BCS Bowl Predictions are Trickling In ...

It's never too early for predictions. It's always best to be the first to go on the record with a crazy prediction, especially if it pans out. In that spirit, Subway Domer has been working hard to forecast Notre Dame's fortunes for the coming season. Over the weekend he posted his prediction for who will be in the BCS bowl games, and how the Irish will fare. You have to go check it out, if for no other reason than to see the picture he has posted of "Super Zibby."

College Football Preview Rags: Athlon Sports

Quick re-set: The college football preview magazines for the 2007 season have come out. I grabbed a few of this year's editions off the shelf at my local supermarket, and this is the second of a sporadic series of posts reviewing the preview rags, from the perspective of a rabid Notre Dame fan. First up was the Sporting News, which apparently has very little respect for Notre Dame generally, and Head Football Coach Charlie Weis in particular. This time it's the National Edition of the Athlon Sports College Football preview. As with the Sporting News, I'll generally work from the front of the magazine to the back.

First Things First. I'll remove any suspense, Athlon did a very nice job with their preview. Factually accurate, fair presentation, no cheap shots. As a result of Athlon's professional integrity, I have very little material to work with from the standpoint of scathing criticism or witty commentary. But, the magazine is chock full of interesting information, so I do have some thoughts and observations I want to share.

1. Cover Boy Zibby. Athlon has four different covers for their National Edition, and Zibby appears on each one. Being in Southern California, my edition has Zibby and USC QB J.D. Booty on the cover. Athlon also releases seven different regional/conference magazines, and no Notre Dame player is featured on any of those. As a Notre Dame fan, you always like to see a Domer on the cover. I'm sure it's also a good way to sell magazines. My only comment is that the picture they use is kind of odd. What is he doing exactly? If he had a ball in his hand, he might be throwing a pass. As it is, he looks like he's directing traffic.


2. Photogenic. The magazine opens with a big 2-page photo of Notre Dame versus Michigan last year. The picture shows Michigan running back Mike Hart diving diving over a pile of Notre Dame defenders and into the end zone. Although it's better UM shot than ND shot, it's a great college football action photo.


Athlon has a very nice gallery of photos from that game in the "Scenes From Saturday" section of their website.

3. The 7th Annual Athlon Awards. Athlon ranks the "best units" in college football. Given the youth and inexperience the Irish will have all over the field this season, it is not surprising that Notre Dame failed to make the Top 10 for any unit (QB, RB, OL, WR, DL, LB, DB). That stings a little. It was mostly the usual suspects that made the lists, but there were a few mentioned that were pretty hard to swallow as an Irish fan. Both Boise State and Rutgers have Top 10 offensive line units. That's right, Boise State and Rutgers have better O-lines than Notre Dame. Missouri has a Top 10 corps of wide receivers (ND doesn't). And Western Michigan has a Top 10 group of defensive backs. W-E-S-T-E-R-N M-I-C-H-I-G-A-N. It is very tempting to argue that Notre Dame's secondary is actually better than Western Michigan's. But I have more pride than to stoop to that level.

4. All-Americans. Like everyone else with a printing press, Athlon has their own list of All-Americans. As far as the Irish go, it's pretty standard fare. Tight End John Carlson and Safety Tom Zbikowski are first teamers. Center John Sullivan is second team. I have no doubt that Carlson will be super, assuming there are no lingering effects from last year's minor knee injury. Zibby is getting a lot of love because of his reputation a a big hitter, and because of a great 2005 campaign. But he did not play like an All-American last season. It seems accepted wisdom now that he was hampered by a shoulder injury for most of last year, but I don't remember hearing much talk about that after mid-season. In any case, Tommy needs to have the best year of his career for Notre Dame to be competitive. He can't be seen chasing the play after Mario Manningham catches a ball on the seam route. Instead, he has to plant Mario at midfield just as the ball arrives, and make Mario not want to run around in the middle of the field any more. I can't help but feel that Sully is getting a lot of love because of the Notre Dame tradition at offensive line, and because he is the stalwart elder statesman of the group. I was so disappointed in our (in)ability to run the ball with power last year that I have a hard time believing that we had any All-Americans in the mix. But I admit I haven't watched a lot of film on offensive linemen, and the pundits seem to like him an awful lot. So maybe Sullivan is the real deal. I sure hope so.

5. We're #38! It doesn't quite have same ring as "We're #1!" But it's all we've got right now. Athlon's estimation of Notre Dame's prowess is pretty much in line with the pack right now. I can't really blame the analysts. Who can objectively project that we'll be better this year than last, when we've lost our entire offense (practically), and most of a defense that wasn't very good to begin with? So we'll have to prove it on the field. That said, it's very hard to look at a list that has Notre Dame ranked lower than Arizona (#37), BYU (#36), Boise State (#35), Wake Forest (#32) and South Florida (#31). It's even tougher to be thirteen spots lower than TCU (#25), nineteen spots behind Hawaii (#19) and twenty-eight spots lower than Rutgers (#10). Punditry aside, I'd gladly take the underdog Irish straight-up against any of those favorites.

6. Greatest Air Conditioner Ever. Totally off the subject, but there is an advertisement in the magazine for York's new "affinity" air conditioning units. For the Notre Dame fan who has everything. Be the first on your block to own this baby:


7. Conferencing. Much is made of the fact that Notre Dame doesn't play in one of the "brutal" power conferences. But flipping through Athlon I noted some interesting "conference" items.

• The Irish play three ACC teams. Boston College is ranked by Athlon as #2 in the ACC's Atlantic division. Georgia Tech is #2 in the Coastal. Duke is #6 in the Coastal division.
• Notre Dame plays nobody in the Big East. Interesting, since our schedule is going to be riddled with Big East opponents in the next few years.
• We play four teams in the Big 10. Michigan is ranked #2 in the conference. Penn State is ranked #4. Purdue is #6 and Michigan State is a surprising #10. (You'd hate to be Minnesota, who has the dubious distinction of being rated #11 in a ten team conference).
• From the Pac 10, the Fighting Irish take on USC (ranked #1), UCLA (ranked #3), and Stanford (ranked #10).

So let's take a look at a hypothetical "conference" schedule for Notre Dame. BCS teams typically play 8 conference games. How about this for an 8 game conference schedule:

• Georgia Tech (#2 in ACC Coastal)
• Penn State (#4 Big 10)
• Michigan (#2 Big 10)
• Purdue (#6 Big 10)
• UCLA (#3 Pac 10)
• Boston College (#2 ACC Atlantic)
• USC (#1 Pac 10)
• Michigan State (#10 Big 10)

That's a pretty tough conference schedule. Sure we fill out our "non-conference" schedule with a Duke, a Stanford, a Navy and USAFA. But those are all D-I teams, and two of them are from BCS conferences. If Michigan State were at their normal level, we'd have no easy games "in conference." No Baylor, no Kentucky, no Vandy. In fact, by being Independent our "conference schedule" ends up being much tougher than if we were actually in a BCS conference.

8. Notre Dame Preview. Kudos to Athlon for writing a fair and accurate assessment of the Irish. Rather than just making stuff up, they admit they don't know who the QB will be, and that there are many other unknowns as well. Here is Athlon's bottom line on Notre Dame this season:

Charlie Weis is confident that his playcalling and teaching, a more power-oriented ground game, and the arrival of [Corwin] Brown as defensive coordinator will be a combination that surprises non-believers in '07. But the Irish likely will go as far as the inexperienced and thin defensive front allows.

If Notre Dame could ease into the season against a few patsies, it would help. But the Irish face a brutal schedule that doesn't let up until November.

An 9-3 season would be a successful transition season in Weis' third year at the helm. But a 7-5 or 6-6 record would not be a shock either.

That doesn't sound too bad. Did they really say 9-3? Not really. They seem to be hedging their bets quite a bit. Their real feelings are found elsewhere in the review. For each team in the magazine, Athlon has the season schedule along with Athlon's prediction of which games that team will win, which they will lose, and which are "swing" games (i.e., could go either way). For the Fighting Irish, Athlon predicts five wins (MSU, Navy, USAFA, Duke, Stanford), five losses (G-Tech, PSU, UM, UCLA, USC). Athlon has BC and Purdue as "swing" games. Thus, far from a 9-3 prediction, Athlon predicts no better than 7-5 if we win both swing games, and 5-7 if we lose both. In order for ND to get to nine wins, we'd have to win both swing games and then win two more upsets that Athlon predicts we'll lose.

I think we can do it. I agree that we take the five games Athlon predicts. I also think we win both swing games, which gets us to seven wins. Of the remaining five games, I feel like we should be favored against Georgia Tech and Penn State, which, if things fall right, gets us to nine victories. Obviously we're heavy underdogs to USC and Michigan. Mark May would probably have to consider a win against either of those teams a "quality" win. But you never know with him. To me, the "pivot" game on the schedule is UCLA. It falls right in the middle of the season, game number six. If the team is playing well and exceeding expectations, they will win in the Rose Bowl. If the Irish are not rolling by week six, we will go to Los Angeles and lose badly. Lucky me, I only live 45 minutes from Pasadena (without traffic)!


Conclusion. Athlon's College Football Preview is far superior to the Sporting News preview. The presentation is objective, factual, fair, and there are no cheap shots taken against the Irish or anyone else. The publication is high-quality glossy paper with good photography and is easy to read. Although there were no surprises for those who follow the Irish really closely, I think this magazine will be most useful in researching Notre Dame's opponents for the coming season. Not surprisingly, Athlon is not as optimistic about Irish fortunes in the coming season as I am. But I fully admit that whatever optimism I have is based largely on blind faith in Notre Dame and Coach Weis. I can't reasonably expect others to share my irrational exuberance.

Reality Check: A Decade of Mediocrity

Talk about a slap in the face. I was in the car this morning, listening to Colin Cowherd's radio show, and he was talking about the top college football programs of the last decade. Apparently the management at ESPN has asked folks there to rank the top college programs of the past decade from 1 to 120. Colin had his top 15 done, and he had Ivan Maisel and Pat Forde on as guests to talk about their lists. Forde and Maisel each had their lists done only to about 15 or 20 as well. It was an interesting segment, with LSU, USC, Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma (and others) figuring prominently in the discussion. But not Notre Dame! I was incensed at this blatant display of anti-Irish bias from ESPN (again!).

I resolved to write an e-mail to "The Herd" setting him straight about why the Irish, despite their recent struggles in big games, deserved to be at least in the Top 15 or 20 programs over the past decade. After all, we play a very tough schedule year-in and year-out, and although top programs USC and Michigan have basically owned us recently, we did very well against them early in the decade.

That's when reality slapped me in the face. Hard. I set about gathering the facts to plug into my e-mail, and I discovered that I did not have a leg to stand on. Using George Macor's Notre Dame Football Database to research game results for the past 10 seasons (1997-2006), I rapidly came to the conclusion that, despite our tremendous tradition and football heritage, despite our commitment to doing things "the right way" on and off the field, Notre Dame's football team has been pretty darn mediocre for a decade. "Blasphemy!" you say. I'm afraid not. Here are the cold, hard facts.

• From 1997 - 2006 the Irish played 122 games, earning 75 wins against 47 losses, for a .615 winning percentage.
  
• At home, the Irish were 45 wins against 17 losses, for a winning percentage of .726.
• On the road, 24 wins and 23 losses. Winning percentage of .511.
• Against unranked opponents we played 77 games, winning 58 and losing 19 (.753 winning percentage).
• Against opponents ranked at the time in the Top 25 Notre Dame had 17 wins against 28 losses. That's a "winning" percentage of .378.
• Against opponents in the Top 10 at the time the Irish had 5 wins against 16 losses (winning percentage of .238).
• Against opponents in the Top 5, Notre Dame has 2 wins and 12 defeats (winning percentage of .143).
• Notre Dame has played in seven bowl games over the past ten seasons, but have lost all seven games. The average margin of loss was just over 17 points.
  

But what about my "memory" that we had done pretty well against Michigan and USC early in the decade? Must have been some other decade I was remembering. Here is how the Irish have done against selected opponents over the past ten seasons:

• Michigan: Irish 4 wins, UM 4 wins
• USC: Irish 3 wins, Trojans 7 wins
• Michigan State: Irish 3 wins, Sparty 7 wins
• Boston College: Irish 3 wins, Fredo 5 wins (including the last 4 games)
• LSU: Irish 2 wins, Tigers 2 wins
• Purdue: Irish 6 wins, the Big Drum 4 wins
• Oregon State: Irish 0 wins, Beavers 2 wins

Wow. I guess we've really owned Purdue, haven't we? Needless to say, I never quite got around to sending that e-mail. So what's the point of all this negativity? I guess the point is that Notre Dame football dug itself a pretty deep hole under Bob Davie and Ty Willingham, and we really aren't anywhere near climbing out of the hole yet. Certainly Coach Weis has brought us hope, and better talent, and glimpses of a bright future. But I've been deluding myself. I have been rationalizing that although we haven't yet broken into the ranks of the elite, Top 5 caliber programs, those depressing losses to USC, Ohio State and LSU shouldn't obscure the fact that we are a solid Top 10-ish team. Aren't we?

The bottom line is we need some big wins. We need to beat G-Tech, Penn State and most importantly, the Wolverines. We have to beat the Wolverines. And if we don't beat USC, we have to make a game of it. And Notre Dame has to win a bowl game. Against somebody. Against anybody. Even if we lose a game or two we shouldn't, it will be much more important to the program if we can also win a couple of big games we shouldn't. The streak against Navy, the game against Stanford almost don't matter. You can explain the odd loss to a bad team as a letdown, or as looking ahead. But you can't explain, year after year, getting your ass handed to you by the big boys.

I'm usually the blogger in the rose-colored glasses, and I try to be very positive where the Irish are concerned. But I was very surprised by the reality of the past decade. In my mind, the streak of 12 wins, 0 losses and 1 tie against the Trojans from 1983 to 1995 is recent history. Beating the Trojans 15 out 19 games from 1983 through 2001 is still fresh in my mind. But this morning I sniffed the smelling salts, and the rosy glasses fell of of my face. I really hope that Coach Weis and Notre Dame can write a much better history over the next decade. Starting on September 1st.

[ADDED 7/11: Welcome to those readers who have linked in from the forums at BlueandGold.com. I'm not a registered member there, so I have no idea what the discussion looks like, but I hope they're treating me fairly. And I hope you'll bookmark OC Domer and come back often!]

[ADDED 7/13: Welcome Rakes of Mallow readers! And thanks to Rakes for the kind word and the link. I hope you'll all stay a while, and come back often.]

Do you remember the "Chicken Soup Game"?

Irish fans everywhere are anxiously counting the days (55) until the start of the 2007 season. We are all looking forward to seeing how this very young, underdog team will play. Will they wake up the echoes or shake down down the thunder? Will new Irish legends emerge? And if so, who? Will it be the likely suspects? Or the unknowns?

As we wait for this year's squad to race out of the tunnel, now is a great time to look back and remember the Notre Dame heroes from our childhood. For me, it's Joe Montana. Do you remember the "Chicken Soup Game"? If you're more than about 40 years old, you're probably nodding your head with fond memories. If you're younger, you may have heard about the 1979 Cotton Bowl, but your personal memories of it are likely hazy at best. And, of course, if you're younger than 30 you were still an infant, if you were even born yet. If you're that young the '79 Cotton Bowl was "before your time." Asking young Irish fans today if they remember that game is the equivalent of asking fans of my generation if they remember the Frank Leahy teams that went 36-0-2 from 1946 through 1949 (undefeated for four straight seasons). If you had asked me that question in 1979 I would have probably asked "Frank who?"

But I do remember Joe Montana in the Cotton Bowl, and it changed my life. Subtly, perhaps, but certainly significantly. On New Year's Day of 1979 I was fourteen years old, a 9th grader in junior high school. I had been a Notre Dame fan as far back as I could remember, watching the Notre Dame Highlights shows on Sunday mornings, with Lindsey Nelson (the TRUE voice of the Fighting Irish) calling the action. My favorite Irish player of all time up to that point was quarterback Tom Clements (#2). Joe Montana changed all that.

On a bitterly cold New Year's Day the Fighting Irish were getting walloped by a team that I had never even heard of. The Houston Cougars? We weren't losing to mighty Texas, or Oklahoma or even an old nemesis like Michigan State. We were getting embarrassed in front of the whole world by the Houston Cougars. The score at halftime was 20-12 Cougars. Intolerable, but manageable. But things would get much worse. As the team came out for the second half, an ill quarterback Montana stayed in the locker room. His body temperature had dropped dangerously and he couldn't stop shivering. With their leader out of commission, it looked hopeless for Notre Dame as Houston scored 14 third quarter points to take a 34-12 lead into the fourth quarter. By that time Montana had returned to the game, with the help of some hot chicken soup. But he wasn't playing like he felt any better. He completed 1 of his first 11 passes in the second half, with an interception.

Midway through through the fourth quarter, with the score still 34-12, the comeback began. A blocked punt returned for a touchdown, plus a two-point conversion, trimmed the lead from 22 points to 14. A defensive stop and an efficient 61-yard TD drive (highlighted by a Montana pass to Jerome Heavens) cut the deficit to six points with 4:15 left in the game. A defensive stop followed by a Montana fumble gave Houston a chance to "ice" the game. But when the Cougars decided to go for it on fourth-and-one, they left the door open. The defense held and the Irish had the ball and a chance to win with 28 seconds remaining.

Montana scrambled for one first down, and threw to Kris Haines for another, putting Notre Dame in a first and goal situation with just 8 seconds left. On first down, Joe had to throw the ball away, leaving just 2 seconds on the clock. As time expired, Joe took the snap and rolled right, finding Haines in the front corner of the end zone to erase a 22-point deficit in less than 8 minutes. An Irish penalty meant that they actually had to kick the extra point twice to seal the win. The Comeback Kid was born.

Joe Montana became my favorite football player that day, and when he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round that year, I switched my allegiance from the Raiders (Coached by John Madden and featuring greats like Kenny Stabler, Jack Tatum, Cliff Branch, Fred Biletnikoff, Dave Casper, and Ted Hendricks) to the 49ers (coming off a 2-14 season in 1978 and led by first year coach Bill Walsh, who led them to another 2-14 season in 1979).

I remember when Joe was a brand new 49er that I went to see him at a personal appearance at the J.C. Penney store in Fairfield, California, not far from my home town. To my amazement, there was almost no one else there. This was Joe Montana! And he was sitting there by himself, behind a small table, near the escalator, ready to sign autographs if anyone wanted him to. Not many did. I don't remember if I was too cool to ask for an autograph, or if I simply forgot to bring something for him to sign. I said "hi" and told him what a big fan I was, and he thanked me for stopping by. My Dad made some small talk with him for a bit. Joe was fairly shy even then, and I was a bit starstruck, so not much more was said. But he was the biggest celebrity I had ever met, and I'll never forget it.

Fast forward to 2003. My family and I are back on Campus for the game against USC. While we were browsing through the bookstore, Joe Montana walked in with his family. I was excited to see him (along with every other adult in the store), but when I told my kids who I had seen, it was obvious from the looks on their faces that they had no idea what I was talking about. I might as well had been talking to them about one of the stars who had played for Frank Leahy.

How could they not know who Joe Montana is? Well, how would they know? Sure, they've been watching Notre Dame football games since they were tots, but they never saw Joe play. Not even as a 49er.

Which brings me around to the purpose of this post. How do we, as Notre Dame fans, pass along the tradition and history of the Fighting Irish to the next generation? Notre Dame alumnus Paul Kostolansky ('89) is trying to do just that through a set of illustrated children's books called Irish Tales. Each book in the series tells the story of a famous Irish game and contains a lesson about life for kids. The first book is called "The Chicken Soup Game" and details for young fans the amazing story of the 1979 Cotton Bowl and the importance of a never-say-die attitude. The book is an officially licensed product of the University of Notre Dame and has been featured in Notre Dame Magazine Online.

Paul wrote to me recently asking if I'd consider blogging his Irish Tales, and I told him I'd be happy to, if it would benefit a worthy cause. So, thanks to Paul and Irishtalesonline.com, the Children's Memorial Hospital (in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago) will receive a monetary donation as well as the gift of some Irish Tales books.

Who do you want to pass your love of Notre Dame football on to? Your kids? Grand kids? Those nephews and nieces who are being tempted by the dark forces of USC, Michigan, or Boston College? The Chicken Soup Game would be great as a bedtime story for the youngest Irish fans, and appropriate material for readers up to about a 4th grade reading level. Readers more advanced than that will certainly consider this a younger kids' book.

So as we wait anxiously to find out who will be the next Joe Montana, let's not forget to teach the next generation about the first Joe Montana, the Comeback Kid.

College Football Preview Rags: The Sporting News

The college football preview magazines for the 2007 season have come out, and for true CFB junkies, these rags are just about the only thing that keeps us sane between the Spring game and the opening day of Fall practice. Dark days. So I grabbed a couple of this year's editions off the shelf at my local supermarket, and eagerly sat down to soak up the goodness.


What a fool I am!

This post will likely be the first of a sporadic series of posts reviewing the preview rags, from the perspective of a rabid Notre Dame fan. First up is the Sporting News, which apparently has very little respect for Notre Dame generally, and Head Football Coach Charlie Weis in particular. I'll generally work from the front of the magazine to the back, taking the insults and outrages in the order in which they offend.

1. Toughest Schedules. On Page 4, TSN editors give the Irish credit for having the 2nd toughest schedule in the land, behind only Florida State. But while giving with one hand they slap Notre Dame a backhanded compliment with the other hand. Noting our brutal schedule, they can't help but drop in a snarky reference to our unofficial competition for the Commander-in-Chief's trophy because we play service academies. So, to the guys at Sporting News, having the 2nd toughest schedule in the nation isn't good enough. Should we drop the academies and play half the SEC too?

2. Bowl projections. On page 6 TSN has nice grid laying out the Bowl game predictions of two experts (Tom Dienhart and Matt Hayes), followed by the Sporting News' projection. Both of the named experts project the Irish into the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. Dienhart has us playing Florida State, Hayes has us playing Virginia Tech. I can live with that. I admit I don't expect the Irish to make it to a BCS Bowl game this year, and the Gator is a respectable alternative. Either of these opponents are worthy, the location, date, and history are respectable. So what is the Sporting News projection for the Irish? The Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas on December 31st against Oregon State. A decidedly less prestigious game. Why does Sporting News have a significantly less favorable view of the Irish than the two experts whose names actually appear in this feature? No explanation is offered. Just a good chance to take an anonymous swipe at Notre Dame.

3. Gotta See Games. Page 7 has a list of "Gotta See Games." LSU appears in three games. Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and USC each play in two of these games. Notre Dame has "zero" games listed as "Gotta See." So there's no need for you to tune in and catch the Irish against Michigan, USC, Penn State, or even in their historic return to the Rose Bowl against UCLA.

4. Upsets. On page 8 TSN lists 56 that "if they happen, will turn stomachs and quash dreams." Pretty wishy-washy description. They aren't actually predicting the upsets, but seem to be warning of possible upsets. Hey, on any given Saturday .... Of the 56 upsets listed, Notre Dame figures directly in only one - a possible upset loss to Purdue. Ouch. But the Irish figure indirectly in several other games flagged as possible upsets. Purdue (the same team that Notre Dame needs to watch out for) is tagged as a possible upset loser to both Indiana and Toledo. So, Purdue is seen by TSN as a team that could possibly lose to Indiana and Toledo, but also could beat the Irish. Where's the love?

5. Newcomers. Page 11 lists several "Newcomers You can't Miss." It's not clear what that means. Does it mean these newcomers will have the most impact? Get the most publicity? That these are the guys you will most want to keep an eye on? Who knows. But, leading the pack is Jimmy Clausen. Sporting News doesn't whiff on this great opportunity to take a cheap shot. Says TSN:

The most-hyped high school recruit since Brock Berlin, and we all know how that turned out. Oddly, both are from small lower-classification private schools.

What did Clausen ever do to these guys? Jimmy has yet to take a snap, and all of a sudden he's the next Brock Berlin? And do we all know how that turned out? I looked it up, and while it wasn't easy, Brock ended up with decent numbers at the University-that-shall-not-be-named, while his pro career has fizzled.

6. Top Coordinator Hires. On page 12 TSN grades out the head coaching hires, and also includes a list of the Top 5 coordinator hires. Corwin Brown failed to make the cut. Now, I have no idea, really, how Corwin Brown is going to do as a defensive coordinator. Maybe his defenses will have us crying in our beer for the return of Rick Minter. But I doubt it. What do we know? We know that coaching is teaching, and that teaching is communicating. We know that Coach Brown was able to be an effective NFL assistant coach, which means he was able to effectively communicate defensive concepts to the New York Jets' defensive backs. We also know that he has been exceptional as a recruiter since he joined Charlie Weis' staff. It has been remarkable how many of the kids Notre Dame has landed so far have commented on how impressed they were by Coach Brown, how much they enjoyed talking to him, how at ease he made them feel, and how he made them want to come play for him. That's all communication. It's motivation. And I think it's going to make him a pretty good D-coordinator. I have Corwin in my Top 5.

7. Ranking the BCS Coaches. Page 13 includes a list of the BCS coaches, from top to bottom, 1 through 66. Pete Carroll of USC is #1, Gene Chizik of Iowa State is #66. Notre Dame's Charlie Weis is #42. Not even close to being in the top half of BCS coaches. Some of the great coaches ranked by TSN ahead of Coach Weis? Joe Paterno (#18), Houston Nutt (#20), Mike Riley (#25), Chan Gailey (#30), Joe Tiller (#32), Brian Kelly (#36), and Rich Brooks (#40). All Charlie Weis has done in two years at Notre Dame is win 19 games with talent so depleted that other "better" coaches were afraid to take the Notre Dame job. He has lost six games over two years to the following opponents: USC (twice), Michigan, Ohio State, LSU and Michigan State. With the very notable exception of the loss to the Spartans, these losses were to teams considered among the most elite in the nation at the time. Is Notre Dame a Top 3 or a Top 5 team yet? No. But Coach Weis' teams have beaten just about everyone but those Top-5 caliber teams since his arrival.

8. Hot Air. But the Sporting News crew isn't done with Coach Weis yet. Also on page 13 is a short list of the five most overrated coaches. Guess who is #5? That's right, Charlie Weis! It's not clear if TSN thinks Coach Weis is overrated on their own list (at #42) or if they think he's properly slotted at #42 and that everyone else thinks too highly of him. In any case, they were able to irrationally slam Coach Weis twice on the same page, which shows good focus on their part.

9. The Top 25. On page 18 TSN begins discussion of their Top 25 teams for the upcoming season. Surprise! Notre Dame didn't make it. That didn't surprise you? Then you're paying attention. Teams that TSN ranked well above Notre Dame? BYU made it (#25). Southern Miss made it (#24). TCU made it (#20). South Florida and Boise State made it (#21 & #22). Thank goodness we don't have to play any of those guys. Instead, we get to play real Top 25 teams: USC (#1), Michigan (#3), UCLA (#10), and Penn State (#15).

10. The Top 39. Notre Dame is ranked by Sporting News at #39. That's behind all of the teams listed above, as well as the following programs: Missouri (#26), Boston College (#28), Alabama (#31), South Carolina (#36) and our opening day opponent Georgia Tech (#37). We barely edged out Purdue (#40). Does anyone here have bulletin board I can borrow?

11. Zach Frazer. On page 174 (right after the Sun Belt Conference) is the Sporting news preview of Notre Dame. There are at least a couple of glaring clues that tell us the author of this preview has no idea what the hell he is writing about. My personal favorites concern recently announced Irish transfer Zach Frazer. About Frazer as possible starting QB:

Strong-armed Zach Frazer played as well as anyone in the spring.

And, from the "A Pro Scout says ..." item:

I don't know about Jimmy Clausen, but I've seen Zach Frazer, and he would play for a lot of schools. Big kid, stands tall in the pocket, strong arm. Don't be surprised if he wins that job.

How in the world can anyone not on the Notre Dame team or coaching staff say that Zach played as well as anyone in the Spring? All the practices were closed, and Zach went 0 for 4 with an INT in the Blue-Gold game. What can this possibly be based on? And of course, we'd all be surprised if Zach were to win the job now, since he is about to become a U Conn Husky.

12. Schedule tidbits from the preview. Sporting news has Michigan as our toughest game, with USC as our best chance to pull an upset. Wow. According to the Sporting News, we have a better chance of upsetting USC than we do of upsetting Michigan, UCLA, Penn State, Boston College, or Georgia Tech. (Remember that TSN ranks all of these teams ahead of us, so beating any of them would be an upset). Call me crazy, but I'd probably count USC as our toughest game, with best chance of an upset against G-Tech, Penn State, B.C., or UCLA.

What's the bottom line? The editors at Sporting News hate the Irish, hate Coach Weis, and don't even know what the hell they're writing about. Which means I totally blew $6.99.

New Color Scheme for OC Domer

You may have noticed a modified look for the OC Domer today. Although I love blogger as an easy-to-use, relatively hassle-free interface, I have been a little bothered by a couple of issues. First, the number of available templates in "New Blogger" (XML) is pretty limited. I picked the current template because it was the closest fit to what I wanted out of the very few choices available. But I've never been completely happy with the colors, as they weren't quite "Notre Dame" enough for me. So I finally sat down and edited the colors of all the page elements so that they look more like the traditional blue, gold, and green that Fighting Irish fans are used to. Although I'm sure I will still tinker with it, I'm much happier with the new colors than I was with the old. What do you think?

The other issue I have had is the width of the main column for posts. It's too narrow! I want to figure out a way to make the main posting area wider, but I'll need to do some more research to figure out how to edit the template without messing the whole thing up. If anyone can point me to a simple "how to" on this topic, I'd be really grateful.

The last issue I have had is that I would like to put a photo in the main header to dress the blog up a bit. From my limited research this seems like it would be fairly simple, but I haven't sweated it too much yet since I'm not sure what photo/artwork I want to use yet.

U Conn Do It, Zach!

ESPN's Joe Schad is reporting that Irish Quarterback Zach Frazer will be transferring to the University of Connecticut. The Huskies run a pro-style offense that relies on a strong running game to set up big plays in the passing game. Apparently last year's leading passer for the Huskies has been moved to wide receiver, leaving sophomore Dennis Brown and junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen to battle for the QB job. It seems that Zach should have a very good opportunity to step in and compete for playing time a year from now.

I've shared at length my thoughts on Zach Frazer in the past, so I just want to take this chance to wish him the best of luck at U Conn. Go Huskies!

OC's Thoughts

I've got some ideas for upcoming posts, but I just had a collection of random, non-football, non-Irish thoughts that I wanted to get off my chest.

1. The NBA Draft is tonight, I guess. Yawn! Heck, I did not watch a single minute of the recently concluded NBA playoffs or finals. That's a lie. I specifically tuned in to watch the last two minutes of the final game, just to see the confetti fly. Even that was a let down. The NBA Finals featured the next great Superstar (LeBron James), carrying the Cavaliers on his back, against the "Dynasty" that is the San Antonio Spurs and Tim Duncan. And I didn't care at all. So how am I supposed to care about the NBA Draft? I don't. I used to like the NBA. Sort of. Not really.

2. Which brings me to Kobe Bryant. As a sports fan living in Southern California, I listen to local sports talk radio. For weeks now I have been subjected to an almost non-stop barrage of Kobe Bryant coverage. One station proclaims itself the Official Keep Kobe station. The other brings me Kobe Watch 2007 every afternoon. Really. Apparently Kobe is unhappy. Who knew? Kobe wants new friends to play with. Better friends. Or he is going to take his ball and go play somewhere else. If his Daddy lets him. Or maybe he'll just stay inside and not play ball with anyone. Boo hoo. Cry me a river, Mr. Millionaire. Yes, Kobe's angst is a story. But it's not a wall-to-wall for a month story.

3. Didn't basketball used to be a Winter Sport? Why can't the NBA wrap up it's season before June? Or before May for that matter?

4. Speaking of the Lakers. Laker owner Jerry Buss is a well-known poker player, and he was in Las Vegas this week participating in the World Series of Poker. One of the events he played in was Event 41, Seniors No Limit Holdem. There were over 1,882 players in the $1,000 buy-in event. The top 153 players finished in the money. Jerry Buss did not finish in the money, but OC Domer's Dad did, finishing in the Top 50 and earning over $6,000! Congratulations Dad.

5. The Ducks (who are apparently a hockey team in Orange County) won something called the Stanley Cup recently. How does that taste, Canada? Buffalo? Detroit? Long Island? Yes, that's right, Lord Stanley's Cup will be spending the next 12 months getting some sun on the beaches of Orange County. I totally understand hockey in cold weather climates - South Bend, Canada, North Dakota. Makes total sense. Hockey in Southern California has never made any sense to me. There are no frozen ponds in Orange County. Ever. If you ever wore a real hockey sweater around here, you'd be sweaty and unbearably smelly in ten minutes. How can hockey possibly be popular here? But it is. At least, it is for those who can afford to buy Ducks season tickets and who can't think of any better way to blow their money. Go Ducks! Hey, Los Angeles, how did the Kings do this year?

6. Orange County sent two teams to the College World Series this month. Representing the OC in Omaha were the UC Irvine Anteaters and the Cal State Fullerton Titans. The Titans have a long and impressive CWS history, including four championships, but UCI pretty much shocked the world this year. Los Angeles teams in Omaha included ... well, no LA teams made it this year. In fact, no other teams from California qualified for the CWS. So college baseball powers USC, UCLA, Stanford and Cal all had to stay home and watch Fullerton and UCI on T.V. Better luck next year.

7. Speaking of baseball in Orange County, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who have been playing baseball in Orange County since 1966 notwithstanding their stupefying slap-in-the-face name change, are playing really well this season. Despite being swept in three games by the Royals over the weekend, the Angels' 49 wins are the most of any team in baseball right now, one win more than the Red Sox who have been just ahead of the Angels in that race for most of the season. The Angels currently have a 5 game lead in the AL West. For those keeping score at home, the Los Angeles Dodgers (the OTHER baseball team in LA) are in third place in the NL West and have 44 wins so far. The Angels and Dodgers have played each other six times this year and the Angels have won five of those games.

8. How are the Angels doing it? Colin Cowherd of ESPN radio has been making fun of the Angels for a couple of years now, because we value our home-grown "hot minor league prospects" over high-priced, over-the-hill free agents. And Colin has a point about about Bill Stoneman's amazing reluctance to pull the trigger at the trading deadline each year. But just so we're clear, right now our "hot minor league prospects" are tearing up Major League Baseball. Here are some of the Angels' prospects who are making major contributions to the winningest team in baseball today: John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver, Francisco Rodriguez, Mike Napoli, Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick, Casey Kotchman, and Reggie Willits. That's not all of them, but those are the biggies right now. Say what you will about Stoneman, but player scouting and development for the Angels looks pretty good right about now.

9. I really enjoy the Colin Cowherd radio show. I have a commute that averages about 90 minutes each way, and Colin is by far the best sports talk on the radio during my morning commute. College football is his favorite sport, and the NFL is #2. He makes a point to talk about football every single day of the year. And he is knowledgeable, opinionated, and fairly reasonable on the topic. He isn't perfect, but it's a very entertaining way to spend an hour in gridlock. At any rate, Colin recently announced on the air that he is getting a divorce from his wife, who is the mother of their two children. It is none of my business, but I was pretty disappointed in Colin. He has stated repeatedly that the divorce is mutual and very amicable, and I hope that is the case. He has moved into a new home within a mile or so of his kids, so that he can spend quality time with them. But I have to say that I think it is selfish and cowardly to marry a young woman in her prime, saddle her with two kids, and then walk out the door to pursue your own happiness. What the heck is she supposed to do, Colin? You are, as you put it, an international radio icon. You are at the top of your profession, a nationally known celebrity within the sports world, you're fit, reasonably well off financially, and glib. No doubt you won't have any trouble finding other women. Your soon-to-be former wife won't have it so easy. While I am sure she is still a beautiful woman, she isn't 22 any more. No matter how amazing she is, she's about to start her life as a single mom, a divorcee with two very young children. And nothing says "marriage material" like a diaper bag and a screaming toddler. So enjoy your nights out drinking with your new buddies Colin, and try not to think about the mother of your kids at her wits' end trying to get the kids to go to sleep so that she can have a few moments of peace before all the craziness starts again tomorrow.

10. I had to register at Facebook.com yesterday. I was seeing a lot of referrals from that site, but without being registered I couldn't see exactly how I was being linked. That's pretty annoying. So I registered. Turns out a Penn State fan was linking my earlier post about PSU's integrity problem. For what its' worth, I think they got my point.

11. I've been trying to register at Domer Domain, but I'm getting the feeling my application has been rejected. They posted a nice link to my Zach Frazer piece a couple of weeks ago, and I tried to register to participate in the discussion, but they still haven't activated my registration. Must be an exclusive club.

12. I'm glad to see that Kelly Green has re-vamped the site and gotten back into the game. Their posting had gotten pretty sporadic and juvenile over the past year or so, and I stopped visiting. But they've added some new contributors, spiffed up the graphics, and are posting thoughtful material again.

13. I hope OC Domer readers in other parts of the country (and, indeed, the world!) are not being subjected to the non-stop coverage of Paris Hilton that we in Southern California are enduring. I'm glad she's out of jail, but only because I'm sick of the hysterics that surrounded her being in jail. Grow up Paris. You're 26 years old, not 13. Time to act like it. I can't believe I just blogged Paris Hilton.

14. Tony Parker and Eva Longoria are getting married. I'm happy for them. They seem very much in love. But I wonder: Where do they go from here? Each of them is likely at the peak of their professional careers and personal earning power. Tony Parker just won the MVP of the NBA Finals. Eva is the hot little number on one of TV's hottest shows. But Tony is not Michael Jordan, or even Charles Barkley. He isn't going to cross over to be a huge success as a television personality or commentator. Eva is attractive, but she's no great acting talent. When her looks begin to fade, she will be done. In my opinion, it's all down hill from here. It reminds me completely of the marriage of Rick Fox and Vanessa Williams. Will the marriage hold together when all they have left (besides the pile of cash and the mansion) is each other?

15. OC Domer International. I'm up to twenty six countries on the list of international visitors to OC Domer. But visitors from Poland remain my most loyal international readers! Hello Warsaw!

16. July 4th is coming up, people are gearing up for long Holiday weekends. So I want to send out an early "Happy Birthday" to the U.S. of A and Old Glory. Long may she wave!

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.

The Scout.com Top 100 Recruits Like the Irish

The last thing a 43 year-old man with a wife, a mortgage, and two kids needs or wants is to become a recruiting dork. I don't want to become that guy who watches grainy YouTube game video of high school juniors, pretending that he can form an intelligent opinion of whether a particular junior would be a good fit for the Notre Dame football team two years down the road. That way lies madness. I feel about as qualified to editorialize on the success of Charlie Weis' recruiting efforts as I did to write preview articles on Spring practice.

Nevertheless, I do keep a contstant watch out for any news which might be a signal of how well things are going out there on the recruiting trail. One such indicator which recently came to my attention was Scout.com's Top 100 Recruits list for the Fall class of 2008. I commend it to your review, and I'm sure others will have more in-depth analysis for the truly sick. But some quick numbers crunching at the macro level reveals a few tidbits worth mentioning.

• Signing day for high school students who probably finished their junior year of high school last week is still eight months and a full senior season of football away, yet Charlie Weis & Co. have already secured public verbal commitments from five players in Scout's Top 100.

• Those five players are ranked at #40, #50, #65, #74, and #88 on the Top 100 and include one 5-star and four 4-star players (according to Scout.com).

• In addition to the five players already verbally committed to the Irish, seventeen other players in the Top 100 list Notre Dame among their "Schools of Interest."

• Thus, fully 22% of the players in the Scout.com Top 100 are either committed to Notre Dame or have an interest in Notre Dame.

• The seventeen players showing interest are ranked 5, 8, 13, 19, 24, 27, 28, 30, 33, 34, 39, 42, 55, 62, 68, 70, and 75. Eleven of these players are ranked at 5-stars, while the remaining six are 4-star players.

• All eleven of the 5-star players showing interest are ranked higher than the highest ranked player already committed to Notre Dame (TE Kyle Rudolph at #40).

What does it all mean? It means I need to get a life. At the very least it also means that Coach Weis has the attention of the best recruits in the nation. We certainly won't get all or even most of the recruits showing interest. In some cases I'm sure the interest isn't mutual. In other cases, I am sure the coaching staff is pursuing players who aren't interested in Notre Dame, YET. No doubt the list is very fluid. No doubt some kids with "interest" really just want to visit the campus and see a great football game in the premiere venue in all of sport, before committing to play for a school that will allow them to pursue their dream of a career in kinesiology.

Regardless of how it all turns out, signposts like the Top 100 allow me to sleep a little better at night, knowing that our current coaching staff is working extremely hard to bring to Notre Dame the talent we need to return to the upper echelon of college football programs. Instead of worrying about recruiting, now I can worry about whether or not recruiting success will actually translate to wins on Saturday.