Acadian driftwood, gypsy tailwind
They call my home the land of snow
Canadian cold front, movin' in
What a way to ride, oh, what a way to go...
Dateline: Battle Creek, MI
If he saw a hockey rink -- or worse, a Zamboni -- he knew he was in some sort of existential Gruley-esque nightmare.
That wouldn't be good. Those never end well.
Our heroic blogger was in this winter hellscape by virtue of retrieving his granddaughter from his ex son-in-law's Thanksgiving holiday custody. Jerrence was, um, chagrined that the fellow could have dropped the 4 year old off near Valparaiso before the big winter storm, on his way back from his parents' Indianapolis home -- but elected to make his former in law drive to his home in Michigan.
What a guy.
Even though Jerrence was successful in the child's pick up, he'd yet to fully realize that this day was otherwise not going meet many of his other expectations:
-- logistically
-- meteorologically
-- athletically
In sum, it was a day marked by both frustration and uncertainty.
24 hours later, the weather would ultimately clear. But as it turned out, the future of the Notre Dame football team was going to take a bit longer than that.
Quote of the Week
"A little early isn't it, Woody?"
"For a beer?"
"No, for stupid questions."
Your 'A' Lot Musings PSA
We've now entered The Stupid Season: stupid decisions, ridiculous explanations, incoherent rationale... do not set yourself up for disappointment by expecting to understand what you see / read in college football over the next few weeks.
Word of the Week
Used in a sentence paragraph: At the wisened old age of soon-to-be 69, Jerrence felt like nothing much could surprise him anymore.
Over the past decade or so, he thought he'd seen bad behavior, low character and craven self interest on display everywhere -- from his country's so-called national leadership down to the personally vindictive pettiness of an ex son-in-law.
But the recent widespread attack on Notre Dame's playoff qualifications took him aback. Masked behind some kind of faux resumé equivalency comparison objectivity to Miami was the very disingenuous, ugly and frankly more venal basis of the aggression: people still being pissed that the Irish hadn't joined a conference.
He could discount the discourse coming from the coaches, like the Pitt and Texas Tech guys. Intellectually and morally, they were single cell amoeba.
Their next original thought would be their first.
But he found the ACC leadership's rhetoric particularly abhorrent. Notre Dame's 5 games / year scheduling arrangement filled the conference's financial coffers with full stadiums and media ratings they'd never achieve without ND's participation..
He didn't know what recourse Pete Bevacqua might have to counter the conference's hypocrisy -- other than ND's continuing to beat those teams like a drum -- but Jerrence knew if ND did make it into the playoffs at Miami's expense he was going to mightily enjoy the ensuing weeping 'n wailing 'n gnashing of teeth.
Game 12 Thoughts
What a reason for waiting
And dreaming of dreams.
So here's hoping you've faith in impossible schemes...
A couple, singular, final regular season game thoughts...
Probably won't happen, the way things are shaking out...
...but if we're gonna go on the road, personally, I'd LOVE it if it could be Norman, Oklahoma and facing the Sooners' horrific offense.
2. Size Distance matters. Did ND run out of gas in the 2nd half? It sure looked like it. Has Stanford bored them to death or was it jet lag? Maybe it was simply keeping the team up past their bedtimes?
Two years into the expanded Big 10 conference schedule, there is ample evidence that two-time zone travel materially affects performance. And in retrospect I don't suppose ND should be immune to that either -- which still didn't make watching the 2nd half any easier.
3. Marty Biagi. For all the hue and cry over the placekicking -- and one supposes the ST Coordinator should take as much accountability as anyone for not having a working Plan B, give the guy his props for every other aspect of the kicking and punting games.
And those punt fakes -- with the exception of the Pitt game fake (to this day, still a very weird, unnecessary call) every fake has been different than the next. And perfectly timed.
Bigger picture, maybe ND was recognizing the possible need to show the CFP Committee that their best player was not badly hurt -- and therefore not providing them with a reason to discount the team's playoff viability.
Before one scoffs at that, recall 2023 Florida State which went undefeated but lost their starting QB and got denied a BCS playoff spot... one would imagine that kind of diss does not get forgotten by a whole lot of teams.
Just a thought.
Buddy's Buddy
So. Final regular season game.
Final Buddy of same said season and, admittedly, kind of a weird game to evaluate (and reward).
Beyond the first couple drives which each featured the team's stud RB's, the game felt more frustrating than satisfying.
Again, strange.
Speaking of strange and frankly, stupid ill advised, was the Stanford QB's insistence on throwing at Leonard Moore.
This week's Buddy.
GiGiven how infrequently opposing teams ever challenge young Mr. Moore, college football's equivalent of the Maytag Repair Man, one would be forgiven if you forgot just how good he is.
Two weeks ago, the poor Syracuse walk on QB, clearly not spending enough time in the film room, tried it once and a pick 6 later, never did again.
But Stanford is so much smarter, right? They're STANFORD, after all.
Well, here's the numbers associated with that gambit:
-- targeted 7 times
-- 9 yards gained, all on a single Q4 TD catch that was important to the gambling world (ND was a 32.5 pt. fave) but not to the game's outcome.
-- He allowed zero receiving yards on his 6 other targets
-- 3 break up's
-- 5 tackles
-- 1 INT
Really happy to have him for one more year.
RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)
Lost amongst all the to-do over the curious playoff selection process is that we had early commitment signing day and it registered almost not at all on the ND Richter Scale.
Remember The Good Old Days when national letter-of-intent Signing Day was a day of great anticipation... excitement... surprise?
And candidly, in retrospect, maybe not so Good Old Days because the surprises, more times than not, were not great. It seemed that ND always built good-to-very good classes through the course of the calendar year -- only to have more elite (and ethically challenged) football programs swoop in the final month and voila! de-commitments be happening.
Well, coach Freeman and GM Martin are here to say that sh*t is over.
Fun fact: Of the 28 players who took official visits to Notre Dame, 27 signed. Find below a couple of Pete Sampson's take on the implications to this week's success:
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Early enrollment isn’t a trend, it’s standard operating procedure. But it’s still notable that 24 of the 27 signees will join the program next month. The impact of arriving a semester early is probably overstated in terms of individual development. Leonard Moore, Michael Mayer, Benjamin Morrison and Joe Alt all enrolled in the summer, and they worked out just fine. NFL talent won’t be delayed by enrolling six months later. And showing up in January doesn’t magically create a future pro out of a three-star prospect.
But adding two dozen players to the spring roster does change how the program can operate in March and April. If the secondary experiences some personnel losses, those five new additions will help. The running back group can still function now that Javian Osborne and Jonaz Walton will be a part of it.
Add in a few transfer portal additions, and it wouldn’t be a shock for Notre Dame to have more than 90 scholarship players available for spring practice. A decade ago, that number could have dipped into the high 60s.
“I think our emphasis will be continuing to sort of develop at the O-line, at the defensive line position,” Martin said. “But there are a few guys that we kind of got our eyes on that potentially could come in and help us.”
By investing in player acquisition at the high school level, Notre Dame hopes to save itself millions in paying for talent in the transfer portal during the next three to four years.
The supply of receivers and defensive backs in the portal will always outpace the demand, and there will always be more demand for offensive and defensive linemen than there is supply.
The Irish have always recruited well enough on the offensive line that paying for portal additions didn’t make sense. But Notre Dame hasn’t been as good on the defensive line. Maybe this cycle changes that … eventually.
Source: The Athletic
December 4, 2025
Cocktail of the Week
After recalling how this season started (0-2, with a first year QB and a defense that looked repeatedly confused), a literary / cocktail theme involving reanimation / coming back from the dead / revenge would seem tres apropos, oui?
And so it is Week 12's offering (even if the libation feels more summer-y than winter'ish.)
FRANKEN-STEIN
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
by Mary Shelley (1818)
From his grief is born a monster.
Victor swears to destroy his creation and embarks on a cat-and-mouse chase, ending in his own death and the monster drifting away into the Arctic on an ice raft.
This dour yet thrilling meditation on humanity, morality, and death would pair well with something bright and citrusy to melt away the ice and, with any luck, deter you from reanimating any corpses.
Yield: 1 serving
-- 6 oz. beer (lager or light beer works well)
-- 6 oz. lemonade (store-bought or homemade)
-- lemon wedge, for garnish (optional)
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1. Select a tall glass for your drink.
2. Pour the beer into the glass.
3. Pour the lemonade into the glass.
4. Adjust the ratio of beer to lemonade based on your preference for a stronger or weaker drink.
5. Give the shandy a gentle stir to combine the beer and lemonade.
6. Garnish the drink with a lemon wedge on the rim of the glass, if using.
Source: The Turn of the Screwdriver
50 Dark & Twisted Literary Cocktails
By Iphigenia Jones
Schedule 2025
August
31 @Miami L
September
13 Texas A&M L
20 Purdue W Corrigan brother reunion!
27 @Arkansas W Soooiiieeee!
October
4 Boise St. W Alumni Hall Reunion weekend, Union Pier MI
11 NC State W
18 USC W "Lincoln, We Hardly Knew Ye" (wussy)
November
1 @BC W
9 Navy W
16 @Pitt W
23 Syracuse W Final 2025 regular season tailgate
29 @Stanford W
December
19-20 PLAYOFF GAME?
Wager 2025
Team 10 -- you've done it! Now we're on to the fun part -- the finals!
Not only can you expect to have to fill out a playoff bracket but we'll return to trivia time, like:
- At what well known Chicago city street intersection was the site of Ft. Dearborn?
Stay tuned.
BTW, for those with your name not highlighted, I don't have you as having paid the $25 entry... would surely appreciate it if you ponied up by the end of the year. Thx.
Wins | ND Equivalence | Domer |
12  The Joker | "Do I really look like a guy with a plan?" ----- Ledger's Joker is mercurial, charismatic and a complete psychopath. Utterly unforgettable. Just as a Notre Dame undefeated, on-their-way-to-a-national championship-season would be. |
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11  Otto | "Don't call me stupid!" ----- Ex-CIA operative Otto lives at the intersection of dangerous and moronic. An 'Otto season' for ND would be a rollercoaster -- a lot of fun with youth at some key positions, and likely more than it's fair share of 'that wasn't very clever' moments. | Gutsch , Sloane Daryl Jim S. Peter Tim TedBill Jim B Pat B George Alex, Feif Garrett Spit the Elder |
10  | "That's a bingo!" ----- Jew hunter Landa -- equal parts chillingly pathological and pragmatic, this character would probably represent a 10-win regular season that might make you sick to your stomach but ultimately pretty satisfied. | Jerrence, Mike C, Tim C. Mark U. Jerry P. Jerry C. Mike B. Brian W. Jim T. Mike G, Bose Jerry W Lini, Randy Greg Kyle W. Kevin M. |
9  RP McMurphy | "I'm a goddamn marvel of modern science." ----- What's the residual emotion from Cuckoo's Nest? Sadness. RP, a guy who sees things clearly but can't get out of his own way. When it doesn't end well, one is left thinking what could've been. Like a 9-win season.
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8  | "I don't know who I am. Or where I'm going. None of it." ------ An apt summary of an 8-win ND season. A lot of difficult questions ultimately unanswered. Still, the Bourne trilogy rocks and JB is The Man. | |
7  | "I'm thinking I'm back..." ----- For many, ND winning only 7 games would be akin to someone shooting their dog -- and requiring appropriate payback. And like with John Wick, rationale requiring very few words of explanation. | |
6  | "Are you not entertained!" ------Probably not, if ND only won six games... but that's not the point here: it probably says a lot about me that the final ranked character is the most moral, selfless one of the bunch. | |
Sports Imitating Art
Death Struggle, by Edvard Munch, 1915
Schadenfreude of the Week
Not only did no one help ND out with an upset... the upset that did occur -- Texas over A&M -- only weakened ND's argument (albeit minimally).
Furthermore, depending on your appetite for conspiracy theories involving "the fix is in," one of two playoff scenarios appear to be on the table:
1) ND is out and the CFP is using the Irish's exclusion as justification to expand to 16 playoff teams next year.
Or...
2) ND is in since media viewership / revenue rules all and ESPN knows who their golden goose is -- and it sure ain't Miami, Duke or BYU.
I guess we shall see.
FWIW, it's a common misperception that the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC are guaranteed automatic CFP berths. Not so. It's the five highest-ranked champions regardless of conference.
There's nothing to prevent two Group of 5 conference champs from finishing above a Power 4 champ like, say, 8-5 Duke.
At any rate, conventional wisdom -- not that it really applies here -- suggests there are two games to seriously care about on Saturday:
-- BYU vs. Texas Tech (11am CST) Go Red Raiders!
-- Georgia vs. Alabama (3pm CST) Go Dawgs!
And should those go as hoped, perhaps one more, if one cares* about what side of the bracket ND possibly ends up:
-- Indiana vs. Ohio State (7pm CST) Go rogue asteroid!
And since we're at it, I suppose we probably should pay attention to the Duke vs. Virginia (Go Cavaliers!) game which also kicks off at 7pm.
* I do not.
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| The football gods, at work, messing with CFP outcomes. |
And if there's a bit of silver lining, they made tOSU look fairly mortal for much of the 1st half... almost a win-win.
2. Georgia Tech. The Yellowjackets are a difficult team to engender much enmity towards... but if one is a fan of chaos (and as long as it doesn't negatively impact ND, who isn't?), their losing to Georgia gets rid of a possible playoff spot contender while muddying the ACC championship waters, making Miami's non-participation in said game even more lame.
3. SMU. At this point in all the conference machinations, I know I read somewhere that the Mustangs losing actually benefits ND but for the life of me, I can't remember why. Oh yeah, they're yet another team the Hurricanes didn't beat that couldn't make it to the ACC Championship game.
Begging the question: why aren't bad losses weighted as much as 'good' wins?
Terry's Tools
I'll be honest with you, some weeks I struggle to identify many Terry's Tools-worthy candidates.
You'd think that wouldn't ever be the case, given the depressing state of the world -- but with the political world largely off limits... as Brian Kelly might say, we're shopping down a different, far more barren, aisle.
At risk of likening oneself to The Messiah, this week Jerrence finds himself staggering out of the metaphorical desert, only to see an oasis in front of him.
But this oasis looks a lot like a 5 Guys outlet, with just sooo many food options, none of them healthy. And this week, Jerrence is ordering... everything.
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Which leads us to...
1) Kiffin. As novelist, raconteur and ESPN Game Day guest predictor Oscar Wilde once said, "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
Much has been written about Lane's departure and the way he handled it... one scribe wrote the following that sums it up nicely:
His decision to leave these players and this particular team doubles as an insult, too.
Abandoning them now implies he didn't really think they could win a national title. He thought he'd taken Ole Miss as far as it could go, and that he couldn't actually win it all.
Now, instead of gearing up for the program's first CFP appearance and the kind of special season you spend your whole life hoping to be part of, Kiffin is walking out the door.
He's pretending he's been wronged by the school that gave him another shot in the SEC just because his bosses won't let him coach one team while running to a rival.
And it's shown us that maybe Lane Kiffin hasn't changed that much after all.
I won't ever leave - you want me to stay
Nothin' you could do that could turn me away
Hangin' on anyway, believin' the things you say
Being a fool...
2) LSU. How's this for a trifecta...
But the 2nd half did not please him. In fact, quite the opposite. And it was only when he woke up the next day, was reminded that the Irish won by 29 points and escaped without any serious injuries... that he realized he'd become one of those message board 'glass half empty' cretins who bitch about everything that didn't go exactly to script.
Shoot me now.
4) Coaches. No one does selfish hypocrisy better than the NCAA and specifically, the head coaches (at least until Congress and anti-trust litigation gets involved). Lane Kiffin is merely this year's poster child.
5a) Miami. Coach Mario Cristobal has Carson Beck throw a TD pass with :41 left in last Saturday's game, up 31-7 against Pitt, ostensibly to achieve a better point differential compared to Notre Dame.
Really?! And the playoff Committee can't see the insignificant pandering of that ploy?
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| 'Sure -- cause Trump's involvement makes everything better. |
Don't you have anything better to do with your time? Wait, don't answer that.
And don't get me started on that Miami alum and former Meet The Press twit, Chuck Todd's incessant prattling on about Miami's candidacy.
Hey Chuck -- next time, tell your team to try winning their mediocre conference while not losing to two 8-4 teams.
6) Wifredo Aybar. Intentional knee to Jeremiyah Love? Hmmm. Kinda looked like it. And given Stanford's reputation over the last two decades of being one of the dirtiest teams in the country... not giving you the benefit of the doubt.
But egging the house of the Eagle's Offensive Coordinator after last week's 24-15 loss?
First off, have you looked at the price of eggs lately?
Secondly, why not go after the Defensive Coordinator's house -- the D gave up 281 rushing yards.
Finally, and most importantly, leave the family out of it.
8) Lane, don't let the door hit you in the ass.
9. With apologies to my NY Giants-fan friends, this cannot go without commentary -- and not my words:
"The NY Giants are so bad they're recreating scenes from Charlie Brown in a real NFL game."
Name of the Week
Sign of The Times.Sometimes a name just fits the zeitgeist that one lives in. And when that 'culture' (using the term loosely) exists in Arizona...
At a school historically recognized as the gold standard for collegiate partying...
Well, you just gotta go with it.
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| "Bro, you Blazen that new Lono-Wong strain?" |
...it's unclear how good he actually is at football -- but he's a 1st ballot All American on the name front.
Blazen Lono-Wong
Trivia
Q. What popular song, forever linked with the artist(s), was recorded just three days before they died in a plane crash?
A) "Dock of The Bay" (Otis Redding)
B) "Peggy Sue" (Buddy Holly)
C) "Sweet Home Alabama" (Lynyrd Sknyrd)
D) "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" (Jim Croce)
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(Last blog's answer: Comfortably Numb represented the last collaboration between Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and David Gilmore and is widely regarded as their best.
Final Thoughts
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| Why we see the ESPN Game Day hosts only from the waist up... |
