set of rules. If they knowingly and consistently break those rules they are cheaters, and it is fair to call their integrity into question. If I were a UM official, employee, alumnus or student, I would probably not want my University's integrity ridiculed. This doesn't appear to be an isolated incident either, as Dick Rod's integrity has been questioned since the day he left West Virginia for Michigan (and tried to renege on his contract buyout clause at WVU).

2. Competitive balance. There's a group of football players at Western Michigan University who are getting ready to play the Wolverines this Saturday. The Broncos already have to contend with playing against a team full of superior athletes. Now they have to contend with playing a team full of superior athletes that is breaking the rules to gain an unfair competitive advantage. That sucks for WMU, and it isn't fair to any team on Michigan's schedule (including Notre Dame). Do you remember how OUTRAGEOUS steroid use was in baseball, because it created an unfair competitive advantage? How OUTRAGEOUS the New England Patriots' filming from the sidelines was because it created an unfair competitive advantage? Consistently getting more hours of supervised workouts or mandatory training or coaching sessions in each week is an unfair advantage every bit as serious as either of those situations.

3. These are STUDENT athletes. At least they are supposed to be. Michigan has already been identified as one of the football factories that steers its players (mostly its black players) into worthless academic majors, and then fails to graduate them. They are already under criticism for sacrificing the education of their student athletes on the altar of football, so you would think that UM administrators would be paying a little more attention to the academic progress of their student athletes. Even at a school like Michigan, only a handful of players will ever play football professionally. The vast majority of student athletes will need to find another way to make a living, and they SHOULD be able to fall back on a Michigan education. I have no doubt that Dick Rod and his assistant coaches go into the homes of their targeted high school recruits and sell the academic excellence of the University of Michigan. No doubt they promise these kids' moms & dads that their son will get a world class education at U of M. But if the football coaches are placing unreasonable and illegal demands on the students' time, it is clear that the coach and the University do not consider actual education to be a high priority. Which is a moral problem as well as an integrity problem.

If these allegations about Coach Rodriguez and U of M prove to be true, I hope Dick Rod is humiliated and unceremoniously fired. Cheating should not be tolerated. Cheating that deprives student athletes of the opportunity to actually get the world class education they have been promised should be punished.

Baseball Holds the Key to Fixing College Basketball

In retrospect it seems obvious that no good would come from a high-profile athlete named "O.J." enrolling at the University of Southern California. And I use the term "enroll" very loosely. This time the USC scandal is centered on basketball player O.J. Mayo, the "freshman" sensation who has recently made himself available for the upcoming NBA draft. Again, I use the term "freshman" loosely since that term has a meaning generally associated with being an actual student pursuing an academic degree at a university, as opposed to being a basketball mercenary who is being paid to wear a particular college's uniform during his audition for the NBA.

I'm sure nobody was more surprised that shady sports agents might be funneling improper benefits to star athletes at USC than basketball coach Tim Floyd - except for maybe USC Head Football Coach Pete Carroll. The O.J. Mayo experience stunk from the start, and USC deserves to get the full court press from the NCAA over this. But USC is not the only entity deserving of blame. A system that allows these young players to accept a "scholarship" to a "university" to play basketball, and then walk away from their school, their coach, and their teammates after just one season of play (and about one semester of classes) is obviously flawed.

One of the things that makes me most proud to be an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame is that ND has always taken the concept of the student-athlete seriously. Student-athletes at Notre Dame live in regular dorms with "regular" students, they dine in the same dining halls as the rest of the student body, they attend the same classes as other students, they earn good grades, and they graduate with an honest-to-goodness degree from one of the best colleges in the nation. Those things are very important to me, and I think they are consistent with the highest ideals of the NCAA. I have always been bothered by those schools who place athletic (and financial) success ahead of education. By permitting (encouraging) their athletes to enroll in patty-cake courses, and then setting the bar of expected academic performance low enough, these institutions do a great disservice to their students, most of whom will need to find "real jobs" eventually. It also compromises the overall academic integrity of the institution itself, and cheapens the value of its diplomas. Tangentially, it's also unfair to the real student-athletes at other schools who have to compete on the playing field against these semi-professionals.

The current system in college basketball makes a mockery of the concept of the student athlete. Athletes whose only intent in accepting a scholarship is to use it as a springboard to the pros at the first opportunity deprive college athletics of what's left of its purity. What makes college sports great (at least to me) is all the students in the stands (and alumni across the country) cheering on their fellow STUDENTS. One of them. Not random guys off the street who are just wearing the colors for a while, but guys they know from the dorms, and from class, who are struggling to graduate. I know, big-time college sports aren't "pure." The money and pressure to win at any cost has worked to corrupt the revenue sports to a significant degree. But I think the ideal of the student-athlete lives on and we need to do what we can to preserve and nurture it. And I think that has to start with college hoops.

I was just looking at recent projections for the upcoming NBA draft. No, I don't know why I was doing that, since I have plenty of other ways I should be spending my time. But I digress. According to projections, the Top 5 picks in the NBA draft could well be 4 college freshman and 1 college sophomore. The Top 10 would be 7 freshman, 2 foreign players, and 1 sophomore. The Top 20 projects as 9 freshman, 7 sophomores, 2 foreign players, 1 junior and 1 senior. If the projections are correct, 18 college players would be drafted in the first 20 picks, only ONE of whom would have completed four years of college and thus have a reasonable chance of having earned a college degree. That's absurd. If you want to play pro basketball - then by all means please go play pro basketball. But don't go to a university and waste everyone's time with the charade that you are a "student" there.

Baseball has it right, and the NBA should adopt the Major League Baseball model as its own. Under the rules of the MLB draft, players are eligible for the draft coming out of high school. If they sign a contract with a team, then they play pro baseball. If they don't sign a contract (either because they didn't get drafted, or didn't get drafted high enough, or couldn't reach terms with a team), then they can choose to go to college. If they enroll at a junior college, they can go back into the draft the following year. But, if they enroll at a 4-year school, they are not eligible to be in the draft again until they complete their third or fourth year of school, or reach 21 years of age. This system has worked very well for players, colleges, and Major League Baseball. Kids who are extremely talented coming out of high school, or who just aren't interested in more education, can go pro right away. Those that need more development, or who value an education, can decide instead to go to college. Colleges and universities who place a player on athletic scholarship know that they are getting a student who is at least somewhat committed to education and who will be there (on the field and in the classroom) for at least three years. Win-win-win.

The flaw in this plan of course is that, unlike Major League Baseball, the NBA doesn't currently have an extensive farm system in which to incubate developing players that they have under contract. But that can be fixed. The NBA Developmental League can be expanded. The NBA could buy the Continental Basketball Association for a song and use it for player development. The NBA could adopt a junior college rule similar to MLB, so that players not intent on earning a degree can at least take a few general educational courses at a JC while playing and waiting to be drafted. If viable paths to the NBA other than through the NCAA are available after high school, then college basketball can regain some of its integrity and allure. We can return to cheering for students who play basketball for their schools, rather than basketball players who merely wear the uniform of a school while waiting around for a better offer.

Madness, 2008 Edition

Yes, I have blogger guilt over the low productivity lately. But surveying the blogging landscape it is clear that I'm not the only blogger out there with a case of the Spring doldrums. For several weeks now I've been on the verge of writing my "Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead" article devoted to Hillary Clinton's spectacular defeat, but the bit*% won't die! And I just have a hard time getting fired up about NBA basketball, regular season college basketball, hockey, or spring training. Hence, a lull.

But it's March, and the real beginning of March Madness is just a few hours away. (Who else cringes every time they hear the phrase "first round of the tournament" used in reference to the play-in game between the 64th and 65th seeded teams? Can we just un-do that horrible mistake and pretend it never happened?) Before the tournament gets under way, I had just a couple of thoughts, and I wanted to get my picks on the record so that I can totally gloat later if I guessed, errr, "predicted" correctly.

First, congratulations to Coach Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish for a great regular season and for landing a #5 seed in the tourney. Coach Brey has done an outstanding job of building the program up from one that was maybe on the bubble each year if they were lucky to one that is consistently in the tournament at a very respectable seeding. That's a big step up in overall quality. We still need to fix that Madison Square Garden jinx, and it's now time for the program to take the next step up to winning some big games and becoming a regular Sweet 16, Elite 8 level team. I think that can start this year. In my bracket, I have the Irish losing to UNC in the round of 16.

As for my brackets, understand that I haven't watched a lot of college hoops this year, and I spent a total of about 25 minutes making my picks before heading off to a doctor's appointment yesterday. What this means is that if my picks are better than yours, you are weak! Here are my picks for teams making it to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4, and the Final:

Sweet 16:

1. UNC
2. Notre Dame
3. L'Ville
4. Tenn
5. Kansas
6. Vandy
7. K State
8. G-Town
9. Memphis
10. Pitt
11. Stanford
12. Texas
13. UCLA
14. U Conn
15. Xavier
16. Duke

Elite 8:

1. UNC
2. L'Ville
3. Kansas
4. G-Town
5. Memphis
6. Texas
7. UCLA
8. Duke

Final 4:

1. UNC
2. G-Town
3. Memphis
4. Duke

Tournament Final: University of North Carolina defeats Memphis.

Let the madness begin! And thank goodness the Irish don't have to play the opening game in New York!

Is Mike Rothstein a Moron?

Is Mike Rothstein of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette a total moron? Or is he just an anti-Notre Dame buffoon? Until recently I generally dismissed Mike as a harmless lightweight who could occasionally turn up a useful nugget of information since he is able to attend portions of Notre Dame football practices as well as press conferences. Even a blind squirrel will sometimes find a nut.

But I'm fed up with his act now. Lately he has taken to "blogging" about Charlie Weis' connection/involvement in the New England Patriots "spygate" scandal. The thing is, there is no Charlie Weis connection or involvement with that story. Mike is just making things up and publishing his random, baseless, speculations on the Journal Gazette's website - in a tone that hints of a hope that evidence implicating Coach Weis will turn up at some point in the future.

Today, Mike breathlessly (and carelessly) posted to his Irish Insights blog a piece headlined "Did ND (and others) Commit NCAA Violations?" The post was premised on a Yahoo story that described a common (and commonly known) practice of college coaches speaking at high school fundraisers. The premise of the Yahoo story was that this is (in the authors' view) an unwise practice and that the NCAA rules in this area are confusing or need clarification. Coach Weis was featured in the story, but numerous coaches from other school are mentioned. Also mentioned are Coaches Davie and Willingham when they were head coaches at Notre Dame. The story addresses both sides of the issue in some detail, and explains the 1991 NCAA ruling that the schools rely on in approving the practice. It's a sensationalist piece generally, but the Yahoo story is at least thorough and balanced. But Mike loves a good headline - "Did ND Commit NCAA Violations?"

About an hour after his original post, Mike posted to "Irish Insights" an "update." The "update" points out that the entire speaking event which was the subject of the possible ND violations had been reviewed and cleared not only by the Notre Dame compliance staff beforehand, but by the compliance staff of the Big East conference. Mike's clarification?

Notre Dame clearly believes they followed the rules and, to use a Charlie Weis term, did their due diligence in making sure Weis and the school were compliant. So if this shows anything, it displays that the NCAA needs to be more clear about this rule, since there seems to be confusion about it at multiple institutions.

In other words, despite what Yahoo or Mike Rothstein thinks, it's pretty clear that no violation occurred at all, and that if one did occur, it wasn't because Charlie Weis is a loose cannon careening around on the deck of the S.S. Notre Dame without regard for NCAA rules. The institution that is most confused here is the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. And of course, Mike's "update" isn't headlined "Notre Dame Cleared of NCAA Violation Charge." Rather, it is very boringly tagged "Update on ND/Yahoo! Story." Not quite as eye-catching.

Here is the comment I wrote to Mike to let him know what I think about his sloppy posting:

Mike,

Maybe you ought to do some research into this "due diligence" concept, and learn to do a little of it before plastering stories on the internet about Notre Dame NCAA violations that never happened.

It's not fair to headline a story about "ND NCAA Violations" and then retract it an hour later while grumbling about how confusing the rules are. There's no doubt the NCAA rules are a confusing mess - which is why you need to do some homework and make your phone calls before you write the story.

I hope others will let Mike, or his bosses, know how we feel about the deteriorating quality of the product at the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Has Penn State Lost It's Integrity?

This blog has not generally been devoted to critical coverage of other universities' football programs, with the occasional notable exception. But Penn State deserves some heat today. I used to respect Penn State. I used to consider the Nittany Lions to have a lot in common with the Fighting Irish. They respected tradition, with their old-school uniforms and their old-school coach. I felt that Penn State was one of the schools that "got it" with respect to the "student" part of the phrase "student-athlete," like Notre Dame does. I used to think that Joe Paterno ran his program with integrity. In recent years, my perception of Joe Pa and PSU started to erode, as evidence began to accumulate that getting star players on the field and winning games was a higher priority than setting a good example and doing things the "right way."

But today I am over Penn State. The scales have fallen from my eyes, and I clearly see that PSU is just another big state school with a big-time football program driven by over sized expectations and demanding alumni. Penn State is no different from Florida State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Tennessee. In fact, the Lions would probably be every bit as comfortable in the SEC as in the Big 10 + 1.

In scanning the news this morning I came across a story that makes no sense to me. Apparently, Penn State will permit players who have been expelled from the "university" to practice with their football team even while still expelled from school. From the article:

Two Penn State football players ordered to stand trial for their roles in an off-campus fight were expelled from school for part of the summer but will be allowed to take part in preseason practice.

Defense attorneys ... said ... their clients will be expelled for the second summer semester, which begins July 3.

[The attorneys] said the players will be eligible to participate in preseason practice, which begins around Aug. 5, a little less than two weeks before the end of the second summer session.

Translation: At least two of the players allegedly criminally involved in a frightening Spring melee will be "expelled" from Summer school (which starts July 3rd) but will still be eligible to practice with the football team when it starts Fall practice two weeks before the end of the Summer session from which they have been expelled. Is that even legal? Does the NCAA permit persons who are not enrolled at a university to practice with the football team for said university? And even if it is legal, can this be seen as anything less than a total sellout? The punishment for these players is that they don't have to go to class this Summer but they still get to play football. Wow, that's harsh.

Maybe the story is being reported wrong. And I don't want to get into a debate about the guilt or innocence of the accused players. But if you are expelled from school, doesn't it seem like a fundamental principle that you should be expelled from the extracurricular activities at the school as well?

But lest you think Joe Pa has lost control of his team and his players, be warned that you too could find yourself picking up litter in Happy Valley if you misbehave. Or if your teammates misbehave. Now that's accountability.

It's time to go, Joe.

Jim Brown Played Lacrosse

Jim Brown, considered by many to have been the greatest running back in NFL history, is also considered by most to have been the greatest lacrosse player of all time. A year ago that bit of trivia constituted the sum total of my knowledge about lacrosse. But I figured if all-time bad-ass Jim Brown played the sport, it must have something going for it. Then last Summer, my son came home and asked if he could sign up for a two-week lacrosse clinic with his buddies. Then he tried out and played for the 7th grade team at his school. He played club lacrosse this Spring, and now we're figuring out which league to put him in for the Summer. Yeah, he likes this new sport. And what 13 year old boy wouldn't? They get to wear cool gear and run around the field smashing into each other and beating on one another with titanium poles. Cross-country running appears to be a thing of the past in the OC Domer household.

A confluence of somewhat recent events has raised my level of consciousness about the Notre Dame lacrosse program. A little over a year ago Freshman Will Yeatman (from California) committed to play football at Notre Dame, and it was announced that he would play lacrosse as well. I didn't even know at that point that Notre Dame had a lacrosse team. Then my son started playing the game. The last glorious piece of the puzzle to fall into place was that my cable company started carrying ESPNU! So it was that I sat glued to the television last Saturday as the unseeded Fighting Irish took the #3 seed Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays into overtime before finally losing in the first round of the 2007 NCAA mens lacrosse championship tournament. While the overtime loss was disappointing, I was very impressed by how competitive Notre Dame has become in a sport that has been dominated by east coast schools for more than a century.

If you look at the sixteen teams that qualified for the 2007 NCAA tournament, Notre Dame is the westernmost school by a long shot. Notre Dame won the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) to qualify for the NCAA tourney largely on the strength of a win over traditional midwestern power Ohio State. But the sport is moving west. Will Yeatman played high school lacrosse in the San Diego area. My son and his buddies are part of an explosion of youth lacrosse in Orange County. Our local high school (Beckman) just won its first league championship in varsity lacrosse, while another Tustin high school (Foothill) just won the CIF Southern Section Championship.

Lacrosse at the college level in California is dominated by the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL), which has 30 member schools grouped into six divisions. The final 2007 standings for "Division A - Los Angeles" features the University of Southern California Trojans mired in fifth place out of six teams, behind such powerhouses as Chapman University, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, and Claremont College. In fact, my son and I attended the game between Chapman University (from Orange County) and USC earlier this year, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the whipping that Chapman put on the Trojans, beating them by a score of 13 to 2. It was 10 - 0 at halftime.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to the three points of this post:

1. Congratulations to the Notre Dame mens lacrosse team on a great season!
2. Lacrosse is a really great sport. If you have kids who are looking for a fun sport to play, you really ought to check it out.
3. Notre Dame was one 16 teams to qualify for the NCAA championship tournament in lacrosse, while USC has a club team that can't hang with Claremont College. How does that taste, Tommy Trojan?

"Fighting Irish" and the Leprechaun Under Review?

Mark Layne filed a rather disturbing story today claiming the the University of Notre Dame is reviewing its use of the "Fighting Irish" nickname and leprechaun mascot in order to stave off potential NCAA legal action. You should read the whole story, but here are some excerpts:

A mythical figure from Irish folklore, the leprechaun is a small male faerie known for his feisty, ill-tempered, and mischievous nature. Said to be possessed of magical powers, leprechauns can supposedly guarantee wealth and protection to any who might capture one ....

The irascible, elf-like creature first appeared in a cut-away green suit, Irish country hat, and shillelagh at the start of the 1965 football season. He has since become a fixture at all home varsity sporting events. Prior to the leprechaun, the University’s official mascot was an Irish terrier named Clashmore Mike, and prior to that, an artichoke.

Surprisingly, though a seemingly benign if not embarrassing symbol, the familiar leprechaun does not enjoy the support of all Notre Dame fans and faculty.

Notre Dame alumna, Eileen Shanahan, is disgusted by what she considers an abuse of elfin iconography. “I mean – leprechauns are people too, aren’t they? So is it fair to stereotype them all as odd, nasty little men always begging for a fight?”

As I said, if you care about this issue, you should read the whole article. Thanks to Mr. Layne for bringing this issue to our attention.