Compare college team to pro team

[CLEARWALL]

If any of you listen to ESPN radio(it really is tons better than the TV tripe), the Sports Bash did an interesting segment where they compared college teams to pro counterparts. The comparisons were very wide ranging, from things like similar histories to past successes to fan makeup. They only briefly mentioned Notre Dame when comparing USC to the Pats and it got me wondering who would ND compare to in the NFL.

I dont know if it's the fan in me(note the blue star under my name), but I really see similarity between the Irish and the Cowboys. Here are my main reasons:

1. Huge national followings. Everyone knows Dallas as "America's Team." Love em or not, I'm willing to bet someone in your neighborhood is a Cowboy fan. I read QnA's on the team's website and there are constantly fans in northern Cali, upstate PA, and Europe. The Irish, also have a well known and undisputed national following. Teams sell out stadiums that they wont the rest of the year just because ND is coming to town. Heck, when I went to the AF game last year, they didnt even include that game in the season ticket package or student lottery. You had to register for that game separately.

2. Success. No one has won more MNC's than ND and no one has won more Super Bowls than the Cowboys. Niners and Steelers are tied, but no one has more.

3. Media scrutiny. Tell me you didnt know who Tony Romo was a few days after his first start. After only playing in 10 games last year, he became an overnight celebrity in the offseason. Similarly, who in college football doesnt have some kind of opinion on Jimmy Clausen? Pressure is insane for both teams, and this is just one area of proof.

4. Coaching history. Knute Rockne build the Irish from the ground up. Tom Landry put the Cowboys on the map. Ara made the Irish a sexy media story, Jimmy Johnson coined "How bout them Cowboys?"

5. Television exposure. One of the main reasons other fans hate us is our deal with NBC. There is never a lacking of ND football weekends. If not on NBC, ESPN and ABC gobble up our dates becuase they know it will bring ratings. The Cowboys perennially have the late Thanksgiving game. Right after you finish your turkey dinner at 1-2 pm., the Boys are on in prime time. Also, this year, the Boys have been pegged for SIX primetime games, not counting the ones if they get flex scheduled.

6. Iconic stadiums. The House Rock Built and the Hole in the Roof. If you dont know who plays in either, youre a football ignoramus.

7. ND '66 defense and the Doomsday Defense.

Thoughts and insight are welcome. I could go on, but these are unmistakable similarities. You may not like the Cowboys, but I think youd be hard pressed to find a team taht more perfectly mimics ND.

 

[Timugen]

I'd say you're pretty spot-on with that comparison, as awkward as it is to try to compare a college team to an NFL team.

The one clarification I would make is that this is more of a comparison of the respective programs/organizations, not necessarily the teams. I'm not sure of ESPN's perspective in their comparisons, so I'm assuming it's along the same perspective you have taken.

When I initially read the question, however, my first take on it was comparing the actual teams, i.e. their current on-field players, offenses, defenses, performances, etc.

But again, in the context you have taken it, I agree 100%

 

[CLEARWALL]

Well, when they did it, it was really more the franchises. Fan bases being similar(they compared the living in the past mentality of the Raiders and Princeton), cycles of success(USC used to stink then became the best team ever, ever. Compared to the Pats who have done the same).

I was trying to think who else you could make the comparison to, but none of em come close to Dallas. I think Green Bay or Pittsburgh was teh closest. Both those teams are cold weather teams like ours, both have lenghty histories that are similar, but I think the way Pitt has won isnt a match for ND. When you think of Pittsburgh, it's smashmouth blue collar football and ND has had pretty amazing skill players. The Pack doesnt remotely have the following or the exposure ND has. Seriously, though, if anyone wants to propose another team, have at it. Id be interested to see your comparisons.

 

[portlaNDgal]

No, no, no, ND can't be anything like the Cowboys, because I love ND and do not like the Cowboys.

 

[GreenNGold]

I see University of Miami and the Dallas Cowboys as a more viable comparison.

Steelers - ND are more similar to each other than Cowboys - ND.

 

[CLEARWALL]

Ok, give me your reasons. And Portla, im sorry you dont like the Cowboys, but the comparisons are still valid. If we were doign this for baseball, we'd have to link to the Yankees and I hate them with a passion too. Doesnt make it any less true.

 

[GreenNGold]

Ok, give me your reasons.

1. Coaches from both teams have extended tenures, traditionally.

2. Both teams have large, dedicated fan bases.

3. Both team's fans travel very well.

4. Championships.

5.Traditionally, players on both teams have really LOVED the game of football, and have not had much off the field trouble. Can you say the same for the Cowboys?

6. Both teams had players that defined their eras.

7. Both teams play in blue-collar, cold cities.

8. Both teams are never down for long.

Those are right off the top of my head.

 

[GreenNGold]

When you think of Pittsburgh, it's smashmouth blue collar football and ND has had pretty amazing skill players.

Pittsburgh has had some amazing skill players as well.

The 70's team had Lynn Swann, Stallworth, Franco Harris, and Terry Bradshaw.

 

[Newc]

The Packers are the NFL version of ND. Long storied franchise who really made the nation fall in love with football. Lombardi is the Knute Rockne as he is revered as a coach and loved as a man. Long standing tradition of having incredibly loyal fans...I remember hearing on CNBC once that if you were to enter your name to the season tickets list that the expected wait was something like 130 years. Though the Pack may not elicit the hatred and jelousy like ND does, they are a respectable, storied program with their fair share of good and bad times.

By the way, we can't be the Cowboys, our players don't get caught in hotel rooms with enough coke to kill a horse and hookers.

 

[CLEARWALL]

Your arguments are pretty subjective and broad, I think. I mean, every team everywhere has dedicated fan bases(outside of the Marlins). How do you define "defining an era?" Do you mean teams and players perennially mimicked that team's model, because again, any team that has success has that happen to them as well. Likewise, pretty much every team has players that love football. The only real qualified argument I can see is the skill player one, which even that I contend. That's only one decade of skill players. Dallas has had Roger Staubach, Don Meredith, and Tony Dorsett in the 70's/80's and Aikman, Emmitt, and Irvin in the 90's. Once again, you can take a small sample size and apply that argument to any team, but both Dallas and ND have had consistent big time skill players.

 

[CLEARWALL]

The Packers are the NFL version of ND. Long storied franchise who really made the nation fall in love with football. Lombardi is the Knute Rockne as he is revered as a coach and loved as a man. Long standing tradition of having incredibly loyal fans...I remember hearing on CNBC once that if you were to enter your name to the season tickets list that the expected wait was something like 130 years. Though the Pack may not elicit the hatred and jelousy like ND does, they are a respectable, storied program with their fair share of good and bad times.

By the way, we can't be the Cowboys, our players don't get caught in hotel rooms with enough coke to kill a horse and hookers.

You posted this message as I was responding to the Steelers one. I thought about the Pack too, but dismissed it because there wasnt as many easy associations. I agree totally with you, though, but I still say Dallas is MORE like ND because of the reasons I provided. GB is a big name franchise, but theyre really a regional team only. I dont see much fan support outside Wisconsin. Plus, on the coaching argument, you can only really list one great packers coach. ND has at least 5(Rockne, Leahy, Ara, Devine, Holtz). Anyway, I dont contend many of your points, but it's still fewer similarities than I can come up with.