All Things Notre Dame - The Clashmore Mike Memorial Thread

[drok]

I think Stan more likely has the helmet version of that hat

[Optimus Prime]

I agree with Jeff. Teams like M and MSU playing ND every year help prop them up as an independent with their own sizeable revenue stream to not share. Stop being codependent and cut the cord on them until they join a conference and share revenue like most everybody else.

Could just be this Buchanan hat though.

There is not a single Top 25 Team that would NOT cut Talent's left nut off to play ND EVERY YEAR, or DSL's ovaries, Think about it?

ND's current arrangement is perfect, national sex appeal...for every team that wishes to "ditch" the match there are two to replace them.

[JRB]

Michigan has 11 conference brethren with which to share revenue. The Michigan athletic department has plenty of money. ND's independent status does no competitive or financial harm to Michigan athletics that I can discern. I'm still not clear on why Michigan or any other school ought to want to force them to do anything. Now, at one point, the Big East needed ND to join forces with them, and I could see the argument for the Big East to play hardball in order to gain some sort of football commitment from the Irish, but the recent defections of Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia make any such effort a permanent nonstarter. No other league really needs Notre Dame right now, and Notre Dame doesn't need a conference for its football team.

[Clashmore Mike]

That seems really strange. Why the Big 12? It seems like a terrible fit for the Orish culture.

I've never considered the Big 12 an option, but then I would guess that all options are on the table. My guess is that Swarbrick is talking to everybody on some level...particularly in this rapidly changing environment. If the Big East goes into meltdown, then I'm all for throwing the our other sports into the Big 12, if it means keeping football independent.


As far as full membership goes, the majority of ND fans are pushing the ACC. A number of "insiders" seem to echo that option.

[Clashmore Mike]

Wow Brian Kelly is the gift that keeps on giving, at least RR just ran-off players.

Last week Notre Dame's coach was quoted about making a distinction between the players he recruited and those from the Charlie Weis era.

"You can see the players that I recruited here," Kelly told reporters Thursday. "You know who they are. We've had one class of recruiting kids that I've had my hand on. The other guys here are coming along. But it's a process. It can't happen overnight. They're getting there. We're making good progress."

The message was subtle but clear enough to blow up Twitter when Irish players read it. Most notably, linebacker Manti Teo, who angrily tweeted, "Playin for my bros and that's it!!!"


http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...lignment-stops

As per usual, Dodd doesn't make anything close to a coherent argument as to how last week's internal tensions = the need for ND to join a conference...but if it generates web hits from Michigan fans, then there is no need for a coherent article. After all, it's not like CBS Sports has any issue featuring former players who call out the lack of leadership in our upper classmen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KHAQE7YeHcY

[Jeff Buchanan]

Nice try Clash ......

Who's in charge here. The platoon leaders or the company commander.

This is leadership 101 and Kelley is failing at it.

Its called referent leadership ...... subordinates want to follow those that lead by example, keep their cool under fire, NEVER point fingers publicly but, instead, get stuff fixed privately. If the seniors aren't getting it done, its his fault not their's.

I'm not telling you anything you don't know. Quit trying to make excuses for a guy who, it appears to me, anyway, does not have what it takes to lead ND football.

[WM Wolverine]

I don't see the draw of the ACC other than a softer football schedule and they have a lousy TV deal that is going to get leapfrogged by all the other four major conferences.

[JRB]

Again, I hope ND remains independent in football if that's what the Irish want to do. But I get why they'd consider the ACC. Now that the Big East is all but dead as a major football player, the ACC is the best option for connecting the Irish to their East Coast alumni and subway alumni. There are pluses on the football side-- the Irish would be joining up with teams they have history against(Pittsburgh, Boston College, Miami). The ACC needs another traditional power and another team that will bring people to road games, and the Irish would stand to gain a little in recruiting by joining a league with a considerable southern footprint. For basketball, it's almost a no-brainer-- the ACC is now probably the best basketball conference in America again with the additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, and if UConn would join ND to make it a 16 team league, it would be pretty much indisputably #1. That conference would be a money-generating monster in both football and basketball-- with ND in the league, the ACC's TV contracts would be renegotiated in a hurry. ND sees several ACC schools-- UVa, Duke, UNC, etc.-- as peer institutions. In some ways, it's not an ideal fit, but ND to the ACC isn't a crazy an idea as it might appear to be.

[WM Wolverine]

How does the ACC exactly get ND in the East Coast? Yes they have quasi rivalries with new members Pitt & Syracuse. Boston College gets them in to the East Coast and they once had a bit of a rivalry with them; do any of those teams get Irish fans that excited to pay a premium for a ticket in South Bend? Those three teams might get the Irish 'exposure' on the East Coast, but being locked into other games against the rest the ACC is a huge negative for the Irish, far outweighing the small plus of being able to play those teams every year...

FWIW, the Irish can play those teams every year while remaining independent and make more money in their 'old' TV contract than the ACC does in their 'new' media deal. I don't see how or why the ACC makes much sense for the Irish unless the ACC is willing to setup their divisions so ND has an easy shot at winning their division (making a 'northern' division with BC, Syr, Pitt, ND, Maryland, VT, UV and say they add Connecticut along with ND)...

Its also critical for the Irish to play a 'national' schedule (play games near NYC, in California, play Michigan, more recently they want to play a neutral game every other year in Texas) as their fanbase in the midwest won't sustain them as a 'national' power. Its much tougher to make out a 'national' schedule when your locked into 8 or 9 games in a conference...

There really is only one thing that will force the Irish out of independence and that is if the five major conferences restrict the Irish access to the BCS bowls, e.g. treating them just as any other non AQ school. The Big East is guaranteed BCS status through the '13 season so I can't see anything happening anytime soon...

[lineygoblue]

If ND joins the ACC, then every B1G team that has contracts with ND should cancel them.

[whodean]

???

[Optimus Prime]

I like those helmets, much better than the throwbacks they wore last September in AA.

[The Oracle]

Those are the most ridiculous helmets I've ever seen.

[Optimus Prime]

As Chuck Weis takes the heat for Florida's miserable offense, glad to see he has taken his obesity challenge most seriously.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/32990/improvement-lacking-in-weis-offense

[Clashmore Mike]

Piece on our "feel good" story for the season...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuwBVojN_Xs"]Gonzaga Sports Spotlight - David Ruffer '07 (Featured on NFL Films) - YouTube[/ame]