As a lifelong C-U resident and Notre Dame fan, I've always had an interest in the Irish joining the Big Ten. There have been opportunities in the past where I though it might happen. Today on SI.com, this article drew my interest.
It kinda makes sense this time around with ND being lousy in football, the top Big Ten teams having trouble on a national scale, and the Big Ten Network being available to next to no one.
It will never happen. ND will not give up a share of all that guaranteed dough. That is all it is about, ratings and team performance change weekly, that guaranteed money does not.
It will never happen. ND will not give up a share of all that guaranteed dough.
Unless, they suck so bad that they lose their special TV deal. Talk about a lot of pressure on a football coach!!!!! ('Yeah, he was such a lousy coach, we got thrown off NBC and had to join the Big Ten')
heh
I believe it would be good for the Big Ten, oops eleven, to have 12 teams. I am not sure it should be ND although the Big 10 Network might like it.
Why did Weis get a long extension so quickly? I don't see that he was any better than the last guy.
xian, that question has been asked by more than a few columnists on sports websites, including ESPN.com's Pat Forde (the relevant ND portion is in the first section of his article). Especially since the previous coach, Willingham, has been somewhat successful since being dismissed from ND. Personally, from what I've read and seen, my opinion is that Weis used the ever-present threat of going back to the NFL to secure a long-term, high salaried extension from ND.
HG
Thanks HG. That makes sense. I can't say I'm sorry. I hate ND with a passion and hope they lose every game by 50. Weis is making my hopes come to fruition.
"Thanks HG. That makes sense. I can't say I'm sorry. I hate ND with a passion and hope they lose every game by 50. Weis is making my hopes come to fruition"
Cosign.
Raised as a strong anti-ND college football fan (maybe it was the lingering anti-Catholicism in the family tree ;-) ), the only time I ever, ever cheered for ND was when Willingham was the coach. He was coming off a successful run as coach at Stanford University (4 bowl games in 7 years, including one trip to the Rose Bowl), and was hired to coach ND. I was honestly kinda excited to see Willingham coach there; proven track record of succeeding at an academically tough school (Stanford); being a high-profile, successful black coach in college football hired as the first black coach in ND history, etc. etc.
When ND fired Willingham after 3 seasons (and his record after those three seasons was 21-15, a mark that Weis will be lucky to equal), any possibility of me ever liking ND in the realm of college football evaporated. It's one thing to fire a coach after it's been proven that he can't win or recruit, but Willingham never got that chance. He may not be as good a coach as Weis is, but he's a much better recruiter: one of the best examples in Forde's article is this:
and much like xian and IP, I'll now be rooting for ND to lose every game, by as wide a margin as possible...
HG
Saturdays are becoming just painful for me.