All Things Notre Dame - The Clashmore Mike Memorial Thread

[Hannibal]

Meh. I'm not a big fan of just selecting the QB of an overacheiving team. Take the best player. This year, it's Teo IMHO. That said, Klein wouldn't be a bad pick.

[entropy]

I think KSU is a 2-3 loss team without him. He's a difference maker.

what I'm not a fan of is selecting the best player on the best team or one of the best teams... which is what has happened before

[whodean]

So is Oregon but they don't get the press or the hype of the Irish who are always going to benefit from past glory. Sort of like Michigan except there's a big difference. ND is actually pretty good because they aren't saddled with arrogant morons for coaches (not talking about Mattison) .... they knew when to get rid of thier's

Who has Oregon played?

[WM Wolverine]

Oregon has a backloaded schedule with Stanford, USC & Oregon State yet to play; not to mention a possible CCG...

They've beaten up on pretty much everybody they've played but haven't faced their toughest challenges yet and have to win quite a few of those yet. I was looking at schedules of the top 10 earlier today and amazed at how many of those have only played but 1 or 2 ranked teams. M played that many in September.

[WM Wolverine]

On the other hand, if Oregon does win out against USC/Stanford (both teams on ND's schedule) and Pac 12 CG, they deserve higher ranked than ND.

[Clashmore Mike]

[Clashmore Mike]

Ok…so…pretty exciting season for me obviously. Given some time to reflect, I’m sorry for some of the more incendiary language used after the Stanford game…I don’t think that all you guys are menstruating bitches. In as much as I appreciate this forum for not being a bunch of ND homers, I can’t then turn around and bitch about you not looking at this season like a bunch of ND homers.



Having said that, the Stanford win stands out as a particularly special game for me. Oklahoma may have been more hyped and meant more for this season in particular, but I think Stanford says a lot more about the long-term direction of the program because of how we won it. Whereas, like Michigan, we had lost three straight…Stanford didn’t just beat us…they owned us. That’s not to take away from Michigan’s legitimate wins, but they were wins where Michigan simply came out on top. Stanford had made us their bitch by running at, through and over us. They out-hit us, out-hustled us, and utterly owned the 4th qtr. I clearly remember posting a long discussion about the ’10 loss on the old board about the difference between losing and getting dominated (“the difference between simply watching a game vs seeing what is actually happening on the field”)…and noting that until ND learned to play as physical and tough as those Stanford teams, we would never be “back”. This was when we didn’t know what direction Kelly would take the program. Honestly, I’m not sure that Kelly didn’t take some cues from Harbaugh after that ’10 loss.



The Stanford game was the first time all season we had trailed in any game. We trailed at half-time, and then again in the 4th qtr. It was the first game where we were negative in turnover margin. For the first time in forever, we were able to step up and go toe-to-toe in the 4th qtr. Our 2nd string QB had to come off the bench after sitting idle for four hours in freezing rain and engineer a scoring drive…and then score again in OT. Then we won in ultimate hard-nosed fashion with a goal-line stand against a team our kids had been dominated by their entire ND career.



If you need to hang your hat on a single controversial call because you’re pissed that you were wrong about ND, so be it. Just know that controversial calls happen. That it happened to Stanford when they needed 4th and goal from the 1 yard line for a chance to tie, is unfortunate for them. But they were in that position because ND put them in that position.



In the last 15 years, all we could do was point to “symbolic” losses in those situations. Nebraska ’00 and USC ’05 being the most notable. Those kids willed their way to that win. Something we haven’t seen at ND in a generation. Quite an accomplishment when you consider that just two years ago, Notre Dame graduated the losingest class in the history of the program.

[iam416]

No, you were right -- they were being whiny Notre Dame-hating bitches. And you responded as one would expect.

Message Board Rule #1--Never, ever give credit to a rival. Message Board Corrolary to Rule #1--Piss on all accomplishments of a rival by any means necessary. Message Board Rule #2-- Taunt the crap out of rivals with your accomplishments at every turn.

So, really, pretty basic exchange. Thankfully I was able to remain above the fray and take it all in with me keenly objective sense of fairness. You're welcome.

[hack]

LOL. That's A-grade BS right there...

[WM Wolverine]

How many ranked teams have you beaten so far? Stanford & Oklahoma is it?

[hack]

Michigan is going to end up a ranked team at the end of the year.

[Hannibal]

I don't think that we end up ranked unless we are a 10-win team. Probably don't deserve to be anyways.

[WM Wolverine]

M would have to run the table to get ranked.

[lineygoblue]

Talent is just jealous because we actually have more than one important game per year.

Clashmore is one of the good guys. A bit misguided in his love for the Irish, but a good guy nonetheless ....

[Hannibal]

M would have to run the table to get ranked.

I think that we would rightfully end up ranked if we win two out of:

1. OSU
2. CCG
3. Bowl game

If we win OSU and CCG, we would probably end up 10-4 after losing a bowl game. As bad as the Big Ten is this year, it would be hard to not at least make us #25 after that.