Tag Archives: Notre Dame football

Losing…again

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Part of me really needs to rant about Notre Dame Football today.

They started out so good — walking onto the field arm-in-arm with Coach Charlie Weis and jumping out to a 14-0 early lead. You just couldn’t help thinking they meant business this time and were there to win, if not for Weis, then for the senior team members on Senior Day.

It wasn’t an easy game to watch. Some yo-yo decided to put the Ole Miss vs. LSU game on about the same time (different channels), so I found myself switching back and forth, trying to keep up with both of them. I probably could have recorded one for later, but you know that’s just not the same!

Anyway, what I saw of the Irish game saddens me. It breaks my heart to see this once-proud tradition brought to its knees. It breaks my heart that this group of fine senior players once again falls short of expectations, and a game that by all predictions should have been a victory ended up in a loss.

It breaks my heart that everybody is grumbling — students, alumni, fans, observers. It breaks my heart that a fine person like Coach Charlie Weis will probably have to take the fall. It breaks my heart that there’s still one more tough game on the horizon (Stanford, next Saturday), and bowl possibilities are looking dimmer — and certainly less illustrious.

Sports fans tend to be fanatics. They’re 100 percent behind their team when they’re winning, yet when they’re losing, they can’t distance themselves fast enough. Wonder why that is?

Sure, everybody likes a winner, but didn’t we all learn back in kindergarten that not everybody can be a winner? At least, that used to be the lesson taught. Unfortunately, now it seems that everybody gets a trophy, everybody gets recognized for something, nobody has to suffer “the agony of defeat.”

I read somewhere that one school is offering classes in How to Lose. Perhaps that’s not such a bad idea.

Football: Ya win some, ya lose some

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I refuse to talk about Notre Dame football today. Suffice it to say, I’m as angry and disappointed as gazillions of other Irish fans — and I hadn’t even bet any money on the outcome!

The coaches, the students, the alums, the nay-sayers — everybody has an opinion about what went wrong in Notre Dame’s 27-22 loss to No. 8 Pitt yesterday, as well as what needs to happen to fix things before they get worse. Some are quick to suggest firing Coach Charlie Weis; others point blame at the program itself, or at the refs, or the penalties, or whatever.

So really, there’s no sense in my weighing in with an opinion. I’m not a coach; I’m not a player; I’m not an owner.

On second thought, let me just say one thing, then I’ll move on to something else — you can’t expect to win football games by spending the first three quarters of the game in a foggy slumber! Since South Bend and Pittsburgh are in the same (Eastern) time zone, that wasn’t the problem (maybe it was having to leave campus on a Friday the 13th??). Regardless, the team struggled through three quarters, racking up only 3 measly points, before attempting to come alive following two touchdowns by dynamic wide receiver Golden Tate.

Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

A 15-yard chop block penalty, along with a dubious fumble call on quarterback Jimmy Clausen, brought things to a screeching halt, and the Irish have to make do with a 6-4 record while awaiting two more games this season.

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On a much happier note, anybody watch my Ole Miss Rebels beat the tar out of a fine Tennessee team on nationwide TV Saturday??

Posting their first win against the Vols since 1983, the Rebs struck hard and fast, eventually claiming a 42-17 victory AND clinching bowl eligibility for the second straight year!

This was an Ole Miss team that looked fabulous and played as one, with passion, guts, and determination. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have the likes of quarterback Jevan Snead (only sacked once), Brandon Bolden (two touchdowns), and senior wide receiver Dexter McCluster (who posted all kinds of rushing records and went for four touchdowns, including a 71-yard beauty)!

Now let’s pray they do as well next week against LSU (at least the game’s in Oxford!) and in their last regular season game against cross-state rival Mississippi State. Go Rebs!

 

Just a tiny suggestion…

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It’s traditional for the Notre Dame Band to play the Alma Mater for students and the team after a home football game.

Students link arms and sway while singing, the alumni get teary-eyed, and the team members remove helmets and proceed to the student section, where they join in the song.

It’s unfortunate this tradition can’t be continued during away games.

I understand that the cost of transporting some 400 Band members, plus their instruments and uniforms, to every away game would be prohibitive. But how about sending a trio of trumpet players (or even one?) That way, those students and alumni attending the game, along with the team, could still enjoy a bit of tradition even far from home.

After all, the cheerleaders and leprechaun accompany the team to away games. Why not let one Band kid? It would be an honor to represent the University and the Band — perhaps it could be a rotating honor among senior students — and it could serve as a recruitment tool, too.

Obviously, one person can’t put on a halftime show or even provide sufficient sound from the sidelines to overcome stadium noise. Nor can we expect an opposing team’s band to play Notre Dame’s songs with the same passion as our musicians. But wouldn’t it be grand hearing a trio of Band members harmonizing, or even a solitary trumpet playing, the haunting tune to “Notre Dame, Our Mother?”

At Notre Dame, there’s cohesion among the students, the team, and the alumni. What better way to provide continuity of tradition than to send even a tiny part of the Band to away games?

ND @ San Antonio

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How exciting! Notre Dame plays Washington State at a neutral location tomorrow, so the Fighting Irish are in San Antonio, Texas, for the action. Of course, the Band is there, too, lending musical (and moral) support for the team, as well as performing locally for alumni and the public.

Somebody did a fantastic job planning the Band’s itinerary;  it must have been a logistical nightmare getting 400-some Band members and their equipment from South Bend to San Antonio. They’ll perform at a Pep Rally this evening, do a concert tomorrow afternoon, then take the field for Pregame, Halftime, and Post-game performances on Saturday evening.

Since My Favorite Domer is also in the Band, he got to go along on the trip (his first flight!). As much as I’ve flown in my life (East Coast to West, North to South), and as much as I love flying, it’s still a little nerve-wracking to have your kid 40,000 feet or so above the Earth. But my parents couldn’t protect me when I was on a plane any more than I can protect MFD. It’s really a “leap of faith” that we parents must take, letting our kids grow up a little step at a time. But better that than tossing them to the wind in one fell swoop!

One thing these kids are sure to notice — the weather! San Antonio is expected to be sunny with temps in the upper 70s on Saturday, while South Bend will be in the low 50s, windy, and partly cloudy. Bet that sunshine will feel good after the cool Fall we Midwesterners have seen this year!