stlnd01
Was away. Now returned.
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I’d thought McKinley’s troubles were more disciplinary than academic?
Good news on Crawford. Him transferring would probably have been a bad outcome for all involved.
I’d thought McKinley’s troubles were more disciplinary than academic?
Good news on Crawford. Him transferring would probably have been a bad outcome for all involved.
IrishFanForever23
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They were more disciplinary, but Kelly was commenting from an overall perspective on him.
Veritate Duce Progredi
A man gotta have a code
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It's really good if Crawford is back. Now we need him back to 100% or as close as possible. We still need a nickel and we need to give Hamilton time to develop.
I wonder if Clemson games goes any different if Watkins hadn't transferred? Maybe not but experienced secondary players are always a plus.
I wonder if Clemson games goes any different if Watkins hadn't transferred? Maybe not but experienced secondary players are always a plus.
Not to derail the topic of discussion, but did you see Chip Long's game plan and the offensive performance? We could've had the 1970's Steel Curtain or the 2000 Raven's defense and we still would've lost.
I know I mentioned a while ago that Crawford can't be trusted to stay healthy, but if he can stay healthy it would mean a lot for this year's defense.
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The initial gameplan was fine, according people that are both smarter than me and watched the "all eleven" film. ND had a clear, effective plan for keeping the game close in the hopes of erasing Clemson's advantages.
The gameplan seemed designed to keep things pretty close to the vest, and rely on hitting on two or three big plays that they KNEW would be open. Book misread one, and got panicked into not throwing on two or three other plays. He had a wide-open TD to Boykin that he simply failed to pull the trigger on early in the game, for example.
And even then, a one-dimensional ND team would have kept it close, or at least closer than 30-3, but Julian Love going down killed all hope. Any offense was going to look inept against that Clemson pass rush in the late third and early fourth quarters.
I lost all hope when Chip Long decided to use his tight ends to block their d ends. But I'm confident that everyone learned from this experience.
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Yeah there's no excuse for that lol. They either had mixup in communications with players that were supposed to be pealing off/helping the TE's, or Clemson was using alignments that that ND wasn't prepared for.
If Ian can get a little bit better feel for when to hang in the pocket vs when to bail and freestyle, and if Long gets a better feel for the strengths and limitations of the unit, things should be nice.
stpeteirish
House Skeptic
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yes, the 4 game suspension seems to be what today's Kellyspeak meant. How many games did Austin get held out of at the end of last year?
GowerND11
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I like it. Seemed like a kid who knew the game when I watched him play. Thanks Chuck.
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ulukinatme
Carr for QB 2026!
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Interesting article, mostly about basketball, but is relevant to all sports and how youth today play far more games and practice more than previous generations did before they ever reach the pros. This single sport specialization has led to bodies breaking down sooner and more injuries, which made me think about the ACL issues and other injuries we were running into several years ago.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27125793/these-kids-ticking-bombs-threat-youth-basketball
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27125793/these-kids-ticking-bombs-threat-youth-basketball
stlnd01
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It’s crazy. I have a nine-year-old boy who’s locally pretty decent at soccer, and it would be VERY easy for him to play travel/club soccer six days a week and nothing else. Some of his friends already do, and you sometimes feel like if you want any shot at playing beyond high school (or, in some towns, even varsity high school), you kind of have to go that way already.
RDU Irish
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Travel teams are ruining youth sports. So mercenary and selfishly derived for both coaches and players. Never having an off season burns so many out mentally on top of the overuse problems. One thing for true talent but 95% of these kids aren't anything to write home about and would benefit from an actual childhood.
Lots of kids don't even play for their high schools - travel team won't allow it. Mostly due to the organizer wanting to influence college interest/exposure under the guise of "making sure they aren't coached wrong" of some crap. Really trying to control talent so they can sell it to the next batch (I got this kid a full ride at X). Kids never play for their community/school - often a different mercenary squad every season. Constantly working to make a "better" team - working so hard to be Peter Principle'd to the end of the bench.
Biggest joke to me is all the money spent in pursuit of a scholarship (most likely partial) - wtf you need a scholarship for, you spend $10k/year plus travel expenses to play volleyball? People act like the only way to go to college is as an athlete? And the folks that brag their kid "made a team" - wtf you mean your check didn't bounce? Yeah, real special kid there.
Lots of kids don't even play for their high schools - travel team won't allow it. Mostly due to the organizer wanting to influence college interest/exposure under the guise of "making sure they aren't coached wrong" of some crap. Really trying to control talent so they can sell it to the next batch (I got this kid a full ride at X). Kids never play for their community/school - often a different mercenary squad every season. Constantly working to make a "better" team - working so hard to be Peter Principle'd to the end of the bench.
Biggest joke to me is all the money spent in pursuit of a scholarship (most likely partial) - wtf you need a scholarship for, you spend $10k/year plus travel expenses to play volleyball? People act like the only way to go to college is as an athlete? And the folks that brag their kid "made a team" - wtf you mean your check didn't bounce? Yeah, real special kid there.
ACamp1900
Counting my ‘bet against ND’ winnings
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THIS
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There is not a single sport where the "club" or "travel" version has had a positive impact. It turned soccer into a pay-to-play sport excluding some of the best athletes. It turned baseball into a year round hellscape that destroys the joints of kids, the sanity of parents, and savings accounts of families. AAU? The most corrupt amateur sports league on the planet.
Club lacrosse is starting to get as bad as it gets. Coaches pressuring kids to specialize early so they can rake in fees all year long. Kids who do not have the talent to play in college being sold a bill of goods of everything a coach "can do for them." Parents with large bank accounts writing big checks to get their kid on a team when everyone knows he didn't earn it.
There are a lot of club coaches in all sports that do right by their kids, the problem is that the ones that are the worst influences also are the ones playing the politics game the right way to get the clout/influence/$$. I recently started coaching at a HS that is ranked regularly in the top 15 or top 25 in the country, and the change in "pressure" these kids get from all angles (parents, club coaches, peers, etc.) is completely different than what I saw in public school. To the credit of our HC, he is a really great guy that cares about the well being of his players above all else and does a great job steering them straight... but youth sports certainly has a dark side, and it;s almost entirely tied to $$.
fightingirish26
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There was one point where I was simultaneously on FIVE different baseball teams at the same time. I was playing year round, for about five/six years. By the time I turned sixteen I just quit, I couldn't even watch baseball anymore. Joy sucked out of it entirely.
While my personality clashed with some of the kids I played with (I'm a fairly reserved guy, as opposed to your typical macho baseball man), that really wasn't the problem, it was of course the parents. Too many nightmare stories to recount. I stopped playing due to sheer burn out by the time we made it to varsity high school ball and I imagine all the drama was just kicked up a notch at that point. Which is frankly terrifying given what I witnessed myself.
Made a promise to myself that I would never get into coaching if I ever have kids. Luckily, while I was a kid, I was left in the dark regarding a lot of the $$$ issues, but even I wasn't oblivious to all the grown ass men and women acting like total jackasses on the sidelines. I mean, we had fucking police showing up to games, parents yelling at other kids that they suck, and of course everyone thought their little angel was the next MLB superstar. A friend of mine, great kid, ended up transferring high schools three times chasing playing time. Ended up playing for Rider and had a good career for them. So did it work out? Maybe. But it was sad to see him continuously getting yanked around schools, it was all dad's idea of course. Another friend played for Lafayette and quit after a year. This is getting long winded but what a nightmare world youth sports can be.
While my personality clashed with some of the kids I played with (I'm a fairly reserved guy, as opposed to your typical macho baseball man), that really wasn't the problem, it was of course the parents. Too many nightmare stories to recount. I stopped playing due to sheer burn out by the time we made it to varsity high school ball and I imagine all the drama was just kicked up a notch at that point. Which is frankly terrifying given what I witnessed myself.
Made a promise to myself that I would never get into coaching if I ever have kids. Luckily, while I was a kid, I was left in the dark regarding a lot of the $$$ issues, but even I wasn't oblivious to all the grown ass men and women acting like total jackasses on the sidelines. I mean, we had fucking police showing up to games, parents yelling at other kids that they suck, and of course everyone thought their little angel was the next MLB superstar. A friend of mine, great kid, ended up transferring high schools three times chasing playing time. Ended up playing for Rider and had a good career for them. So did it work out? Maybe. But it was sad to see him continuously getting yanked around schools, it was all dad's idea of course. Another friend played for Lafayette and quit after a year. This is getting long winded but what a nightmare world youth sports can be.
Circa
Conspire to keep It real
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No. They're still in summer workouts. I'm sure we'll have BK's fall camp presser late July/early August and they'll be in Culver the first week of August.
They talked about this in a recent II podcast. I think it'll depend on how he looks at corner in camp and what the numbers are looking like. If he can't catch on at corner and the number at corner support a move, I could see him going to safety (which is what he was recruited to play).
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My little brother was a pretty good baseball player in the southeast (his mom moved away after she split with my dad), and this is basically his story.
He was on three different teams, I think, two of which had overlapping seasons. He was a really good pitcher, and all three teams wanted him to pitch, so two of the three had to communicate and organize a schedule as to when he would pitch for each of them, accounting for reasonable rest days.
The third team actually made it to the LLWS and played on ESPN a few times. He got to pitch on TV twice and everything. We thought he loved it and that he was destined for big things...
After their last game, he told his mom and my dad that he had no interest in baseball any more. Just wasn't fun.
He switched to club sports for all of high school lol. A really good decision for him personally, in terms of just having fun and living a normal high-school-kid life.
irishtrain
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You guys know I played a few years in the major league (American) and now that I'm retired from work (sales) I've gone back to a small amount of private lessons to give back to baseball and share and its fun for me-----travel ball is not good---- my opinion 99% of the time for all these reasons and more. If you can play they will find you and you don't have to pay someone to showcase you. P S my lesson fees are a joke and I'm not giving back to make a $$$ in case someone reads this and says well you get $$$ for the lessons. Travel ball in many cases is a way to take advantage of parents who think their kid can buy his way into notoriety. I'm pretty much against it. Its shame that the organized leagues of the past have been all but eliminated (American Legion, all Over 15 Connie Mack stuff and just plain summer ball in your hometown etc. You have to walk before you can run and sometimes winning takes a backseat to player development at younger ages. Plus the arm injuries to little guys who are pitchers only at 12-15-- the whole thing smells. Not to many ex pros are very positive about travel ball unless its the guy who runs it and is earning an income from it. Many times the guys running these things don't have the proper background[to even be doing it.
Some Irish Bloke
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https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...-will-wont-make-college-football-playoff-2019
Thought this was a pretty good preview/prediction for the Irish, accurately listing a key strengths and weaknesses. They predicted 10-2.
Largely agree with this, considering a favorable home schedule and three tough road contests. I could see 11-1, but have to imagine the "over" is the betting favorite with O/U set at 9.5 games.
He nailed the ST concerns that I've spoken too previously this offseason. I'm in the more optimistic camp when it comes to the middle of the defense. We have a lot of bodies to choose from, most of whom have experience and are upper-classmen, both at DT/NT and ILB. Will there be regression? Most likely, but I don't think it will be as bad as some think.
Thought this was a pretty good preview/prediction for the Irish, accurately listing a key strengths and weaknesses. They predicted 10-2.
Largely agree with this, considering a favorable home schedule and three tough road contests. I could see 11-1, but have to imagine the "over" is the betting favorite with O/U set at 9.5 games.
He nailed the ST concerns that I've spoken too previously this offseason. I'm in the more optimistic camp when it comes to the middle of the defense. We have a lot of bodies to choose from, most of whom have experience and are upper-classmen, both at DT/NT and ILB. Will there be regression? Most likely, but I don't think it will be as bad as some think.
RDU Irish
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I am cautiously optimistic we are re-loading, not re-building a lot of those positions. I have a hard time thinking of a time our across the board talent was this high. We aren't plugging frosh in out of necessity here.
Outside of Georgia we should have a clear talent advantage against the rest of the schedule. Give me a position group that clearly has two-deep that are not NFL caliber? Needing to prove themselves sure but what group is clearly a concern to be out-manned?
Through October our schedule shapes up as well as it has in quite some time. USC/UM back to back is tough but not with a bye week in between. Two patsies to warm up for UGA. UVA and Bowling Green before USC. UVA could play spoiler with us coming off of UGA. November is a grind but manageable if we can stomp VT and Duke to get fresh for a Navy/BC/Stanford meat-grinder finish.
I would trade a wtf loss to UVA for wins over UGA/UM/USC.
Hellllllll no. Notre Dame needs to beat the teams they’re supposed to. Notre Dame could get in the playoffs if they lose a game, but that loss has to come to UGA or UM.
Notre Dame has way too much talent and one of the best QBs in the country; a loss to anyone not named UGA or UM would be a huge head scratcher.