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[PaperBoy]

Still without a coach in place, Notre Dame takes on Oregon State in the Insight Bowl in a rematch of the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.

http://topix.net/r/0a0H2TVFa7i=2FqwY3EVp2lj0gZ5ALUP9fyCDjhoZTmOoKcHviQXmBQ=2BDBa8NjXsb5LEuRIX1OdC5V7ePi1eySQ4hcEfnOwu5GdIo=2BEVVWgV5s=3D

 

[jiggafini19]

No Shelton, no Stovall, no Tuck = no good.

Their pass offense vs. the ND pass defense should be like throwing gasoline on a fire. I predict a blowout loss for the Irish tonight. Usher in the Weis Era, please.

 

[bmf175]

Yeah I think it will be a great challenge for ND tonight. Lousy secondary and no justin Tuck to apply the pressure to their QB. I would say that bombs are going to be dropping over the secondary.
Our only chance is if the Offense realy does SHOW UP tonight and then it can be a high scoring game. And most of ND points have to be on the ground seeing as how OSU secondary will overwhelm our receivers.
But im going to the sports bar to cheer them on anyways. GO ND!!!!

 

[irishtexan]

so far it looks like a spiritless team is in those gold helmets. they are playing like shit. worse than shit. this sums the season up. im tired of hearing about the emotion factor too by the commentators. notre dame could at least show a little f***ing heart out on the field.

 

[seIRISH]

I am changing my name to rudy irish.I just wanted to let you all know this so next season when I am starting for the irish at DB you will know who I really am. I think I am qualified since I am 5'10" and can't jump.Oh yeah I forgot my 6.0 40 time.I should be one of the fastest.I am going to click my shoes together and say there was no coach like Holtz.............

 

[bmf175]

Amen...No Coach like Holtz!!!

Wow what a disapointment silly me I actually thought they had a chance to come back tonight. iM SO DISAPOINTED.

And you know what? F*#* that ESPN announcer M.M. (the black one at half time show) that piece of s*#t can go to Hell. Always talking bad about ND he needs to be more professional and impartial, he has always had nothing but bad things to say. If I wanted his opinion I would scrape it off the head of ABC's zipper.

You can obviously tell that this team still has the Ty Losingham mantality. Once Weis works some actual motivation into the team it will only get better.

 

[irishtexan]

yeah that guy is a douchebag. he has been all over notre dame because they fired willingham. his quote was "all of notre dames coaches got 5 years, but the only black coach they ever had gets 3, thats the how notre dame is now" F*** THAT A**HOLE! its people like him who drag the whole race card thing out and cant accept that ty was not a good fit for the irish, i cant wait until the huskies go 2-9 or 1-9 again next year so all the bastards at espn will shut there mouth. but then again, im sure they will come up with excuses and make it ok why ty is losing there.

 

[Aerosmith777]

Oh absolutely. Willingham can go 2-22 over his first 2 seasons at washington & no one will say anything. He's like the goose that laid the golden egg for ESPN, as long as they spin him to be this great coach then they can keep ripping on Notre Dame for firing him & getting ratings.

 

[NDLyght37]

Damn...haters still in the house.

Let's get a few things straight gentlemen:
1. ND just got beat, straight up. I don't even know if the kids wanted to be there, the passion wasn't there. Oregon State was really fired up, and they put it on us.

2. Mark May is a very good announcer. But he's also a commentator. Guess what that means...he gives comments, analysis, and opinions on the games that he watches. Dude's just doing his job.

3. Who here actually thinks Willingham will go 2-22 in Washington? That's ridiculous thinking. Easier schedule + better talent = a decent record almost every year. Expect him to have around the same type of results that he had at Stanford...maybe better, since now he has more name recognition.

 

[seIRISH]

Damn...haters still in the house.

Let's get a few things straight gentlemen:
1. ND just got beat, straight up. I don't even know if the kids wanted to be there, the passion wasn't there. Oregon State was really fired up, and they put it on us.

2. Mark May is a very good announcer. But he's also a commentator. Guess what that means...he gives comments, analysis, and opinions on the games that he watches. Dude's just doing his job.

3. Who here actually thinks Willingham will go 2-22 in Washington? That's ridiculous thinking. Easier schedule + better talent = a decent record almost every year. Expect him to have around the same type of results that he had at Stanford...maybe better, since now he has more name recognition.

1.Yes we know they got beat up.The passion wasn't there.That sounds like the last two years.You can't tell me you have seen the irish with any real passion in the last two years.I don't no what level if any you played football but it is all about passion and being nasty.You do get that from your coach and ty just wasn't that type of guy.I have nothing against the guy other then he was not the right fit for ND.You have said they were improving but I dont think we had the next 6 years for him to get to 8-3 again.
2.Mark May does bash ND.He goes out of his way to talk about how silly they look and how they didn't get their guy.They dont have the talent and weis can not change that.Plenty of other colleges have fired after 3 years but they don't keep beating a dead horse(look at the back page of ESPN the mag.)It's the popular thing to do and it gets viewers on both sides of the fence to watch.This doesn't mean it's right and he is just doing his job.
3. I totally agree with you about him doing good at Washington.He doesn't have the same pressure there and he will get them to be a respectable pac-10 team.But not a champion. :banghead2

 

[NDLyght37]

Good points, "rudy"...

1. I played HS football & played one season of football in college, so I know you have to be passionate to play the game. But while the coaching staff needs to provide a big part of that, if the guys don't really want to play, even Knute couldn't get them hyped. They just looked like they wanted the game to be over before it started. Also, I don't think you get the nastiness from your head coach. All my head coaches were Tom landy types...but the assistant coaches are the guys who brought the fire & the attitude. You need that balance, I think. And we all agree that one of Ty's biggest faults was his coaching staff.

2.As a guy that has worked with ESPN/ABC on some college football & basketball broadcasts, I can tell you that the Gameday guys (including Albert, May, Tirico, etc.), are generally good at what they do. The bottom line is that there are certain programs that are always in "hunting season". Penn State, Notre Dame, and most recently, Ohio State. These are schools that will always get praised to much & bashed too much. And while I think the Willingham issue needs to die down, if you're going to bring it up, a Notre dame game is an appropriate place for it.

3. I don't think Willingham can win a National Title at Washington. The pac-10 is very top-heavy (and I think USC will win at least 2 titles in the near future). But I do think Ty can field a bowl eligible, 6-7 win team almost every year there (and that's great improvement for Washington).

 

[seIRISH]

Good points, "rudy"...

1. I played HS football & played one season of football in college, so I know you have to be passionate to play the game. But while the coaching staff needs to provide a big part of that, if the guys don't really want to play, even Knute couldn't get them hyped. They just looked like they wanted the game to be over before it started. Also, I don't think you get the nastiness from your head coach. All my head coaches were Tom landy types...but the assistant coaches are the guys who brought the fire & the attitude. You need that balance, I think. And we all agree that one of Ty's biggest faults was his coaching staff.

2.As a guy that has worked with ESPN/ABC on some college football & basketball broadcasts, I can tell you that the Gameday guys (including Albert, May, Tirico, etc.), are generally good at what they do. The bottom line is that there are certain programs that are always in "hunting season". Penn State, Notre Dame, and most recently, Ohio State. These are schools that will always get praised to much & bashed too much. And while I think the Willingham issue needs to die down, if you're going to bring it up, a Notre dame game is an appropriate place for it.

3. I don't think Willingham can win a National Title at Washington. The pac-10 is very top-heavy (and I think USC will win at least 2 titles in the near future). But I do think Ty can field a bowl eligible, 6-7 win team almost every year there (and that's great improvement for Washington).

That all falls on the head coach that why he is the head coach.Those assisants would not be laying down the fire if it wasn't coming from the head coach.Good points though.One question though if by some act of God they do good next year how much is put on ty.I think he will get a lot more credit then Davie got when Ty went 8-0. :swordfigh

 

[NDLyght37]

True, but I think a good coach also knows that if he can't be firey, then you hire someone who can. I'm sure Landry or Coach K (or any other "quiet coach") has a guy on their staff who is there to get the guys inspired.

If we do good next year...say 9-3/10-2, I think Ty will get some credit for Walker & Brady (since he kind of "discovered" them). But I think Wies will get proper credit for turning them around.

 

[bmf175]

To say that Mark May is "only doing his job" is crazy and stupid(at the same time) Mark May goes out of his way to report his personal feelings on air. Now as far as I am aware, the press is supposed to report the News! Not try and make News out of nothing. Espn has done exactly that by allowing Mark May to voice his persoanl opinions on air.

Now I personally do not care what he thinks off the air. If he wants to be a ND hater I dont care. But going out of his way to report hateful "News" on the air, is not what a professional sportscaster does. I think its great when a sportscaster goes crazy and cheers on his favorite team even against the odds.(Ismail picked ND over USC). But there comes a time when people are not annoncing their cheers for their favorite team, and they start announcing hateful personal statements against a team. Which than becomes ugly.

That is just unprofessional and makes a mark on ESPN and everyone that works for them.
Mark May insists that "ND did not get their Man" or "so-and-so turned down ND" When Kevin White said repeatedly that NOBODY was offered the job except Weis. I think if anybody knows who was offered the job it is the schools AD. That is just an example of ESPN being biased and partial against ND.
Now the guy sitting to the right of MArk may during the half time show, he was actually professional, he did not say personal comments against ND but he did say what he thought needed to be improoved. And even when Mar may was ranting and raving about his invalid arguments. That guy to his right looked at him like he was an idiot. So the guy to the right is actually good, because he stated his opinion in a impartial, professional way.

 

[irishtexan]

you took the words right out of my mouth. the guy on the right is trev alberts, he played linebacker at nebraska in the early 90's. alberts is famous for voicing his opinions also, but he keeps it at a professional level. i actually didint mind mark may until these last couple of weeks when he declared war on the irish and tried to drop 'shock and awe' on the university. i can handle wilbon doing it now, because he brings up valid points sometimes, but mark may? who is this freakin' guy? and i still dont understand where espn gets there information from. they practically said every coach was offered the nd job, but it wasnt true. why be a sports reporting news station when all you report is rumors? dan rather will come out of retirement to work for espn probably.

 

[irishtexan]

Joe (San Jose, CA): Speaking of Texas, I read somewhere that there RB coach was moving on to Notre Dame. If this is true, how will it effect both school's recruitingwise?
Tom Lemming: Yes, it is true. Mike Haywood will be coming to ND as O-Coordinator. It will greatly enhance the Irish's chances of recruitng blue-chippers, but Texas has such a great overall recruiting staff, it's a blow that Mack Brown can easily absorb.




did anyone else hear this? i got it off another website, so i am wondering if its true.

 

[NDLyght37]

We'll just have to agree to disagree on ESPN. As a part-time sports journalist, I have a lot of respect for the Gameday crew. their not Sportscenter anchors...they're not reporting stories in which you have to be neutral. Thay are announcers, commentators, and critics. They are hired to give thier opinions. Did it upset you when they spent weeks bashing Penn State & Joe Paterno? or does it annoy you that they will be ragging on Ohio State for the next few weeks? Just because they are bashing ND (during a ND boradcast...so there was some relevance), it doesn't make them bad at what they do. they're hired to do a job, and I think they do it pretty well. If you don't like them, you can always watch Fox Sports.

 

[seIRISH]

We'll just have to agree to disagree on ESPN. As a part-time sports journalist, I have a lot of respect for the Gameday crew. their not Sportscenter anchors...they're not reporting stories in which you have to be neutral. Thay are announcers, commentators, and critics. They are hired to give thier opinions. Did it upset you when they spent weeks bashing Penn State & Joe Paterno? or does it annoy you that they will be ragging on Ohio State for the next few weeks? Just because they are bashing ND (during a ND boradcast...so there was some relevance), it doesn't make them bad at what they do. they're hired to do a job, and I think they do it pretty well. If you don't like them, you can always watch Fox Sports.

The point here is I think everyone can take the bashing on game day!I got up at 7:30 every saturday to watch it. But when it is every day since Ty got fired there is somthing wrong.When Mark May does a special report on ND every night it gets old.Their is not a coach at LSU and some people have said no.I dont see that in the corner of ESPN breaking news.Point being it is just the news and society in general.You don't just report news any more you have to give your opinion on it.Their are whole news networks dedicated to one mans opinion.Which like it or not sway the opinion of the masses(see presidential elections)Sorry forgot I was on an ND board.Mark MAY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bmf175]

We'll just have to agree to disagree on ESPN. As a part-time sports journalist, I have a lot of respect for the Gameday crew. their not Sportscenter anchors...they're not reporting stories in which you have to be neutral. Thay are announcers, commentators, and critics. They are hired to give thier opinions. Did it upset you when they spent weeks bashing Penn State & Joe Paterno? or does it annoy you that they will be ragging on Ohio State for the next few weeks? Just because they are bashing ND (during a ND boradcast...so there was some relevance), it doesn't make them bad at what they do. they're hired to do a job, and I think they do it pretty well. If you don't like them, you can always watch Fox Sports.

I can see your point, but how is that you can defend your part time co-workers? (1) You've read the facts and there is no way that somebody can say ND was better off with Willingham especially after Weis was hired. And thats only one of the issues they are reporting that is bogus (2) there is a difference between making a comment and slander/personal attack. (3) Mark MAys comments are not constructive, not educational, and have no validity. therefore they make himself and ESPN look like dumb f*** a**holes.

I dont understand how somebody can say they are a ND fan but still back these jack asses.

And I would rather watch fox news are just get my news from this website than support those unprofessional "commentators" at espn.

Yet another issue we will have to agree to disagree.*



*even tough I know I am right

 

[NDLyght37]

I can see your point, but how is that you can defend your part time co-workers? (1) You've read the facts and there is no way that somebody can say ND was better off with Willingham especially after Weis was hired. And thats only one of the issues they are reporting that is bogus (2) there is a difference between making a comment and slander/personal attack. (3) Mark Mays comments are not constructive, not educational, and have no validity. therefore they make himself and ESPN look like dumb f*** a**holes.

I dont understand how somebody can say they are a ND fan but still back these jack asses.

And I would rather watch fox news are just get my news from this website than support those unprofessional "commentators" at espn.

1. Better off as opposed to what? I happen to think Ty was a fine coach so "better off" is a relative term. I think Weis will take the program to the next level & build upon what Ty established, but just because we'll see improvement, it doesn't mean that Willingham couldn't coach.

2. May, Alberts, Tirico, etc...those guys have never made "personal attacks". They've been very critical of Notre Dame...but that's their job.

3. Again, we may not like May's comments, but he certainly has the right to say them. The thing most of you guys should be asking is, "where is ND's representation?". Don't get mad because sports commentators bash ND, get mad because apparently noone--either in the administration or a former player--has the balls to go on TV and give the other side of the story.

But again, we'll agree to disagree. Like I said, I've worked 1 or 2 games with the Gameday team (a UVA/Maryland game & a Va Tech game). Those guys are class acts, and just because we disagree with what they say, it doesn't mean they "suck" at what they do. Hell, they're at ESPN, which means someone thinks they're pretty damn good at their job.

Cool, our first argument of '05.

 

[NDLyght37]

Guess what, ESPN's Kirk Herbstriet has been getting death threats from Ohio State fans because of the scandal that's going on. ND fans might hate ESPN right now, but I doubt any of us are going to be sending the Gameday crew death threats...bmf175 put that pen down!

 

[irishgo8]

well OSU should be put under probation...I dont care what any1 says but this is just getting worse and worse