I’m positive someone at Notre Dame pitched an idea for paNDemic and made up a really snazzy graphic for it. Show it to the world.
Should Jeopardy! come on before Wheel of Fortune? I think I prefer Jeopardy! to have the 7:30 time slot but I can never decide.
The COVID-19 outbreak and its lasting effects on sports are going to make my prediction on a severely reduced capacity in Notre Dame Stadium look even more prescient.
If I was recruiting for Notre Dame I think texting would be so much easier than a phone call but then I remember the type of grammar and spelling young people use and I’m not so sure.
If you had the ability to green light Notre Dame joining the Big Ten and it meant 5 National Championship over the span of your lifetime would you pull the trigger? I’m not answering.
Can we officially say Brian Kelly was correct in saying DeShone Kizer should’ve stayed at Notre Dame for 2017? The former Irish quarterback was cut by the Raiders recently and looks like he’s headed out of the NFL for the CFL. If my math is correct, Kizer earned $3,808,632 for a 0-15 record. That’s not all that bad for a 24 year-old.
The 2011 version of The Shirt is the best and that’s just the truth.
I’m finished my first marathon in May running on my own thanks to mass running event cancellations and it still blows my mind that humans can run that far in sub-5 minute mile pace. Let’s go to the tape!
I really don’t like read receipts in an email from someone. As someone who uses the un-read function it’s an invasion of my organizational skills.
I recently ranked the top Air Jordan’s of all-time and noticed that ESPN ranked the top 74 NBA sneakers of all-time. They had Jordan’s at 58th (XX), 35th (XIV), 31st (XIII), 28th (V), 24th (XII), 19th (VI), 11th (IV), 6th (III), 2nd (I), and 1st (XI). An egregious omission from their list would be the Nike Air Force Max as popularized by Charles Barkley during his MVP season.
I’ve been watching a ton of old Sabres games during the pandemic and I can’t tell you how much I enjoy looking at old advertisements on the boards and elsewhere throughout the old Auditorium. That’s one thing I’ll always be in the minority with Notre Dame football fans as I think sports advertising has a certain charm and nostalgia to it that makes sports better.
I often wonder if decades from now people will wonder why we kept the color of a football dark brown for such a long time?
The movie Knute Rockne, All American will be turning 80 years old this fall. If I’m working at Netflix a 15-episode Rockne series would be of the highest priority.
In the 1998-2006 range I used to check ESPN.com religiously. If we’re not counting college football box scores I’ve probably checked out their website only a handful of times over the last decade or longer.
I hate the transition from early spring to late spring as someone who likes to be cold when sleeping. It’s not warm enough outside to turn on the central air, the windows are open, humidity is spreading, the bed is now feeling damp, and I’m hotter than ever sleeping.
The Play Like A Champion Today sign should be re-painted to look like the Notre Dame helmets.
Am I missing something on the hype of Georgia quarterback transfer Jamie Newman? He has roughly a season and a third of experience and finished 138 of 252 (54.7%) for 1,804 yards with 15 passing touchdowns and 10 picks against Power 5 teams last year. Who’s going to tell the Dawgs they are getting Carlyle Holiday?
I’ve always had a soft spot for the movie Blue Chips and caught the last third of it again recently. I still can’t get over head coach Pete Bell being so against paying players, then decided well okay, then after an early season (first game!??) upset of top-ranked Indiana he decided to quit, leaving the basketball program on probation for 3 years and screw over all his players. Thanks, coach!
It doesn’t seem possible that Alabama could have 92 players drafted since 2010, including 32 going in the first round. A latest mock draft I’m looking at has an additional 8 first round picks expected in the 2021 draft for the Tide. Notre Dame has witnessed 9 first round picks in the entire Kelly era.
The NBA has figured out many things but something that still needs work is creating a basketball stanchion that blocks less of the play for the crowd. They are getting bigger with more advertisements.
Have you found yourself hearing a familiar and comfortable announcer voice like Keith Jackson during the pandemic and you forget you’re watching an old game? Then he reads a promo, “Watch Jim Kelly take on Dan Marino this Sunday” and it feels weird again.
I can’t believe Paul George had a Gatorade commercial about hitting game-winning shots when he’s one of the worst NBA players in history with clutch shooting. I’m so happy a parody of the commercial was created by someone. At the time this commercial was made George was 0 for 15 on go-ahead shots in the final 20 seconds of games.
I don’t trust people who have their windows down on the highway.
You have the ability to sign future All-Americans at quarterback, tight end, and linebacker or wide receiver, corner, and defensive end. You can choose one set, which do you pick?
Dabo Swinney is dealing with a bunch of stuff right now at Clemson and it makes me think the Tigers are opening the door for one heck of a fight in South Bend. Then, I read that 22.7% of running back Travis Etienne’s runs went for 10+ yards last year and I’m thinking Clemson might be okay.
I thought it was crazy when Roger Federer left Nike but he just topped Forbes list for the world’s highest-paid athlete thanks to $100 million in endorsement deals, including $30 million per year from Uniqlo. By the way, Uniqlo makes really great inexpensive crew socks for those of you who like to wear a bunch of different colors to work.
My favorite non-super famous athlete today is Ukrainian boxer Vasyl Lomachenko. After ripping up the amateur circuit he didn’t turn pro until 25 and has only fought 15 times overall. Nothing has been officially announced but he’s possibly fighting Teofmil Lopez later this year in September under the lights in Vegas. He’s the most entertaining boxer I’ve watched in my adult life.
Loved these random thoughts.
“If you had the ability to green light Notre Dame joining the Big Ten and it meant 5 National Championship over the span of your lifetime would you pull the trigger? I’m not answering.”
I’m saying yes, almost immediately, because I don’t see them getting 5 natty’s in my lifetime while remaining independent. Also, I mean, being a pseudo-half member of the ACC means that ND football isn’t really independent now as we know them anyways, and every other sport is in the ACC, so what’s really to change?
(Also winning that much suggests beating Michigan on a regular basis)
I guess I would say yes, too, although I believe that in practice, joining the B1G, like joining any conference, would kill any remaining shot ND has at a title in the long term.
Really? That’s an interesting thought, wouldn’t mind hearing more of it.
As of now, ND basically has to run the table, which is challenging since they schedule USC every year and usually have one of Clemson/FSU/Miami through the ACC almost every year, and also book high profile games (Texas, Georgia, Michigan in the past; Wisconsin, Ohio State, Alabama coming up). There’s no margin of error.
Even last season, with a hypothetical win over Michigan and an 11-1 season, is ND jumping a 12-1 P5 winner in Oklahoma for a spot? I don’t think so. 14 times one loss P5 champs have made the playoff. Only twice (2015 Big12 Baylor/TCU and 2019 tOSU) have a one-loss P5 been left out. And in 2019’s case it was only because 3 teams were undefeated, which has only happened 2 out of 6 years. 2015 was also an anomaly since all five P5 champs had 0 or 1 loss and one would not have a spot no matter what in a four team playoff format.
If Notre Dame joins a conference, they do have to play a 13th game, but that could be minimized by scheduling a patsy like all the other top teams do. (I would suggest a BG, NM, Ball State, Miami Ohio type team and not a FCS team, but still an almost-automatic win). Add that bad team + 8 conference games* + the three regular rivals (Navy, Stanford, USC) and that’s a much more managable schedule…Especially when 1 loss still probably gains entrance into a conference title game.
So I guess to me it boils down to joining a conference opens up the road to losing 1 game and still having a viable path of making the playoffs. The current way, to me, means that any loss is most likely an eliminator for ND since the committee does favor that extra game and P5 champs almost always make it.
I do see the logic though that either way it becomes very much an uphill battle for ND to win a title.
(*This suggests joining the ACC and not Eric’s hypothetical of B1G, but IMO ACC seems more likely anyways given relationship and contractual ties).
If ND continued to recruit at its current level, or bumped it up a touch as Kelly is trying to do, joining a conference might help. My hypothesis is there is no way in hell they would be able to do that. If ND is in the B1G, the only thing really separating them from Michigan and Ohio State, to an elite prospect, is that the classes are more difficult. Same with the ACC and Clemson, or the Big 12 and Oklahoma/Texas, etc. I think ultimately it would ruin ND and they’d become a slightly more competitive version of Northwestern. (Which, incidentally, I think the people constantly complaining that “ND needs to join a conference” know, and that’s why they want it.)
Yeah, I can see that. The general nature of online courses and modernization seems to have hurt Notre Dame. But I think the struggle is also what gives it value. It’s harder to get a degree at Notre Dame, but inherently that gives value to the degree that because it’s difficult it means something.
Many won’t be up for that challenge and probably choose a football factory. But, hey, that’s what is going on now anyways. I guess, as always, it’s case-by-case situation, but it’s not like Shipley chose Clemson because it’s perceived easier. And like Spindler’s choice isn’t going to be UM or ND because one is independent and one isn’t. I guess they have to hope a kid like Kyle Hamilton is always going to choose ND over Clemson, UGA, etc because it’s special and means something a little different. But, surely, that difference will scare off many who have other priorities, but I think that’s still the case regardless of conference affiliations.
The Michigan angle is fun.
What if Michigan turns into modern-day Illinois, though?
Even better
I would actually really like Jamie Newman in any system other than Georgia’s. His big strength is his willingness to throw the ball downfield (7.2 YPA vs Power 5 vs. Book’s 6.4 YPA vs. Power 5). I actually think Newman would have been a monster with Claypool and Kmet last year, and I think Ian Book would be Kirby Smart’s dream QB (accurate on short passes, smart with the football). I think both QBs will have really good years in 2020, but I’m not sure Newman fits what Georgia wants to do. I can see Smart getting very angry early on if Newman starts taking more aggressive deep shots than Smart wants, especially if they result in picks.
Any chance some current commits will see the cracks in Dabo’s armor in the last few days – as though some of his other crap wouldn’t have been enough – and start to look elsewhere? I’d like to think that elite athletes (or their parents) would consider societal issues as part of their college experience, now more than ever.
I would like to flip Shipley, please.
What do you mean for a “lifetime”? A normal person’s lifetime of around 80 years? The rest of our lifetime? If it is the rest of my lifetime (I;m almost 72), I’d definitely take that offer since I might live to around 90 (hopefully). Of they are that good for the next 20 years or so, then they would also be setting up for runs after 20 years.
Well, get ready for 5 ‘chips in 20 years baby.
“The Play Like A Champion Today sign should be re-painted to look like the Notre Dame helmets.”
Whoa buddy