OVEREDUCATED ND TYPES BLOG: YOU REAP THE BENEFITS!!!

Beautiful.

I’ve never been a fan of ND, mostly because of how the national media fellates them, but I can’t find it in me to think badly of Weiss, and man, I wish there were more breakdowns like that for my team….

Detest Notre Dame? Nah, that is too strong a word. There should always be room for a good Notre Dame team in college football. Every picture needs a good villain. Irritated is more like it, actually. Here are my top five reasons why Notre Dame is irritating:

1) Holier Than Thou Attitude: Those jokers look down on every other program, even though they have sucked more than not recently. Unlike the rest of us homer-types, they actually believe their hype.

2) Mr. Weis, You Are No Knute Rockne: A career assistant gets his sloppy seconds chance at the ND job and their fans get orgasmic. Urby was way too sharp to take on the melanin-challenged jokers at ND.

3) Cherry Pickers: By staying as an independent, they are able to schedule their cupcakes better than teams in conferences can schedule their cupcakes. (Seeing State Penn get whacked around for a while when they first joined a conference was fun.)

4) Beano Cook’s Notre Dame Football Commentary

5) ND Women: At least when you watch a game with Florida or Southwest schools you are assured at least six shots of beautiful sluts in the audience some of which look like Ms. Kiebler. Watching ND, you are guaranteed of nada, niet.

since when did ND schedule a cupcake schedule? they play usc every year, and michigan, purdue, michigan state, etc. almost as often. And their non-traditional games aren’t division IAA teams like Montana, either. This year their ‘cupcakes’ are penn state and ucla. A couple years ago they were florida state and tennessee. If anything, ND is always talked about as having the hardest schedule in the nation. This year its typically strong opponents underperformed, but that doesn’t give them an intentionally easy schedule.

As much as I like EDSBS, I think if Stacy Keibler loved me, I’d find something better to do with my time than get riled up about college football.

Hey, if Stacy Keibler loved us…well, she’d be reduced to a smoldering crater by the Conscience of a Nation, most likely.

1) Yeah, hard to argue with this. But hey, most ND fans can quote the stats to back it up. What irks me is all the ND fans that come out of the woodwork when ND starts winning again, but every program gets those.
2) Urby, you’re no Knute Rockne, either. Both coaches have winning resumes. Weis at least put in an offense that took advantage of his players, unlike Urban trying to make Leak do things he just can’t do. This whole subject was discussed ad naseum on this site earlier, so its not worth going into it any further. Besides, ND fans are so desperate for a winner, that it could have been Lloyd Carr, as long as he was winning and was “a notre dame man”.
3) Riiiggghhhttt…as brian stated above, if a 2006 schedule that includes Penn State (11-1), USC (12-1), and UCLA (10-2), not to mention Michigan (7-5), Navy (8-4), Georgia Tech, Purdue, and Michigan State, is cupcake, then I want to know what kind of a schedule wouldn’t be. ND’s 2006 opponents went 83-56 in 2005.
4) No argument there. There can be some creepy commentators that jump on the ND bandwagon.
5) They’re there, you just have to look closer because they’ll be at the game to see a football game instead of at the game to be seen and get a photo spread out of the deal.

On the subject of cupcakey schedules, what in the sam hell is the gripe? If memory serves, UF opened with LA tech and mighty Wyoming. Looking at Dennis Dodd’s preseason top 5 shows that these juggernauts are going to line up against worthy opponents such as: N. Illinois (ohio state), Marshall (West Virginia), Lousiana-Lafayette (LSUmustbejoking), UAB (Oklahoma), and Arkansas (USC). The only one that is remotely respectable is USC.

ND never plays I-AA schools. When’s the last time they played a MAC school or a school with a hyphenated name? um, never. Schedules are set up many years in advance, and it’s a rarity for the schedule to turn out to be soft.

Yeah, how could ND possibly survive in a conference? We are playing three of the top 4 teams in the big ten this year, and arguably the two best of the pac10. The next two years sees ND opening with a cuddly wuddly trio of Georgia Tech, Penn State, and Michigan. Yeah…a real wet noodle of a schedule.

And no, we don’t think that Weis is Knute reincarnate. We do think that we lucked our pasty white Irish arses with the big guy. He didn’t turn wine into water, but he turned an underperforming brady-one who couldn’t reliably hit a freaking screen pass into a stud. He took a bunch of underperformers who expected defeat and turned them into a squad who could compete with near anybody. You can’t deny that it was one helluva turnaround.

get a clue

OT:

Orson -

Delaware, new Fulmer cup entrant, with armed robbery. Courtesy of CNNSI – On Campus Truth and Rumors.

See post!

Marshall (West Virginia)

Only because the governor basically made ‘em play it. Just be glad the Pope hasn’t asked y’all to schedule Georgetown (or, better yet, BYU as part of a campaign to eradicate heresy).

As for the MAC comment, Notre Dame was scheduled to play Miami University to open the 1997 season but bought out the game for a cash payment plus a two-for-two in basketball. Miami cashed the check, replaced the game with Virginia Tech (winning at Blacksburg), and took three out of the four basketball games, so I guess it worked out.

Enjoy your series against Navy. I know that one keeps me on the edge of my seat.

One more thing about being an Independent. Penn State actually was pretty dominant when they first joined the Big Ten. Remember 1994?

DevilGrad, I remember that – that was supposed to be the opener for the expanded stadium my sophomore year. I thought that was a lame move at the time, but have never heard if it was NBC requesting a ‘name’ opponent for the season opener or something. Just think, you guys could’ve been the first (of many) to beat Bullet Bob Davie.

orson,

i propose a stacy kiebler blog. ….simply pictures are fine. however, an interview would be good too.

Thanks for the hat tip, guys!

And thanks for the congratulations on one year, although the House Rock Built has only been up and running for about five months. Unless you’re talking about something else… like my one year of being outbreak-free thanks to surpressive treatment. In that case, thanks for the support, I couldn’t have done it without you!

-fightinamish

Cut the self-serving crap. The scheduling debate?

Army
Navy
Air Force

The only schools that schedule all three of these are… YES, you guessed it… Army, Navy and Air Force.

Maybe the Domers are just pissed the Marines and the Coast Guard don’t have teams.

it’s actually navy’s choice to play the irish every year. during WWII notre dame was going to have to shut down because of lack of students. the naval academy stepped in, established a training center on campus and literally kept ND open for those years. as a show of gratitude, navy has a standing offer for a game every year, and the only way the series stops is by their choice.

past that, there’s no evidence- empirical, emotional or otherwise- that ND plays a cupcake schedule. the women, on the other hand… well, you certainly have us there.

Maybe the Domers are just pissed the Marines and the Coast Guard don’t have teams.

Marines train at Annapolis. Coast Guard has a team, but it’s Division III. (Ditto for the Merchant Marine Academy, if you want to cap off the insult.)

I like The Onion’s take. Domers are annoying.

Ben,

I don’t see your point with regards to Navy. They are a competative, Middle of the Road program that is returning almost everybody next year. By all acounts they have the cpaacity to slip into the Top 25. No matter the caliber of your team, Paul Johnson’s x3 Option is not an easy offense to defend against (see Stanford and Maryland games. If your trying to make any sort of comparison to them as a “cupcake” or a Div IAA opponent, I seriously would suggest doing a little research. That ND beats them every year is a testiment not only to ND talent, but to the seriousness and level of respect that they treat the rivalry with. As for the other SA schools, I can say that both are improving, but I guess Army is still considered a “cupcake” in the realm of big time college football.

God bless the Onion! You can take the boys out of the Midwest, but . . . .

Wasn’t it just 2 years ago that the MSM was defending Willingham by saying the scheduling was too tough at ND? Wasn’t it just the beginning of last year that ND was supposed to go 0-6 to start the season, that no one could do well against such a “tough” starting slate?

It’s easy to take potshots with nothing to back it up.

That said, we’ll be hearing the same damn things this coming year. ND plays, by all rights, a “tough” schedule. Unfortunately, the preseason prognostications are all based on the previous year for the most part, and don’t take into account personnel losses, etc.

at Georgia Tech—a Jekyll and Hyde team—good wins, bad losses last year. Preseason, everyone will talk about how tough this game could be. At the end of the season, it’ll depend which GT plays the rest of the season. Don’t forget, Chan Gailey coaches this team.

PENN STATE—Great team this past year—Michael Robinson leaves, as does a significant part of the defense. Definitely one that preseason will look tough, but is it actually? We’ll see.

MICHIGAN—Can you smell the preseason #4 ranking yet? You can count on them being ranked high to start, losing to ND, and finishing with 3+ losses to appear less than impressive.

at Michigan State—well, they beat us last year, and this time it’s at their place.

PURDUE—Someone will pick them to win the Big 10. And then, they won’t.

STANFORD—getting better, but not good.

UCLA—Another Top 10 team from last year that looks scary coming into this season, until you remember they lost Maurice Drew Olson.

at Navy (Baltimore, Md.)—Yes, it’s Navy—the Bowl Winning Navy. Not Top 5, mind you, but at least they’re better than Tennesse.

NORTH CAROLINA—Um…no idea what to say here. I have no idea if they are good, or if they suck.

at Air Force—not good, but not Temple level patsy, either.

ARMY—Yep, we scheduled a patsy.

Any of you whose teams don’t a. play a I-AA team, b. play in the SEC (MSU), Big East (Syracuse), Big 10 (Illinois and Indiana), Pac 10 (Washington and Arizona), Big 12 (Baylor), MAC, WAC, MWC, may talk. This leaves, by my count, the ACC—only because I couldn’t think of a complete patsy in the conference, and I’m too lazy to look. And no using the “well, we don’t play [insert patsy] this year because of the conference schedule rotation”, because at some point you will. And yes, it IS your fault you have to play them in-conference.

at USC—yeah, tough game.

Scheduling debate?

Notre Dame’s 2006 opponent’s record in 2005 – 83-56, 59.7%
Florida’s 2006 opponent’s record in 2005 – 88-54, 62% (includes D-IAA Western Carolina)
USC’s 2006 opponent’s record in 2005 – 72-66, 52.2%
LSU’s 2006 opponent’s record in 2005 – 65-72, 47.4% (includes D-IAA UL Lafayette)

Say what you want about service academies, but at least they all play Division IA. Maybe ND should join a conference and load up on some D-IAA opponents and other cupcakes out of conference. Because that’s how “real” schedules are made, right? If you’re going to debate schedules, at least get a clue.

Is it a prerequisite for the big boys in major conferences to schedule a pussy for the first game? Just curious. If so our opener with Georgia Tech would disallow us from having conference affiliation.

the illustration is actually a pre-surgical mark-up of Weiss’ liposuction procedure scheduled for his extreme make-over this summer. note the pink manboobs (manzier) tissue and red nipples at top as reference. apparently, he took offense to his meatnormous ranking and decided to compete in a lighter weight class.

Update to #21: Include the ACC—I forgot Duke.

You’re not the first person to forget about Duke football.

OTOH, they grow up to make damned fine doctors, lawyers, and investment bankers.

JJ Redick is the ball boy for them.

As a retired attorney and Marine living in San Marino – who gives advice to various Hollywood celeberties, I take umbrage to all of the derragotary commentary on the service academies. They are some of the best men in the country.

Having said that though, their players, much like Ivy League types, do not belong in the field with the upper echelon of college football. Just like Vince Wonderlic Young has no business being at Harvard or Yale (or probably even a good JC). Every once in a blue moon you get someone, sort of like Mr. Wireman, who can do both.

So, the brainiacs at Notre Dame can kick and scream all they want, but everyone knows they are stacking the deck year in and year out, and RATS, their games are on national TV on NBC. What a waste. I use the clicker so fast, it would make Petula Clark’s head spin.

The Weis manzire comment (#24)rocked. Even I, could not write something that funny.

I am going back to my prunes and nap….

Harvey, that’s the best throwdown departure line ever. You should sign off like that every post.

Ntae, I think you missed the point a bit here. No serious fan accuses ND of playing a weak schedule. But by the same token, ND fans have no right to get high-and-mighty about other schools scheduling non-BCS teams (like ND fans’ favorite whipping post, the MAC), when said teams are often far more competitive than the litany of service academies and lower-end BCS schools that typically comprise the “non-threatening” portion of the Irish slate.

There are at least four MAC teams that would give the Irish a game, anywhere or any time, as evidenced by repeated “upsets” on the field against top-tier competition. Ditto for the upper tiers of the WAC and MWC. The MAC performs at a level far above what its resources would dictate, so quit baggin’ on us already!

You may now return to your respective bashing/defense of the NBC contract…

Since 1977, the NCAA has ranked schedules for strength based on cumulative record of opponents. There are I think 107 teams in Div 1. Here is how ND’s schedule has ranked nationally in each of those years. Other than 1998, it appears ND’s schedule was in the top half every year; was in the top third 24 of 28 years; in the top 25 21 of 29 years and in the top ten eleven times. Based on the actual data, as opposed to slurs against Navy as opposed to Louisiana tech as a gimme game, it appears to me that ND’s scheduling is almost always tougher than most teams in NCAA by a fairly wide margin. One may not like Notre Dame, but to criticize them as seeking weak opponents when they play USC and Michigan virtually every year since 1978 and have had home and home series in the last eighteen years with Neb, PSU, UCLA, FSU, LSU, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, Ohio State and one game with Oklahoma seems a bit unfair

Strength of Schedule Rankings
05 52
04 7
03 3
02 28
01 22
00 34
99 3
98 82
97 15
96 54
95 1
94 18
93 50
92 14
91 14
90 4
89 1
88 25
87 1
86 3
85 1
84 13
83 50
82 13
81 28
80 14
79 4
78 1
77 13

Papa Lou, point noted. I’m not bagging the MAC—I just didn’t single out a patsy in the MAC (as I didn’t with the WAC or MWC) because you have more lower tier teams than, say, the SEC. I’ll grant that about 4 teams would scare the bejeezus out of me going into the game.

I didn’t miss the point—if you read the traffic here, serious fans (do non-serious fans troll blogs and message boards?) ARE accusing ND of playing a weak schedule. I’m taking umbrage with that. I’ve got no problem with teams scheduling MAC teams as one of their OOC games. I do have a problem when fans of teams that schedule I-AA teams, or the lowest competition possible OOC, turn around and point fingers at ND and act like their tough because they are in a conference. EVERY conference has it’s shitty teams that balance out the tough ones—no conference team is facing 11 ranked teams each season. My problem isn’t the scheduling—it’s the hypocrisy.

I will disagree with Navy being “non-threatening”—bowl teams over the past several seasons. But, whatever. As for the NBC contract—honestly, I’ve never been a fan of it. When ND signed that, that’s when the downward spiral started during Holtz’s last few years. On the one hand, it guarantees I’ll get to see a decent number of their games on AFN here in Japan (or Korea, where I was before). On the other hand, until this past year, I didn’t really want to WATCH too many of them.

for the sake of clarity, can we compile a list of Atkins-approved (ie, cupcake-free) schedules in major college sports?

I’ll start:

1) Temple (men’s basketball)

umm, ok, I’m done.

So the Irish respect the service academies. I’d rather see my team play 3 academies and 9 “name” programs, EVEN IF they’re having a down year, than any programs from the MVC, MWC, PWC or some other no-name firm.

Without Notre Dame, what would anyone have to hate?

Doesn’t matter whether you love ‘em or hate ’em. The fact that you’re not on the fence only helps them.