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.