Well, my 4 days without Irish Envy are over. The graduation weekend was magnificent, and the actual graduation ceremony on Sunday was classic Notre Dame, full of the tradition and splendor that I have come to expect from the University. The campus as always was beautiful, and completely recovered from last week's almost tornado. I have to say that even after all of the times that I have been on the ND campus, it is still breathtaking when you are walking from the Book Store to the Grotto, and as you pass the South Dining Hall, to then come upon the South Quad in all its' splendor on a beautiful spring day. No other campus in the country that I have seen can come close to matching ND's South Quad, most can't match the North Quad either. It was a great weekend as always and there always seems to be a feeling of spiritual uplifting after spending any time on that magical campus.
However, after catching up on some of the posts of the last 4 days, some of that spiritual uplifting is fading. I'm not sure what happened on Irish Envy during those 4 days, but I have to say after reading some of the posts of especially the last 2 days, I am almost afraid to post anything about a recruit. I am not sure who posted what to start all of this, because those posts were apparently deleted, but it seems to me that if you go too far overboard on this new theme, then people will shy away from saying anything at all for fear of being crucified by the mods and other people in the forum. I would like to remind everyone that this is a message board, and people should be allowed to express their opinions, as long as it is not personal bashing of a recruit.
For example, it is my opinion that Sam McGuffie is a cocky, arrogant, and overrated player, and my personal feeling is that I would prefer he not choose Notre Dame as his college of choice. If he chooses Notre Dame, will I be angry or upset? Of course not, because I fully realize that Charlie Weis is the only true expert on what is good for his team, his opinion is the only one that really counts, and if he believes that Sam McGuffie is good enough to be a part of Notre Dame football, then I would wholeheartedly concur. Until and if that happens, my opinion will remain the same, and my opinion is shared by quite a lot of people because Sam is very upfront about his confidence in his abilities. My personal opinion is that he is actually over confident and that his tone creates the cocky and arrogant image. Is that bashing Sam McGuffie, I don't think so, it is merely saying what is quite evident based on what Sam has said. Is saying he is overrated bashing him? Again, I don't think so because that is only my opinion. It would be a different story if I had ever said that McGuffie was great, and only started saying he was overrated because he has no interest in ND. Posters on this board should be allowed to express their opinions about a player’s ability as long as they do not all of a sudden start downgrading their opinion of his ability merely because the player is not interested in Notre Dame.
Another example is Brendan Beal, who apparently seems to be one of the major reasons for this backlash, although I am not really sure why. I mentioned last week that I thought it was disingenuous of Beal to say that academics was the most important factor in his selection of schools, and then to say that USC, Florida, and OSU were his top choices. Is that bashing Beal? Again, I don't think so, because that statement is as factual as it could possibly be, and it does not relate only to ND, it also relates to other schools that have recruited him such as BC and Virginia. Is Brendan Beal wrong if he does not choose Notre Dame? Absolutely not, it is his decision to make, and I am sure that whatever choice he makes he will be doing so based on what he and his family believes is best for his future, and I agree that anyone who criticizes him for choosing another school, or all of a sudden tries to say that he was not good anyway is absolutely off base. Nonetheless, if what is being proposed is that it is now improper to express opinions based on established facts, then I am afraid you will see fewer and fewer opinions posted. If what I just repeated above from previous posts about McGuffie and Beal is unacceptable to Jason and Katzenboyer, then I also will be hesitant to post here. Personally, I see nothing wrong with a little venting as long as it does not resort to the level of personal bashing, or to the level of the tiresome USC mantra of "if he didn't pick USC, then he wasn’t any good anyway."
One final note, and then I will get off my soapbox, and again this is my opinion only. If we really think that for example, Sam McGuffie or Brendan Beal, will not go to Notre Dame based on one person's post or opinion about them, then we are giving ourselves way too much credit here. I follow recruiting because I find it to be an interesting puzzle that is fascinating to see where the pieces end up being placed. I also follow it only as it relates to the University of Notre Dame because I have a great fondness for the University, and I am eager for its' success. However, I would not even dream that anything I have to report or opine about would ever have a serious impact on whether a recruit decides to select or reject Notre Dame.
Let's not take ourselves too seriously here, because if we do, any enjoyment that derives from participation in this forum will quickly dissipate.
