Ok, gents, I just read it. Let me first say that I’m not a big conspiracy theorist who tends to get caught up in all the “hater” kind of talk. That said, I’m feeling pissed after reading this article. Let me also say that I’m not going to summarize the whole article because, even though I wish I wouldn’t have given my $ to SI for this article, I know that most of you will want to read the article for yourself and I don’t want to spoil it.
To frame the whole article, here’s an excerpt: “Notre Dame’s culture of rigid campus discipline has been altered in ways that have changed not just the football program but also the entire community. Two young people have died, one directly connected to Notre Dame football and the other at odds with it, both leaving deep scars and very different levels of closure. A daily battle is waged between a distant memory of the old Notre Dame and the modern needs of the new Notre Dame. Football knits them together.” These two people, of course, are Declan Sullivan and Lizzy Seeberg. You can read these details for yourself once you get the article – nothing new really.
One of the big themes is Res Life, as it suggests that discipline has been softened under BK after Weis had no say in disciplinary affairs. It references the dismissal of Bill Kirk in 2010, who was the Associate VP of Res Life, and that his ouster was seen as a response to Weis saying that was the biggest thing that needed to change in order for ND to be successful. Then, as you might imagine, it referenced Floyd’s situation as an example of how discipline has been softened. All in all, this kind of crap from the article, despite perhaps certain specific elements that might have legitimacy, gave the very erroneous impression that ND had sold its soul to the devil. Which is why I’m feeling pissed after finishing it.
There are times when the author attempts to not put a negative slant on things. It references ND’s graduation rate, though not as glowingly as I would have expected. But then again I’m biased, because this is what I love most about ND. It includes quote from a couple current and former players, and also talks a bit about BK’s childhood, coaching history, and his early days at ND. But then it quickly gets into how the training table was added and that BK added pool and ping-pong tables, Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles, and a couple arcade machines. The spin put on this is that the players aren’t as much a part of the overall campus anymore because they’re hanging out together more at the Gug.
From an actual football standpoint, the opening paragraph, when talking about the Pitt game, refers to a referee’s phantom call and an inexplicably missed field goal. Then, to close the article, he brings these same pieces back up, talks about how we had two #2’s on the field for the Pitt missed FG, and says that Stepfan Taylor “appeared to stretch the ball into the end zone to score a tying touchdown (assuming the extra point was successful), but officials ruled Taylor had been stopped and inexplicably did not reverse the call on review.” Yes, inexplicably was the word choice there! Then, he ends the article with a quote from Manti that he uses in a way that has me feeling like I may never buy another SI again.
Last thing, because I want to end on a positive note, is that the front page of story has a huge shot of Manti coming out of the tunnel with Touchdown Jesus hovering overhead. It’s a really good shot.
