Notre Dame 14, GEORGIA TECH 10 (final)

[ulukinatme]

:ohwell: That was pretty rude. I've never come here to whine, and I applauded your team on a great win after the Fiesta Bowl. I don't believe I ever made any excuses for our poor defense, we lacked the talent and preparation that cost the game.

While there are bad apples amongst the domer tree, theres plenty of rotten fruit among the other college football trees as well, no team is without their bad reps. To blanket them all with one stereotype is a little harsh, don't you think? The majority of football fans I meet are fairly civil, most can be delusional and oblivious at times, but they're ok people. I don't have a large pool to pick from, but most the ND fans I know personally are respectable too. Maybe I haven't seen enough online personas to know any different, who knows.

 

[lvbuckeye]

i think you're missing the point.

if you look up the phrase "undeserved media hype" you'll see a picture that looks like this:

or perhaps like this:

you see, the Irish have been completely irrelevant in the college football landscape for around 15 years now... yeah, they actually made a BCS game back in 2000, but they were completely exposed for the frauds that they were by the OREGON STATE BEAVERS of all schools, to the tune of 41-9... then, 5 years later, courtesy of perhaps the weakest schedule in ND history (well aside from those 'Championship' seasons of 80 years ago when they played the likes of Mount Union, Kalamazoo, or North Division High - a fucking HIGH SCHOOL, for Pete's sake!!!) and the 'mid major exception' (yeah, that's right, the mid major exception. UTAH made the BCS in 2004 by way of the same ND loophole that the NCAA worked into the BCS deal- and might i add that Utah 2004 was a better team than the 2005 Irish) they get back into the BCS over two more deserving teams in Oregon and Auburn, and once again get completely exposed for the frauds that they were by the Ohio State Buckeyes... of course, the final score was a little misleading due to some Buckeye miscues, but the fact remains that ND did not deserve to be on the same field as Ohio State, and it showed...

now, fast forward to 2006, and the ND hype is at an all time high, despite the fact that they really haven't gotten much better than the slightly above average team of a year ago that got its ass handed to it in its last game, just 9 months prior... then ND proceeds to go out and lay a virtual egg in their opener, albeit an egg that netted them a win, and the media can't stop slobbering over that fat, arrogant fuck of a coach, even though he pretty much got OUT-coached by the opposing team's DC, and raving about ND's supposed defensive renaissance; despite the fact that it's common knowledge that GT doesn't have an offense player worth a damn outside of Calvin Johnson. and i haven't even mentioned the fact of how odious it is for other fans to watch ND become the only team in the history of competetive sports to actually move UP after a loss, albeit a close one... and i haven't even gotten into how disgusting it is to see scumbags like Tom Lemming pimp for the Irish, or how sickening it is to hear about how great some bullshit team is over and over and over and over again, even though they haven't won a bowl game since the 1992 season...

i dunno... put yourself in our shoes, and maybe, just maybe you can see the disgust and disdain that the rest of the college football world feels for your precious little team...

 

[Bucklion]

:ohwell: That was pretty rude. I've never come here to whine, and I applauded your team on a great win after the Fiesta Bowl. I don't believe I ever made any excuses for our poor defense, we lacked the talent and preparation that cost the game.

While there are bad apples amongst the domer tree, theres plenty of rotten fruit among the other college football trees as well, no team is without their bad reps. To blanket them all with one stereotype is a little harsh, don't you think? The majority of football fans I meet are fairly civil, most can be delusional and oblivious at times, but they're ok people. I don't have a large pool to pick from, but most the ND fans I know personally are respectable too. Maybe I haven't seen enough online personas to know any different, who knows.

Keep crying.

 

[ulukinatme]

Geez, if you guys are that jealous, why don't you just root for the Irish? :)

 

[Steve19]

Geez, if you guys are that jealous, why don't you just root for the Irish? :)

I guess that attitude proves the point. What do we have to be jealous about?

I agree with you that we should be objective. So, let's look at the facts.

We've now played your team three times in the last decade or so. We've not only won but handed you your helmets three times.

I think even Notre Dame supporters would have to agree that all three games against Ohio State were a major embarrassment to your program.

It is well known that Ohio State offered to continue regular season games and Notre Dame declined. I guess the Fiesta Bowl showed why.

I simply don't understand the jealousy angle that gets foisted about by Notre Dame fans. Even the friendly press concedes that Notre Dame has not been a serious power for a very long time. We like to think of the Woody Hayes era and its natural that you guys would like to remember the exploits of Knute Rockne or of Charlie Tuna in the NFL as an assistant coach, but none of these memories are relevant to a discussion of the relevance of your team as a major power in college football in this century.

Here's the big objective fact: If one compares the preseason and final season rankings, then Notre Dame historically has been consistently the most highly over-rated team in college football. In fact, in three years in which Notre Dame was ranked in the top 25, see http://preseason.stassen.com/over-under/all-teams.html.

In the period since 1989, Ohio State has been ranked, on average, one-half place (.052) higher than it finished in the final rankings. Closer examination shows that this derives from the end of the John Cooper era and that if the years 1999 and 2000 are held out of the analysis, then Ohio State's average preseason ranking is one place lower than it finished.

Notre Dame was ranked, on average, 3 places higher than it finished. Thanks to last year, in which it finished 17 places higher than the preseason poll, Notre Dame is no longer the most over-rated team during the period. However, it was the most over-rated through 2004, and in that period it was ranked more than four places higher than it finished.

So, over-rated isn't jealousy. It's historic fact.

On the other hand, and this is not directed at you ulukinatme, Domers refused to believe it when we repeatedly expressed factual evidence that we would walk all over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. You know very well the reaction I got on your board when I politely advanced the notion that your team had not seen a defense like Ohio State last year, prior to the Fiesta Bowl.

I submit that Notre Dame fans are missing the boat again, when considering those who say Notre Dame looks good but not great this year to be jealous. Or when we say we think you coach may have a good mind for football strategy but that he lacks the values necessary to be a great college football coach.

What I took away from the Georgia Tech game is that Notre Dame probably isn't correctly ranked again. The defense still looks like it is not of the calibre needed by a national championship team. Furthermore, I think at least two losses look likely to me, Michigan and USC. Penn State and Michigan State will also be very tough games for you guys.

I respect your right to disagree with my opinions, but I am happy to wait and see how right I am as the season progresses.

So, please park this jealousy thing. If anyone needs to be jealous here, Notre Dame should be extremely jealous of what Ohio State has accomplished in the last decade. We have NO reason to be jealous of Notre Dame.

 

[sandgk]

The things ulukinatme should be concerned about are the porosity of the ND O-line and the still unproven (though promised) improvements in speed in the defensive backfield.
If they cannot protect Quinn any better in the remainder of their games there is no way ND ends up unbeaten. If they come up against any team with two true wide-out threats (hint PSU) their DBs still stand to be exposed. Sadly that will mean no repeat gig against Ohio State in the Glendale AZ Championship game. Also, most likely, no Heisman moment for Brady.

 

[Zurp]

After seeing that game, and then hearing the guys on ESPN (or was it ESPN2) during the Florida State - Miami game Monday night (no - I don't know who the guys were), I believe that if Brady Quinn wins the Heisman, it's because ESPN wants him to. They were all over how great of a quarterback he is, and did he even have a touchdown pass? I know he ran for one, and Walker had one, but I can't remember if Walker's was a run or a reception. Bottom line is that he didn't look that good, and if he's still the front runner, based on that game (what else could it be based on?) then it just shows that the media has its agenda.

 

[Steve19]

After seeing that game, and then hearing the guys on ESPN (or was it ESPN2) during the Florida State - Miami game Monday night (no - I don't know who the guys were), I believe that if Brady Quinn wins the Heisman, it's because ESPN wants him to. They were all over how great of a quarterback he is, and did he even have a touchdown pass? I know he ran for one, and Walker had one, but I can't remember if Walker's was a run or a reception. Bottom line is that he didn't look that good, and if he's still the front runner, based on that game (what else could it be based on?) then it just shows that the media has its agenda.

Actually, Smith is now tops on their list after the first week of the season. There is no doubt that the media want Notre Dame to have some kind of win, so they can "be back". But, if they have three losses this season, the Charlie Weis and Brady Quinn train will have a lot less steam. If we go undefeated, Troy has every bit as good a chance, provided that he and Ginn don't split the vote.

 

[ulukinatme]

Thanks Steve, I agree with your position for the most part. Some of the other replies were overboard at times and not quite as classy. Like I said in my previous post, I don't buy into this hype myself, I won't believe we're really back until we can win the big one again. A lot of fans do buy into the hype, but there are the fans that know you have to have something to show for your success as well. The whole jealousy line was a joke of course, I wasn't getting anywhere trying to be civil.

Now I leave to pack, heading to the ND/Penn State game tomorrow after work, which should prove to be an even tougher game than this one. If the D-line shows up to play, I imagine we'll have an easier time controlling the Penn State offense with the lack of running game. The bigger question will be if the offense shows up and picks up the blitz earlier rather than later this time.