Maybe you yourself don't feel like that and if so then what I think doesn't apply to you and you don't share along in the guilt.
That said I've gotten tired of the national media and how they've gone into detail, even excruciating detail about how ND is so pure. First of all your student body was the one that sold the t shirts Catholics vs Convicts when you played the U. Your officials always went on about how ND wanted to stop playing teams like the U because they didn't have the right perspective about fb. That ND didn 't want to play teams that had been on probation your own school officials were quoted saying it.
To hear some ND people and especially the national media act every ND fb player could have gotten into an Ivy League school.
ND players never took steroids.
No ND player ever got a $100 handshake from an alum after a fb game.
ND never broke any rules, ever.
Remember the comic strip Tank McNamara that appeared in the sports pages in the 80's? They used to mock ND calling them the "University without sin".
The national media never let up on this line of thought during the Lou Holtz era. The national press, ESPN, the Sporting News, and especially SI. Even the NFL pre game shows chimed in. Like I said ND fb benefited tremendously from this free publicity.
Now Lou Holtz, who I respect and thought was a great coach used to say in interviews all the time that when it came to academics ND recruited the same players everybody did they didn't go after someone different. He flat out said that ND had a few kids who were admitted that were on the border so to speak.
Look Bob Golic an AA an all pro and a free spirit to say the least once said that the attitude of the ND players when it came to school was that C's will get you degrees and on tv laughed about saying he got a degree in anthropology that he probably won't use now that his playing days are over. He even implied that if you get into ND all you have to do is make a half *** effort on a paper you'll get passed.
So yeah I took it all personally and when ND gets back to the level they were during the Holtz and Parsagheian days the media will once again pick up where they left off. As if there are no other schools with great academics and great fb tradition except ND. As if schools, like TX, MI, and ST, don't exist.
I don't know how good a chance we have on Sunday night we are going to have to bring our A game but we'll have to wait and see. I do think Brian Kelly is without question, a top ten coach. They got it wrong with Davie, Willingham, and Weis, after Holtz left but they got it right with BK.
I'll never forget New Years Day 1979 when Joe Montana led that incredible comeback against cougar high in the Cotton Bowl. That's when I began to wonder about the luck of the Irish or that ND is blessed from above. Jerome Bettis was a **** of a player and he deserved to be voted into the HOF as have other ND players.
There’s a word I’ve picked up since I moved to Texas a decade or so ago, “butthurt”. As best I can tell, it means “to be bitter and angry over superficial matters”. I’ve never used the term myself before now, but there’s a lot of “butthurt” in your post.
“First of all your student body was the one that sold the t shirts Catholics vs Convicts when you played the U.”
So what? This broke no law or university regulation. It was hilarious then and I still have mine.
“Your officials always went on about how ND wanted to stop playing teams like the U because they didn't have the right perspective about fb.”
Uh, no, they stopped playing Miami because of the (nationally televised) fight in the tunnel before the 1988 game. The image-conscious ND brass didn’t want another, so they didn’t publically announced that they wouldn’t renew the series after it expired in 1990. They also stopped playing Georgia Tech (or, more accurately, declined to renew the series when it expired after 1980) after the 1978 game when bottles and fish were thrown at the Irish sidelines, causing both teams to share the GT sideline for the remainder of the game. They generally don’t play teams that have recently been on probation, though they made an exception in 1989 by leaving SMU (the year they started playing again after their 2-year death penalty) at SMU’s request, as the SMU folks thought the visibility would help their program. The non-renewal (and recent renewal) of the Michigan series has received lots of attention (though not the fact that Michigan was set to cancel the series in 2012 due to the B10 expanding conference play to 9 games before ND beat them to the punch in canceling because of ND’s new arrangement with the ACC). Can you name any other series that ND has cancelled or not renewed for what you consider a nefarious reason? Good luck.
“To hear some ND people and especially the national media act every ND fb player could have gotten into an Ivy League school.”
They probably could have, as football players. I know two guys who played football for an Ivy (Harvard, Penn), and both were recruited by various DI schools, none of which had stellar academic reputations. Ivy League schools give admissions breaks to FB players same as everyone else. It is true, though, that there are a handful of athletes that don’t make it past ND’s admissions board that do end up on other DI rosters. Only Stanford has higher admissions requirements among DI FB schools for FB players. This is common knowledge, and easily verifiable. ND has occasionally bent its standards to allow a non-qualifier (Tony Rice and Chris Zorich, for example, both of whom graduated on time, with Zorich later going to law school). Again, what's your problem here? That ND occasionally allows exceptions to its own rules?
“ND players never took steroids.”
I'm sure they do take them. I know of no fellow alum who says differently. The school randomly tests them 2-6 times a year. What more would you like them to do? What does USC do? Ohio State? Alabama?
“No ND player ever got a $100 handshake from an alum after a fb game.”
I know ND has never been put on probation for athletes receiving money from alums, nor have ND folks even been suspected of engaging in this type of thing. Does it go on? I can’t prove it doesn’t, but as ND has never been either accused nor even suspected of allowing this type of thing to take place, I don’t know why I should have to.
“ND never broke any rules, ever.”
There were two minor NCAA violations in 1950’s and 1970’s – one for holding an illegal practice and the other for a local business using a player’s photo in an advertisement – and there was one major violation in 1999. The major violation was a woman who was dating a football player (whom she had a kid with and later married) who spent a lot of money on him and his friends (some of whom were also Irish players) that was later found out to have been embezzled by her from her company. As she was neither an ND alum, employee, nor on any ND board, nor an agent of any kind, Holtz (this stuff happened in 1994-6, but the NCAA didn’t investigate until later) did nothing. It was later found out that she was a $25 member of the Quarterback Club, which meant she got to go to brunch with the coaches on Fridays before home games. The NCAA ridiculously ruled that this $25 membership made her an “official of the university” and claimed ND had committed a major violation. Their punishment was the loss of 10 scholarships.
If you know of any other violations, it would be news to me, ND, and the NCAA.
As for the “free publicity”, yes, when you have the largest fanbase in the country, media outlets will give you plenty of coverage. The Lakers and Celtics, UCLA, Kentucky, and Indiana basketball, the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs.. all have gotten (and still get) plenty of ink even through periods where they're not serious title contenders. Why is this a problem for you?
As for Bob Golic, and ND athletes in general, yes, their academic interest ranges from “serious” to “not as serious” to “do the minimum needed to get by”. So what? ND strives mightily to see that their athletes receive an education and a degree. The motivation to take advantage of this must come from the athlete. About half of those that pursue the “do the minimum needed to get by” end up transferring somewhere else, but a handful graduate while shortchanging themselves. What would you have the school do, exactly?
Here the thing, and hopefully it will save you the time typing out more half-assed accusations against ND: I know much more about ND, warts and all, than you do. I’ve seen how the sausage gets made at both a state school (where I was an athlete) and at ND (where I lived with athletes and continue to be involved in boards and alumni groups). ND’s was cleaner and more ethical by a country mile, but it was not perfect. ND is not perfect, and never will be. ND is not above reproach, and never will be. But they strive mightily to be perfect and above reproach, and for this they deserve credit. Maybe your alma mater or favorite school also strives this way and for that they also deserve credit. Maybe they don’t, and should rightly be called on it. But, again, throwing dirt on ND won’t change the amount of credit or criticism your school gets. So what exactly are you trying to accomplish which such silly – and largely inaccurate or superficial – accusations?
I've already spent more time on you than your accusations deserve. For your own sake, I hope you find a more deserving outlet for your "butthurt" feelings... I hear there's an election coming up featuring two, shall we say, less-than-ideal candidates. Maybe you can focus your ire there....
