Comrades,
Looking out on the snow-capped tundra of northern
Indiana as I rode the South Shore train this past week - we got 10" in
Valpo on Monday/Tuesday – I felt like someone out of Dr. Zhivago, leading to
this revelation: WWOD - What Would Omar (Sharif) Do if he were coach... (And he
may be a viable option after this week’s debacle).
Given his Russian home state, one would have to
believe he'd be dedicated to the run. And a stout defense is a no brainer,
bringing new meaning to the expression “Steel Curtain”. And God knows they’d
play better in the cold than our present offering.
Re the actual game, I have very little to say.
Same as it ever was. Actually, collective regression.
- The OL – it BLOWS MY MIND how
inept they are.
- Syracuse punts – our best
offensive play.
- 3rd and 47 – huh?
- The Defense. Good enough
that we should be 9-3. Not good enough to dominate for 60 minutes.
- Mike Anello - deserves better.
- Mo Crum – I’m sorry I’ve talked
badly about him. By all accounts, he’s a terrific representative of the
university.
- Brandon Walker – I guess we know his range now. Personally, I can’t imagine kicking anything 50 yards in 20° weather.
Macchiavelli. In honor of Sully, who bought an Italian
company a few days ago, this week's literary reference will be the 15th
Century writer, Niccolo Machiavelli... unlike oft-referenced Sun Tzu (and his
treatise, 'The Art of War'), Machiavelli's "The Prince" is arguably
the seminal business management how-to book. Granted, his name is synonomous
with deception, cunning and unscrupulousness. So what? So I’m thinking we ought
to be looking his way for coaching guidance… no one ever worked for a tougher
boss than he (The Medici’s) and The Prince inspired a number of legendary
firebrands… Mussolini, Hitler, Lenin, Stalin.
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”…
“When assuming the crown, kill the ruler and all his family…” If those
imperatives aren’t inspirational – who would ever blow a 1st half
lead after that half time speech?
“Integrity is what you do when no one's around”. In the news this
week… golfer JP Hayes, comfortably in position to earn his '09 card in the
Q-school tourney, used an out-of-spec Titleist for one shot (a par 3)... no one
even knew! But he realized it later that evening and reported himself. Immediate
disqualification. One can only hope this fellow gets a ton of the discretionary
invitations next season.
Myron Rolle. Rhodes Scholar! I
think that’s pretty cool.
Stay classy, Joe. Up 55-10 late in
the 4th Quarter yesterday and facing a 4th and 1 on
Indiana’s 20 yard line, Purdue goes for it. They get it and ultimately score to
lay 62 on the Hoosiers. I know it’s your last game Coach Tiller but What The
Fuck?! Were you giving 50 pts with Vegas? If somehow your Wyoming
retirement home burns to ground, consider it Hoosier karma.
The Pack 37, Da Bears 3. Proving that while God
cannot be negotiated with, He is, apparently, susceptible to lobbying.
Listening to Chicago sports talk radio implode while on my drives up and
back to Wisconsin last week, I was as giddy as a little school girl, revealing
- it occurred to me - far deeper character flaws than even I realized I had.
That all said, since You’ve given me this latest cross to bear, Lord, how
about throwing me another bone against the Saints on Monday night? (Sorry, Pete.)
The way I see it, Drew Brees got to revel in his alma mater’s thrashing of
Indiana 62-10 so Pack vs. Saints should be Terry’s party.
The Future of the Program. Weis must return
next year. Why?
- Secures a 3rd consecutive
recruiting class, which might be the most important achievement of the
year in retrospect.
- Sets up a ‘no excuses’ year for
Weis in ’09 – with ‘his guys’ (and sends a message to future candidates
that you’ll get a reasonable amount of time to produce)
- Gives Swarbick more time to
succession plan and identify an established replacement.
- And I think the job may be
attractive again: the schedule is no longer the issue and Weis has proven
one can recruit the quality athletes to compete at a high level.
- Knocks another $3 million off
the ultimate buy out.
Next week. Probably going to be my
last blog for the season – writing the same thing over and over is getting old,
wouldn’t you agree? Plus I’m planning to aggressively explore eggnog-induced
dementia over the Christmas holidays and almost certainly won’t be able to
string full, coherent sentences. But I’ll be going out in a blaze of
glory! If the USC game goes as planned, I’ll be writing about a game that
I didn’t actually watch too much of (!) and exploring such provocative,
thematic topics as Nietzsche, nihilism and the existential concept of
‘nothingness’ as applied to ND football.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Don’t forget to cheer
on our women’s soccer team, the hoopsters in the Maui tournament and a hockey
team that is now a solid top 5 program that can beat anyone.
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