Comments on Off the Tracks: Know thy Opponent 2007: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

This post and its comments are just plain amazing,...

2008-02-28T01:59:00.000-05:00

This post and its comments are just plain amazing, now that the season is completely behind us. You absolutely freakin' rule.

I take offense to the fact you don't consider Mich...

2007-09-22T01:36:00.000-04:00

I take offense to the fact you don't consider Michigan State a good team, where's your big ten love.

I'm not so sure Purdue could beat Notre Dame. They...

2007-08-19T11:36:00.000-04:00

I'm not so sure Purdue could beat Notre Dame. They're overrated every year, I know, but it's still a pretty bold prediction.

"Beginning this year, ND will have almost as much ...

2007-08-01T01:09:00.000-04:00

"Beginning this year, ND will have almost as much talent on the field as USC, LSU and Michigan."

This is why I despise the run-of-the-mill subway ND fans. You all drink the kool-aid over there and paint a pretty picture at how ND is in the upper echelon of college football. I would agree that in two years, ND could make an arguement that they have talent to compete with the big dogs.

Let's look at the last 4 years of recruitment rankings to illustrate the level of talent:
2004 25+
2005 25+
2006 8
2007 8

ND has had two good recruiting classes and they are represented by true freshmen and sophomores. Schools like UM, LSU, and USC are in the top 5-10 every year.

Also, if you look at the breakdown of their recruiting classes, many of the top recruits fall within the same position on the depth chart (mainly offense). ND has had only a handful of good defensive recruits in the last 4 years.

If Weis can keep up recruiting like he has this year and this years recruits don't bail at the last minute like many did last year, I will agree that ND has top tier talent. Otherwise, I might go out on a limb and say of the guys at the top of the depth chart (starters, not redshirts and developing underclassmen), they might not crack the top 25 this year.

I can understand how a little anger can come from ...

2007-07-31T12:22:00.000-04:00

I can understand how a little anger can come from the media coverage ND gets. As you said, "Most of it comes from the media bias they receive. Every two game winning streak is treated as a return to glory by all in the media, and every two game losing streak is treated as a panic of Biblical proportions." I held that against ND for a long time, too. However, I've come to realize that the media's reaction isn't really ND's fault. It is true what you said about the bias and the extreme up and down reaction by major media outlets and sports pundits. NBC is extremely biased to grant Notre Dame exclusive game coverage. That's crap. It's really an insult to other great programs across the country and exposes NBC's violation of objectivity. Ethical media outlets are objective in what they choose to cover: meaning, they should give equal coverage to all parties. ND would be stupid to give up a TV deal, and if NBC still makes money on it, they probably won't stop covering the Irish. It's too bad, but at the very least, since Purdue has a game with ND every year, we'll be on national TV, too. I watched the 2004 game to see Purdue, not Notre Dame. NBC might be making more money off the fans of ND's opponents. Who knows?

Pretty fair analysis. One thing you glanced over i...

2007-07-29T13:26:00.000-04:00

Pretty fair analysis. One thing you glanced over is how significant our lack of depth on the D-line (meaning ND....ND fan here). That might not allow us to get many 3 and outs (opponents running games will probably be hard to stop with a 270 pound NT).

However, I'd expect a big year from Zibby and Travis Thomas.

1-7 or 0-8? Ay yes, and I'll believe that when me ...

2007-07-29T09:54:00.000-04:00

1-7 or 0-8? Ay yes, and I'll believe that when me sh*t turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet ...

Your hatred of Notre Dame has you selling the team a bit short, while ignoring the fact that the Irish aren't the only team in college football who have changes from year to year. Georgia Tech no longer has Calvin Johnson and Boston College is without one of the men (Tom O'Brien) responsbile for their streak against the Irish (the other two men would be Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham). Michigan and USC should have the upper hand on the Irish, and Penn State looks to be evenly matched. Notre Dame should be the favorite in their other 9 games.

Had you said 4-4, you might be making some sense. 0-8/1-7 makes you look like a biased fool. Do better.

ND MIGHT have more talent on the field?Are you kid...

2007-07-29T09:20:00.000-04:00

ND MIGHT have more talent on the field?

Are you kidding?

Beginning this year, ND will have almost as much talent on the field as USC, LSU and Michigan.

I agree it will be young talent, inexperienced talent. But let's be careful to describe it accurately--ND is loaded.

This could be the year for Purdue, as all that talent is green. After that, the door is slammed.

My last comments centered around a theory of why P...

2007-07-26T14:27:00.000-04:00

My last comments centered around a theory of why Purdue fans or non-ND fans get agitated towards the Irish. I would like to answer another one of 'anonymous' comments. I think, yes, Purdue fans get a little bitter towards Notre Dame, sometimes people make excuses to explain them winning, including that they're lucky. I don't think you can generalize all Purdue fans into that group. I think any team can get lucky, but the last two contests were clearly decided because ND had a better team than Purdue did. I'm a Purdue fan, if you hadn't already guessed, and I like what hulk said about not knowing what to expect in the series. I think that's pretty cool. There's actually a lot more respect between true fans of both teams than typically meets the eye. I've been to Notre Dame stadium twice, once in the Colletto era and once in the Tiller era, and the Notre Dame fans were always very friendly. Now, the students can get extremely rude, but that's typical of any student section in the country. Once people get older, they tend to mellow out. I was a member of the Purdue All American Marching Band and the home fans at Notre Dame always treated us with respect, as did the ND band. It was always pretty exciting. I never got the negative vibes there that I typically get from a Ball State grad that roots for the Irish. (I'm only using Ball State as an example.) I'm not saying you can't root for your favorite team, just don't be obnoxious about it.

As far as the Purdue-ND angst goes, I've always kn...

2007-07-26T09:51:00.000-04:00

As far as the Purdue-ND angst goes, I've always known that true ND fans aren't arrogant or obnoxious. It's the dorks that can't get tickets, and who never went to school at ND who are pretty bad. Notre Dame has many 'fake' fans, and those are the people who anger fans of opposing teams. That can sort of explain a lot of the negativity aimed at ND. Oh, and I doubt the previous observer is 'neutral' at all. Anyone who makes a rude analysis based on only two meetings between the teams is not thinking clearly. I'm not surprised they don't have the guts to put their name on something they said. - Nathan Caldwell

As a completely neutral observer, I think it's alw...

2007-07-25T15:19:00.000-04:00

As a completely neutral observer, I think it's always a bit humorous to see Purdue fans blame their chronic inability to put together a good game plan against Notre Dame on Notre Dame's "dumb luck."

It's true, Notre Dame should be laying low this season for a monster couple of years in the future based on their recent recruiting efforts. However, I've learned never to underestimate Coach Tiller's ability to sh*t the bed when he sees Charlie Weis standing on the opposite sidelines.

As a ND fan, I have to agree with most of your ass...

2007-07-13T14:49:00.000-04:00

As a ND fan, I have to agree with most of your assessment of the Irish this year. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately for me) I missed your original rundown that you apologetically changed.
I have always liked the seried with Purdue as you just never know what to expect. I can see this year's game being a close one and given home field advantage, I would not be surprised to see your prediction come true.

Anonymous... Imagine if ND played in the big 10 (a...

2007-07-12T17:07:00.000-04:00

Anonymous... Imagine if ND played in the big 10 (as they should, being smack dab in the midwest)... they would've lost to michigan, osu and wisconsin.