Six games down, six (hopefully seven) to
go…
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| "When did you say ND football was returning to glory?" |
One often hears the expression that Life is
a journey. So, apparently, is the
development of a football program, especially the Notre Dame football
program. Enjoy the ride, take time to
smell the roses… But what if the trip is akin to the circuitous journey back
home of John Hughes’ dark comedy, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”? Alternatively laugh-out-loud-funny,
frustrating, sophomoric and poignant… can there be a more perfect metaphor for
the athletic wasteland that ND Football has been stuck in than Wichita, KS –
where the only trains that run are for the livestock?!
I think not.
But they did make it home.
Word of the Week.
En•dur•ance
/ɛnˈdʊər əns, / [en-doo r-uh ns]
–noun
1. the fact or power of enduring or bearing
pain, hardships, etc.
2. the ability or strength to continue or
last, esp. despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina.
3. lasting quality; duration.
4. something endured, as a hardship; trial.
Origin:
1485–95; endure + -ance
—Synonyms
1. See patience.
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| "Rut roh..." |
Continuing with the travel metaphor,
“Endurance” is also the name of a book by Alfred Lansing that I’d read about 10
years ago – the true historical account of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his 1914
expedition to the South Pole. Simply one
of the most amazing tales of leadership, courage and resolve – under the worst
possible circumstances - one could imagine. A compelling read which I'm sure a
few of you have already encountered but all would certainly enjoy (there’s lots
of pictures, Cincotta).
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| "Smile, everyone - this is for the Christmas card!" |
Shackleton’s ship Endurance set sail from
England in August of 1914 for Antarctica where he had planned to cross on foot
the final unchartered continent. By January, however, the ship had become
locked in an island of ice – sadly only one day’s sail short of their destination.
(Son of beetch, sheet.) For the next 10
months, the Endurance drifted before it was finally crushed. Shackelton and a
small crew would travel for another 850 miles to the closest output of
civilization to save the rest of the 27 shipmates – ultimately two years after
when they originally set off.
Incredibly everyone survived.
A fellow explorer wrote In tribute to their
achievement, "I do not know how they did it, except that they had
to...”
Another colleague said, “For scientific
leadership, give me Robert Scott; for swift and efficient travel, Roald
Amundsen; but when you are in a hopeless situation, when there seems no way
out, get down on your knees and pray for Ernest Shackleton...”
Are we in a hopeless situation? Sometime it feels like that. But at this
point I’m still hoping someone ends up writing something like that about Kelly,
say circa 2015, after a solid run of 10+ win seasons.
The Pre-Game…
No Bloody Mary’s at the Tailgater!
Save us, Obi-wan Behrens…
Observations from The Game.
Let’s face it – after six games it’s
impossible to make any grand proclamations about this team. And Saturday’s game
was a pretty representative microcosm of the
two-steps-forward-one-step-backward season.
Depending on one’s perspective, you could argue the state of the team
either way, reminiscent of SNL’s ‘Point & Counter Point’ during the late
70’s:
"Jane, you magnificently ignorant slut..." “Dan, you self-important ass…”
1. This game never should’ve been that close.
2. We go as Dayne goes. And that ain’t good.
3. Our defense is good for one slam dunk, colossal break down every game.
4. Our best player is our kicker.
5. Kelly’s play calling is reckless, at best. And at worst, stupid.
6. We have zero killer instinct.
7. Our pass rush is non-existent.
8. Pitt ran with distressing ease.
9. Our safeties are weak.
10. We have no offensive game breaker.
11. Kelly’s a big meanie.
12. Mike Mayock is the best thing to happen to ND football telecasts since Lindsey ‘we cut to further action in the 3rd quarter’ Nelson.
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1. Virtually every borderline penalty went against ND and they still hung tough.
2. He’s also the guy that went 12-12 at one point, scrambled for a critical TD and threw perfect deep balls to Jones / Floyd and passes to “Hands” Ragone and “Hop-along” Rudolph that should’ve salted the game away.
3. Yeah but what about the rest of the game, especially absolutely stoning Pitt the final three series?
4. What’s your point? Special teams count for a lot – in this case the margin of victory.
5. He wasn’t the one dropping the passes and committing stupid penalties that had huge yardage called back.
6. But we never give up. And (seemingly) don’t get down on ourselves.
7. We had no turnovers.
8. Lewis & Graham might be the best RB tandem we face all year. And they collectively gained 110 yards.
9. I'm beginning to believe it’s why our CB’s play so soft (they can't depend on support behind them). Smith may be devoid of any instincts but as a strong safety, he’s not as bad as many portray. We definitely need a ball hawk.
10. Armando is a lot better than given credit for. Floyd had his best game of the season. And Riddick / Jones are getting better every week.
11. Maybe, but he never seems to stop coaching these guys. Witness how early he went to Cierre Wood (with some reasonable success); if it were Weis, that kid wouldn’t be seeing the field for the rest of the year after the inconsistencies he’s had the prior weeks.
12. No argument there. Did everyone hear his ‘What do all 21 yr. olds do on their birthday? Grab a cold one…’ comment? Plus, the guy is just… smart.
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And so, who knows? Either side of the glass-half-something could
be the accurate one. We’ll see. Every week is going to be something of a new
referendum.
I take nothing for granted.
Song of the Week.
Maybe it was watching Wannie fake a punt at
a ridiculously early point in the game… maybe it was with 1:37 left in the game
and the epiphany that we might lose to team led by a guy named Tino…
whatever. Sometime in the 2nd half the
distinct whiff of desperation was in the air – and probably evident on both
sidelines: Pitt knew the game was
getting away from them and ND felt the game slipping away.
So finding a tune that captured this
anxious, manic nature led me to… Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money”. I
have special fondness for this song since it’s the tune that was playing when I
put Randy Raymond’s car in a ditch in Wyoming, March 1979 (ah, good
times). Switching it up a bit, I offer
you The Wallflowers’ cover of the song, with Jordan Zevon accompanying, off of a most excellent tribute CD
called “Enjoy Every Sandwich”:
I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk.
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this.
Terry’s Tool Time.
1. Jonathan
Baldwin, Pitt WR. The kid totally
disses Darren Walls earlier in the week by saying he never really heard of him
– despite Walls being a 5 star local Pittsburgh HS kid. Other than one
Slaughter brain fart, he had a relatively unremarkable game. Stay classy, Jon-boy.
2. Nick
Saban. His team gets outplayed in every
phase of the game and to hear his post-game remarks, it was pretty much all the
fault of the players. Accountability is
apparently a concept not being taught this semester in Tuscaloosa.
3. Brett
Favre (and little Brett).
“Luuuuuccccccccyyyyyy, you’ve got some esplainin’ to dooooooooooo…”
Schadenfreude Winner of the Week.
Oh what a cornucopia of choices this week…
Michigan, Penn State, USC, ‘Bama, Florida.
How to choose?
1. USC.
It would be tempting to just pick the Trojans over and over and over – just on
principle. But no. plus they’ll have
more chances to win!
2. Meechagan. Stranger things have happened – like getting
crushed by Iowa next week, OSU at end November and maybe a couple others in
between - but I'm guessing Rodriguez has
already saved his job. Which is probably
good ‘cause I really don’t want to see Harbaugh on those sidelines anytime
soon. So no soup for you, Rich.
3. Penn
State losing to Illinois, really?! I
have trouble building up enmity for a guy who so clearly wants to gasp his last
breath with his coaching cleats on, so no.
4. Bama
– have already received one award this week, so nope.
5. Florida
– anyone see Urban after losing his game in one of the more bizarre ways
possible – the oddest, flukiest fake FG ever. Called, no less, by Les “Yes, I
sold my soul to the devil, doesn’t everyone?” Miles… Meyer could barely contain his disgust that
anyone had the temerity to question him.
It was fantastic! And truth be
told, they should win this award based alone on the ugliness of their garish,
glow-in-the-dark uni’s. So… winner,
winner chicken dinner!
Recruiting Buzz.
One of Iowa’s best HS football players (is
that like being the thinnest kid at Fat Camp?) , OLB Christian French, made an
official visit this past weekend. He’s
supposed to be an incredible athlete who could play on either side of the
ball. Apparently Iowa and the resurgent
Nebraska program are the prime competition.
The Wager.
‘Alive’ continues to describe the state of
the Nine win group.
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| "Anyone seen Ungie?!" |
It’s also the title of Piers Paul Read’s
harrowing tale of the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane in 1972 crashed in the
Andes, were stranded for weeks… and ultimately had to resort to cannibalism in
order to survive until being found. Yecccchhhhhh. Would any of the five-some resort to anything
like that just to remain in contention?
Not for this year’s $100 apiece winnings… But with Corrigan (from Iowa), Thompson
(Philadelphia), Behrens (Louisiana) and Rasmus / Feifar (Dillon), it’s also not
like any of them are unfamiliar w practices that fall outside of societal
norms. God help the rest of the group if
future wagers get appreciably more lucrative.
No one bit on flipping their wager so the
predictions below stand as is.
Ireland 2012.
Everyone got their passports up to
date? Start thinking about this
concept: a Labor Day week 2012 trip to
Dublin for the Navy game and golf (e.g., Portmarnock, Royal County Down, K
Club, Druids Glen). Drop the women folk
in London (my strategy) and embrace your inner David Feherty.
Until next week.
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