Observer Article

[DillonHall]

Farmer: The view of these seniors from two years in the future (Nov. 18) - Irish Football - The Observer - University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College

Douglas Farmer: what an idiot.

 

[phork]

Maybe I missed the bad part? I certainly missed something. Oh you are referring to his use of the time machine.

 

[DillonHall]

Michael Floyd hasn't lived up to expectations according to the author. That's a great way to pay tribute to a record-setting senior.

 

[fitz_bu47]

I like it....Except the Floyd part, it hasn't been totally smooth, but he is going to hold most if not all of the receiving records and be a 1st round selection. I am sure he is just referring to the off the field stuff.

 

[DillonHall]

I like it....Except the Floyd part, it hasn't been totally smooth, but he is going to hold most if not all of the receiving records and be a 1st round selection. I am sure he is just referring to the off the field stuff.

Yeah, but on the eve of the final home game, why focus on the negatives instead of the positives?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I've read several articles similar to this one, and the spirit behind them is laudable. The departing seniors, part of the most heralded recruiting class in ND history, went through hell with this program and are largely responsible for its recent resurgence. Some thanks is surely in order.

Yes, the premise for the author's article is kinda stupid, but what do you expect? It's the Observer.

 

[Rack Em]

I'm gonna stick up for Doug on this one. I know him personally; and Wiskey, he's no douche. Rather than single out Floyd and praise him for his on-field performances, he took a different route. He thanked ALL the seniors that have been through hell. There were plenty of opportunities for this class to roll over and die, to quit, to turn their backs on each other and the coaching staff(s). They never did and consequently sent a message to the underclassmen about what it means to be a team and what it means to play for Notre Dame.

Excuse me for being pissed off, but Doug wrote an article about the TEAM, not just its individual components. This senior class is bigger than Michael Floyd. He's a great receiver and a great guy, don't get me wrong. Doug was just willing to say it.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I'm gonna stick up for Doug on this one. I know him personally; and Wiskey, he's no douche. Rather than single out Floyd and praise him for his on-field performances, he took a different route. He thanked ALL the seniors that have been through hell. There were plenty of opportunities for this class to roll over and die, to quit, to turn their backs on each other and the coaching staff(s). They never did and consequently sent a message to the underclassmen about what it means to be a team and what it means to play for Notre Dame.

Excuse me for being pissed off, but Doug wrote an article about the TEAM, not just its individual components. This senior class is bigger than Michael Floyd. He's a great receiver and a great guy, don't get me wrong. Doug was just willing to say it.

Didn't mean to give offense. Note that I defended the message of his article.

My only point was that the time-machine premise is kinda stupid, but such is to be expected from the Observer.

 

[Rack Em]

Didn't mean to give offense. Note that I defended the message of his article.

My only point was that the time-machine premise is kinda stupid, but such is to be expected from the Observer.

I complete understand your point. No worries bro.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Geez. Reading this thread before the article, I expected this to be a Floyd hatchet job. Instead, I thought it was a pretty well done piece that was not really about Floyd at all (his name only appears twice), but about the entire class. Sure, the time machine premise is a bit hokey, but the underlying sentiment is on the money.

 

[RDU Irish]

Calling for TJ and Reese to lead the way to and implied championship in 2013 is a bigger stretch than the time machine IMO.

 

[DillonHall]

Geez. Reading this thread before the article, I expected this to be a Floyd hatchet job. Instead, I thought it was a pretty well done piece that was not really about Floyd at all (his name only appears twice), but about the entire class. Sure, the time machine premise is a bit hokey, but the underlying sentiment is on the money.

I don't have a problem with the time machine premise; like Whiskey has said, it doesn't surprise me considering the source of the article. However, something about the article just seemed off. It initially appeared to be about the entire class, but then at the end he decided to randomly name certain players. And when he mentions Floyd, he made it sound like he had been a bust over the past four years (imagine what Floyd would think about the article). It was as if he was writing a high school freshman-year paper trying to prove a basic 'thesis,' and he conveniently left out that facts that didn't support his argument. I apologize that I personally attacked him in my first post of the thread. It's not personal, but I'm just upset about how the article is slanted so clearly in one direction (adversity, adversity, adversity) instead of giving a fuller, more accurate image of the class. Just because the class as a whole failed to live up to expectations does not mean that certain individuals (like Floyd) did not excel in the past four years.

Another big problem I had with the article is that he discounts what they've accomplished this year (we haven't been 7-3 at this point of the year since 2006)!!

And like others have mentioned, he has certain strange statements sprinkled throughout his article. It's like he took some media soundbites and tried to make himself seem knowledgeable about a subject that I would infer that he follows only casually. That's poor journalism, especially considering there are plenty of writers at the Observer who know the team well.