Irish Musings
Season 2006 #12
December 17, 2006
Prior to the seventyleventh “game of the century”
between two teams 200 miles apart and from the same conference, gurus, nitwits,
announcers, talking heads and previously seemingly rational people began talking
about a rematch between these two teams.
Why would anyone have wanted a
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Michigan, in effect, lost the playoff for the big ten
championship!
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And, what about OSU?
What were they supposed to think and feel if their great victory over
Irish hearts sank low on Saturday evening two days
after Thanksgiving Day. The boys were in
it, in the mix of it all, in a way that we feel sure made The Rock proud for a
few short minutes in the second quarter when they blocked a punt and
intercepted two of Booty’s passes in a row.
But, sad to say, out of that peculiar mess of pottage, there were only
three more points on the board, and at that point in the game, it was
essentially over. The inability of the
Irish to capitalize on those three opportunities led to desperation in the
fourth quarter, an onside kick that was returned by the hated enemy to clinch
the outcome for all time. And a score
that strangely seemed worse than the game looked while watching it.
What if?
What if the Irish had scored just one measly TD after
one of those three turnovers? What a
difference that would have made! But we
might as well calculate the ability of Sancho Panza and Don Quixote to turn the
Earth on its axis as fantasize about a victory over USC that night.
ON THAT PARTICULAR NIGHT, AS HAS BEEN THE CASE SO MANY
TIMES THAT THE IRISH HAVE FACED OFF AGAINST THIS FOE, THE ENEMY HAS PEAKED FOR
THEIR ENCOUNTER WITH THE BLUE AND GOLD, WHILE THE RAMBLERS HAVE BEEN CAUGHT
WITH LESS THAN THEIR BEST!
Some of you folks out there are complaining about
Brady, complaining that he does not step up like he should in the big games,
that he is not good in the clutch, that he botches too many short passes,
etc. And, some of you compare him to Joe
Montana. We certainly don't want to be
critical about Joe, who is one of our all-time favorite. But there are some facts, to wit:
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It is indisputable that Joe had a great defense and a
running game and Brady has not had these assets.
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Joe also had a great offensive line.
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But, Joe was a very inconsistent performer
in many ways.
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There are reasons why Joe was not mentioned for All
American and for the Heisman.
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If you doubt, just look at the production for the
first two games of his senior year. Just
like Brady and the Irish in Brady’s senior year, the great promise of the
season was over after an early Michigan game!
Here is the skinny on Brady. His two years makes are the best two years
for any Notre Dame quarterback statistically.
No one else even comes close. He
belongs in a select group of quarterbacks who have made Irish fans ecstatic and
these include Johnny Lujack, Ralph Guglielmi, Paul Hornung, Tom Clements, Joe
Montana and Tony Rice. In his junior
year he engineered three miraculous comebacks, two of which fell short, but not
because of him. In his senior year, he
engineered two miraculous comebacks both of which ended in a win! He will be drafted in the first round and
probably will be the number one pick, the first time for Notre Dame since Walt
Patulski in 1972. And he will be a great
pro. If Brady improves half as much as
Joe did when he goes from college to the pros, then he too will be in the Hall
of Fame. It is time for Notre Dame fans
to realize that the 2005-2006 teams were not championship caliber and that they
are fortunate for many victories over the last two years.
For those of you who think that Notre Dame stinks this
year……
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Hey, ND won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy!!!!!!
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It turns out that all the big games are the ones the
Irish lose!
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If ND wins a game, any game, history re-writes it as
something other than a big game!
Consider Michigan in 2005. How
quickly people forget! How about Georgia
Tech and Purdue this year? UCLA? It seems to us that they beat a good team!
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Would you rather be 10-2 or have the records justly
earned this year by the likes of all time powers such as Alabama, Tennessee,
Miami, Penn State, Michigan State, Nebraska, and many others
And then for those of you whose feet are always off
the ground, ponder the supreme metaphysical question contributed to us by
Brother Dunn, a proud Dukie, who asks naively asks us “What is a bowl
game? Is not that question
charming. But you must realize that such
a question should bring you good cheer at this time of the year and lead you to
be thankful for the bountiful blessings that Irish fans do have, blessings that
two short years ago seemed as remote to all of us as discovering the fabled
Northwest Passage to India!!
After the USC game ND fans received a fantastic
Christmas present when the Irish stole Armando Allen out from under the nose of
Urban Meyer! Virtually no one had
expected Allen to be Irish, but at the last minute, when he was told he could
enroll this coming January, he came aboard!
We have seen a very
long highlight reel on this guy sent by Brother Steve Zeber and it is simply
the most spectacular running I have ever seen. He does it all, wide, up
the middle, slicing like Walker, powering it, off tackle, screen passes.
He goes all the way in all the possible ways there are to go all the way.
If he is healthy, he plays next year! He
will make Darius better! He is
reminiscent of Reggie Brooks, only a lot better. Unlike Reggie he is a great receiver coming
out of the backfield and a threat to break it every time he touches the
ball. He is the perfect antidote and counterbalance
to a green O-line.
In the last few days
the Irish have gobbled up three more gems: a defensive tackle that has a great
bull rush and swim move, Ian Williams, an all around great from Tennessee,
Golden Tate—a player who shines on offense, but could play some D for the Irish
next year and now just yesterday, Taylor Dever, 6’6” 290, an O lineman from
Nevada Union. Both Tate and Dever are
slightly surprising as no one had thought they were in the Leprechaun bag!
Random Irish Musings:
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We see a problem on the Irish defense over the past
two years—which is that there are an awful lot of missed tackles. Note how the Eagles and the Seahawks as well
as many other teams have been suffering from similar afflictions. It appears to us that it is due to a failure
to teach basic fundamentals of tackling, specifically, that you cannot roll
tackle or shoulder butt with success.
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Could someone please explain to us how and why
Southern Cal gets to claim a NC for a year when they did not even play for
it? Only Alabama could get away with
this egregious nonsense besides the Trojans!
We know the answer, but we don't think it makes any sense! Can anyone make it make sense?
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Why are the Irish playing LSU? Last time we looked, LSU did not even win
their division in the sec, and they did not make their conference playoff! That means there are two teams from the sec
that are better than the Tigers! Of
course, they are the Gators and the Razorbacks.
Since LSU is ranked number 4 and there are two teams in their conference
that are better, then there are three teams in the country from the sec in the
top ten. This little syllogism reveals
just how stupid the whole system has become.
Without a playoff, we will never know what the best team is!
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Why is there a move for conferences to establish a
playoff game, but no move for Division IA to set up a playoff system when it is
the only NCAA sport without a playoff?
The Irish are a fat nine point underdog for the Sugar
Bowl. This spread may shrink a smidgeon,
but it is likely to hold up fairly well.
The common perception now is that the Irish can’t win the big one and
until the Irish do win a bowl or a biggie against a top ranked team, they will
be regarded as underdogs.
Most pundits do not believe that the D backs can play
with LSU’s three great receivers, even though JaMarcus Russell is an
inconsistent passer.
Charlie
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