Are you a Notre Dame fan in the Southern California area?  Are you just a big-time basketball fan in the greater Los Angeles area and can't afford to see the Lakers or stomach seeing the Clippers?  Then go see the Irish take on the Lions Friday night at 7:00 local time!  Thanks to the generosity of the Notre Dame Club of Orange County, there may be some tickets available.  E-mail and I'll get you the necessary information.

"Now everybody got the game figured out all wrong. . .": If Navy hadn't strung together two onside kick recoveries (including a "forward batting" call no one had ever heard of), a deep pass that was so close it had to be reviewed and a timeout that no one knew was legit or C-Webb on the tail end of a two-game losing streak, I don't think everyone would be quite as excited about it.  Weis never runs up the score (although Penn State fans still claim he did in 2006 game, but no, you were blown out that badly) and there's a general feeling of not trying to embarrass the academies.  If Jonas Gray doesn't fumble, the score's 30 or 34 to 7 and everyone goes home very happy with a second half of domination.  Now every game is seen as a microcosm of all of Weis' coaching ability, which is a dangerous habit to start indulging in.  Remember when Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe last year, a defeat proceeded by being on the wrong end of the scoreboard against Mississippi State and followed by another loss to rival Auburn?  You can take a three or four game stretch from nearly any coach that makes him look either like a genius or a fool, so let's refrain from trying to extrapolate an entire career from a nine minute burst in one game.

Continuing themes on Saturday were that something is not right with Jimmy Clausen and something is quietly very good with the defense.  Clausen seems to have lost some of the confident swagger he had earlier in the season.  He bounced back from that pick six against North Carolina and almost pulled that game out, but it seems like he's just thinking about things too much at this point.  Could it be he's really dinged up at that this juncture in the season (something that may have had something to do with Weis putting in Sharpley so early against Navy?)?  He hasn't played well since that North Carolina game, and with one of his key weapons going down early on Saturday for what is likely the rest of the season, it's not going to get any easier.

As far as the defense goes, the team hasn't lost a game due to Corwin Brown and Jon Tenuta's unit.  Outside of their three scoring drives, Navy didn't even threaten, managing -5, 8, 3, 7, 15, 6, 20, 9, 4, 7, 5 and 7 on their other attempted treks down the field.  They were playing without a few key contributors for most of the game, but Toryan Smith and Ian Williams both stepped up in a big way, with Pat Kuntz and Justin Brown contributing to the chaos up front.  While this Navy offense isn't as good as some of the other 21^st century Midshipmen vintages, it was still putting up yardage and points this year, and the Irish defense stifled them for the majority of Saturday afternoon.

". . . I guess you never know what you got til it's gone. . .": The worst news coming out of this weekend will be the loss of Michael Floyd and Brian Smith for the rest of the regular season.  You could argue for a few other players, but Floyd and Smith have been two of the best player for the Irish all season.  Toryan did a good job filling in for his comrade-in-surname, but I have no idea how the Notre Dame passing attack is going to be nearly as effective without St. Michael stretching the field and turning eight yard slants into twenty yard gains.  Do you think it's too late to apply for a medical red shirt?  As my friend Tim posted on my Facebook wall:

When you were looking for a nickname for Mr. Floyd on Rakes, I was going to suggest Mike "Please don't ever get hurt because you are so awesome and amazing" Floyd but didn't because I figured it would be a jinx if he did. Oh well I guess...

Thankfully the Irish are officially bowl eligible, so they'll most likely be back for the Christmas break practices and wherever the team ends up in the postseason.

Thankfully, Notre Dame is losing players to injury and not to transfer.  I will not miss seeing McGuffie on the opposing sideline, and I'm very interested to see where he ends up (in Mike Leach's lab back home in Texas?).  But Michigan fans should stop worrying about this and just get a life anyway, even if that enthusiasm is the only reason a certain gentleman is getting paid millions of dollars every year to do something thousands of people across the country do for free.

". . . I guess this is why I'm here and I can't come back home. . .": Important note regarding Saturday's game: Syracuse's coach will be there, but not really.  Living in a country with a lame duck White House and lame duck Congress for the next two months, it's nice that term can extend to the football field, where Greg Robinson will be prowling the sidelines knowing that no matter what happens during the game, he won't be coming back as the Orange coach.  Somewhere, Paul Pasqualoni is smiling widely.  With Gene Chizik's tenure at Iowa State failing miserable, maybe the Longhorns' decision to lock up Will Muschamp until Mack Brown retires is a good thing for both the burnt orange and anyone looking at stealing away another one of their coordinators?

". . .and I guess when I heard that, when I was back home."

 When we got home from Baltimore Saturday night - full of alcohol and chili, all out of Wire references - the TV got flipped to ESPN to try and catch up on any scores quick PDA scanning might have missed.  Even though we knew college hoops scores were mixed in, it's still startling to see "TCU 10 Clemson 7" scroll across on a Saturday evening, immediately causing everyone to start wondering why no one made a slightly bigger deal of the Mountain West beating down the ACC.  I don't know how they could do it, but ESPN needs to make the transition that first weekend a little easier on confused sports fans.

A few other things:

• It was fun to see two lottery picks go at it and put up lottery pick-type numbers this early in the season, and that's exactly what Stephen Curry and Blake Griffin did Tuesday evening.  Griffin is 6' 10" and might be the number one pick in June's draft, and even he couldn't stop Curry in crunch time, who sliced a six point deficit in half with under a minute to go from the corner, right over top of his likely All-American counterpart.  The Red River Shootout (Basketball Edition) will be must-see, and Davidson continues its non-conference tour against NC State, West Virginia, Purdue and Duke.  Set your Tivos, as Curry's offensive antics are Must See TV.
• If you're proposing a college football playoff - as president-elects are prone to do these days - I salute you.  However, if your proposal limits the tournament to just conference champions (as the most prominent of all sports blogs did this week), I kindly ask you to reconsider.  If you happen to have the best team in the country in your conference - or your division! - and you're the second best team in the country, I'd rather have you contending for the title than an 8-4 team that just happened to win a championship game no one was attending and/or cared about.  Most seasons there are not eight worthy conference champions, and it would be a shame to create any sort of postseason bracketing and not include at least two or three of the Big XII titans who've entertained us considerably throughout the course of the season.  "If you didn't win your conference, you shouldn't be able to win a national title!" is a silly maxim that applies to few other sports (You can have the best record in your conference in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and every college sport with a postseason, and while that makes your path easier, it doesn't guarantee anything.) 
• What's a more palatable option for you: A) Penn State vs. Southern Cal in the Rose, Ohio State and Utah in the Fiesta and Sugar and Oregon State on the outside, or B) where the Beavers win out to set up Penn State vs. Oregon State II, Southern Cal and Utah go to the Fiesta and Sugar, and Ohio State is left out?  Also, as far as Big East vs. ACC games go in the Orange Bowl, I wouldn't mind Pitt vs. Miami, if only for the memories it brings up of Larry Fitzgerald trying to knock off the early 21^st century Miami powers by himself.
• I'm hoping the student section can pull off this lei thing on Saturday afternoon.  If the Irish are 7-5, the team should volunteer for the Hawaii Bowl.  Speaking of the Hawaii Bowl, why isn't it more popular?  Shouldn't every team want to go there?  It would be a little more expensive for fans, but seriously, how great would it be?  The Las Vegas and Hawaii Bowls need to get Notre Dame involved in their next contract.

You obviously don't want to take too much from the first game of the season against a team that only recently has made the leap to Division I, but the Fighting Irish looked strong in the opening contest against South Carolina-Upstate.  While no one had ever heard of them and the assumption is this game will be an anchor on the computer ratings, the Spartans were game in the first half, coming out with enough size and shooters to keep things interesting for most of the first half.  Realizing the eleven point halftime lead wasn't appropriate for a top ten team defending a record home win streak, the Mike Brey cranked up the pressure on defense and the Spartans simply couldn't keep up.

Reigning Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody certainly didn't disappoint in the first game of his junior season tossing up a 30 point, 14 rebound game and causing the opposition considerable trouble on both ends of the floor.  His jumper isn't pretty, but it is effective (even from three), and he got to show off a hookshot over the 7' 2" Nick Schneiders.  He got a lot of easy points off dunks thanks to the superior passing of all of his teammates, a trademark of Brey teams that basketball fans just have to smile about.

Of the 34 made field goals Sunday evening, 25 of them were assisted, with the backcourt of Kyle McAlarney and Tory Jackson deferring the scoring to their larger teammates and combining for 14 assists.  Even though Harangody had nearly a third of the team's shot attempts, only a few of them could be considered forced, with the team being overly generous in giving up open attempts to make that extra, extra pass.  Players stepped onto the court and instead of looking to get their own name in the paper, their initial instinct was to try and involve a teammate.  This led to some silly turnovers in the first half, but once the pace of the game picked up, it led to a bevy of open threes and easy dunks for anyone hustling into position.

Perhaps the most exciting revelation from this game came from Carleton Scott's limited minutes off the bench.  He immediately had an impact on the game, throwing down some massive dunks (and just missing on an alley oop tomahawk) on offense and some shot alterations on the defensive end.  It both he and/or Tyrone Nash can find a comfort level in the rotation, they would be a nice change of pace off the bench, if only for some tough defense, hard fouls and excitement on the break.  There are only so many shots and so many minutes to go around, but Irish fans definitely have a reason to keep their eyes glued to the game if there's a blowout.

As I said earlier, you can't take a lot away from one game in any college basketball season, especially if that one game is the first of the season against a completely overmatched opponent.  Still, the team was playing together, attacking the rim, knocking down open shots, getting out on the break and showing that their pressure defense has the potential to cause some trouble for the opposition.  There are still issues with the perimeter defense, both stopping the initial penetration and being quick enough on the rotations to cut down on wide open three balls, but hopefully those issues can be addressed as the season progresses.

Other notes from the opening tilt:

• We watched the game on UND.com, which had acceptable quality and entertaining commentary.  If you're not in South Bend and the game isn't on television, it's looking like the best option will be to wander over there.  They also have a majority of the hockey, women's basketball and games available.
• Jonathan Peoples dribbled behind his back!  He also looks leaner, more like a two-guard than a fullback.  Peoples continuing to progress, which lets McAlarney and Jackson get some rest, is huge for the team, and he looked good last night.
• Lucas Zellervich had 18 boards, 5 boards and an assist, mainly sticking outside the three point line (4-for-6 from behind the arc) but venturing inside on occasion.  As long as he stays in the paint protecting the rim and glass on defense, I don't mind him stretching out the defense to keep things open on the inside of Harangody and Zach Hillesland (who had a 13,8 and 4 on 5-for-7 shooting). 
• Although the stat sheet doesn't reflect it, I'm pretty sure Tory had a monster block on the break.  I sort of wish he had a bunch of really crappy teammates, because while Notre Dame would probably lose, Tory would play 38 minutes a game and come close to a triple double every night out, taking a multitude of different shots and making people look silly in a variety of ways.  He's like Dwyane Wade Lite at times, and I can't wait for his first explosion of the season (although just tossing up an 11-5-8 nightly would probably have this team in the driver's seat most games).  Harangody and McAlarney get all the love, but I'm not sure anyone has a higher ceiling on this team than Jackson.
  
• For anyone looking to really get in the mood for basketball season, or just for those Irish fans that say Brey has no system, check out Jack McCallum's great Seven Seconds Or Less, on the 2005-2006 Phoenix Suns.  You can actually get it for $5.99 right now on Amazon, so you have little to no excuse not to partake.  Sometimes controlled chaos like the Suns or Irish doesn't look like it has any sort of rhyme or reason, but it just takes a more adventurous eye and some digging to see what's really going on.  One of my favorite passages:

The scouting report isn't that revealing and is not nearly as entertaining as the Orlando Magic scouting report on the Suns that was inadvertently left in a locker room last season.  In describing the Phoenix offense, one of the Magic assistants had written: "Literally nothing is frowned upon."

It was one of D'Antoni's favorite moments of the season, and he referred back to it often, this idea that at least one team in the league saw the Suns' environment as rather the basketball counterpart of Lord of the Flies, chaos rules the day.  "Remember, guys," he would say after the Suns ran an opponent out of the gym, "literally nothing is frowned upon."

There's a whole slew of D'Antoni maxims I'll sprinkle in throughout the season, because they are extremely entertaining and can't help but remind you of this Irish team. 

Live And Let Die: It's been a slightly busy week for me as I prepare for the festivities of Navy weekend, but it was convenient to have a break from the Irish corners of the internet after everyone went bat-shit insane following the Boston College loss.  You'd never know that if Michael Floyd didn't try the ill-fated lateral at the goal line against North Carolina or if the defense makes one play (or Clausen connects in overtime to Floyd), that the team is 7-2 and Weis is a genius.  I'm led to believe that a majority of Notre Dame fans might not follow the general world of college football, or any other teams in any other sports  Winning is hard, and usually, there's only a play or two every game separating victory from defeat, and if enough of those plays go your way, you're a champion.  And if they don't?  Well, then apparently there is a conspiracy amongst the Powers That Be regarding Notre Dame football so sensational and devoid of basis in reality that even Dan Brown (or to continue the theme of today, Ian Fleming) would blush.  

The biggest news this week was that Charlie Weis would be taking over play-calling duties, a likely move that became certain after a death in offensive coordinator Mike Haywood's family that caused him to miss practice this week.  It's an unfortunate situation for Haywood, as the Irish will most likely shred through the horrid defenses of Navy and Syracuse before being stone-walled by Southern Cal, just like they would if Haywood, Weis or that kid who lived across the hall from you and played NCAA Football all the time were calling the plays.  This is good for Weis, though, who can get his hands dirty against the 109^th ranked pass efficiency defense in the nation and rein in some of the restless natives who are itching to make a run at Butch Davis before Rocky Top swoops into Tar Heel country and locks him up. 

I write all of this in good spirits, assuming Notre Dame will come out against Navy and look considerably better than they did on Saturday night.  If they don't, then I'll consider joining the growing chorus of venomous insanity prevalent among so many who support the Irish (or at least did support the Irish, and won't fly their colors again until Weis is dunked into a tank of laser-armed sharks).  Never mind how young this team is, how lacking the upper classes are in any sort of leadership and that all four losses have come to teams that could be playing in New Year's Day bowls; Notre Dame should be competing for a championship every season, regardless of the fact they haven't done that in over a decade.  Maybe this paragraph will come back to haunt me on Saturday evening, but I'll have a little faith in Weis, if only because I'm embarrassed to join the howling maniacs all across the realm of blue-and-gold cyberspace.

(My roommate canceled his Irish Eyes subscription today, and when asked for the reason why, he cited the amount of idiots posting on the board.  "Do you want me to write that down as your reason?" asked the good operator at Scout.  "Absolutely.")

It's very possible that those of us still holding out hope (please read that, there are some solid points, and here's your counter argument, and another wary look at the situation here) will look dumb after back-to-back losses to Navy and Syracuse, but I'll unhappily pull myself drunkenly across that bridge should we have to cross it.  Until then, let's just play out these last three games - plus the bowl game, hopefully - and evaluate things then.

Tomorrow Never Dies: Some excerpts from this August 1992 Sports Illustrated piece on a down-on-its-luck college program facing the overwhelming success of its cross-sectional rival and a sense of hopelessness in ever being able to beat them:

But 3-8? At a school like USC, that's not even a cry for help. A cry for help is 6-6. Tollner, now an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Rams, had one of those too. It was a season that included a loss to Alabama in the Aloha Bowl, and he began hearing stories about a wealthy alumnus who was willing to establish a fund large enough that the interest alone would pay a fabulous salary to Tollner's successor. "They do have high expectations," he says. "They should have high expectations." When Tollner could do no better than 7-4 the next season, the Trojans got a new coach.

USC hasn't beaten Notre Dame since 1982 and hasn't had a Heisman winner since 1981, and if it goes 3-8, it's probably time for an overhaul of the football program, sort of like the one in 1910 when the Trojans were on their way to an undefeated season and, in the final game, were tied by archrival Pomona. The disappointment was apparently profound. The program was disbanded, and for the next three seasons USC played rugby instead.

Nothing that drastic has happened so far, although the grumbling of alumni has approached the decibel level of a jet engine. One grad who identified himself as an attorney, class of '73 (9-2-1), made his case in a letter to Dr. Steven Sample, the university president. He presented 10 "facts," including won-lost records (which have gotten worse each season since 1988), the Trojans' cumulative record against teams finishing in the Top 10 (5-9 since 1987), and stumbling finishes (USC has not won its last two games in any season since 1979). "I do not see much reason for optimism regarding next year," he wrote.

Getting considerably more attention was a letter to Smith cowritten last January by former All-America Jon Arnett, who played at USC from 1954 to '56. In a nine-page missive, Arnett complained of weak "management." Play selection was unimaginative, he wrote, the running game was hampered by poor teaching of mechanics, and the entire program was dogged by poor recruiting. Arnett was hardest on Smith, whose career has revealed to Arnett a "pattern of mediocrity." Arnett suggested that Smith ought to be part of a "major reorganization," lest "the team and university suffer greatly." Arnett declared, "The program is in disarray and, if not addressed immediately, will quickly sink below its current level of mediocrity." Copies of the letter were sent to all university trustees and major contributors to the football program.

....

As USC fields its 100th team this season, it may be a good time to ask what kind of tradition it means to uphold. Will the Trojans bounce back to their former glory? Or will they become Every-program-a team that some years will win through luck and circumstance, and other years won't? If you watched what Southern Cal went through last season, you probably saw the future not only of the Trojan football program but also of big-time college football. Great programs brought back to earth, perhaps only briefly, to mingle with the Memphis States of the world. The most chilling explanation for a 3-8 season is that tradition, mystique and a stirring fight song will no longer get you over the hump. Mr. Big-time Coach, this could happen to you.

....

More important, Wallace wonders what USC tradition will become if the situation remains so. "When you maintain a great tradition, you maintain a thread to the glory years," he says. "At Notre Dame, Lou Holtz can convince his kids they'll pull it off. Because they always have. But USC may be getting to the point where it doesn't have the kid who thinks he can beat Notre Dame anymore."

Nobody is predicting that USC won't beat Notre Dame again; what has happened at USC could happen to the Irish. "The dynasties are going to rotate," says Tollner. "You're going to see more people getting to hit that hot cycle. USC will still get its share of Rose Bowls. In this decade it may not get seven or eight, more like two or three."

The entire thing is worth reading, if only to put things a little more in perspective.  These things are cyclical, friends.

For Your Eyes Only: I'll be up in Baltimore tomorrow, but there will be a game thread up here where you folks can monitor the progress of the team, for better or worse.  The second part of the hoops preview, promised before the USC Upstate game, may or may not actually be up before then.  Happy Friday, everyone. 

When we last left our hardcourt heroes. . .: They were walking off the floor of the Pepsi Center, 61-41 losers to the Washington State Cougars in the second round of the NCAA tournament after knocking off 2006 Cinderella George Mason in the opener.  It was a sour note to end a fun season on, as an Irish team that prided itself on running and gunning attempted to get into a half-court slugfest with a team that would have been perfectly comfortable with a three minute shot clock.  Who knows what would have happened if Notre Dame had attempted to force the Cougars to try and play their kind of game, but no one forced the issue, and it'll go down as a lesson learned.

Since the Season of Infinite Heartbreak in 2006, the last two years have been a renaissance of Irish hoops under Mike Brey.  The youth movement has been underway since Luke Harangody and Tory Jackson started playing early on in their freshman, coupled with a consistent contribution from the elder statesmen of the team (Colin Falls and Russell Carter in 2007, Rob Kurz in 2008).  The one constant, from the dog days of '06 to the dreams of a Final Four in '09, has been this group of seniors.  It's one last visit to Mike Brey's Festival of Fast-Breaking for many, and while the future of the program isn't exactly dim, there's a chance to do some legitimate damage on a national scale this season.

Who is gone?: The Irish lose just one player, Rob Kurz, but he did everything for the team.  It would require a lot of research, but I'm sure there weren't many players in college basketball who shot forty percent from three and eight-five percent from the line while scoring thirteen points, grabbing seven rebounds, blocking a shot and a half and defending the opposition's best offensive player.  We jokingly called our draft coverage this summer "Kurz Watch 2008," but the 6' 9" Philadelphia area product is suiting up for the Golden State Warriors this season, and his presence - even with his hands that turned to stone nearly every time he got near the rim - will be missed.

How will they replace his production?: Sophomore Tyrone Nash will take over the lion's share of Kurz's minutes, although he will most certainly not be starting.  That honor will probably go to Luke Zeller, a senior many Irish fans hope will finally make the leap to dominating on the inside as well as behind the arc.  You can also expect increased minutes contributed to the Zach Hillesland/Ryan Ayers combo, who split time last year but will see the floor a lot more together if Zeller is ineffective.  There's also some serious potential in sophomores Carleton Scott and Tim Abromaitis, but this is a veteran team and there are only so many minutes to go around.

Maleficent-like antagonists in this potential fairy tale season?: After an embarrassing non-conference slate last season, the Irish have ramped up the difficulty level.  The Maui Invitational will be the first test, with old Irish foe (and total toolbag) Tom Crean now stomping up and down the crimson and cream sidelines for the Indiana Hoosiers.  Survive that and the Irish will most likely go against the Texas Longhorns, one more win almost assuredly netting them a deathmatch with everyone's anointed champions (for very good reason), the North Carolina Tar Heels.  Also in non-conference is a neutral site game in Indianapolis against Ohio State and a trip to Westwood to take on the Buffalo Bills of NCAA basketball, the UCLA Bruins. 

As tough as that gauntlet is, it will be no comparison to the absolutely stacked competition of Big East play.  There are three top five teams (Connecticut, Louisville and Pitt), four others in the top 25 (Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova, Georgetown), a team that was a play away from the Elite Eight (West Virginia, who loses Joe Alexander but has another season of Bob Huggins coaching), a talented Syracuse team and a Seton Hall team that has another year of experience under Bobby Gonzalez.  When the NBA draft happens next June, it will be saturated from top to bottom with Big East talent.  If the point of the regular season is to give a team an opportunity to both qualify and prepare itself for the NCAA tournament, then the trek from DePaul on New Year's Eve to the Garden in early March will be the best testing ground a championship-caliber team could ask for to test its mettle.

Neutral opinion from elsewhere on the Internet: Storming The Floor, probably the best college hoops sites on the net, dropped Notre Dame into their "Flop Teams" category.  It wasn't mean-spirited, but simply an acknowledgement of a fact most Irish fans would agree with: expectations are awful high for a team not used to lights anywhere near this bright.  Says Storming The Floor:

With Big East POY Luke Harangody in the lineup, this will be a very strong team. A second-round loss to Washington State in the 2008 tourney revealed some weaknesses, and the Irish are playing in the toughest conference in the land. 6'9" Rob Kurz is gone, and his bulk and leadership will be missed. Even though 12 players return, only two - Harangody and Kyle McAlarney - were consistent scoring threats last season. We'll know more about this Irish team when they play in the Maui Invitational, where they have potential matchups with North Carolina, Oregon, Alabama, and Texas. After that, it's the grind of the Big East schedule. Every great team needs three scoring options, so if Tory Jackson can add a couple more points, and Harangody can pass out of the double-team, we'll happily eat our words.

 Nothing erroneous in that passage, although I'd be extremely surprised if Jackson, Ayers and Zeller all didn't flirt with double-digit scoring averages this season.  There are only so many shots to go around, but the Irish's problem won't be on offense.  I have particularly high hopes for Ayers, who started to add more facets to his game beyond spot-up shooter as the season went on.  I think if anything can shield the team from the pressures of a high ranking, its Brey's style of play, where you're encouraged to take open shots and enjoy the game.  When you're not looking over your shoulder at the bench after every mistimed pass or clanged jumper, it's a lot easier to relax.

The other problem that could show up for the Irish is a lack of lateral quickness and size in the defensive backcourt of the Irish.  While Jackson can be a terror, it would be nice if Jonathan Peoples could evolve into a solid defensive stopper to throw at slashing two guards.  Zones also can stunt the perimeter athleticism of other teams, but as always, the best defense for the Irish is going to be scoring more points than their opposition.

Part Two, where we'll look at expectations for each individual, will be up later this week, well before the USC Upstate game on Sunday night.    

We need that singing nurse from Ferris Bueller: According to Charlie Weis in his press conference yesterday, Jimmy Clausen was playing with the flu against Boston College:

But I think that more than anything this weekend it was just not feeling good. I sent him to bed early on Friday night because he definitely looked like he needed it. He wasn’t feeling very good on the plane coming down and felt better yesterday before the game. I think as the game went on he probably wasn’t feeling too well, both physically and how the game was going.

That would make sense, as Clausen just didn't have it on Saturday night.  Hook him up with an IV of orange juice and get him ready for Navy.  Hopefully the Irish can put some distance between themselves and the opponent in one of these upcoming games, as if Cluasen isn't banged up enough already, the Trojan defense is going to pummel him into obliviion.

Rob Kurz Is Building The Walls of Heartache, Not Shooting At Them: Last night, the Golden State Warriors hosted Sacramento Kings in a defense-optional late night throwdown and Rob Kurz played 23 minutes.  His line was not exactly impressive, missing some open shots to go 1-6 from the field, 0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line with two boards, two turnovers and four points total.  If you want entertainment, go to this open thread for the game and punch "Kurz" into your browser's search feature and just scroll on through.  He did not impress many Warrior fans, but with the way the boxscore broke down, I see no reason why Robbie K might not be getting more minutes in the future.

via assets.espn.go.com

And in his place. . .: The Irish men's basketball team played their final exhibition game of the season against Stonehill College, and if you want to try and glean anything from the game, here's the box.  Ty Nash appears ready to do the dirty work, getting six points and five boards on 3-3 shooting in 11 minutes.  Mike Brey didn't go too deep on the bench as he started to get the rotation in order (I'd like him to get at least one more fresh body in the groove of playing, if for nothing more than five extra fouls), but Luke Harangody was in preseason All-American form (21 and 10), while Luke Zeller had a very exciting line of ten points, eight boards, four assist and a block, going 2-for-4 from behind the arc.  If Zeller can morph into a big man complement for Harangody, then Zach Hillesland and Nash sort of just roam for rebounds and put-backs while Ryan Ayers spaces the floor, the front line could be very, very solid, even with the loss of NBA Player Rob Kurz.

And the backcourt is not bad, either. . . 

In case you missed it. . .: Both North Carolina (Georgia Tech) and Pitt (Louisville) had beatdowns on Saturday afternoon, not that it makes the results of Saturday night any easier to stomach.  Although it would require a Michigan State upset in State College, it's quite possible Notre Dame lost to three conference champions this season.  This isn't an excuse of any sort, simply an observation.

. . .and if you want some happiness: Shaq Evans officially committed, as planned, and Mike Brey secured the services of big man Tom Knight, a 6' 8" product out of Maine.

Many fans are already taking the time to highlight the second quarter play where Eric Olsen was driven thirty-five yards into the backfield and actually used to tackle James Aldridge, like the old stories where Lawrence Taylor would use opposing running backs trying to chip him as javelins in an attempt to take out the quarterback with style.  Fans do this because they accurately feel this is a pretty good representation of the line play the last two and a half seasons, but I'd point to a play a little later in the quarter to best understand what Notre Dame football is right now.

A first and ten draw play to Asaph Schwapp.

I'm not sure how that pops into anybody's mind as something we should try.  Of all the running backs on that Notre Dame sideline, Schwapp is somewhere around the fifth or sixth person you'd want taking that carry.  It's not that Schwapp did a poor job - getting positive yardage on a running play was a great success on Saturday night - but it just confirms that there's absolutely zero consistency to anything going on with the team.  One drive, the game plan involves getting the ball to Michael Floyd and Golden Tate as much as possible (for the record, these drives always work the best).  Other times, it's like the team doesn't have wide receivers.  Running backs switch every play to the point no one can establish a rhythm and I'm beginning to think Jimmy Clausen is stuck in a weird quarterback version of Face/Off where it isn't actually him back there, but instead Christian Ponder.

The worst part about last night was how much it was like 2007.  By halftime our apartment had lost any sense of hope and relied on the only ointment that helps to soothe these disastrous Irish losses the last few weeks, Graham Harrell to Mike Crabtree.  The team had less fight than it did last year in the Eagles game, where a much better Boston College team played a much worse (well, at least we thought it was coming into the game) Notre Dame team and had a significantly tougher time pulling out the victory, even with your 2008 NFL Rookie of the Year playing quarterback.  People want to blame Charlie Weis - and yes, everyone should certainly be blaming anyone roaming the sideline for that loss, especially Weis because seriously, what the hell was that - but at what point do the players take some responsibility for seeming not to care?  It's not every player, and it's not every play, but there seems to be a decided lack of fire, swagger, self-motivation or desire from a lot of the team.  Perhaps that is Weis' biggest flaw, a coach who really only knew the NFL used to professionals stepping out there and doing their job didn't realize twenty-year olds are a different beast.  I don't know what sort of pep talks other coaches give, but watching a dozen other games every week lead me to believe that other teams care a lot more than Notre Dame does, or at least they play like they do.

I was going to write last week that watching Notre Dame lose to Pitt followed by the Texas Tech upset of Texas was a telling contrast in being comfortable in your own skin and still having no consistency in Year Four of Weis.  Even though the most successful offenses of 2005, 2006 and 2008 all revolve around the spread no-huddle, Notre Dame is hesitant to do it for any sort of consistent period of time.  The fact of the matter is that for the second week in a row, the Irish defense played really well.  Against Pitt, they went four overtimes without giving up a touchdown after some struggles with containing McCoy in regulation.  Against Boston College, they gave up a whopping ten points, even with the offense and special teams continually gift-wrapping bonus possessions for Chris Crane.  As much as people like to point to size up front or a lack of big plays, this loss falls on the offense - just like Pitt, and just like Michigan State.  And the offense is still calling swing passes on third-and-long and fourth-and-short, and it's still rotating in running backs like a merry-go-round, just to make sure no one gets into any sort of groove, and it's still somehow gone from a lethal quarterbacking machine for three games in a row to one that's sputtering, at best.  The most frustrating part is, as bad as Notre Dame played, if there's no pick six and no fumbled punt to start the second half, that's a 3-0 game and the Irish have the ball at midfield.  In some ways, it's a lot more comforting to know you never have a chance.

A lot of people want to write off this season as another disappointing lesson learned and fire Weis sometime this afternoon  Last time I checked, there are still three games left (and then maybe a bowl game; who knows), and we should probably use them to fully evaluate everything about the program.  Two blowout wins over Navy and Syracuse followed by a dogfight with Southern Cal that goes into the last minutes of the game, then a convincing bowl win?  That's one thing.  Navy running their streak to two, the Orange pulling off the upset then the Trojans making one of their final cases for the mythical national championship game with a primetime skull-crushing?  That's a completely different beast.  There are three games left, and before we burn Dayne Crist's redshirt or start packing up Weis' office, let's just see how things are through the trip to Los Angeles.  Maybe wholesale changes need to be made in the offseason (if you put a gun to my head, I would be siding with Rob on this, but I'm trying to let everything settle), or maybe we just need to tweak a few position coaches and regroup for 2009.  There's no need to sign any pink slips just yet, as angry as many of you are now.

Pat over at BlueGraySky had a relatively short but sweet post last night I'll put up in full because it is that relevant:

The past few years that I have done the pre-season position previews, I've been valuing veteran players more and more, at times over more highly recruited rookies. Every year we get excited about the new shiny toys out on the field, but for the most part it is the guys that have been there before that keep getting the job done. Certainly there are exceptions, but in college football there isn't much of a better teacher than experience. You make a mistake, you learn, you improve and move forward. Wash, rinse, repeat. And this isn't a week by week process normally, but rather a season by season one.

And that brings me to this. Notre Dame has the following on the sidelines:

A defensive coordinator in his second year as a defensive coordinator.

A offensive coordinator in his first year as an offensive coordinator.

A head coach in only his fourth season as a head coach.

Putting aside every other issue for the moment (and there are plenty), Notre Dame should never ever again find itself in a position where the top three coaches for the football team have so little experience at their current position. Notre Dame football is not a place for on-the-job training, especially such widespread on-the-job training.

People can debate all of the other issues back and forth all they want, but I firmly believe that experience is invaluable and irreplaceable. It all starts there.

~

Also, a few comments on some of the general themes, or just insane suggestions, thrown out by Irish fans since the soul-sucking carnage of last night:

Fire Weis Right Now and Everything Will Be Better!: Do you remember how long it took to hire Weis?  This is going to be an offseason with openings at Clemson, Tennessee, Washington and perhaps Auburn and Penn State.  These are all programs with history and great resources that make them attractive targets for any prospective coaches.  You want to fire Weis, that's fine, but just be prepared for another Counting Crows-style Long December.  And while we're on the subject, do tell me, who exactly are those possible coaches that will be riding into the save the day?  Is Brian Kelly coming for sure, just like Urban Meyer was coming for sure?  Are you certain Kelly is the man for the job?  Although, who needs boring ol' Brian Kelly when. . . .

Bob Stoops and Jon Gruden are always interested!: No, they're not.  Stop it.

Burn Dayne Crist's Red Shirt!: Yes, throwing a freshman into the fire will solve all of our problems, because a month ago we weren't all saying Jimmy was ahead of Brady at this point in their sophomore seasons.  This option makes perfect sense, reeks of no short-sighted desperation and should be explored like Ferdinand fing Magellan.

If you've gone to Notre Dame the last fifteen years, you're taking this losing too lightly and don't understand tradition!: I'm pretty sure I understand the difference between winning and losing, thanks.  You're also probably the same tradition-obsessed asshole who made fun of Mike Leach and his signal-callers for the last half decade for being "too gimmicky" or "system quarterbacks" but now drool over him coming to Notre Dame.  Or you might still think that the only way to win is to try and emulate Frank Leahy, because that worked really well at the time and only makes sense to just try it again.  Just because I'm not trying to hang myself after a loss doesn't mean I don't "get" Notre Dame football or aren't a great fan; it just means I'm putting things into perspective and realize we haven't won a national championship in twenty goddamn years and haven't really been that close consistently for the last fifteen.

All this negative talk will hurt recruiting!: More than getting shut out on national television by a half-decent ACC tea,?  I love the internet, but let's not great crazy here.

~

I know Rob and Matt also have strong feelings on this, so you may get those extended thoughts over the next few days, plus we'll parse the post-game press conference for some sort of reasoning for that debacle, maybe take the time to rewatch the game and start looking ahead to Navy this weekend (a game I was planning on attending, but who knows at this point; at least they'll be tailgating and Wire references). 

Folks, there is a lot of great college football action all day and all night Saturday.  Before, during and after  the showdown starts in Chestnut Hill, stop by here and relay what you're seeing throughout the day.  Who deserves to play for the "championship?"  Who do you want the Irish to play in a bowl game?  What coach is getting fired?

Go Irish, Beat Eagles.

If the whole world moved to their favorite vacation spots, then the whole world would live in Hawaii, and Italy, and Cleveland: Is it still a big deal to not have the NFL Network?  We have Verizon Fios in the apartment, and get it on here, and my parents get it on DirecTV, and we got it on Comcast last year at school.  If you don't have it, then you missed a pretty entertaining game between two incredibly bad football teams, the Broncos and Browns.  Brandon Marshall and Braylon Edwards were in a race to see who could drop more balls, while both back sevens on defense competed to see who could turn eight-yard out routes into massive games by not tackling.  It seemed for a moment that Brady Quinn had revitalized the career of Kellen Winslow, Jr., but the solider melted down on the final three drives, giving up a dumb penalty, a dumber fumble and an inexcusable fourth down drop.

How did Our Fair Brady play?  Very well, I think.  The Browns offense sort of limited him - he didn't take many shots down field at all - but he made the correct reads, gracefully avoided some sacks in the pocket to extend drives and connected on two touchdown throws and no interceptions.  It was more game manager than gun slinger, but it would have been good enough for the win if the Browns weren't horrendous and Romeo Crennel wasn't a stoic loser who needs fired as soon as possible.  The general consensus scanning the web this morning is that the second-year QB turned in a solid performance, and I would certainly sign off on that.

via assets.espn.go.com

Brady has a few more weeks to learn the ropes against average-to-good competition (Buffao, Houston, Indianapolis) before things get really tough (trips to Nashville, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in three of the final four weeks).  I don't see anything in Quinn's performance last night to make me think Derek Anderson will get a hint of starting against the Bills, but these are the Browns, so who knows.

I is in your bowlz, busting your BCS - Against a very good TCU team last night, the Utah Utes lived to fight another day, scoring with under a minute left to keep their BCS busting hopes alive 13-10.  This team isn't nearly as good as the 2004 juggernaut that always gets left out of the conversation of teams that got screwed over by the BCS, but they're a trip to San Diego State and a wild home date against BYU from perfection.  They could even end up routing Pitt again in the Fiesta Bowl, but that's still a few weeks and dozens of games away.

(Ball State also won on Wednesday night, but they don't have the scheduling juice to creep into BCS talk.  They do play two very good teams in the coming weeks, Central and Western Michigan, but that won't be enough to bump them up, since nobody is aware of how good Dan LeFevour is.)

Rob Kurz > Your Lottery Pick: Per the San Francisco Chronicle and a probably very wasted Don Nelson:

Nelson might be the only person in basketball, let alone the NBA, who would value Rob Kurz, the undrafted forward out of Notre Dame, over Randolph, the No. 1 draft pick from LSU - at least at this early stage for both rookies. "Kurz is more NBA-ready than Randolph," Nelson insisted. "He's not as talented, but I'm talking about right now, the ability to play in the system without error. It just takes a while, that's all. Randolph has to earn his way onto the court in practice."

Kurz hasn't played yet, but we're a Warriors blowout away from him stepping onto a NBA floor for real.  Fingers crossed.  And now your gratuitous 2007 Warriors highlight of the day, which almost makes me cry due to its extreme awesomeness:

Shaq Evans To Commit At Noon: If this is something that might interest you, he should be donning an Irish cap unless things go horribly awry.  The way the last few weeks have gone, I'm bracing for "horribly awry."

Holy War 2008, or Saturday Night's Alright: My official stance on Saturday night's game - which can be seen on ESPN, with Cal/Southern Cal or Oklahoma State/Texas Tech on ABC depending on where you are - is that absolutely nothing would surprise me.  If Boston College jumped out to a 17-3 lead, I'd expect it just as much as if Weis brought the team out in the spread, no-huddle and Clausen just blew them away.  Chris Crane is not a great quarterback, nor is the Eagle running game dominant, but they have some talent in their defensive front seven that could cause some trouble for the Irish offense.

As with previewing most games this season, a high-scoring contest seems to favor the Irish, a low-scoring contest their opponent.  I'm not too concerned about the crowd, as the stadium isn't that large, Irish fans will represent and a lot of the real Eagle fans might have been outpriced, but I am worried that a dinged-up Jimmy Clausen who hasn't been sharp since the North Carolina game.  A lot of Irish fans have drawn a line in the sand with Weis regarding this game (5-4 Isn't Good Enough), but I'll reserve ultimatums and pink slip handing out until at least after the game.  

Sorry for disappearing after the Pitt loss, but things were just busy the last few days because of the election.  Now that it's over - save for a recount here and a run-off there - there will be a lot more time spent dissecting how awful Notre Dame is at football (and hopefully how awesome they are at basketball).

You can look at what happened against Pitt Saturday in two ways, I think.  The more positive Irish perspective is what I predicted to happen the week before the game, although I still thought we'd win: the loss to Rutgers jars Dave Wannstedt into just keeping it simple and running LeSean McCoy 45 times while play-actioning to Jonathan Baldwin.  When you consider the fact that the Panther starting quarterback was hurt, that put the game even more on the shoulder of Shady, one of the top three or four backs in the country.  Pitt's strength, running, went up against the Irish weakness, run defense, and that was the game.

On the other hand, you could say Charlie Weis blew a game where his team won the yardage, first down and turnover battles, all while getting a top-notch performance from their much-maligned kicker.  For some reason, when the strength of Pitt's defense was their linebackers and their weakness was their secondary - which Michael Floyd exploited for dizzying results in the first half - whoever was making decisions on the Irish sideline decided to run short little screens and dunks well short of the first down line instead of doing what has worked best for Notre Dame all season: chucking it deep.

I think the real answer lies somewhere in between, where a team of young players made mistakes and a coaching staff didn't exactly help them overcome it.  Perhaps the biggest problem Saturday was that the team lost any fire, perhaps a result of coming off a bye week and then walking through a glorified scrimmage against Washington.  A lot of people want to blame the coaching staff for not getting the team up, but honestly, if you can't get excited to play at Notre Dame Stadium in front of 80,000 people while trying to not lose to Dave Wannstedt, then that's a problem deeper than anything Weis can say to you.

The game against Boston College is obviously huge, as the Trojan train appears to be rolling and it may be the difference between 8-4 and 7-5.  The Eagles got handled by Clemson on Saturday, but you know they'll be up to play a night game, at home, against Notre Dame.  Jimmy Clausen hasn't been sharp for a while now, despite the numbers, and he'll need to both look for and connect with Floyd and the rest of his shiny targets on Saturday night. 

Sorry for the massive delay in posting, and there'll be much, much more in the coming days.  Blame this damned democracy of ours for taking up my time, but more analysis of the game, the polls and everything else in the college football world in the coming days.

Go Browns, Beat Broncos.