This could be the last 2 times you see Jimmy, Golden, Floyd, Allen and company take the field. Collectively, or as individuals. Although their time at ND hasn’t gone the way they, or we, planned, this is a solid group of kids, and they deserve our support through 2 more games. They’ve been let down by a combination of missed recruiting, questionable coaching, tough breaks and more questionable coaching.

But let’s send them off right, with our cheers echoing into the night, win or lose.

I mean, we all wait for months and months to see the team take the field, and now some people can’t wait for the season to end. I understand it, but I’m fighting that feeling – I want to savor every minute of it. Because as soon as it’s over, I’ll be pining for next August’s kickoff once again.

So regardless of our ho-hum record, and the (again!) turmoil surrounding our coach and therefore program, I’m tossing on the jersey, doing push-ups at 9am and cracking the first beer immediately after.

Because, after all, this is Notre Dame football, and there’s nothing better than it in the world. I love Saturdays in the Fall, and I only get 2 more guaranteed. And I plan to enjoy them.

I’m hoping the players do as well, and that they can go out there with a chip on their shoulders to leave this season, and potentially their college careers, with a couple W’s under their belt. Because despite all this (deserved) crap, Winning cures all.

Let’s strap on the chin straps, lace up the boots, and go at it.

2 more weeks left, gotta enjoy it while we can. (and then we can worry about the drama).

Go Irish.

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If ND was even decent, Golden Tate would still be (and frankly, still should be) in the Heisman race in a major way. As it is, he should still be invited to the ceremony.

I don’t remember a player at ND that has made such a huge impact, and has made so many amazing, highlight-reel-worth plays. Probably The Rocket was the last guy like this at ND. It’s special to watch, and it’s a shame that it’s all getting marred by the team’s struggle to succeed.

Golden Tate is the best WR in the nation, and probably the best athlete. I’m sure there are some that will dispute it, but Mark Ingram has nothing on Tate. Other than playing for a team with a better record.

Tate is 4th in total yards among WRs on the season, and is poised to break the Shark’s single-season record for receiving yards next week. He’s also tied for 2nd in total TD catches in ND history, and could break that record this year as well.

Among WR’s with 50+ catches, he’s 4th in YPC, and among those with 70+ catches, he’s 2nd. He’s also tied for 3rd in TDs among all WRs, and he’s averaging 6.9 yards per run when he gets the ball on the ground, and has added 2 TDs rushing.

More than anything, he does the fantastic. The end-of-the-half TD catch against WSU. The Punt Return TD against Pitt. The “Go ahead and hit me Mays” hit in the end zone where NFL-bound-all-world USC Safety Mays bounced off Tate like Tate was made out of steel. The list goes on and on.

The kid produces, and produces in a big time, flashy way. Not something many people associated with ND in the recent past. But now that’s changed.

Thanks to Golden.

He may go pro this year, and who could argue with the decision? Lots of money, his draft stock rising, CBA negotiation implications, potential coaching change…But he may also stay another year. He’s developed a ton over the past year, but, remarkably, is still somewhat raw. There are other reasons to stay – a degree, a chance at the Heisman, a chance at helping ND really get it going again, improving his draft stock even more.

I’m really hoping the kid sticks around. Selfishly, and not really because he’s such an asset to the team and because he’ll be a senior leader and will help ND win games. But really, because he’s just so damn fun to watch.

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Charlie Weis is still our coach. From the interviews this week, the kids are still behind him. They all came here to play for Weis, and they’re ready to throw down to support the guy. Swarbrick is still behind him, at least publicly (though you have to assume the due diligence is underway just in case we crap the bed to close out the season). The fans? Alums? Another story. And I get it, I’m with ya’ll.

But nothing makes me more sick than the ‘ND fan’ that’s hoping we lose and lose big so we can move on with the coaching search. You know who you are out there, and there are a lot of you.

This team can still have a good year. It’s not going to be what we all expected, or what we wanted, and it won’t be a team living up to its potential, but a 9-3 regular season is serious progress from 3-9 two years ago, and will get us into a decent bowl. It will keep our momentum going with recruits and (gasp!) is likely to keep Weis around.

In fact, the only results that pretty much guarantee a firing are a 6-6 or a 7-5 finish. 9-3 and he’s almost sure to be around for another year. 8-4 probably depends on how that final loss goes down (e.g. tight, last minute loss to top-ranked Pitt, vs stink-bomb loss at home to UCONN ala Syracuse last year).

The chances of winning out aren’t great given our issues on defense, maybe 10%. Chances of dropping just one are decent, probably 35%. Chances of losing to both Pitt and Stanford are decent too, probably 45%. Chances of dropping all 3? 10%. Yeah, I’m just eye-balling this, but that means we have a 45% chance at having Weis around for another year assuming Swarbrick gives him one more shot at 8-4 (and I’m guessing he will). Even if you assume I’m way off and we’re much more likely to drop 2, there’s still probably a 30% chance that we win out or only drop 1. ~1 in 3 isn’t all that unlikely folks.

So unless you’re rooting for losses, don’t just assume that the change will happen. There’s a decent chance it won’t.

At this point, I don’t know anyone that can openly support Charlie. Not with the current body of work. But I’m really, really, really pulling for a 9-3 final record and a bowl-win. Because no matter what, I want ND to win. I’d take that 10% any day.

Go Irish. Beat Pitt.

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Whoever the coach for ND is next year, I hope they remind the players of plays by Navy like this one. And I hope the Irish respect Navy enough to give them an actual effort next year and kick their asses up and down the field.

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The three men described the scene in which two males in black-hooded sweatshirts approached their car and asked them for money. The two then fled in a 2010 Toyota Prius (!!!!!).

The bold is mine because, well, how many armed robberies take place with a 2010 PRIUS as the getaway car? Hilarious.

And can these guys be any WORSE at this? I mean, first you use an easily identifiable car, and then you just leave the evidence all over said car?

A search of the Prius revealed a air-powered pellet pistol under the rear seat. Two black hoodies were seen in plain view in the back seat, DeBusk said.

Stand-up young men, and smarts to go with it. HA. But hey, at least they saved some gas and the environment with their super-green-friendly getaway car. I wonder if it had the optional solar panel roof. That would take this from awesome to legendary.

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ND is held to (or should be held to) a higher standard – by the school administration, by the students, by the fans, and by the media (big time). I don’t mind that one bit. If Notre Dame isn’t going to stand for something better than the lowest common denominator, who’s going to? And anyway, can you just IMAGINE if an ND player was arrested for wielding an AK-47, and that player was let back on the team? The headlines of “Tarnished Dome” would go on for infinity on the interwebs. Can you IMAGINE if an ND player was caught using a dead person’s credit card for fun and games??? It would hurt the program, but more importantly it would hurt the school. It would change what we stand for, what we aim to be. It would fundamentally injure the strong, faith-based morality upon which the Dome was built. But these criminal acts are the things that happen under Urban Meyer. Not could happen, or might happen, these things HAVE happened. And they’re okay at a place like Florida, and at most schools (which is just sad). But they’re not okay at ND, which is why Urban Liar is not okay for ND. So without further ado, here are the files on Meyer. I am 100% sure I don’t get it all here, but feel free to add links in the comments with any additions, and we’ll edit accordingly.

The Relatively Benign

Somewhat shady things that make Urban look to be kind of a jerk, but really aren’t as big as all the bajillion arrests. (Just a note that I realize that some of these are small, that lots of coaches negative recruit, etc, so please don’t comment about how ‘all coaches do that’ and use that to refute the litany of other things that will accompany this section. Thanks.)

1) Meyer Lies to Recruits. Meyer lies to Trattou and Hunter about ND, and gets them to keep their switch to UF silent as long as possible. I hate linking to Bleacher Report, but it was the only article I found that covered both of these situations. The best part was when Meyer just promised Omar Hunter that his DL coach would still be there, no matter what. Then, the day after signing day, he’s gone to the NFL. Just great. Stand up guy there.

2) Meyer Breaks NCAA Rules. Even ESPN was calling Urban out on potential recruiting violations in the recent past. In this instance, Urban was illegally recruiting WR Carl Moore and his girlfriend as a package deal to UF.

“I used to talk to him every day back in November when he was recruiting Carl,” Smith told the Gainesville Sun. “He kept asking how Carl was doing, and [he] wanted me to come here and do gymnastics.”

The ‘calling everyday’ thing is also a no-no. Course, it was shrugged off and largely ignored by the NCAA.

3) Meyer Lies to Another Recruit. In the same article, a UM commit talked about how Meyer told him that his own future coaches were saying that he should go to Florida. Shockingly, this turned out to be false.

“He told me that he talked to Coach [Lloyd] Carr and Coach Soup [Erik Campbell] and that they told him that I would be a much better fit in the Florida offense than I would be in the one at Michigan. I thought, wow, my coaches are selling me out? I confronted them about it. I asked Coach Carr and Coach Soup about it and they said they never talked to that guy and that there was no way they ever said anything like that and that they think I should be a Wolverine. I believed them. Right then, I knew just how Florida rolled.”

Yep, that’s how Urban rolls.

4) Meyer Skirts NCAA Rules on Recruiting. Again. Same article. Urban uses Tebow to recruit during the Heisman ceremony.

Meyer was at the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York with Tebow and dialed up Moore right after his QB won the trophy.

According to the Bee story, Meyer handed the cell phone to Tebow. “Carl!” the Florida quarterback practically yelled to the Sierra College receiver planted on his mother’s couch near Placerville, “I just won the Heisman! Come on down here, and let’s win a national championship!”

Again, nothing big, but we’re just getting warmed up here.

5) Meyer Lies to Jevan Snead. The infamous Urban Liar original, where Meyer told Jevan Snead that he was recruiting Tim Tebow as a linebacker. HA. Hilarious. Detailed in Bruce Feldman’s “Meat Market”, it’s a pretty funny story actually. But he’s a liar.

6) Meyer Loses out on Recruit, Tries to Sabotage the Recruit’s Admission to LSU. NCAA secondary violations, negative recruiting, etc. “Eh, everyone does that” right? Well, do all coaches try to screw a kid over with admissions when he picks another school?

Johnson said Florida had no problem with his academic eligibility when he first scored his ACT. It wasn’t until after he decided to attend LSU that Urban Meyer had one of his assistant coaches contact the NCAA. ACT officials subsequently reviewed his test results at their request and “flagged” his October score.

“I’m not upset, Urban is” Johnson said. “Florida made an issue about the ACT score. They’re cowards. He had to go behind my back when things didn’t go his way. But that’s OK. What goes around comes around.”

The Serious, But Not Completely Insane

So all of the following comes from a bunch of sources, but I’m just going to link to this one here because it’s a nice concise run-down. I’ll group them a bit differently, but it’s a good run-down of all 24 (AGAIN, 24!) arrests since Meyer took over at UF. (Note: We did a similar run-down in 2007, comparing UF to the Cincy Bengals and all their off-field troubles at the time. That is here.)

The following are all arrests (okay, technically they weren’t all put in cuffs but they were all served papers and charged with some form of crime so we’re going with this as the definition of arrest okay?), but these are not the really crazy ones. Urban’s handling of these is questionable in some cases, and the arrests themselves say something about his leadership, the culture he creates within a program and recruiting scruples (or lack thereof). These aren’t the big dogs though – it’s not all that shocking in CFB today (again, sad) that these occur. Maybe more just the absolute VOLUME of them. It’s pretty ridiculous. Note that this is largely a summary of the linked article above with a few notes and caveats from the HLS perspective. Also note that I’m numbering by people, not events, so you’ll see mutliple arrests within a number. (In other words, don’t count the numbers and wonder why it doesnt add up to 24…)

7) Tony Joiner is arrested for felony theft for deciding to go get his girlfriend’s car out of a tow lot without anyone’s permission at 4 am. Joiner was a captain when it happened, but Meyer stripped him of that (oooooooh, take that! all you’re gonna do is steal back your GF’s car? that’s not the kind of leadership we need here!). He didn’t miss any playing time.

8 ) Torrey Davis is arrested for a misdemeanor driving with a suspended license. Repeatedly. Was considered to be ‘in the dog house’ and ended up in jail.

9) Riley Cooper got cited for a misdemeanor resisting arrest and failure to comply with cops’ requests. No one knows if Cooper got punished at all. You know my guess.

10) Carl Johnson got on a bus with his ex-girlfriend, who had a restraining order out against the dude. Misdemeanor violation there, as he had been accused of 3 counts of date rape. He never missed time, as the case was dropped.

11) Dawayne Grace faced charges of misdemeanor battery and theft. The first time. The second time he got busted for midemeanor violation of a city ordinance and disorderly conduct, and he did community service. SHOCKING HEADLINE OF THE YEAR: Urban actually suspended him. For the year. (Hmmmm, wonder why he gets the book thrown at him, while other guys don’t….could it be, maybe, playing time? I mean, Brandon Spikes got a half game right? Hmmmmm….)

12) Jon Demps drove with a suspended license as well. Then he got busted for possession of the Weed. Booted from the team after the second violation.

13) Louis Murphy liked the happy weed too, and got busted for having it on his person. He was suspended for 3 games.

14) Brandon James got busted while buying the happy weed, which is a felony. And of course he had some on him, so he got the misdemeanor possession too. Meyer suspended James for a, SHOCKING, single entire game. Against Western Kentucky.

15) John Curtis violated his probation by skipping out on community service. This is a misdemeanor as well. Curtis didn’t play much, but had been hurt anyway.

16) Dorian Munroe got busted for felony theft when he pulled a boot off his car. HA. That one is just funny. Nothing came down from Meyer on this one.

The Serious

These are even more startling – that they happened at all, and that they often didn’t result in much of a punishment from Liar.

17) Avery Atkins was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery of his girlfriend/baby mama. Also charged with felony false imprisonment. Meyer suspended him.

18) Dustin Doe got involved in a big old fight and then got busted for misdemeanor resisting arrest. Charges were eventually dropped, so nothing from Urban.

19) Jermaine Cunningham got busted for misdemeanor battery for beating up a guy behind the counter at a Jimmy John’s. On a personal note, that’s just wrong! How do you go after a dude that serves you such a delicious sandwich? Anyway, Cunningham missed no time, and played in the Capital One bowl. Meyer imposed ‘physical punishment’. “Yeah, man, you can’t beat up sandwich dudes! We’re coming down HARD on you. What? No, of course you’ll play in the bowl game. But you don’t get the free watch, and you gotta run some LAPS! So take that!”

20) Jacques Rickerson got busted for having the weed on him to rack up a nice lil’ misdemeanor. Those charges were dropped, so of course just a 1 game suspension punishment from Meyer. But then the guy got caught for felony domestic violence by strangulation. DUDE STRANGLED HIS GIRL. And, just to top it off, felony obstruction of justice. Meyer booted him from the team, because at that point he just didn’t have a choice. “Sorry kid, I really wish I didn’t have to”.

21) Cam Newton got busted for all kinds of felonies. Burglary. Larceny. Obstruction of justice. He was suspended for the rest of the season. If he had only just gotten the 1 burglary charge, he probably could’ve stuck around, but…

22) Marquis Hannah got busted for felony burglary and misdemeanor battery for busting his way into a home and punching a dude in the face while trying to gank some stuff. No punishment to date.

23) Janoris Jenkins was busted for misdemeanor fighting and resisting arrest for his part in a fight outside a club, late night. This one isn’t as bad as some of the others in terms of what he did, but he’s a pretty big time player for them so I slotted it in here. No punishment so far.

The Ridiculous

These last 2 or 3 completely defy description. And even if I somehow haven’t yet convinced you that Meyer has integrity issues, one of these should just about do it for you. If none of this does, then there is no hope that you’ll ever get ND. Sorry, it’s just a fact.

24) Jamar Hornsby throws a dude onto the hood of a car during a fight and gets a misdemeanor property damage and criminal mischief charge. No punishment for this one from Urban. Later in his UF career, his ‘best friend’’s girlfriend dies and he helps him clear her things out of her aparment. Awwww, what a nice guy! Wait, wait….because THEN, Jamar goes around using her credit card for a few months, charging up 70 different things on a dead girl’s credit card. That’s a felony, along with misdemeanor larceny of a credit card. And, really, it’s just cold. Urban brings in guys with great character I tell you, GREAT character. Jamar got booted from the team.

25) Ronnie Wilson. Ronnie Wilson. Wow. Wilson got busted for aggravated assault, battery and use of/display of a concealed weapon during commission of a felony when he busted out his AK-FREAKING-47 in the middle of a fight. Yes, AK-47 folks. Wilson was suspended from the team for the 2007 season. Wow! Urban takes a stand, right? Right? Ah, nope. Because Wilson was ALLOWED BACK ON THE TEAM NEXT SEASON. Seriously. For real. Then, shockingly, he got busted for marijana possession and a count of battery and a count of assault. And after all that, he was finally permanently kicked off the team.

26) The last straw: Just last week, when a blatant attempt to blind a guy got punished by a HALF GAME SUSPENSION.

I mean, c’mon folks. There’s no place for this in football, ever. And the coach essentially condones it. Ridiculous.

In Summary

Wow, I feel sick just reading and writing all of this. Makes me sick to think that people who say the love, understand, and support ND football want a guy like this to lead their team.

I understand that a coach can’t be with players 24-7, but can’t we all agree that this is just a TAD egregious? Can’t we agree that you can create a culture of respect? Respect for others, respect for yourself and respect for the University you represent? Let alone respect for the freaking LAW?

Urban doesn’t do that. He recruits any guy, regardless of character. And then he lets them run wild, and issues weak/soft penalties unless he’s forced to do more because a guy gets convicted of a freaking felony. Yes, I think ND would have a tighter reign on him than UF does. But if that’s the only way to get the guy to act like a decent human being and run a decent program, is that good enough for ND? Don’t we want a guy that WINS, but also takes care of the kids? That also teaches them how to be good, strong people? That maybe, just maybe, actually makes them BETTER? I would think yes.

Urban is a great, great football coach. He’s not a great person, he’s certainly not a great leader for young men, and he’s definitely not a fit for Notre Dame.

Case. Freaking. Closed.

As before, I welcome a debate with anyone who STILL thinks hiring Urban is a good idea. I just don’t know how you can get there after reading this litany of horribleness over which he’s presided.

Out.

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Before we burry Charlie Weis, let’s honor Navy for a bit, because they played really, really smart football. For one, they adjusted their archaic scheme just enough to sprint out to a 14-0 lead (and by the way, any time a team makes a nuanced change like they did in their system, and then saves it for ND, you know the game is still a big game to them, regardless of what they’ll tell ya). But once they got that 2 TD lead, they also put the pressure on Charlie. They didn’t just make it obvious that they were going to “shorten the game” with their running offense, they pushed their loud speaker system to 11 and blared it across the field, “Hey, Charlie, you’re going to have about 10 minutes of play clock to overcome this lead we’ve got. Better abandon the run and throw it all over the field.” And so Charlie did. And that’s sort of the rough nature of a game between ND and Navy these days: Beat Navy, and nobody cares. On a weekend when the entire SEC plays directionals, you still get the typical, “yeah, but it’s Navy,” despite the fact that Navy has consistently played good football for a decade now. Lose to Navy, and you lose your job. At least, you should lose your job. You know. After it happens twice. At home.

Anyway, well done, Navy. It was an impressive and well played gambit.

Now, onto Notre Dame. I’ve sort of been watching the world move since the game ended. While the sting of the loss stung, there seemed to be a calm acceptance of the fate of the football program Saturday night. This was it. Charlie was done. No more wondering. No more politicking on either side of the argument. It was a bit like watching an ill patient realize there was no more hope for a cure. But then Sunday we all awoke with questions. Question 1) Why hasn’t the Notre Dame athletic department scheduled a press conference for today? Question 2) Who will replace Charlie Weis? Question 3) Have we called Urban Meyer yet? Question 4) Oh god, wait, are they going to replace Weis or not? Question 5) They’re not really going to call Urban Meyer, are they? F that dude.

It seems not 12 hours had passed since the game clock expired, and already the fans of Notre Dame are gripped with fears of the unknown. And with that, a resuscitation of politicking. Now the ugly stories are cropping up on the internet about Weis, the veracity of which don’t matter. They’re just an opening salvo being launched upon a dead horse. Just an indication that some fear that the crowds with pitchforks will lose their interest before the week is over if nothing happens on the front before then. Afterall, ND might go and beat a top-15 Pitt team on Saturday. Wouldn’t that be horrible?

Don’t worry. It probably wont happen, though the notion of a Wanstache lead club somehow managing to prolong the ND Fanbase’s anguish via the clever use of fail is darkly hysterical. Can you imagine if ND went 3-0 to finish the season? Against a #12 Pitt, a Stanford that just ran all over Oregon, and a UConn team that’s clawing and scratching at every opponent they can find? You could just walk around identifying ND fans by their twitching and terrible cases of Tourette’s Syndrome.

I really wish I could write an articulate, thoughtful essay here about the demise of Weis despite all his effort. And I wish I could really share the disappointment I feel over seeing a fellow ND grad fail to bring Notre Dame to glorious heights on the football field, but I can’t. I can’t because you just can’t lose to Navy. That’s it. End of discussion. I can’t even consider hypotheticals wherein former legendary coaches of Notre Dame may or may not have been able to keep their jobs because of all their accomplishments being coupled with a loss or two (two!) to Navy. Because that never happened. Because it would be like prefacing a physics hypothetical with “pretend there’s no gravity or time.” You can’t lose to Navy! Twice! At home! On top of a 60% career win rate! A career win rate that’s identical to the one you’ve had the last season and 3 quarters! It’s times like these when the simplest explanation is the best. There’s no need for a great deal of analysis. No need to look at games within the games. No need to illustrate that Boston freaking College showed Navy how to slow down the ND offense so that it didn’t matter if Clausen threw for 800 yards, they still weren’t going to win.

There are just things you can’t do no matter the mitigating circumstances. You can’t steal your best friend’s wife. You can’t hit a road construction worker. You can’t be male and order a drink at Starbucks that includes any ingredients that must be hand-pumped into your cup without expecting to get razzed. You can’t cheer for Michigan and claim to value academics at all. You can’t trust a politician, and you can’t lose to Navy!

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