2008 Woodie Awards
These Irish Eyes Are Crying
Extra Point
Greg Jeffers
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Sports
If a football program came crashing to earth, and no one was there to see it, would it still be televised?
It would if that program happened to be Notre Dame, and they still held a lucrative NBC contract to televise their home games.
The dream season has arrived, as millions of college football fans who love to root against the Fighting Irish are at this very moment thanking Touchdown Jesus for the bountiful 0-4 record the Golden Domers started off the season with.
The New York Yankees of college football, Notre Dame is a team that is just so easy to hate.
Though others may hold onto different reasons, it's the special treatment they get from the media and the NCAA that rankles me. The aforementioned television deal plays a big part.
There is no way a college team should be allowed to have its own television network and be granted such a huge recruiting advantage over other schools.
Irish fans and network executives will tell you it's permitted since Notre Dame is an independent program and not affiliated with any conference in college football. How convenient.
I suppose the advantage would be leveled out by being ineligible to play in a BCS bowl game; however, the requirement to be in a BCS conference to be bowl eligible happens to be waived for Notre Dame.
Fortunately, in recent years this special treatment has led to them losing nine straight bowl games.
While the program has certainly yielded some top-quality players and teams over the years, lately it seems that even a mediocre squad gets heralded as the next great national title contender.
They flaunt their winning records (typically boosted each season by several games against weak opponents); and seemingly every quarterback that ever puts on a Notre Dame jersey gets touted as a Heisman candidate, so long as he can hit the broad side of the barn with a football.
This year, however, the safest barns in America hail from South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame's meltdown has been brewing since they hired the supposed savior of the program, Charlie Weis - a man with exactly no collegiate or professional head-coaching experience before he came to Notre Dame.
Weis gained fame as the offensive mind behind the New England Patriots as they video-marched their way to three Super Bowl victories, and parlayed that success into a dream job with his alma mater.
Touted as an offensive genius, it was assumed the Irish would never again lose a football game.
He might know everything there is to know about football and be able to draw up the smartest offensive schemes you'll ever see.
But being winless in bowl games and with the worst start in Notre Dame history now under his belt, what he can't seem to do is coach.
It would if that program happened to be Notre Dame, and they still held a lucrative NBC contract to televise their home games.
The dream season has arrived, as millions of college football fans who love to root against the Fighting Irish are at this very moment thanking Touchdown Jesus for the bountiful 0-4 record the Golden Domers started off the season with.
The New York Yankees of college football, Notre Dame is a team that is just so easy to hate.
Though others may hold onto different reasons, it's the special treatment they get from the media and the NCAA that rankles me. The aforementioned television deal plays a big part.
There is no way a college team should be allowed to have its own television network and be granted such a huge recruiting advantage over other schools.
Irish fans and network executives will tell you it's permitted since Notre Dame is an independent program and not affiliated with any conference in college football. How convenient.
I suppose the advantage would be leveled out by being ineligible to play in a BCS bowl game; however, the requirement to be in a BCS conference to be bowl eligible happens to be waived for Notre Dame.
Fortunately, in recent years this special treatment has led to them losing nine straight bowl games.
While the program has certainly yielded some top-quality players and teams over the years, lately it seems that even a mediocre squad gets heralded as the next great national title contender.
They flaunt their winning records (typically boosted each season by several games against weak opponents); and seemingly every quarterback that ever puts on a Notre Dame jersey gets touted as a Heisman candidate, so long as he can hit the broad side of the barn with a football.
This year, however, the safest barns in America hail from South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame's meltdown has been brewing since they hired the supposed savior of the program, Charlie Weis - a man with exactly no collegiate or professional head-coaching experience before he came to Notre Dame.
Weis gained fame as the offensive mind behind the New England Patriots as they video-marched their way to three Super Bowl victories, and parlayed that success into a dream job with his alma mater.
Touted as an offensive genius, it was assumed the Irish would never again lose a football game.
He might know everything there is to know about football and be able to draw up the smartest offensive schemes you'll ever see.
But being winless in bowl games and with the worst start in Notre Dame history now under his belt, what he can't seem to do is coach.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
smarter
posted 9/26/07 @ 6:32 PM PST
If ND is so irrelevant, why are you writing about it?
psygone
posted 9/27/07 @ 10:34 AM PST
Notre Dame will soon be victorious again. As soon as Father O'Mallie will performs the Holy Right of Exorcism on the 50 yard line in the stadium at midnight against the satanic forces of darkness, thus forever evicting the demons and evil spiritual entities from the football program, all be well again. (Continued…)
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