Apologies for the late arrival of this week’s Irish Blogger Gathering. Boarding a United flight out of LAX to O’Hare, I was wondering if I was boarding an episode of Pan Am, as the plane they rolled out for us was from a long forgotten era, and of course... it didn’t have wifi.
So this week’s IBG -- hosted by our barrister blogger Domer Law -- was done with less than adequate online support. (That’s my disclaimer before you go judging my answers, too harshly.)
Beside: It’s USC week. Save your energy for Saturday night. Finally, just a day away.
Here. We. Go.
I’m taking an old friend of mine to the USC game. They were born and raised in South Bend near Notre Dame, and developed a dislike for the University at a young age from dealing with the frustrations and messes that come from Notre Dame home football weekends. She’s never been to a Notre Dame game before (she’s an Ohio State fan). We’re going to go tailgate and do all the usual tailgating stuff. Any suggestions on what I could do to help her let go of her animosity towards Notre Dame?
Don’t shove it down her throat. If she has a pulse and she enjoys college football, it won’t be hard to have a good time on Saturday. By and large, Notre Dame fans are a hospitable group, but it isn’t hard to have negative preconceived notions about the school and its alums, especially if you grew up in South Bend and struggled with the divide between the school and the city.
If your friend happens to be Catholic, check out the Grotto, the Basilica, and take a walk around God Quad. If your friend is a football fanatic, check out the changes they’ve made to the JACC, where the Heisman Trophies and past glories are now proudly on display. If they’re neither, make sure you have a good tailgate scene set up with good food and spirits and better company.
You’re not in the business of converting somebody. Leave that to Brian Kelly. Let the game and environment speak for itself. If she doesn’t like Notre Dame any better after Saturday, save your next USC ticket for someone else next time!
On a related note, do you have any suggestions for improving the Notre Dame game weekend experience generally? Are there traditions lost that you’d like to see restored, or new ideas that you’d like to see implemented to improve the gameday experience?
Having been to about 20-25 different college football stadiums in my lifetime, I think Notre Dame does a pretty great job with Saturdays. After swinging the pendulum too far in response to tailgating behavior, I think the university has done a good job in making gameday whatever you want it to be: a history lesson, a day filled with pageantry, or a nice setting to enjoy a cold one and some Ralph’s Side Door Deli fried chicken.
A lot of people seem to be getting bent out of shape for the changing of the players walk, but if there’s one thing that I really miss, it’s the old pep rallies. Back in the Holtz era, they used to be more exciting than the games. Now they kind of just happen. Whether it’s staged in front of a dorm or outside in the new Irish Green, the closest it’s come to being even close to exciting was when Rocket Ismail was screaming about “Unbelief.”
Getting into the pep rally used to be tougher than getting into the football game. While excluding people that want to go doesn’t make that much sense, I’m all in favor of bringing the pep rally back inside, using that big new video board in the JACC and some light tricks to get people fired up and add some electricity to an event that’s gotten pretty lame.
(You want proof? Here’s Rocket’s speech from 2009. Even the players didn’t know what to make of it, as they’d been used to mediocre gatherings where they wave to their moms and smile at girls from PW. But Rocket remembered what the pep rallies used to be like. If this were the old days, you’d have students running through walls. Charlie should’ve thrown a uniform on Rocket. It probably would’ve been the different.)
(a) USC is (and always will be) our biggest rival. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? And if you agree, why do you feel that this is such an important rivalry? (b) Rank your top 10 college football rivalries and provide justifications for each.
USC is Notre Dame’s biggest rival. No question. For all the reasons everybody else on the internet has talked about all week. Why is it important? Frankly, because it lets me use the word “intersectional” in a sentence once a year. It also gives me the opportunity to talk Notre Dame football with all my neighbors in Manhattan Beach, where 90 percent of the population loves the Trojans.
I’m not great at coming up with lists without internet access, but off the top of my head, in no particular order here are my ten favorite college football rivalries:
Notre Dame vs. USC: Whether it’s in South Bend or South Central, it’s my favorite game to go to in the autumn.
Michigan vs. Michigan State: It feels really good not to have any allegiances in this one. Lately, it’s felt like watching The Great Outdoors, only this time Chet (John Candy) gets to sucker-punch Roman (Dan Aykroyd) in the face and laugh at him.
Oklahoma vs. Texas: The Red River Shootout is a true experience. The geographical excellence of the Cotton Bowl between Norman and Austin, plus seeing the stadium cut perfectly down the middle between burnt orange and sooner crimson is pretty awesome.
Georgia vs. Florida: Even if it isn’t called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party anymore, I can tell you from experience that it still is. The football is usually okay, too.
Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State: This one gets on my list for the tailgating scene and the co-eds alone.
Michigan vs. Ohio State: The best of Big Ten football. When both programs are good, this game is awesome.
Auburn vs. Alabama: The best of SEC football. When both programs are good, the teams might be over the NFL salary cap.
Minnesota vs. Wisconsin: My hometown bias is certainly coming out, but these two teams play for the greatest rivalry trophy of all time. Celebrations like this vault it onto the list.
Harvard vs. Yale: If only because it lets me watch a brand of college football I was almost good enough to play. (Plus as a bonus, you can use the rosters to upgrade your LinkedIn profile.)
Oregon vs. Oregon State: Admittedly, I’m running out of steam here, but between the Civil War and the Apple Cup, the two Pacific Northwest rivalries deserve some credit.
Southern Cal is 5-1, with their only loss on the road at Arizona State. They are unranked, sitting right behind us in the “also receiving votes” category. How good is Southern Cal this year? How do you see this game playing out?
We won’t know until after Saturday. For the first time in years, I’ve heard Notre Dame fans feeling outright brazen about this game, and possibly for good reason. USC is young and while they have some good talent on this roster, it’s a shell of what it was back in the Pete Carroll glory days.
That said, they probably have three first-rounders on their offense, and that’s as top heavy as any team Notre Dame will see this year. We’ve seen the Trojans give up a ton of points, look lost in pass coverage and really inconsistent on both sides of the ball.
That said, if you’re a Notre Dame fan and puffing your chest, Slow. Your. Roll. Like it or not, you’re one Ronald Johnson drop away from being in the midst of a really ugly losing streak.
If the Irish handle their business on Saturday, and I honestly think they should, there’ll be over a year to gloat to those Trojan fans you detest. But until then, keep quiet, save your vocal chords until Saturday night, and get ready to see what happens.
It appears that with a win over USC, we’ll re-enter the Top 25 rankings. Now that we’re halfway through the season and have some actual evidence available to us from real games, how do you see the rest of the season playing out? Predict:
For the record, I hate playing the predictions game. But since Domer Law is running this week’s IBG, I’m sure there’s some fine print at the bottom of his questions making me contractually obligated to participate. So here goes:
(a) Notre Dame’s final record: Let’s have fun. Run the table until Stanford. Then roll the dice and see what happens.
(b) Notre Dame’s bowl destination, opponent and outcome. Win out? BCS game. Lose one or two: Champ Sports Bowl.
(c) The BCS Championship game and result. Can they match two SEC teams up? I’m not buying Oklahoma yet.
(d) Notre Dame’s final AP ranking. If they win out? Top six. If not? Top 25.
(e) The winners of the major awards, including:
(i) Heisman Trophy Russell Wilson, just so some writer has to ask Tom O’Brien about the decision to let Wilson walk away from NC State for free.
(ii) Home Depot Coach of the Year Bret Bielema.
(iii) Davey O’Brien Award (best QB) Andrew Luck.
(iv) Doak Walker Award (best RB) LaMichael James.
(v) Fred Biletnikoff Award (best WR) Cretin-Derham Hall’s own Michael Floyd.
(vi) Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player) Whoever the SEC media decides.