SUNDAY PRECIS: JEHUU SAVE US EDITION

I was really hoping Navy would win… it’s up to them and Air Force to hand ND a loss before what will be a very competitive, close USC game.

Purdue fans: Please show this to your team. Hopefully this bulletin-board material will motivate them to conquer the Sith Lord.

Orson,
A game with Boob Davie tracking the breeze like some coke-addled wind vane, Mussberger slurrin his speech before halftime. Jon-el Smith going bipolar by the quarter (pass, no wait, kneel down, or Blitz, wait, thats defense!), monsoons, wind changes, and three sorry-assed Spartans left holding the pass at Thermopylae (“why did Coach tell us to wait at midfield? and why was he screaming about the godammed bats?”). Brady Quinn playing in and out of the Heisman by the posession. A game-ending interception that went off three different players body parts before rolling up a prone Spartan’s back (their favorite position: prone, unsupported).
And all you can talk about is Caulcrick’s ass? Well it was impressive.
PS: didn’t you quit on the Irish by halftime?

Considering how much glee the haters take when ND loses and how much they must be suffering this morning, I’d love to talk smack. But I turned off that game after Zibby fumbled that punt and I completely gave up when I saw the halftime score. I am a miserable fan.

NoVa—

We’ve got our own analysis of the game coming up tomorrow. Keep in mind that our attentions were focused on the dismal Kentucky-Florida game. We’ll take a look at the whole game later today.

After a day of wincing every time Sports Center came on to rehash the days results, I have decided that inside of Lou Holtz is the ghost of Sylvester the Cat, now about 120 yrs old. Sufffferin’ succccotasssh!!

You mentioned nary a word about the near crash-n’-burn scenario that was the Georgia game yesterday. Word is they all went down to Ted Turners’ burger joint after the game, took one bite of a buffalo burger and nearly choked.

Seems like that Georgia game ought to give Fla fans everywhere that tingly feeling in their SEC Championship Pants. Bad news is that Auburn played with their 4th string running back and 2nd string line and humbled a low level 1A team. They have the depth of a mile high iceberg. Titannic teams beware.

I don’t know if anyone cares but I think Steve Spurrier won another game last night. It was not mentioned on the college wrapup at midnight. Miss St beating UAB was mentioned. How sad.

Now if we only had another Chuck Amato cartoon to entertain us. This one should be about him asking for a raise. Gotta love that Charlotte animation guy.

Damn, can’t wait till Thursday.

Anybody else love watching Rich Brooks go ballistic when time ran out of the first half as they tried to spike the ball? I could see him wanting to scream for that he needs to talk to the athletic director, THE HALF ISN’T OVER!!! WE’RE NOT LEAVING!!! CAN SOMEONE PLEASE JUST FIRE ME!!!! (although UK did look better than usual, notwithstanding our own incompetence pointed to by Orson).

Infidels,

Kneel before Tulsa. That is all.

Orson,
Great, can’t wait for your take on the ND-MSU game.
While the ABC game crew is not to be missed, pardner, I suggest muting them and playing Pink Floyd’s “Brick in the wall” as a soundtrack. Some 3D glasses will make Jonelle’s sideline routine burst right into your living room!

Sorry the Gators didn’t cover your expectations, but that flea-flicker was sweet.

I hear there’s a posse to string up Leigh Tiffin and cut his right leg off. WHO’S WITH ME?!?!?!

i was so pissed. I turned off the ND game in the 3rd quarter because i figured it was going to be a blowout, and brady quinn ends up removing his head from his ass long enough to through 5 TD (i think). a few things bothered me about the game, though

1) did Notre Dame plant a flag at midfield afterwards? personally, i think charlie weis should’ve obesed his way there and did it himself.
2) Bob Davie explaining why notre dame was down early: MSU had the WIND on their side. yes, the wind was way brady quinn was throwing touchdown passes to the opposing team.
3) before I turned it off, I counted 7 instances of brady quinn licking his hand while looking like he had just eaten a turd sandwich.
4) by turning off that game, I missed the hushed silence that undoubtedly came when the crowd of 75000 (minus the ND fans) witnessed the game winning interception.

throw even…I need to stop typing things when I first wake up

I spent last night crying in the shower, not unlike a victim of a sexual assualt. Being an Ole Miss fan has always been hard…but this is retarded.

I’m having trouble scrubbing the shame away…

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060924/SPORTS08/609240340/1132

At the end of a gut-wrenching 40-37 loss to Notre Dame, Michigan State players protected the Block S at midfield to prevent Notre Dame players from planting an Irish flag in triumph. Too bad they could not protect a 16-point lead during the final 8:18 of the game.

I love it

#5: Nary a word was uttered about the Georgia game because an “SEC power” almost losing at home to the worst 1-A team in the country doesn’t jive with the “SEC ROOOLS” theme.

Therefore, it didn’t really happen.

Chuck Amato needs to grow a goatee, because State football is clearly the evil twin of State basketball. Instead of shooting itself in the foot like the hoops team, the football team enjoys shooting others. That’s just not nice, nor it is good for the ACC’s fate in the Top 25.

But on the bright side, guess what? The ACC went undefeated against OOC opponents. Looks like the Degradation of the Conference is over! And hey, guess what? Duke didn’t lose yesterday!

Um, who were those opponents? Well…um…they were teams…sort of. And um…what’s that now? Duke didn’t…oh. Right. The bye.

/our uppance will come…it’s almost time for basketball

JG—not because the SEC ROOLZ theme doesn’t fit, but because it wasn’t really that surprising. Again, more on that tomorrow, since we’re planning on actually proofreading.

Breaking News:

John L.. Smith has signed a 10 year endoresement contract to be the national spokesman for premature ejaculation. Ad campaign will focus on shooting your load and then being too tired to do much else, thereby leaving the other party to satisfy themself at your expense and laugh at your utter ineptitude, and ridicule your abilities to all of their friends, who smile and chuckle at you every time you see them in public.

Jehuu Tha Damaja is no joke.

How can you not root for a refugee from war torn Liberia? Opposing defenses can’t be too threateneing compared to what that dude has lived through.

“not because the SEC ROOLZ theme doesn’t fit, but because it wasn’t really that surprising. Again, more on that tomorrow”

Let me guess, Georgia’s near loss wasnt mentioned in same breath with “Florida, USC, West Virginia, and Louisville all had their lip-syncing TRL appearances for the year, sputtering about against Kentucky, Arizona, Eastern Carolina, and K-State, respectively” because you dont think Georgia should be mentioned with those teams AT ALL.

Red Zone Ineptitude.

We’ve come to expect that from Meyer in the SEC.

Congratulations on surviving the Appetizers. Welcome to the Main course. Alabama/LSU/Auburn/Georgia.

Hopefully some of you Gator Fans are organ donors.

The following is Mike Shula’s redzone playcalling yesterday, run heavy-don’t ya think, especially on a day John Parker Wilson was 16-20, 241 yds, 3 TDs. The missed kicks aside, with 4 min left in a tied game its ridiculous to run into the middle of the line 3 times and settle on a field goal from an unreliable kicker. I’ll say it again…Mike Shula is perhaps the worst short field play-caller I have ever seen…Fla please beat the ever living fuck out of us (instead of a 3 pt nail-biting win) so maybe people will finally start to come around and realize how fucking awful this guy is – ( as if there could be any doubt after witnessing his body of work as OC for Tampa Bay).

Ala Redzone offense vs. Arkansas
starting on the 17 with 1 and 10
1st down Run – JJ 6 yards
2nd down Penalty loss of 10
2nd down Penalty loss of 5
2nd down Run – JJ 5 yards
3rd down Pass 4 yards
4th down kick FG Missed

Starting on the 17 with 2nd and 5
2nd down Run – JJ 5 yards
3rd down Penalty loss of 5
3rd down Sack loss of 9
4th down kick FG Good

Starting on the 14 with 1st and 10
1st down Pass TD

Starting on the 20 with 1st and 10
1st down Run – KD 3 yards
2nd down Run – KD 5 yards
3rd down Run – KD 2 yards 1st down
1st down Run – KD loss of 2
2nd down Run – JJ 2 yards
3rd down Run – JJ loss of 3
4th down Kick FG Missed

Starting on the 16 with 2nd and 1
2nd down Run – KD 3 yards 1st down
1st down Pass 6 yards
2nd down Run – KD 6 yards 1st down
1st down Run – TC No gain
2nd down Pass TD
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

if I’m right 13 out of 17 plays were runs, 2 of the 4 passes were TDs…FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

I think Brian from MGOBlog had the quote of the day yesterday,

The deep insight of Holtz: “well, they just have tremendous talent.” The deep knowledge of Holtz: “I think this is either Forsett or Lynch running this back..”
Generic studio person: “It’s DeSean Jackson.”
Holtz: “Well, they’re just so talented.”

Is there a person on the planet less qualifed at his job? Chuck Amato, put your hand down.

http://big-east.aolsportsblog.com/2006/09/23/lou-holth-is-totally-on-top-of-things/

Jehuu is actually Arabic for “badonkadonk.” Totally true. I have an aunt who was in the Foreign Services in Saudi Arabia, she told me. Why would I make that up?

Anyway, the reason Orson didn’t talk more about the Georgia debacle is because Colorado is actually a very good team with a chance to make some real noise in the Big Eight this year. No shit, Lou Holtz actually said that on “Gameday Final” yesterday afternoon.

Shouldn’t Ed Orgeron be fired already?

Mike Shula is perhaps the worst short field play-caller I have ever seen.

Ah, c’mon, he’s not any worse than Noel Mazzone. Okay, he’s not any better, either, but still…

Out of curiousity why is ND comingback against a non-bowl qualifying, unranked opponenet something to be lauded, while Ohio State, Florida and Michuingan coming back against similarily lackluster opponents is a sign of struggle? All I’m saying is if UK had led us by 16 in the 4th and we came back to win e wouldn’t be talking about it as a good sign for the program.

Because OSU, Michigan, and Florida weren’t destroyed by their (arguably) most hated rival the week before. and because even though MSU wasn’t ranked, a good many people expected Notre Dame to lose.

Well, quite frankly that’s because ND isn’t a good football team.

After watching the CBS broadcast of the Bama-Ark game yesterday, I suspect analyst Gary Danielson may have accidentally ingested some of the mushrooms that were confiscated from Willie Nelson.

He made some pretty off the wall comments. I can’t remember anything specific, as I was hittin the pipe pretty hard yesterday..

Maybe he’ll call a WV game at some point. He’s a lock to make reference to John Holmes’ prowess in some way.

“Quite frankly” is a phrase you should probably avoid if you want to be taken seriously. If you insist on using it, however, it should be in ALL CAPS.

QUITE FRANKLY BOTH CHARLIE WEIS AND I FIND THESE CHEESE DOODLES TO BE IRRESISTABLE.

EVERYTHING I SAY IS VERY IMPORTANT.

Interesting note.. the biblical character Jehu massacred the former king and his whole family. And then let dogs eat them.

I think Jehuu Caulcrick just might be a little more badass though.

Notre Dame won though, and I’m happy, though when they were showing Caulcrick’s mom I felt bad knowing Notre Dame was going to come back. I still feel a little bad, especially considering all the typical football sob-stories were for MSU; i.e, Caulcrick’s childhood and John L’s wife.

 I hated John L when he was talking about the flag, though. It pissed me off last year, and I enjoyed the revenge this year.

Another thing we learned Saturday: Auburn is not that good. Maybe they play to the level of the opponent…the true test will be this Thursday on Nat’l T.V. with no other games. I bet they look terrible and drop behind USC in the AP poll.

I would enjoy a good AU humbling this Thursday..

They have the most annoying fans and coach alive, and it’s not enough for them to be good, they have to try to make you understand that Bama totally sucks, always did and always will, that Bama fans “live in the past”, the Bear was a drunken whore-mongering cheat, Tuscaloosa has poor drinking water and the girls are ugly.

Give it a rest.

Bama girls are definitely not ugly.

ESPN is referring to ND-Mich. St. as “a game for the ages” or something along those lines. Give me a break.

Hillman…. LOL.

I’m going to Columbia for the Carolina game Thursday. I would love love love USC to beat the the Tigers and lend some sunshine on this otherwise horrible week (even UAB — 10 point favorites against Mississippi State — lost). Unfortunately, we all know if Carolina loses by less than 20, it’ll be a fucking miracle.

Wait, why would Auburn fans consider Bear’s being a “drunken whore-mongering cheat” an insult?

Jaybuzz, way to stay on message!

Because OSU, Michigan, and Florida weren’t destroyed by their (arguably) most hated rival the week before. and because even though MSU wasn’t ranked, a good many people expected Notre Dame to lose.

Comment by Joe — September 24, 2006 @ 5:37 pm

Be careful there – UM is nowhere close to being ND’s “most hated rival” – and there certainly is no argument. UM fans and players that think that they are ND’s “most hated rival” all suffer from a severe case of “Fredo-ism”.

Ask Boston College.

But yes, the ND comeback was lauded, whereas the OSU, UM, and UF games were “of concern” because OSU, UM, and UF are all better teams. All those teams were expected to win big, and yet they “struggled” to cover the spread (or failed miserably). Plus, they don’t usually lose at home 44-17 or whatever that shitty score was.

ND is not a “great” team this year. (In fact, they have not been “great” since 1993, or possibly even 1988). They are a “mediocre” team at best with lots of gusto but very little athleticism. I guarantee that they would lose to OSU and UF this year. However, I think that they are an “interesting” team full of misfits and half-athletes that are scrappy enough to pull out a win when they “want” to.

Us ND alum and fans all have Ty Golfingham, Coach Davingham, or whatever craptacular name you want to call the coaching abortion that ND had for 8 years.

Just to keep everyone informed about how bad Golfingham was at recruiting, ND currently has 9 scholarship juniors. Nine! Next year is going to be a very interesting year. At least CW has some recruiting talent, but don’t be surprised if ND fields 21 starting sophomores and freshman (with Walker the loan senior starter).

Damn you Screamin’ A you’re usage of “Quite Frankly” has discredited it as a turn of phrase, my Cheese Doodles escpae you forever.

On the ND game thread:

Agreed that the reaction in the press to the ND-MSU game is overdone. But that game WAS quite a spectacle. Ugly, yes, but fun as hell to watch. Chaos and rain and wind and sideline fights and stupid interceptions and genuine takeaways and awesome power running and graceful endzone catches.

That said, let’s call the overblown reaction for what it is. ESPN tries to create a “game for the ages” every week with this instant classic crap. We should all ignore this cheap ploy and get on with comenting on real matters.

To that point, I’ve got one question, and it’s a genuine one. Is the general consensus here really that MSU is a horrible team that should be a gimme win for any self-respecting top-10 team? I personally thought both before and after last night’s game that they’re better than that — and surely not in KY’s lowly class. But maybe I’m wrong. (And I mean no disrespect to the Gator fans with that comment.)

As it is, I’d bet that MSU beats either OSU or Mich — if JL Smith can stay off the crazy juice long enough to call a few runs for those monsters in his backfield. Looking at their schedule, I could see them end up with only two or three losses. ’Course, them being MSU, they could just go in the tank now and lose 7.

I see that Ohio State has a stalker.

MTVSPN Gameday is following them around the country like some sort of jilted lover.

Mike Shula’s play calling is responsible for false starts, holding, sacks, and missed field goals? Interesting concept there, matt.

Flordia SEC Champions. No one can beat them.

MSU has traditionally had a severe inferiority complex because they’re in the shadows of Ann Arbor. They start off well, they start to make some noise (by beating ND every year, at least when Davie was coaching them), then they go straight into the shitter. It’s the overriding mentality in EL and the only person who looked like he could change it was Saban and he bolted as soon as the first sniff of an opportunity came calling.

No, Wiscy Dick, I’d say that the penalties go towards his responsibilities as the head coach- the play calling woes are a different area (although also his, but I think matt was just trying to punch him once, so good job on giving him a little 1-2 combo to go to later).

Ballsy call, Guido. See me on Oct .14 re: @ Auburn, assuming LSU doesn’t do the job first.

Site fave Steve Spurrier may have a shot at going 2-for-2 as well.

Or maybe not.

Considering how much glee the haters take when ND loses and how much they must be suffering this morning, I’d love to talk smack. But I turned off that game after Zibby fumbled that punt and I completely gave up when I saw the halftime score. I am a miserable fan.

Actually Harris I watched pretty much the whole thing, since I didn’t feel like paying ESPN to watch SC play an SEC game on a 3 × 4″ window on my laptop… and I didn’t turn it off when ND started to win because I have rarely seen such a spectacular choke. It wasn’t fun, but it was memorable.

After barely beating Georgia Tech, Notre Dame ‘might not be as good as we thought’, according to ESPN,

 Then they blow out Penn State, and Ga Tech was a hiccup, hurrah, hurrah, for the Irish, they’re national title contendors, Brady for Heisman, etc, according to ESPN.

 Then they get pirson-bitch-raped by Michigan on national television, and whoa, this team isn’t anywhere near as goo as we thought, there are issues, etc.

 Then they come back and beat a Michigan State team that has no defense, and it’s WHOA!!! COMEBACK FOR THE AGES!!!! THIS MIGHT HAVE SAVED THE IRISH SEASON!!!! THESE ARE THE TYPES OF GAMES THAT TURN TEAMS INTO NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!

 The idiotic hype cycel starts yet again.

 Bottom line, Notre Dame’s defense sucks. They are slow and unathletic. I think at least half the SEC and FSU and Miami (as bad as those two teams are) would beat them.

Be careful there – UM is nowhere close to being ND’s "most hated rival" – and there certainly is no argument. UM fans and players that think that they are ND’s "most hated rival" all suffer from a severe case of "Fredo-ism".

posted by chrisnd

I am a ND fan, and I consider Michigan one of their most hated rivals.

Notre Dame doesn’t have a great team this year, but they don’t have a bad team either. This is pretty much the same team that Tyrone “what, I’m supposed to be at every practice? but I just got a great tee time at Blackthorn” Willingham recruited, but Weis is a far superior coach, and has improved Quinn and Samardzija’s games tenfold. Their failings are their O-Line, and most of their Defense. and the occaisonal ND or SMC co-ed that Brady Quinn picks up at Corby’s or the Linebacker Lounge. women make you weak, boy.

Irish are defintely not a championship contender this year. but out of the AP poll, of the teams that are ranked ahead of them, I think they could take WVU, Louisville, and VaTech, definitely, and maybe USC. so far, everything’s been opposite of last year. ND beat Mich at Mich, they lost to MSU at home, and they lost to USC at home. that’s enough scientific proof for me. I’m just glad they don’t go into the SEC. they’d be a 6-6 team instead of a 10-2 (hopefully)

There’s rivalry, and then there is RIVALRY. Michigan is a rival. USC is Notre Dame’s only RIVAL. I used to think they were equal, being as my time at ND coincided with the end of “Catholics vs. Condoms—a Decade of Dominance” over the Trojans, while Michigan beat us my frosh year (94). However, when you look at the long-term history, USC is far and away a greater Rivalry, since for most of the 20th century UM and ND didn’t play.

And no, Notre Dame isn’t great. At times, we’ve definitely “sucked”. But just as the Disney Hype Machine were wrong to have us as OMGTEHBESTTMEVAH Part 2, neither are we TEHSUXORSHAHA2NDCOMINGOFTY Part 2. In all likelihood, we’re in for a repeat of last year; 1 early loss to a team from Michigan, a loss to USC, and a BCS game where we lose, probably. Other than USC, our schedule is weak; however, a 9-2 ND, regardless of how badly we stink against Michigan and USC, will be in the BCS. Hate it or don’t, but that’s the facts, Jack. Now, I say we’ll probably lose, because unlike Joe above, I think Slaton and WVU would annhilate us, and if Louisville has Brohm back they likely would also (which means bad news for us if we go to the Gator Bowl, as we’ll face one of them). Not sure about VT—depends on which offense of our shows up. UM/1st Half MSU, and their defense might score more than our entire team. PSU/2nd half of MSU, I think we win a close one. Anyways, the point is that while there’s hope for us for a BCS game, we’re still not that “good”, and won’t be for 2 more years.

Oh, and all Bama girls are toothless, go Auburn….Tigers suck, Go Bama. (Sorry, thought I’d just participate in both threadjacks present here…)

Michigan absolutely is Notre Dame’s most hated rival. chrisnd, you are either a fan with very little sense of historical perspective about the program, or you are someone from NDNation engaging in extremely subtle sarcasm. My money is on the former.

Southern Cal is our biggest rival. Michigan is our most hated rival. The reasons for this should be clear. If you are familiar with the Chuck Klosterman “Nemesis vs. Archenemy” meme, SC is our nemesis, Michigan is our archrival.

(The only team that is even in the same ballpark as Michigan in terms of whipping Notre Dame fans into a frenzy of hatred is Miami. I don’t expect a rebuttal of this assertion from any Miami partisans, as da U doesn’t seem to have a fan base so much as a city full of car thieves and coke whores who occasionally get bored of mugging tourists and having abortions and decide to take in a football game for a change of pace.)

Wow, Phil, never let it be said that a fan of the team of Pedophiles and Fat chicks can’t slander an entire city.

There’s the anti-Catholic bigotry right on cue. Thanks for being predictable, skunkbear.

As far as “slandering” the city of Miami, well…truth is an absolute defense.

In breaking news, Tiffin was put on Suicide Watch this weekend, after the Arkansas loss; they found him in his hotel room, noose around his neck, end tied to the ceiling fan.
Thank goodness he couldn’t connect to kick the chair out from under himself.

First, as a Cane fan (and Miami resident) not accused of a crime since last Thursday (and the woman involved is just fine thank you very much), let me just say that the image of Notre Dame brings up much stronger feelings of hatred than Florida St or Florida. Although I do have deep-seated feelings of resentment towards UF for being cowardly enough to cut us from their schedule. In the Catholics vs. Convicts rivalry (and it’s a rivalry no matter if the teams play once a half-century; so nuts to the poster who said USC is a bigger rival than Michigan because you play them more often), I’m proud to be a Convict.

Second, Orson how have you not commented on Chris Spielman being called out for farting in the booth live on the air during ESPN’s coverage of the Michigan-Wisconsin game…it was awesome, disgusting and hilarious all the same time!

FIRE MIKE SHULA>>>FIRE THIS PUSSY… PLEASE GOD HELP

In breaking news, Tiffin was put on Suicide Watch this weekend, after the Arkansas loss; they found him in his hotel room, noose around his neck, end tied to the ceiling fan.
Thank goodness he couldn’t connect to kick the chair out from under himself.

Comment by HogInDublin — September 25, 2006 @ 8:20 am

That made my whole week brighter already

Ohio State is being stalked by Gameday because we play at Texas, Penn State, and at Iowa…all in September….we’re badass like that… :)

Whoops, I meant WE’RE BADASS LIKE THAT AND THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW THIS ARE HATED BY GOD AND WILL SUFFER GREATLY…THOSE STUPID SUXORZ!!

Yep, that’s the one…

Ah shit, here comes the semantics.

Phil K.-

If Meeeechigan is your archrival wouldnt that make them your biggest rival. Conversly, if USC is your nemesis wouldnt they then be your most hated rival.
Is there a link to this Chuck Klosterman "Nemesis vs. Archenemy" arguement you speak of?

BEHOLD THE POWER OF GOOGLE.

http://www.wiw.org/~seth/jess/KeepMedia%20%7C%20Esquire_The%20Importance%20of%20Being%20Hated.pdf

Damn, was Tiffin channeling the spirit o’ John Vaughn or what? And what was up with Arkansas’ punter? Sensei Skinner asks, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” as he displays Praying Mantis style!

Have to agree with matt; Bama’s playcalling was execrable. They should have won by at least 2 scores.

Arkansas’ punter Jacob Skinner

last weeks WVU-MD game the announcer said Johnny Holmes’s penetration. I about laughed my ass off

There’s the anti-Catholic bigotry right on cue. Thanks for being predictable, skunkbear.

That’s right, plently of religions have fat girls in the congregation. The nerve of some people…

Phil K – you are wrong. No, I am not a hack from NDNation. I think Klosterman is wrong, too. And besides, even according to Klosterman, USC clearly fits the definition of ARCHENEMY (as well as being our nemesis).

Look, Fielding Yost was a moron – an anti-Catholic moron who felt it his passion in life to revile, ridicule, degrade, and otherwise humiliate Notre Dame. And when he finally did lose to us, he QUIT. He quit playing us, he quit schedulinig us. He didn’t even show up to a game, claiming that ND was “illegally recruiting”. Whatever.

Regardless, what did Notre Dame do? Did they cry foul, and try to make nice? NO, they ignored Yost and Michigan. They said “okay, then, we will go play other schools – like Army and Michigan State and Purdue and Southern California, and you can have your stupid little Michigan existence without us.”

How then does that – the fact that Michigan essentially excluded us from competition for nearly 80 years – make Michigan either a rival or nemesis?

Whatever – it means nothing. On the pantheon that is the tradition of Notre Dame football, Michigan is nothing more than a blip – a blip that for the most part rarely, if ever, outshines that of Fredo.

tzubear – USC is our biggest rival because of the history and…well, I’ll let someone else do a much better job. Below is an excerpt from an explanation by ndoldtown, a poster at NDNation.

DCTrojan – oh come on, you know I was referring to the pedophile crack. Besides, fat chicks need loving, too.

chrisnd – we’ll have to agree to disagree about Klosterman. I have to say that the school that literally taught us the game is hardly a “blip” in the history of our program, and I still contend that Michigan is far more hated than any other program.

Are you from New England? The fact that some ND fans consider Boston College a rivalry is embarassing. Losing to them at all is ridiculous, much less four losses in a row. One more reason for a big “Fuck you” to Footbaw Bob and the Molder of Men.

From ndoldtown’s explanation of why USC is Notre Dame’s greatest rivalry. Link to the whole thing:

http://www.ndnation.com/blog/2006/07/notre-dames-greatest-rival.html

Notre Dame fans often speak in terms of “rivals” and “big games”. Often younger fans are influenced by games that have been important recently, such as Miami in the eighties. Some fans are influenced to call teams they dislike intensely “rivals”, such as Michigan. Others focus on teams that may have had recent success against us, such as Michigan State. In my opinion, there is only one team worthy of being called Notre Dame’s greatest rival, and it is the Trojans of USC. They have earned it.

It is a fact that no team has beaten Notre Dame more than USC and it is a fact that no team has beaten USC more than Notre Dame. This alone would make each school consider the other the prime rival. But it is also a fact that the nature of the wins and losses has been something to behold. No team has had more memorable and — from our perspective — devastating wins over Notre Dame than USC and probably vice versa. USC’s largest loss? 51-0 to Notre Dame in 1966. Worst loss in ND history? In my opinion, 55-24 in 1974. Undefeated seasons lost in the last game of the year? SC did it to ND in 1964, 1970 and 1980 — thats a lot of heartbreak. ND did it to SC in 1952 and 1988.

Heisman winners who have played in the game? 14 – more than in any other rivalry. National Championship teams among the two schools – just counting AP and UP champs 14 – more than in any other rivalry. ND and USC games count for five of the ten most-watched college football games in television history.

But one thing above all of this makes ND-SC the greatest rivalry in college football and that it that it is an “unrequired” rivalry. The schools are not in the same conference, nor are they two schools in the same state who must play each other like Georgia/Georgia Tech or Florida/Florida State. Notre Dame and USC don’t have to play each other and it would be easier if they did not. No regional or conference prerogatives compel the rivalry. What does is an unquenchable desire by each program to take on the best. And that is what puts this game a step up in prestige and glamor from intense “civil wars” and regional slugfests between “tech” and “state”.

In playing this game each year, the schools have caused the rivalry to transcend the regional nature of college football. Auburn/Alabama probably causes more intense hatred within a small area. Michigan/Ohio State is the end of the world for the people from those states. But Notre Dame/USC transcends such games by creating the one and only “national” college football rivalry. Each school brings a particular type of glamour to the game: Southern California cool and midwestern grit. Hollywood/SC glitz versus ND Catholic Irish mystique. It is a rivalry that is just so different from the others that it cannot help but stand out.

Moreover, unlike many who could be considered “rivals” of Notre Dame, USC has never ducked the game, never minimized it and never treated ND as anything other than a valued rival. USC has never alibied that their “conference schedule” is more important and has never tried to pull out of the series during periods when it wasnt going well. If Michigan lost to ND eleven straight years as SC did in the 80s and 90s, does anyone doubt the game would be scotched? Likewise, if Michigan could only beat ND twice in sixteen years as ND was only able to beat SC twice between 1967 and 1982, it is a given that Michigan would retreat to “conference scheduling requirements” as an out. But neither ND nor SC have ever sought out of this game, when the other was riding high. Nor, despite a heated and tough rivalry, has ND/SC ever been characterized by religious, ethnic or off-field squabbles as has been the case with other opponents. Indeed, despite fan remonstrations, this rivalry has been characterized by a remarkable level of respect and bonhomie between the two schools.

DCTrojan – oh come on, you know I was referring to the pedophile crack. Besides, fat chicks need loving, too.

I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can’t deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung… [etc., etc.}

U$C is ND’s only true rival. Michigan is close, and they are certainly more hated, but I don’t consider them a rival simply due to the childish actions of Yost and Schembechler. Those two alone determined UM’s inability to be considered a true rival for ND. Domer fans may hate MSU, Fredo, Purdon’t, or the ‘Canes more, but they don’t rise to the level of a true rivalry for ND.

I would love to see another Catholics vs. Convicts series though.

As one of USC’s AD’s once said “There’s no disgrace in ever losing to Notre Dame but there’s a great deal to be gained by defeating Notre Dame”.

The ND rivalry is most important to one to USC. That’s one of the things that frustrates the UCLA fans and helps make some of them so goofy. They invest so much effort into hating us, and they are just not that important.

OC Phil-
yea, I was greatly amused how 10-1 ,nationally ranked, UCLA tried hard to hype last years game with SC. USC refused to play in to the hype. Several players making comments such as “you have to respect someone for them to be a rival” Ouch! Then SC laid such a beat down on them it was comical. Like watching Larry beat on Curly. After the game SC didnt say a word. No I told you so, no gloating, nothing. Like UCLA dosnt exist. SC gives more respect to Wazzu, Arizona, and Oregon St. All the while UCLA is acting up like a 2 year old, but cant get attention from thier cross town “rivals”.

Phil K. – insightful information, thanks for the link.

Conscience- thanks for the link

I just read the Chuck Klosterman "Nemesis vs. Archenemy" piece and…….well……It is telling it was dated April 1st.

I’ll grant that that’s interesting tzubear, but the piece is in line with Klosterman’s style and worldview. I don’t think it’s a put-on.

maybe Im 100% off, but I refuse to believe i am watching greatness as two silly high school girls act like imbeciles.
Whats more, I know many successful people, a few very successful. It is common for them to be driven to prove themselves and have the gravitas to act on it, NONE have a single nemesis, particularly one who is there best friend.