[NU Sports] No DiNardo is Fired

[sjtruog at jorsm.com]

What?! I'm outraged. How classless ... he was never given a cha ...

Eh, it's Indiana. I doubt many folks on campus even noticed.:)

It's been awhile since the Big Ten had two openings in a year though,
hasn't it? Certainly the quality of coaches in the league has improved
lately -- with Kirk Ferentz and John L. Smith doing some amazing jobs the
past couple years. But I really doubt Illinois and Indiana will go after
(or be able to attract) big-name coaches.

As for the Notre Dame fiasco ...

- I too read the Trib's description of Urban Meyer's clause about "Notre
Dame AND Michigan and OSU" with interest. The national media seems to just
be reporting the ND escape clause. Perhaps the chance of Michigan opening
up through retirement or Ohio State through scandal is what worried the
Domers much more than Florida.

- I'm really tempted to hire a chorus of violins to follow Bob Davie
around for all his media interviews following this firing. Favorite part:
He keeps saying ND's schedule is soooooo tough and that if they were in a
conference they'd have some breaks, but instead ND has a big-name opponent
every week. Yeah ... no breaks with those service academy games every
year.:)

- As for ND being THE top job, I'm still not convinced. I don't think
there is a single top job in college sports today ... anyone at one of the
Michigans, Oklahomas, Tennessees, etc. probably feels they have it and
they're right in a way. The parity, the facilities, the TV coverage, etc.
haven't brought total parity, but they have really leveled the playing
field among the top 20 or so programs. Meyer's escape clause lists three
schools ... not just Notre Dame.

Just look at the candidates Notre Dame attracted the last two coaching
hunts -- not exactly the best and brightest clawing for the chance to walk
the hallowed sidelines. They do have more national network games, I give
you, but most folks have ESPN now, and those are national -- as are CBS'
SEC games, and ABC's Big Ten games reach a majority of viewers. ESPN
devoted 20 minutes to it because of a slow news day in sports.:) It was a
surprising turn of events and newsworthy ... ND's past makes them college
football royalty and this is one of their bigger blunders ... if nothing
else, the classless way it was handled really debunks the myth that Notre
Dame is "different" and it makes a "values" statement in the wrong
direction for Notre Dame and college sports.

As for why it's so popular a topic on this list ... well, we're still
smarting from football, basketball is off to a slow start and it's always
fun to bash the Evil Empire.:)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT