[NU Sports] my blog today

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> Alan, as one of the few pro-ND list members I thought your
> blog entry was spot-on.  Like it or not, there are some
> programs whose success elevates their sport.  The New York
> Yankees come to mind, and I'd probably include the
> Dallas Cowboys as well.  (For the record, I hate both those

I would agree on those two - and yes, I hate both of those as well.:)

> Stephen, of course, can't disassociate his wishes from
> the facts:

Hey, a wish would be for Charlie to stay at ND for a long time. The facts are that I really don't care one way or the other.:)

When I was a kid, I loved to hate Notre Dame, and I was interested in their outcome each week. This year, I can honestly say I haven't watched more than 10 minutes of one of their games (non Big Ten foe) and have barely mentioned them in the weekly wraps (again, aside from their Big Ten games). I have far more fun hating Bobby Bowden, Florida, Texas, OU, SC and the Buckeyes. And of course, that awful B(C)S system and the morons who came up with it!:) Or those who like to say that the regular season is a playoff ... when the team that won on the field in that "playoff" is the one left out of the title game???

> Right.  This is why you--and a lot of other people--never
> stop bringing them up.

Again, I think we saw a spike in list discussion last year because it was such a bad season, but this year it's been a much smaller amount of discussion. From me and everyone else. And I didn't bring them up this time, for the record.

> Of course.  This is why Notre Dame still ranks in the top 5
> year in & out in college licensing sales,

I didn't say everyone has forgotten - the 30+ crowd of Catholic high school grads and subway alumni still have those sweaters they pull out every so often. But I was talking about teens and twentysomethings. I just don't see much Irish merchandise on them anymore. I did when I was in high school, but now I see far more Gators, Trojans, Texas and Buckeye gear.

> The painful truth is that our beloved alma mater has a lot
> to learn from Notre Dame about how to operate a first-rate
> college football program.  They have their own contract with
> NBC and still sell 80,000 tickets to every home game, we

Maybe a generation ago, but this is not our fathers' Notre Dame. The academic standing is there but falling somewhat. But the honor is gone. They are now just like every other football factory -- except selling out to a network may bring even more demands to win immediately. They lost a lot of that respect by canning Willingham early ... or ignoring their faculty and spurning the Big Ten.

As for the 80,000 tickets and network - there's more to college football than money. I'll take Coach Fitzgerald, our graduation rate and our student-athletes with 30,000 fans and the Big Ten any day.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT