Time to lower standards? No way

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It's been said many times over the past few years.

"Notre Dame should lower its expectations."

It's a notion that has gained steam and has reached its pinnacle given the recent struggles of the Irish. We could go through all of the trials and tribulations over the last couple of decades, but they have been pretty well documented. In a nutshell, Notre Dame is 91-66 since Lou Holtz retired. The Irish had lost nine-straight bowl games before winning the Hawaii Bowl after last year's 6-6 regular-season finish. 2007 was the worst year in Notre Dame football history. Etc, etc, etc.

Now another chapter in the story of Notre Dame football appears to be very close to the end. Going into the 2009 season, a veteran team with a vaunted offense and a reasonable schedule was expected by many Irish fans and outsiders alike to be a major part of the BCS conversation. In fact, the general consensus was that nothing short of a BCS berth would save Charlie Weis' job. And even after a heart-wrenching loss to USC, Notre Dame still looked pretty good in that regard. But after getting out-played in back-to-back weeks by Navy and Pittsburgh, it looks as if the ride only has three more stops before Weis gets off.l

After a third-straight disappointing season, the echoes that once seemed to have been awoken have been drowned out by that chant once again: "Notre Dame should lower its standards."

The basic premise of the argument is that the landscape of college football and the sociology of America itself has changed in such a way that Notre Dame can never regain the prominence and dominance it once had over the sport and that based on this, the university and its fans should not expect so much out of its program.

The argument used to be that Notre Dame should lower its academic standards in order to attract a larger number of top-notch prospects. Now the argument has turned to Notre Dame should just give up on being a premier program.

There's only one way to describe this line of thinking, whether you are a fan or the biggest Notre Dame hater on the planet. That kind of talk is excrement from a bovine that happens to be male. Forget politics, forget sociology, forget the landscape of modern college football. Any program, regardless of size, success (both recent and historical), or affluence is striving towards the same goal - excellence. If you are in charge of a sports team and you are not, you don't deserve to keep your job.

You can hate the attention that the Fighting Irish get from the press. You can hate their exclusive contract with NBC. You can hate Lou Holtz and his senile, lisp-ridden ramblings. You can hate the (false) perception that Notre Dame gets preferential treatment by the BCS. You can hate the fact that they remain an independent. Don't hate Notre Dame for continuing to want to be the best and don't blame them for continuing to try. That's the business they are in.

Big Ten gets back at Notre Dame?

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

You probably have figured it out by now, but for those who haven't, I'm a Notre Dame football fan.

So you can imagine my dismay at the 38-34 loss at the hands of Michigan on Saturday.

I am going to share a theory with you, but let me preface it with this: Michigan played one hell of a football game. Tate Forcier was ten times the player I thought - and probably Notre Dame thought - he would be in his second career game as a true freshman and the Michigan defense, despite giving up 34 points, was impressive in its ability to keep pressure on Jimmy Clausen in the second half.

With that said, it's conspiracy theory time.

Since the Big Ten media day - and even before that, really - there was a great deal of talk about expansion and a great deal of talk about that 12th team being Notre Dame. Now, Notre Dame has not been in discussions with the Big Ten about joining at all this decade, but with all the recent expansion talk, the team that snubbed the Big Ten way back when was the main topic of that conversation.

Now enter Notre Dame at Michigan for the first game of their Big Ten schedule. Last year, Notre Dame went 2-1 against Big Ten opponents - the same three teams they face this season. One of those wins was a 35-17 drubbing of the rebuilding Michigan squad.

This year, Michigan is better. Notre Dame is ranked 18th in the country. What better way to show the country that the Big Ten doesn't need the Irish than to have an unranked, unproven team beat them?

Here's where conspiracy comes in. The game is being played in the Big House, so Big Ten officials are calling the game. Mind you, Michigan is the only team on Notre Dame's schedule that insists on using Big Ten officials. For all other away games, Notre Dame brings Big East officials and visitors to Notre Dame stadium bring their conference's officials. It's pretty much how it works when teams from any conference visit an out-of-conference opponent. But not Michigan when they play the Irish.

ABC commentators Sean McDonough and Matt Millen spent most of the game talking about how the Big Ten referees had a big meeting about how they were going to put an "emphasis on holding calls" this year. And it showed. Many a flag were thrown in the game and big plays called back because of it. It killed the flow of the game and was highly irritating, but was pretty consistent throughout. However, with the game in the balance, the officials miss a blatant holding call. If you watch the replay (there are some hanging around out there that ABC and ESPN haven't squashed), you'll see the running back - I believe it was Minor - grab the blitzing linebacker and turn him. According to Millen, who explained the rule on a questionable holding call on the Irish earlier in the game, if a blocker gets his hands outside on a defensive player and twists him, it will be called a penalty. However, Michigan got a pass. And as a reult, they got a touchdown and a national ranking.

I'm not going to talk about some of the other questionable calls, like calling a celebration penalty on Armando Allen, but not on Michigan for leaving the bench, but specifically the phantom step out of bounds on Armando Allen's touchdown on a screen pass. The officials can't see the future. they can't know that four points was going to be the difference in the ball game. Yet it was a blown call on the replay. The sideline angle - which was the best one, not the one shot from the top of the stadium in the wrong side of the field - was inconclusive at worst and at best showed he never touched. In fact, the Big East officials that reviewed that tape have come to the defense of Notre Dame (and you know how rocky the relationship between the Big East and Notre Dame football is), saying there is no evidence he ever stepped out.

That's not to say all the blame in this game goes to the officials. On the field, Notre Dame made critical errors. And on the sidelines, Weis made the biggest of all, throwing with three minutes remaining on three-straight plays in a short yardage situation, allowing Michigan to conserve its timeouts. While Armando Allen was out of the game at that point with an ankle injury, wasn't one of the strengths of this team heading into the season the fact that they had three guys who could step in and run the football?

In any event, Weis passed and while he wanted a pass interference call on the defender draped all over Golden Tate, he got no help, and probably shouldn't have on that one. The rest is history. Michigan probably shouldn't have even been in a position to win the game, but thanks in large part to Weis' mismanagement, they were. But in the end, the officials just might have turned a blind eye to the holding they were so adament about calling all game long.

Boston College: The biggest inferiority complex in college sports

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

In dating a so-called Superfan, who was also a member of the Boston College marching and pep bands, I have come to learn one very real fact: the Eagles only truly hate teams that are better than they are. All of the so-called "rivalries" the school has in its major sports, whether it be football, basketball or hockey, are mostly one-sided, based more on envy than anything.

To ask a Superfan about one of their rivals is to learn that every team the Eagles have a rivalry with sucks, despite what any number of national championships or any other statistics might lead you to believe. Boston College is the greatest athletic program to grace God's green earth. Everyone else should be insanely jealous and Superfans just can't figure out why no one actually is.

Well, here it is, spelled out plain and simple for all you Boston College fans. In the great scheme of things, you really aren't that good now and you really have very little history of ever being very good.

Let's start with football.

Boston College fans want you to think that the series with Notre Dame is an age-old tradition dating back to the early days of college football which they have dominated for the past decade. In truth, in the eyes of Golden Domers, Boston College takes a back seat to USC, Michigan, Michigan State and some would even argue Navy. In reality, the "Holy War" series has only lasted 18 games and the only thing that makes it truly notable is the fact that these are the two only Catholic universities playing Division 1 football at the bowl championship level. The two teams first met in 1975, but did not play each other regularly until the 1990's. Even the Eagles' series with Notre Dame hockey has a greater history in terms of games played and longevity. It's true that from 2000-2008, the Eagles have held a 6-1 advantage, but even with that, the series is still tied, 9-9.

Eagles fans like to point to their recent head-to-head dominance as evidence that Boston College is a better program than Notre Dame, overlooking the fact that Notre Dame holds 11 national championships (or 13, depending on who you ask) to Boston College's zero. For those keeping score, no team has as many national titles as the Fighting Irish.

Boston College also likes to mention recent bowl success over the last decade, but since the BCS's inception in the 1998-1999 season, the Irish have been to three BCS bowls, something Boston College has never done. They have gone to distinguished bowls such as the Meineke Car Care Bowl, MPC Computers Bowl and the Continental Tire Bowl, however.

Notre Dame boasts 178 All-Americans to Boston College's 10 and seven Heisman Trophy winners to the Eagles' Doug Flutie. Ten Irish have gone on to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Two Eagles have that distinction.

Notre Dame football has only had 11 losing seasons in 102 years. Boston College football has had 23 in 74 years, over 30 percent. Bottom line, a nine-win season at Boston College is considered a success. A nine-win season at Notre Dame is a disappointment.

In hockey, the Superfan's obsession with Boston University can at least be legitmized by the two teams' close proximity. Both even share the same branch of the Green Line. Because of this, the rivalry actually has longevity. But that's about where the conversation ends.

While the half-full student section at Conte Forum likes to chant "Sucks to BU," nothing could be further from the truth. First off, in head-to-head play, the Terriers lead the all-time series 123-106-17. Boston College holds the edge in Hockey East tournament and regular season titles, but seeing as both teams played in the ECAC beforehand, BU holds more combined titles. In all, the Terriers have won 14 regular-season league titles to BC's 11, while winning 12 conference tournaments to the Eagles' 10.

Boston University has also dominated the bragging rights in Boston, having won the Beanpot 29 times. That's right. BU has won more Beanpot finals than Boston College has participated in.

But with all that, the most striking number is this: BU also holds the edge where it counts the most, having won five national championships, while Boston College has only won three.

The most pathetic "rivalries" of them all might fall in the realm of basketball, however. The Eagles don't have any real heated rivalries with any out-of-conference teams. UMass is a fabricated series without much conscequence and Notre Dame holds some sentimentality because of BC's Big East days and the simple fact that it's a team from South Bend.

But at this point, Superfans concentrate most of their hatred on natural in-conference "rivals" with whom they really have no business being in the same conversation.

With three national championships, Duke has as many titles as Boston College has Elite Eight appearances. Boston College has never advanced past that point, something Duke has done 14 times. The Blue Devils have won 21 conference tournament titles as well as 21 regular season titles, compared to BC's three and four, respectively. And yes, those numbers for BC are combined between both the Big East and the ACC.

As if that wasn't good enough, Superfans also like to spit venom at North Carolina, who surpasses Duke in the number of national championships (5), final four appearances (22), conference tournament championships (25) and regular-season titles (34).

So can these really be considered rivalries or sad expressions of feelings of inadequacy. There are plenty of good - but not great - athletic programs all around the country and most of them realize exactly what they are. Why is it that Boston College fans can't figure it out?

Notre Dame's schedule: Built for success or set up for failure?

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

There are officially 31 days remaining until Notre Dame football kicks off and only a few days until two-a-days start. Along with that comes more and more buzz surrounding the Fighting Irish. Will this team finally realize its full potential? Will Charlie Weis be able to hold his job? Is a BCS bowl a legitimate possibility for the Irish?

For all the talk of how soft the schedule is, there are quite a few teams that will provide serious challenges for the Irish. While actual preseason polls by the AP and USA Today don't come out a little while yet, some have already gone ahead and made their own and it's interesting to note some of the tough matchups found on this "easy" schedule:

According to CollegeFootballPoll.com, which uses strictly computer-generated projections, Notre Dame has three Top-25 teams on its schedule: USC at No. 3, Michigan State at No. 7 and Pittsburgh at No. 12. It also has both Michigan State and USC going undefeated, so take this as you would any computer ranking, with a grain of salt. Still, many times computers have the advantage of not overthinking things and this particular computer module has been pretty accurate.

At any rate, if you put any stock in these rankings, Notre Dame (ranked 45th by the computer, by the way), faces a total of five teams in college football's Top-50 and seven in the top half, giving them a strength of schedule that ranks 38th. On top of MSU, USC and Pitt, Nevada ranks 33rd, while Boston College ranks 41st. Connecticut comes in at 55, while Stanford ranks 60th.

Outside of these teams, the competition does drop off. But then again, Florida plays Florida International and Missisippi State. Washington, Washington State and Purdue all are all but sure to be wins and while they might be a tad underrated, Notre Dame has dominated Navy with the exception of 2007. So let's just assume (yeah, we all know what that does) that these are four wins in the books. Despite the fact Michigan is ranked 77th, you can't consider any game played at the Big House a definite win, so they don't fall into this category. That leaves the Irish with eight potentially "lose-able" games. Let's take a look at each matchup and what Notre Dame needs to do to win.

USC
Even without Mark Sanchez, the USC offense will be fully charged and ready to give the Notre Dame defense all it can handle. Nine returners, including the entire offensive line will make it a long day for the Notre Dame front seven. The only shot Notre Dame really has in this game is to take advantage of a young USC secondary. The problem with that lies in the fact that though they're young, the Tojans are exceptionally talented on defense. Weis will need to do some serious coaching to try and get Tate and Floyd out on an island in the passing game. Still, it probably won't be enough.

Michigan State
Javon Ringer won't torch the Blue And Gold for 200 yards this year and it's hard to tell exactly what the identity of the offense is going to be this season, making this a very difficult game to break down so early. The key may lie in an improved Spartans' defense. They did not do an excellent job at getting at the quarterback last year and if the Notre Dame offensive line can give Clausen time, it could very well spell victory for the Irish

Pittsburgh
Last year's classic 4OT game was a heartbreaker for the Irish and pretty much the epitome of their season. This year the biggest factor in this game could be turnovers. With LeSean McCoy gone, the Panthers will have to rely on Bill Stull, a quarterback with a career 11-10 TD-INT ratio. Notre Dame did not do much in the way of forcing turnovers last year, but if they are able to put pressure on Stull and force some mistakes, it puts the team in a very good position. If Clausen can also avoid turnovers himself (something he managed to do in last year's matchup, surprisingly), chalk up an Irish victory.

Nevada
Nevada's offense has been well-documented and the Irish's woes in stopping the run last year, while not as well documented, were also apparent. Moving to a 4-3 defense should help with that as the defensive line will be this team's main strength. While the Blue and Gold like to blitz under defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta, but will probably have to be more disciplined against a great running team like the Wolf Pack. Offensively, Jimmy Clausen and company will have plenty of chances against the defense that ranked 119th in the league last season. To use a Maddenism, it will come down to who can score more often and given the weapons the Irish have in the passing game in Golden Tate, Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph, they have to be considered to have an edge.

Boston College
The Eagles' main strength last year becomes a major question mark this season with the departure of B.J. Raji and Ron Brace and the fact that All-American linebacker Mark Herzlich is not expected to play at all while battling a rare bone cancer. The linebackers and secondary are still solid, but major holes exist on the defensive line. If Notre Dame can generate a running game, something they've lacked the past two seasons, it will make life a lot easier on Clausen. The Eagles most likely will rely on the running game. They probably would have done this with or without Dominque Davis, who was suspended and announced he's transferring, but now the ground game becomes ever-important. The Irish have to remain stout against the run and make the passing game (led by whichever backup wins the starting job) beat them. But let's not forget that Irish teams better than this year's have lost to BC teams worse than this one.

Connecticut
The Nutmegers have just decided rightly not to accept Notre Dame's proposal of a series in which UConn's home games would be played at either Foxboro Stadium or the Meadowlands. They're basically saying they're big-time enough that they don't need Notre Dame. Now's their chance to prove it. However, they'll be trying to do so without Donald Brown and his 2,000-plus yards. Defense will be a huge key in this game. UConn quietly put together one of the best defensive seasons in the country last year. Most notable in regards to this matchup is the fact that they were ninth in passing defense, allowing just 168.2 yards per game. They were also very good against the run, but are much weaker this season on the line, so if the Irish can put together some kind of rushing attack and hold onto the football, they should be able to control this game.

Stanford
Stanford has gotten better each of the past two seasons and looks to continue improving. Throw on top of that the fact that Stanford could have a chance to play spoiler the way they did for USC two years ago and this is a dangerous matchup. If Stanford somehow gets a lead, they can use Toby Gerhart to control the clock. That is, IF Stanford can get the ball back by any other means besides a kickoff. The Cardinal's defense is less than spectacular, ranking in the bottom half of the nation in points allowed and total defense and the offense doesn't figure to be able to put up as many points as they are letting up. If the Irish can get a big enough lead and put the game in Tavita Prichard's hands, they are in a good position.

Michigan
Year two of the Rich Rodriguez experiment will be in full swing and the team's expectations will be the exact opposite of a year ago. Last season the defense was expected to make up for the lack of offense. This season, the offense holds the strength in their experience and having a year or Rodriguez's spread option under its belt. The defense turned out to be dismal last year with a boatload of star power and that is all but gone this year, leaving the cupboard very bare for defensive coordinator Greg Robinson. The Irish would welcome a shootout with the Wolverines and jsut might get their wish.

Big Ten Expansion! Keep out Notre Dame?

By Matt Ingram
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

"I'm oooooold! And I'm not happy! And I don't like things now compared to the way they used to be." - Dana Carvey as The Grumpy Old Man on SNL

If I were 82 years old and was the winningest coach in college football I guess I would speak my mind freely too. That's what Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno did at an alumni event on Wednesday. Paterno would love to see a 12th team join the Big Ten to help with scheduling and of course a lucrative conference title game. That sounds great to me, the problem is "Joe Pa" wants nothing to do with Notre Dame being that school added.

As a huge Notre Dame fan, I believe this would be the best thing for the school and the conference. Paterno says no, he'd like to see either Rutgers, Pittsburgh or Syracuse join the Big Ten. Penn State joined as the conference's 11th team in 1990, so does he get to choose who becomes the 12th. Paterno said he'd like the Big Ten to add an Eastern school, especially one that plays in the New York media market. That would seem to favor Rutgers. "If I had my choice, someone that can give us the biggest TV exposure in the East," Paterno said, offering as possibilities "Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers. Not in that order."

The Fighting Irish rejected an invitation to join the Big Ten more than a decade ago for great reasons. At the time they were still a national powerhouse and NBC was paying big bucks to have the exclusive television rights for all home games. Yes Notre Dame has been down for the past decade, excluding the last two Brady Quinn years. But, there is an ebb and flow to college football that Penn State knows very well with a 26-33 record the first five years of this decade and 40-11 the last four.

"There's some pressure, I would suppose, to maybe go back to Notre Dame and ask again, which I would not be happy with," Paterno said. "I think they've had their chance."

Notre Dame is the most polarizing school by far in the country, you either love 'em or you hate 'em. But, the Irish would bring in more recruits to the Big Ten and much larger TV ratings than Syracuse, Pitt, or Rutgers could ever hope for. Does the elderly Paterno realize what kind of a following Notre Dame has worldwide. If he is looking to add a school for TV exposure it doesn't make sense to take a school from the Big East that nobody watches anyways. There is no need to snatch a school that is already affiliated with a conference. Take the independent ND and watch the TV numbers soar for the Big Ten you old fool.

"Progress?! Flobble-de-flee! In my day, when we were angry and frustrated, we just said, 'Flobble-de-flee!' 'cause we were idiots and we didn't know what else to say! Just a bunch o' illiterate Cro-Magnons, blowin' on crusty handkerchiefs, waitin' in lines for our head to burst into flame and that's the way it was and we liked it!" - Dana Carvey as The Grumpy Old Man on SNL