We're in the movies ?

More predictable grasping for straws ranting, the latest claim to fame as to why ND is superior goes like this: " see Rudy, a story about ND kid who made good and dreamed about playing at ND, what a great story....also saw Knute Rocke, story of a coaching legend who made history in college football....what legends ND has produced"

Jack the Ripper , the Boston Strangler, Charlie Manson and not to mention the Hunchback of Notre Dame (hung out in a french church bell tower) all had movies too. Maybe they were all misunderstood football players at heart ? No G2 could actually envision the Hunchback on a 4th and 1 play. They were all legends. Check out the "good behavior " links in the entry below for more legends that ND has produced - some still walking the streets.

Academic Football Redeaux - please be good

YIKES !

U Can't Fix Stupid Bowl

If team "intelligence" as measured by the NCAA graduation success rate (GSR) has any relevance to winning as repeatedly touted by the Domers , then the "smarter" teams in BOLD below will win their bowl games -so just for fun stay tuned:

Texas Tech wins over Minnesota Dec. 29 Insight Bowl
Navy loses over Boston College Dec. 30 Meineke Car Care Bowl
Iowa loses over Texas Dec. 30 Alamo Bowl
Va Tech loses over Georgia Dec. 30 Chick-Fil-A Bowl
Miami wins over Nevada Dec. 30 MPC Computers Bowl
Nebraska loses over Auburn Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl
Penn St wins over Tennessee Jan. 1 Outback Bowl
Wisconsin wins over Arkansas Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl
West Va wins over GA Tech Jan. 1 Gator Bowl
Michigan loses over USC Jan. 1 Rose Bowl
Boise State wins over Oklahoma Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl
Wake Forest loses over Louisville Jan. 2 Orange Bowl
Notre Dame loses big time over LSU Jan. 3 Sugar Bowl
Florida wins over Ohio State Jan. 8 Tostidos BCS Championship

Results: the smarter team won 50% of the games. Half of the time the stupid team wins.

How 'bout some cheese with that Whine ?

Domers Top 10 Excuses for Losing

1) opponents are not well behaved
2) opponents are dumb
3) game was during final exams
4) opponents were ranked
5) opponents drink and raise hell
6) opponents are thugs
7) poor officiating
8) we had injuries
9) if we played them again, we would win
10) opponents won't graduate

Academic Football Redeaux - please be good

No G2 explained back in August that the Domer whining would revert to academics when it became obvious that they were overrated and had not quite performed to expectations. It gets worse -now it's academics and good behavior - the predictable script occurred - a recent quote:

"Good news for ND and Rutgers, they beat Tenn in the Final BCS ratings....so it shows that academics, good behavior and good football do go together."

A couple of links on good behavior:

http://www.geocities.com/notredamebadboys/

http://www.nd.edu/~observer/01192000/News/0.html

http://www.nd.edu/~observer/02012001/News/8.html

http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/siebsp97.html

http://www.nd.edu/~ndspd/ndspcib.html

http://www.nd.edu/~ndspd/blotter/blotter.HTM

http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/su2003/salveson.html

The Domers behave no better or worse than most students/fans and all of the teams ranked ahead of ND in the pre-Bowl BCS ( not final) rankings have a lower GSR % = dumber.

The reader can decide if academics and good behavior have anything to do with good football.

Who's your Daddy ?

USC beats ND like a red headed step baby .

44 to 24 is not just a win , it is a statement. After weeks of beating the service academies and a host of unranked teams, the Domers had to play real football and were not quite up to the task.
This is 7 wins in a row for USC vs consistently overrated ND. By virtue of 2 losses , both to the ranked teams that they played , ND will play in a BCS Bowl but thier opponent won't be the Coast Guard Academy and they will have to play real football again. Their record is 0 wins and 8 losses
in Bowl games since 1993. Boring.

Wolverines DRYHUMP ND

Resisting the urge to say "I told you so", the overrated french played to their true abilities
and got their butts handed to them.

Highlights of the 47 - 21 Michigan romp:


http://www.mgoblue.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=22047

Win Quality Index (WQI)

Since ND plays the 2nd lowest ranked schedule of the top 25 teams, an index that measures win
quality might be helpful in defining reality.

Assume a #1 team plays a #2 team and the point spread is -3 and the #1 team wins 13 to 7

WQI = (2nd rank - 1st rank) + (penalty if spread is not covered or - minus the difference if spread is covered)
( 2 -1 = 1 ) + (4-3 = 1) = WQI of 2

The lower the WQI , the higher quality the win.

ND was ranked 2nd
Ga Tech was ranked 35th
the point spread was ND -6.5
the score was ND 14, Ga Tech 10

(35-2 = 33) + (4 -6.5 = -2.5 did not cover = +2.5) = WQI of 35 .5

This index rewards teams that play higher ranked teams and cover the point spread

Touchdown Jesus ?

High on the predictable list of ND ranting is the overwhelmingly false claim that the institution somehow produces better behaved citizens.

Where to begin ?

How about we start with the Trail of Death in 1838 when the Potawatomi tribe was forced from their land resulting in the deaths of women and children ? No proud history in that title search.

A casual search of current public records will reveal: pedophiles, rapists, drug dealers, wife beating, embezzlement, athletic sex/payment scams, an entire list of scurrilous activities that would embarrass a Barbary Pirate.

The facts and logic indicate that the ND community is no better or worse than the cross section of the general population which they represent

Maybe Jesus isn't signaling a touchdown from his stained glass viewpoint (another inappropriate, smug reference by irreverent Domers) but more likely raising his arms in disbelief at the behavior before him ?

Academic Football

During the annual fall ranting process about ND football superiority, and when overwhelmed by facts to the contrary, Domers will revert to a discussion of academic ratings. (there is a predictable script)

Public information which indicates some level of team intelligence is the Football Graduation Success Rate (GSR) provided by the NCAA.

The GSR for the 2005 BCS Top 10:

1) USC 55%
2) Texas 40%
3) Penn St 84%
4) Ohio St 54%
5) Oregon 63%
6) ND 96%
7) GA 45%
8) Miami 67%
9) Auburn 59%
10) Va Tech 72%

While ND has achieved a suspiciously admirable GSR, it does not appear that it has any relevance to team rankings. Looks like the "dumber" team was delivering the instruction at last year's Fiesta Bowl.

Ten Year Old french Poodle

A Notre Dame fan is sitting in a sports bar with his minature french poodle watching a ND football game on TV. Everytime ND scores a field goal , the poodle stands on his hind legs and barks 3 times. The bartender is amused by ths trick. When ND scores a touchdown and extra point, the poodle spins around 7 times while barking and now has the entire bar crowd's attention. Upon winning the game against their hapless, unranked opponent, the poodle jumps up on the far end of the bar runs at full speed weaving among the drinks, barking and does a back flip off the end into his owner's arms. The crowd cheers at this display and the bartender
asks "my gosh , what does he do when they win a bowl game ?" The owner replies, "I dunno,
I have only had him for 10 years."

Offensive/Aggressive Team Names - double standard ?

The NCAA seems to have a double standard when it comes to offensive/aggressive team names
using North American Indian imagery. Some schools(St. Johns, Marquette) went so far as to change their team names to avoid post season tournament bans.

The Fighting Illini was an unacceptable name and deemed offensive but the Fighting Irish depicted by a Leprechaun with raised fists has not drawn any scrutiny. The Illini ,at least, have a historical basis for their name, while Notre Dame du Lac founded and named by the french have no historical association with the entire nationality of the fine Irish people who they mimic with a cartoon like tourist symbol in a fighting pose totally ignoring their great cultural heritage -Irish Playwrights ? Irish Authors ? Irish Statesmen ? Irish Musicians ? Irish Artists, Irish Heroes ?

Does the NCAA have a double standard ? If you think so, Charlotte Westerhaus who heads the NCAA Office for Diversity and Inclusion needs to hear from you:

http://www.ncaa.org/cgi-bin/staffmailform2.pl?id=odi%40ncaa.org&name=Charlotte+Westerhaus

If the NCAA wants to honor the North American Indians, they shoud require the schools to give the Indians their land back or at a minimum share the gate receipts as back rent. Those schools in Manhattan should save up now.

Since there is no division 1A post season football tournament, the NCAA ban would not apply
to football teams. Maybe the NCAA could focus their efforts (they seem to have a lot of time ) on creating a post season 1A football playoff to insure the determination of a real National Champion as opposed to a team that plays a light schedule and gets the luck of the draw in a Bowl Game.

Nothing Irish about 'em

L'Universite de Notre Dame du Lac was founded by french priests from Le Mans, France in 1842 as an orphanage. The official name on the charter is University of Notre Dame du Lac translated from french to English : Our Lady of the Lake.

There are two lakes on the campus which were frozen at the time the school was founded and there was thought to be only one lake. The land was associated with the Potowatomi Indians.

The nickname "Fighting Irish" has its origins in 1909 when the press picked it up, the team had several members with Irish surnames. In 1909 , it was an ethnic slur perpetuated by the New York press. This was prior to the NCAA's involvement in the politically correct naming of teams. The team was officially known as the "Ramblers" in the early 1920's during the period of the Four Horsemen.

Knute Rockne was a Norwegian immigrant.

Logically they could be referred to as : the Fighting Frenchmen, the Lakers, the Racers (Le Mans) , or less PC : the Orphans, the Indians , Norsemen, Potowatomis or even the Ramblers but there is nothing Irish about 'em.

Not unlike the cupcake schedule they play, (according to NCAA schedule strength) the Irish moniker is without substance.

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/8106/Anthems/france.htm