Believe it or not...

[HereComeTheIrish]

The sun did in fact come up today. The birds chirped, the coffee brewed and my a-hole neighbor was up at 7:30 cutting his grass in his wife beater and his 1970's Converse all-star high tops.

I know that Notre Dame nation is upset, disappointed, confused, frustrated and numb to the events of the past eight days, but today is another day.

Don't give up on these men who proudly throw on the Blue and Gold every saturday in the fall and represent you, me and Our Lady perched on Thee Dome with dignity and respect. They'll learn from these shortcomings and it will make them a better and tighter bunch. Believe it. The last thing they need now are people jumping ship on them. As another poster stated in another thread...ND is so close to being something special. It's one thing to embrace them when they're winning. Anyone can do that....that's the easy part. It's quite another to be able to embrace and support them when they're down and right now, they're likely as low as they've ever been.

Stay the course gentlemen. We Are N.D.

-HCTI

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Well Said HCTI.

And my my a-hole neighbor must be related to your my a-hole neighbor.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Stay the course gentlemen.

Yep. The course is just a bit longer than we thought it would be.

 

[Grahambo]

Hard to get upset at anyone today to be honest. I bleed ND so jumping ship is out of the question.

 

[rtrn2glory]

i would hesitate to say that they throw on the blue and gold proudly...their effort does not correlate with pride and i'm talking about the coaches and players.

time for all involved to start taking the ownership that is required to make this program great again and that committment is not at 100% right now.

 

[RyCo1983]

Sorry I woke you up this morning man.


Well said!

 

[IrishInFl]

Believe it or not...

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yg-TqEFYcfM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[pkt77242]

Believe it or not...

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yg-TqEFYcfM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

^Reps

 

[IrishJayhawk]

i would hesitate to say that they throw on the blue and gold proudly...their effort does not correlate with pride and i'm talking about the coaches and players.

time for all involved to start taking the ownership that is required to make this program great again and that committment is not at 100% right now.

And THAT'S where you lose me.

I think they are 100% committed, giving 100% effort, and just making mistakes. In fact, in some cases, if they relaxed, stopped trying so hard, and let the game come to them, the mistakes would go away.

Losing often looks like a lack of effort. It's easy and oddly satisfying as a fan to say we just aren't trying hard enough. Show me an example of a player not trying hard enough. I can't think of one. I can only think of problems with execution. Not catching Denard is not a lack of effort...it's typical.

I just don't believe that pride or effort is the "it."

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Effort is there. Execution and losing focus in key situations is the issue. They are trying to hard not trusting their instincts and coaching.

 

[rtrn2glory]

both of you guys are entitled to your opinion, and i know you're both good fans but i disagree...mental mistakes from your upper classmen/experienced veterans is an example of a lack of committment or as someone else put it a while back "attention to detail" why are our defensive backs covering a 15-20 yard curl instead of a guy wide open on the sideline with 20 seconds left 80 yards from the endzone and probably 55-60 yards from field goal range.

we are not committed to upholding the tradition at that's it, again my opinion.

 

[meowmix]

I don't think it's lack of effort. I think it's an overblown sense of self-worth. Gary Gray thinks he can make sure the receiver can't pull the ball in even if he isn't looking at the ball (he is excellent at staying on his man though). Harrison was praised so much after Jacory thought he was on his team, that he thought he could relax as a safety. As for Ben Turk and other players like Deion Walker, Branden Walker, it is purely a lack of effort. Every once in a while, Ben Turk will accidentally punt well and we see his potential. The next punt, it goes for 20 yards. Deion was a highly-touted recruit who doesn't even come close to seeing the field. And Branden Walker is a throwback obviously, but there's no player I have hated so much. I despise when kickers and punters, players with no other responsibilities, players who do nothing else in practice, cannot carry out their jobs.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

As for Ben Turk and other players like Deion Walker, Branden Walker, it is purely a lack of effort. Every once in a while, Ben Turk will accidentally punt well and we see his potential.

You're right. These guys didn't seem to reach their potential.

But, there's not a shread of evidence that we have as fans that allows us to call a guy out for being lazy. Maybe Ben Turk is the first guy to practice every day and the last one to leave. He's strong as heck and we know he's a gym rat. Maybe he watches film like a crazy person. Maybe Maybe he does everything he can to get better. Maybe, just maybe, he just clutches up on a big stage. That makes him a mediocre collegiate punter (at present), not a lazy bum.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

both of you guys are entitled to your opinion, and i know you're both good fans but i disagree...mental mistakes from your upper classmen/experienced veterans is an example of a lack of committment or as someone else put it a while back "attention to detail" why are our defensive backs covering a 15-20 yard curl instead of a guy wide open on the sideline with 20 seconds left 80 yards from the endzone and probably 55-60 yards from field goal range.

we are not committed to upholding the tradition at that's it, again my opinion.

I dont think we are to far off in our opinions. I definitly agree with the highlight above.

I find the personal fouls from the upper classman in-excusable:
Harrison Smith - 2 against USF
Ethan Johnson - 1 against USF
KLM - 1 against UM
Gary Gray - 1 against USF
Trevor Robinson (Not 100% sure) - 1 against UM

 

[rtrn2glory]

he saved his butt with that last punt last night, but then the coverage screwed him...not that our defense would have stopped them at that point anyway, but atleast they would have had to drive 70 yards plus

 

[rtrn2glory]

I dont think we are to far off in our opinions. I definitly agree with the highlight above.

I find the personal fouls from the upper classman in-excusable:

Harrison Smith - 2 against USF

Ethan Johnson - 1 against USF

KLM - 1 against UM

Gary Gray - 1 against USF

Trevor Robinson (Not 100% sure) - 1 against UM

let's agree to disagree my brother...my fights not with you, i'm still in the blowing off steam process, it has been a loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg past 20 hours and it hurts just as bad as it did last night.

 

[meowmix]

A mediocre punter consistently kicks around 40 yards and can't pin the opposing team within the 20. A horrible punter (Ben Turk) kicks 20-30 yard punts 90% of the time and once in a while unleashes a nice one just to **** off the fans. I'm eagerly anticipating the day Turk manages to punt backwards. And you'd think if had a problem with clutching up on the big stage, Kelly would have replaced him a while ago. It's not like he just started sucking.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

A mediocre punter consistently kicks around 40 yards and can't pin the opposing team within the 20. A horrible punter (Ben Turk) kicks 20-30 yard punts 90% of the time and once in a while unleashes a nice one just to **** off the fans. I'm eagerly anticipating the day Turk manages to punt backwards. And you'd think if had a problem with clutching up on the big stage, Kelly would have replaced him a while ago. It's not like he just started sucking.

My argument is not with his performance.

I simply think it's dangerous to call a kid lazy. We don't have that information.

Actually, I would think that if Kelly believed that he was lazy, he would have replaced him way more quickly than if he's trying to get him more comfortable in a game situation.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

let's agree to disagree my brother...my fights not with you, i'm still in the blowing off steam process, it has been a loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg past 20 hours and it hurts just as bad as it did last night.

Keep the faith, my friend.

 

[rtrn2glory]

My argument is not with his performance.

I simply think it's dangerous to call a kid lazy. We don't have that information.

Actually, I would think that if Kelly believed that he was lazy, he would have replaced him way more quickly than if he's trying to get him more comfortable in a game situation.

i think you're saying this the right way...i'm sure he wants to do well, but mentally he is just not capable of doing it.

and buddy i'm TRYING to hang in there i am...will always keep the faith even if they continue to hurt me.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

i think you're saying this the right way...i'm sure he wants to do well, but mentally he is just not capable of doing it.

and buddy i'm TRYING to hang in there i am...will always keep the faith even if they continue to hurt me.

Doesn't mean he won't put it together. He just hasn't yet.

I'm with you...just trying to stay sane.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Doesn't mean he won't put it together. He just hasn't yet.

I'm with you...just trying to stay sane.

i hope you're right and he proves me wrong, but at the same time i hope we don't have to use him a ton to find out

 

[BeauBenken]

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Image of American hero

 

[UPMich_NDfan]

I realized one thing walking out, looking at the pain on fellow ND fans faces, watching all the skunk bears celebrate like lunatics(rightfully so)....still frickin glad I'm Irish and not on the other side, even last night. like others have said to much invested to just bail. My wife immediately had a quote ready for me this am when I called (she is a teacher also)..."when your kids least deserve the love is when they need it the most" I liked that one.

 

[irishff1014]

I was not one bit upset this morning. I knew today had more meaning then any football game could ever mean. I know people get tired of seeing this every year on 9-11 however i dont. This day 10 years ago brought this nation closer then it had ever been in my lifetime. No matter what stupid politics happen in this county I am Proud to be an American.