Charlie Weis Gives Michigan Some Extra Motivation

Considering the fact that Notre Dame football is coming off one of its worst seasons in school history, that Charlie Weis would have spent a lot of his offseason eating some humble pie (opposed to the regular kind of pies Charlie undoubtedly loves). For the most part, he has been. He brought in John Tenuta to help turn the defense around, and he's finally going to give up play-calling duties on offense and focus on the entire team and his players instead.

All smart moves. Still, Charlie has been getting the wrong kind of attention lately for things he's been saying on the banquet circuit, including some unfortunate remarks about other schools and the players they recruit.

His latest quote to garner attention has to do with rival Michigan, as can be seen in this video, in which Charlie says "To hell with Michigan."

Considering the Irish have lost to the Wolverines by a combined score of 85-21, I can understand where the frustration comes from. Though I'm not sure it's incredibly wise of Weis to give the Wolverines any locker room chalkboard material. I can guarantee you that Rich Rodriguez has been at a Kinko's in Ann Arbor all morning printing up signs featuring the quote to paste all over the locker room.

At the same time, if you are going to rip into Michigan, now is probably the time to do it. Considering that the Wolverines are probably going to have a down year as they lost their most of their key players from last season, and have to adjust to an entire new coaching staff and playbook, the Irish actually have a solid chance of beating them this season.

Illinois: A Basketball Wasteland

Since I took the day off yesterday to recover from my weekend, I didn't get to say anything about the Illini's run in the Big Ten tournament, or anything else about the NCAA tournament. Of course, since this blog is focused on Chicago sports, I guess I don't really have a reason to anyway.

After all, not a single team from the state of Illinois made the field of 65.

No Illinois.

No Southern Illinois.

No Illinois State.

No Bradley.

Nobody.

It's just the latest blow in what's been a horrible year to be a sports fan in the city of Chicago and Illinois in general. The Bulls wouldn't even have made it.

Luckily for me, I still have Notre Dame to fall back on, but I'd be lying if I said I was a huge Irish basketball supporter. Though, to be honest, thanks to the Big Ten Network and Comcast, I was actually able to see more Notre Dame games this season than Illini games, which is probably a good thing when you consider how bad Illinois was this year.

Speaking of the Illini, while their run to the championship game of the Big Ten was a nice way to end the season, I never let the thought that they might actually win the thing enter my head. I am a lot more encouraged about next season because of it though.

As for my other thoughts on this year's tournament....

• Indiana's #8 Seed - I've heard a lot of complaints from Indiana fans over the team's #8 seed, but people need to shut up. The Hoosiers don't deserve much more than what they've gotten. Just look at the way they finished their season. First they lost their coach, and then they finished up their schedule with a blowout loss to Michigan State, a loss against Penn State, and an early exit from the Big Ten tournament at the hands of Minnesota. Combine that with the fact that the Big Ten just sucks this year, and Indiana should just shut up and be happy with where they are.
• Notre Dame - While I'll be rooting for Notre Dame in the tournament, I'll only get to do so for one weekend. Even if they win their first round game against George Mason and beat Washington State in the 2nd round, that will only get them a date with the Tar Heels in the Sweet 16.
• Butler's #7 Seed - If you need further proof that the tournament committee just hates mid-major schools, look no further than Butler. The Bulldogs finished the season with a 29-3 record, are ranked #11 in the AP poll and #10 in the coaches poll, yet they get a #7 seed? I'm no genius, but the math just doesn't work out there.
  
• The Big Ten's Only Hope - The Big Ten only got four teams into the tournament, and by my estimation, they'll be lucky to get even one team into the Sweet 16. The best bet to do it is Wisconsin, but a likely date with USC in the second round won't be an easy test for the Badgers.
• Best 1st Round Matchup - This one's pretty easy, it's USC/Kansas State in the Midwest region. Two fabulous freshman in O.J. Mayo and possible player of the year Michael Beasley facing off should make for a very exciting game to watch. One that I see the Trojans winning.
• My Final Four - As a rule, I never have more than two #1 seeds in my Final Four, but this year I can't see any other scenario. I see no Cinderella's or major upsets, and my Final Four consists of: North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, and Texas. The final game will be North Carolina and UCLA.

Oh, and of course, we're still taking entries in the Foul Balls March Madness Pool.

FanHouse: The Irish Can Still Recruit

Notre Dame may have sucked last season, but it sure hasn't hurt recruiting any. A freshman class that already contained 8 players ranked in the Top 100 by Rivals.com added its 9th member this afternoon: 6'4 WR Deion Walker.

Maybe we'll beat Navy now.

FanHouse: Charlie Weis Is Returning To New England...For Advice

Maybe while he's there he can kidnap Tom Brady.

Damn You, Charlie Weis

I may have already said a little bit about the Irish's loss to Navy last Saturday in yesterday's post, but that doesn't mean I'm finished talking about it. The one thing I didn't mention yesterday was how incredibly pissed off I am at Charlie Weis right now.

Last week at FanHouse, I wrote a post about the world ending because Notre Dame was actually favored last weekend. At the end of the post, I wrote this:

All of which makes me wonder if this isn't the year that Notre Dame finally loses to Navy. You would think that the Irish should win this game on talent alone, and also for the fact that they had an extra week to prepare after having last Saturday off, but I remind you: Notre Dame really, really sucks this year.

If the Irish do somehow manage to find a way to blow this one, I'm thinking Charlie Weis needs to be fired on Sunday.

So do I still think Weis needs to be fired?

Well when I wrote that, I don't think I actually believed Notre Dame could lose on Saturday. I thought if there was ever a chance for it, this year was probably Navy's best chance, but I still never fully believed it would happen.

But it did.

And yes, as of Saturday evening I have completely removed myself from the Charlie Weis fan club. Not that I was ever really an avid member. While certain contributors around here hate the man, I've kind of always been on the fence.

I'm off it now, and in fact I'm rounding up some pitchforks and kerosene.

I don't want rid of Weis solely for the fact that this team is 1-8. I'm a Notre Dame fan, but I'm not the type of blind homer that there are so many of when it comes to this school. I didn't expect this team to be very good this season. Did I think they'd be 1-8 and lose to Navy? No, but I wasn't looking for much more than five wins this season.

So I'm not mad at Weis for this team's performance. They did lose a lot of talent from last year's team, and the Irish aren't the type of program these days that just reloads. They aren't Ohio State, where Jim Tressel's program is so well run and mind numbingly consistent, that we're somehow surprised when the Buckeyes start every season 10-0.

That's where Weis is supposed to get the Irish, but after watching Saturday's game, I don't think Weis is the man to do it. Maybe the man can recruit, to be honest I don't know. He gets the talent in, but nothing he's done has proven to me he knows how to turn that into a winning football team.

In other words, Weis is what Ron Zook was supposed to be.

I just don't think Weis is a head football coach. The final straw happened on Saturday evening.

With the game tied in late in regulation, the Irish faced a 4th and 8 from the Navy 25-yard line. They were set up for a 41-yard field goal that would have won the game.

What did Charlie do?

He went for it. He passed up a field goal attempt that would have won the game.

His logic afterwards was that he wasn't sure his kicker, Brandon Walker, could make the kick. I can't blame him for that opinion seeing as how Walker is 1/4 from beyond 40 yards this season.

The problem is that the Irish had nothing to lose. If Walker did miss the field goal, do you know what would have happened? The game would have gone to overtime, which it ended up doing after Evan Sharpley was sacked on the fourth down play.

Charlie's "genius" got the best of him I guess. It's just another decision in what's an ever growing list of things Weis has done that I can only speculate are products of his own arrogance.

Whether it's the way he looks at players who are leaving his program for other schools, or just his all around demeanor, Weis thinks he's untouchable. He's bought into his own hype.

Just read this quote from him after the loss when asked about his job security.

"I'm going to be here for a long time," Weis said. "I'm going to be judged by what happens when I leave, so let's see where I am when I walk out the door."

This is all the school's fault mind you, they're the ones who gave Weis the ten year contract before he'd ever done anything. Now we're all going to have to pay for it.

The more I see Weis coach this team, the more I realize he's an excellent coordinator but not much of a head coach. And to be honest, can we be sure how great of an offensive coordinator Weis is? Was he ever considered an offensive genius before Tom Brady came along in New England?

Nope.

Has Tom Brady struggled since Weis left?

Well the Patriots are 9-0 and Brady has 35 touchdowns and 4 interceptions this season as he's on pace to shatter Peyton Manning's single season touchdown mark. So no, he's not really struggling without Charlie.

So unless Weis can figure out a way to get Tom Brady four more years of college eligibility, and line him up under center, I think it's time the Irish moved on. Let Weis finish the year so his legacy can be a 2-10 record (I'm holding out hope we can beat Duke).

Unfortunately, it won't happen. Yes, Bob Davie and Ty Willingham were fired with similar records to Weis, but there's one big difference between Weis and those two. He's an alum. If Gerry Faust got five years, who knows what they'll give Charlie.

Of course, Faust never finished a season with only two wins.

Foul Balls

NBC Isn't Interested In The Bears - The Bears have already played on NBC's Sunday Night Football twice this season, and though they were scheduled for three games, NBC has decided they've seen enough of the Bears this season. So they've kindly bumped the Bears from the schedule.

NBC and the NFL decided against placing the Bears-Seattle game on prime time on Sunday, Nov. 18. Instead, it will air on WFLD-Ch. 32 at 3:15 p.m.

NBC selected the New England-Buffalo game for that Sunday night. An opportunity to air the 9-0 Patriots was a no-brainer for the network.

Thank you, NBC. Thank you for not spreading our shame across the country for one night. Don't worry though, Bears fans. We'll have another opportunity to embarass ourselves on Monday Night Football against Adrian Peterson and the Vikings in December.

Will Joe Crede Replace A-Rod? - The GM meetings got under way in Orlando yesterday, and though trades aren't generally made until the winter meetings, a lot of the ground work for those deals is done. One of those trades involves the White Sox sending Joe Crede to the Yankees for Johnny Damon.

Ken Williams, entering his eighth year as the White Sox's GM, came to Florida believing he might be able to make a significant trade early in the winter. If he does anything quickly, it could be to trade Joe Crede to the Yankees for Damon. That rumor came out of New York and was not knocked down Monday.

I'm not sure how I feel about this deal. Of course I don't want Joe Crede to be traded, he is my favorite player after all, but it would help the Sox clear the current logjam at third. Josh Fields proved he has the bat to be an everyday player, and with time his defense will improve.

I don't think he'll ever be Crede with the glove, but he'll be good enough. What I'm not sure about is Johnny Damon. On the surface Damon answers the centerfield question, and the lead-off question, plus he'd be cheaper than Torii Hunter. The problem is that Damon had his lowest average since 2001, hitting .270 this season. His power numbers also dropped dramatically, going from 24 in 2006 to only 12 this season.

There's also the fact that a lot of Damon's game is based on his speed, and players don't get faster after they turn 34, which Johnny just did yesterday.

The Revolution Will Be Televised - The Blackhawks announced seven home dates that will be televised this season. Here they are:

November 11, 6:00 p.m. vs. Detroit
November 30, 7:30 p.m. vs. Phoenix
December 9, 6:00 p.m. vs. Calgary
December 26, 7:30 p.m. vs. Nashville
January 6, 6:00 p.m. vs. Detroit
March 7, 7:30 p.m. vs. San Jose
March 23, 2:00 p.m. vs. St. Louis

Clear your schedules now!

Seriously though, this is a great move by the Hawks. A long overdue move, but a great one none the less. It may only be seven games this season, but it paves the way for the Hawks to televise all their games next season. Which could only help the team become relevant again.

Rocky Wirtz may save the family name after all.

Slow Starts Can Kill A Team

The biggest reason I was excited about this Bulls season getting started was that there would finally be something to say about the Bulls that didn't have something to do with Kobe Bryant. After watching this team play it's first three games, I think I'd rather talk about Kobe again.

I know the Bulls are notoriously slow starters under Scott Skiles, but losing to Philly at home? Losing to Milwaukee on the road? It's not just the fact that this team is losing either, it's how horrible they've looked while doing it. It's one thing to play well, and come up short in the end, but when you've been playing horribly for three games, that's worrisome.

Something's not right here.

I don't know whether it's the fact that the Kobe talks have become a distraction for this team, or if Luol and Ben Gordon have their contracts on their minds, but this team just looks lazy right now.

Through the first three games, the Bulls are shooting 38% from the field. Joe Smith is the only player on the team making half of his shots, but he's only taken 14. Ben Gordon is shooting at a 39% clip, Luol comes in at 43%, and Kirk Hinrich is at 34%. I think Hinrich has as many fouls as he does assists right now: 15. As a team, they're scoring only 86.7 points a game, which isn't going to lead to many wins in this league.

So what's to blame? Is it just rust? Distractions? Does this team really need Kobe?

It's none of those.

It's the Cubs.

They've cursed this entire city! Their "success" this season has killed everybody else. The White Sox were supposed to be good again this season, and they blew. The Bears were supposed to get back to the Super Bowl, and they're in last place.

Nothing's going right in Chicago!

Okay, so it's probably not the Cubs fault, but while the city of Boston is having a fantastic sports season, Chicago's falling flat on it's face everywhere you look. Sure the Cubs got to the playoffs, but they couldn't even manage to win a game before bowing out quickly.

So really, I have no idea what's wrong with the Bulls right now. Do I think that we'd have a better record if Kobe were here? Yeah, but I don't think his absence is what's causing the problems either. I'm hoping that this will all prove to be just another slow start for this team, and they'll get rolling sooner rather than later, but these slow starts are still killers.

Look at last season for example. In the Bulls first twelve games they managed to go 3-9 before going on a seven-game win streak to get over .500. But had the Bulls just managed to go 6-6 in those twelve games last season, they'd have finished the season 52-30 with the #2 seed in the East. That means they'd have had the same easy route to the Eastern Conference Finals that the Cavs took.

Had they gone 7-5 they'd have had home-court advantage in the playoffs.

So while an 0-3 start in an 82 game season isn't going to kill a team, it could end up hurting them quite a bit at the end of the season.

Foul Balls

In The Navy - I had said during Spread Em last week that I didn't think the Irish could cover a 3.5 point spread against Navy, and that I had no confidence in this team. Still, I don't think I ever really thought they'd lose the game.

I've never been more embarrassed to be a Notre Dame fan than I was on Saturday afternoon. That was just.....I don't even know. It was bad. I can understand why the Irish lose to teams like Michigan, Penn State, Boston College, USC, and Georgia Tech because they're all better teams with more talented players. Navy does not have more talent than Notre Dame.

Though that didn't seem to matter on Saturday, did it?

I've tortured myself all season by watching every Irish game, but after this weekend, I think I'm going to have to take the rest of the season off. If for no other reason than my sanity.

Purple Jesus - I probably shouldn't be enjoying the exploits of a Minnesota Viking as much as I am right now, but I don't care. I love Adrian Peterson. I don't care if he's a Viking and that he'll be torturing the Bears twice a season for the foreseeable future. He's on my fantasy team!! And since it's a keeper league, I have him for two more season after this one.

So I look forward to more performances like the one he had on Sunday against the Chargers. The Messiah broke the NFL's single game rushing mark with 296 yards yesterday. No, you didn't read that wrong, he actually rushed for 296 yards in one game. That included three touchdown runs, a one-yarder, a 46-yarder, and a 64-yarder. That's 35 points for my fantasy team right there.

The Vikings are only halfway through their season, but Peterson has already eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark, which puts him on pace to finish the season with over 2,000 yards. And to think, the Vikings didn't draft him until the 7th spot. I wonder what the Raiders think about taking JaMarcus Russell with the first pick now.

What's even crazier is that in two games against the Bears and Chargers-two teams that are supposed to have strong run defenses-Peterson has rushed for 520 yards and seven touchdowns. In eight games this season, Cedric Benson has rushed for 466 yards and two touchdowns. Just in case you didn't realize how bad Cedric Benson sucks.

That Patriots/Colts Game - I was at work on Thursday and a co-worker of mine told me that "Take the over this Sunday, man. Easiest money you'll ever make." My response? "Actually, I think it's going to be a 24-20 type game. I'm taking the under." "You're an idiot, man."

Who's the idiot now, man?

It was a very good game, and though it would have been impossible to live up to it's hype without aliens landing at the RCA Dome in the third quarter, the game didn't disappoint. The Colts had plenty of chances to win this game, but their failures in the red zone early came back to haunt them.

The question is, now that they've gotten the Colts out of the way, what's to stop the Patriots from going undefeated? They've got a bye next week, but after that, there isn't much to stand in their way. At Buffalo, Philadelphia, at Baltimore, Pittsburgh, the Jets, Miami, and finally on the road against the Giants.

The Steelers and Giants are the only threats, and I don't think they pose much of one.

Blogpoll Ballot Week 10 -

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	LSU	1
3	Oregon	2
4	Kansas	3
5	Oklahoma	1
6	Missouri	2
7	Boston College	5
8	Arizona State	4
9	West Virginia	--
10	Connecticut	5
11	Michigan	1
12	Hawaii	1
13	Virginia Tech	3
14	Texas	2
15	Georgia	2
16	Boise State	1
17	Auburn	2
18	Southern Cal	3
19	Kentucky	1
20	Florida	3
21	Clemson	5
22	Virginia	4
23	Tennessee	3
24	Illinois	2
25	Cincinnati	1

Dropped Out: South Florida (#14), Alabama (#18), Vanderbilt (#22), Wake Forest (#24), South Carolina (#25).

We Do Love Our Quarterback Controversy

A few weeks ago when Lovie Smith stood at a podium and announced that "Brian Griese is our quarterback" most people probably thought that it would mark the end of any quarterback controversy in the city of Chicago. They were wrong. This is Chicago, where the quarterback with the clipboard in his hand is always better than the one with the ball in his.

So while Brian Griese isn't going to be losing his job anytime soon, in the college ranks we have a couple of local controversies.

We'll start first with the one that's just an emotional reaction, should the Illini bench Juice Williams in favor of Eddie McGee? My answer here is no.

The only reason anybody's talking about change for the Illini is because they lost this weekend, and they looked bad doing it. That said, the loss wasn't Juice Williams' fault. Kirk Ferentz coached that Iowa defense all week preparing them for the option attack of Illinois, and they did a fantastic job of stopping an offense that had looked unstoppable before then.

Give the Hawkeyes credit, they came up with a game plan, and then they executed it flawlessly.

When you look at Juice's numbers on the season, they aren't particularly impressive. He's only completed 55.5% of his passes for 716 yards. That's 102.2 yards passing a game, but considering how often Illinois throws the ball, that's not really a bad number. Williams also has five touchdowns to match his five interceptions.

So, no, Juice Williams is not now, nor will he probably ever be, the type of quarterback who's going to win a game with his arm. That doesn't mean the Illini need to make a change.

Eddie McGee is basically just a Juice clone, except he's taller. His best asset is his legs, not his arm. Though when watching McGee play, I get the impression he has a more accurate arm, but the numbers don't back it up. Juice has completed 55.5% of his passes, but McGee's only completed 52.4% of his. He's also thrown three interceptions compared to just one touchdown pass.

In other words, McGee is a very good backup to have because if Juice gets hurt-which tends to happen with Juice-the team doesn't really lose anything when McGee comes in. At the same time, they don't get better either. So if the team doesn't get any better with McGee in the game, there's no need for Ron Zook (who just got an extension) to make a change.

No, where the change needs to be made is in South Bend. I've written about this at FanHouse already, but Evan Sharpley needs to be named the starter at Notre Dame. I have nothing against Jimmy Clausen. I don't think he sucks, I don't think he's going to be a huge recruiting bust for Charlie Weis, I just don't think he's ready to be the quarterback now.

The surgery he had in the offseason is obviously still affecting Clausen's arm. When Clausen is in the game Notre Dame's offense is limited to intermediate routes and passes out to the flat. In other words, nothing that could cause Clausen to hurt his arm.

Whenever Sharpley's come in, he's provided an immediate spark for the Irish offense. He nearly led the Irish to a comeback victory at Purdue, and the only offensive touchdown the Irish scored last Saturday against Boston College came when Sharpley replaced Clausen.

Charlie Weis said earlier this week that he would make his decision today, and as of the moment, he still hasn't announced his decision.

He's considering Sharpley, but he says he wants to see Sharpley perform better in practice before giving him the starting job.

"If he wants to move past Jimmy, which I know he does, it's got to be an every day thing, it can't just be a game day thing," he said.

I understand what Weis is saying here, it is important that Sharpley plays well in practice. Where I disagree is why it's necessary this late in the season. Yes, if this was still spring ball, and Sharpley was being outperformed by Clausen in practice, then naming Sharpley starter would be idiotic.

But the Irish are seven games into their season right now, and they're 1-6. In those seven games the team has played better when Sharpley was taking the snaps. Last I checked, it's the performances in games that players and teams get credit for, not practice.

I've spent a lot of time wondering how I really feel about Charlie Weis. I wanted to make sure that my feelings were based more on what I thought of him as a coach than how the team has been performing so far. This issue is making me question Charlie's ability to actually run a football team.

If Charlie Weis can't see that Sharpley is his teams only chance to beat USC this weekend, and it's an incredibly remote chance, then why should I ever believe he's going to lead this team back where it belongs?

What Weis needs to realize that benching Clausen isn't admitting failure, either as a coach or a recruiter. It just means that your freshman quarterback isn't ready yet, something that happens everywhere, and he would be better served on the sidelines letting his arm heal while learning the offense better.

Benching Clausen would do less to hurt his confidence than throwing him out there every week to be eaten alive ever will.

Let's just hope Charlie can see past his pride, and make the right decision.

UPDATE: Charlie made the right decision.

Notre Dame Gets Smarter Every Day

Yeah, this season's been pretty tough already for the Irish. With the team's struggles, the departure of Demetrius Jones, and the heat Charlie Weis is taking, it would be great if the Irish could beat Michigan State tomorrow.

Will they?

I doubt it. Hell, they've basically given up already.

Adidas is giving out 75,000 white towels on Saturday for Charlie Weis' charity, Hannah & Friends, and the official Notre Dame Web site, UND.com.

The towels, given out on a first-come, first-serve basis, will read "Tradition Never Graduates -- Notre Dame Football."

Oh, that's just fantastic. Let's give all the Irish fans white flags to wave around.

What makes this even worse, aside from that whole "We Quit" syndrome? Well, as Blue Gray Sky points out,

So let me get this straight. Notre Dame stadium is going to be filled with Notre Dame fans wearing dark green Notre Dame shirts and waving white towels......while playing against a Michigan State team that has a rally cry of "Go Green, Go White."

Is this team trying to make me hate them this year? Do they not want me rooting for them anymore? Who in the hell thought that waving a white flag was a good idea?

Maybe next week against Purdue we can all war gold and black, you know, cuz if the Purdue fans can't recognize us they can't point and laugh.

Notre Dame Keeps Messing With Demetrius Jones

As if the Irish haven't done enough to Demetrius Jones already...

First, after telling Jones he was the starter, now Charlie Weis is saying Jimmy Clausen would have been the starter all along had he been healthy. This came as a shock to Jones and was the biggest reason he left Notre Dame for Northern Illinois last weekend.

Well, now the Irish have answered back. Jones can go to Northern Illinois if he wants to. But he'll have to pay his own way.

Demetrius Jones will have to pay his own way to Northern Illinois this year.

The former Notre Dame quarterback will not be released from his scholarship, the school decided Tuesday.

“We don’t believe that Demetrius’ departure was handled appropriately,” Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White said.

What the hell?

It's obvious that the team doesn't want him, and he doesn't want to be there, so just let the kid go already.

I know it's not exactly cool to just walk out on your team when the season's already started, but I don't think it's Jones' fault. Had Weis been honest with him about Clausen, Jones probably would have transferred before the season started. Now the school is responding to its own mistake by acting like a third-grader.

I haven't turned on Weis or his ability to coach this team just yet, at least not to the degree Panger's gone, but with every day that passes comes a new story like this that really makes me wonder how naive I'm being.

Demetrius Jones Doesn't Like Charlie Weis Either

When Demetrius Jones left Notre Dame for Northern Illinois over the weekend, it came as a surprise, but it wasn't exactly shocking either. After all, it's become rather obvious that Jimmy Clausen is Charlie Weis' quarterback.

When Jones struggled against Georgia Tech, he was pulled. When Evan Sharpley struggled against Georgia Tech, he was pulled. When Clausen struggled against Georgia Tech, he got the starting job and hasn't been pulled yet.

Weis even said as much after the game when he told the media that Clausen would have been his starter all along had he not undergone surgery on his elbow.

That's something Jones didn't appreciate hearing, and it was the final straw as it caused him to leave.

"When I heard Jimmy was No. 1 all the way through spring and that the only thing keeping him out of the lineup was his surgery, well, that's not what I was led to believe going into the summer," Jones said in a South Bend Tribune story published Monday. "I thought I was getting a chance because coach Weis believed in me. Then I didn't know what to believe anymore."

However it all came about, Jones going to Northern Illinois is the smart move for him. He wasn't going to play at Notre Dame again barring a rash of injuries, and at Northern he can probably grab the starting job next season.

Not to mention the Huskies offensive line can actually get in somebody's way once in a while.

God Help Us All

As my sister is currently on an airplane heading towards Hawaii, I can't call her and tell her personally. Still, Megan, thank you for scheduling your wedding on Saturday so I didn't have to watch Notre Dame.

You are truly a wonderful sister, and I love you.

Is Charlie Weis Just The Wizard of Oz In A Fat Suit?

Because Fornelli was at his sister's wedding yesterday afternoon, I felt compelled to do something I rarely ever do, watch an Irish football game from start to finish.

Here's what I came away with:

1. Demetrius Jones knew what he was doing getting the hell out of Notre Dame.
2. Charlie Weis is incompetent.

Watching the game just took my breath away. Mangled plays that high school players would know better than to try. Snaps sailing over the head of the quarterback. So many fumbles, baubles and missed tackles that when one of the announcers mentioned Weis' passion is special needs kids, I began to wonder if he hadn't loaded the offensive line with them.

This is the post-Brady Quinn era team he puts together?

I can hear Weis' defenders: "But he's had to replace all the key offensive positions."

So what? He's been at Notre Dame for three years. Three years to recruit and train in anticipation of this very season. Three years to create a team in his own image and he puts together an offensive line a Pop Warner team could pick apart?

Oh my God, maybe he has created a team in his own image.

I don't care how many players you lose, this is a top program; your kids should be able to execute the basics. And spectators should be able to witness a whisper of potential, a moment where you sit back and say, "Okay, I see why Weis recruited him."

For me, anyway, there wasn't one of those moments to be had.

But beyond yesterday's joke of a game, two things bother me even more.

First, the way Weis handled the whole quarterback situation. What he did to Demetrius Jones was unfathomable, pulling his starting quarterback out of the first game of the season before the end of the first half.

Think about it. You've had seven months - an entire off-season - to put your team and strategy together and in the span of less than 30 minutes, you change your mind. I mean, I'm more decisive about what dress I'm wearing to a party than Weis is about the lynch pin of his offense?

(And while we're talking about Jones, let's consider the kind of relationship Weis must have fostered with his young charge that in just three weeks he went from starting quarterback at Notre Dame to a student at a Northern Illinois. What the hell is that about? What coach worth his salt would let a situation devolve to that point?)

Second, in an ESPN article today with the incredible title, "Notre Dame Decides to Start Season Over," Weis is quoted as saying:

"We are going back to our first day of installation of training camp. That's what we're putting in [Sunday], just as if it were the first day of training camp. And everything is even steven, like it's the first day out there and everything's up for grabs."

Earth to Coach Weis: this isn't a Sunday morning golf game. You don't get a mulligan here. It's too friggin' late to go back to the first day of training camp. And besides, given what we've seen over the last three weeks, your training camp must have sucked. Why on earth would you do it again?

No wonder this guy is so bad at losing weight. He probably starts every morning with egg whites, then by the end of the day he's inhaling cartons of Twinkies washed down with a few dozen Yoo Hoo's, then he wakes up the next morning chirping, "Hey, it's a new day! Pass the egg whites!"

Seriously, someone tell me why this guy is so revered.

Cuz he coordinated the Patriots offense under Bill Belichick? Belichick hasn't exactly suffered with Weis' departure. (All he had to do was buy a new camera.)

Because he helped Tom Brady develop as quarterback? Taking credit for Tom Brady's development is like Eileen Ford taking credit for making Giselle Bundchen pretty.

For the sake of all the Irish fans out there, I sure hope I'm wrong, but I don't think Charlie Weis is anywhere close to being the genius you all think he is.

In fact, I'm guessing that within a couple years, he'll be packing his bags and disappearing into the night, muttering, "Pay no attention to the man behind the very big curtain."

Demetrius Jones Enrolls At Northern Illinois

ESPN.com reports that Irish quarterback Demetrius Jones has left Notre Dame and enrolled at Northern Illinois.

Coach Charlie Weis wouldn't comment on the story but confirmed Jones wasn't on the team bus going to Michigan this weekend.

Jones started Notre Dame's season opener against Georgia Tech, but was pulled before the end of the first half and has been sidelined ever since.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, LaShaun Dumas, Jones' mother, expressed mixed feelings about her son's choice to leave Notre Dame.

"Am I happy with the decision? I'm on the fence about it. But, at the end of the day, it is his decision. It's difficult. I'm normally not a person at a loss for words. But I'm at a loss for words."

However tough it must be to leave a school like Notre Dame, seems to me it's better to be a star for a smaller program then a bench-warmer for a bigger one.

Someone's Gonna Have To Say A Lot of Hail Mary's

Poor Fornelli.

First, he couldn't take advantage of a free ticket to a Notre Dame game a couple weeks ago because he had to work.

And now someone has beat him to his backup plan.

A man posted on the Internet a video showing how he sneaked into Notre Dame Stadium before the Georgia Tech game by posing as a Roman Catholic priest, prompting the university to re-emphasize its security procedures.

The six-minute video on the Web site YouTube showed the man posing by the team's signature yellow sign reading "Play Like a Champion Today," chatting with a television reporter and greeting the Fighting Irish as they ran onto the field to play Georgia Tech on Sept. 1. The video has since been removed.

The university said it will more tightly enforce its existing security policies to prevent this from happening again.

I know you're disappointed, Fornelli, but don't worry, I've come up with an even better plan for you to get past security. It's pretty much foolproof.

I've ordered one for you in blue and gold in your size.

No need to thank me.

via FanHouse

Notre Dame Might Win On Saturday

For the second straight year, I won't be able to watch the Notre Dame/Michigan game. This is incredibly painful for me. Last year it was due to the wedding of my cousin Keith. This year it's because of the wedding of my twin sister, Megan.

I thought there was a special bond between us, being twins and all, that would have kept my sister from scheduling her wedding for this day. I even told her last year at Keith's wedding, "Don't fucking have yours on Notre Dame/Michigan, or I'm not going."

I mean, her husband is a huge Notre Dame fan as well, how could he let this happen!?

The worst part of all this? Notre Dame might actually win on Saturday. That's right, win. A football game. With that offensive line.

Why is that? Because when Jimmy Clausen takes the field for his second career start, he'll be the most experienced quarterback on the field. Chad Henne will not be playing for the Wolverines.

Injured Michigan quarterback Chad Henne will not play against Notre Dame.

Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr did not provide a timetable for Henne's return, listing him Monday as week-to-week. The senior was knocked out of the second half of Saturday's 39-7 loss to Oregon.

That means freshman Ryan Mallet will be starting for Michigan, the same guy who went 6-for-17 for 49 yards in the second half against Oregon.

Of course, Michigan will still have Mike Hart, and he's not lacking in confidence.

"We're going to win next week," Hart said. "There's no question in my mind. I guarantee we will win next week. I'm going to get this team ready. Guaranteed."

Keep in mind though, that Hart felt the exact same way about Appalachian State and Oregon.

Foul Balls College Football Rankings - Week 2

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	LSU	--
3	West Virginia	--
4	Oklahoma	4
5	Florida	1
6	Texas	1
7	California	--
8	Penn State	6
9	Wisconsin	3
10	Louisville	--
11	Rutgers	4
12	Ohio State	1
13	Nebraska	3
14	South Carolina	12
15	Georgia Tech	11
16	UCLA	2
17	Oregon	9
18	Tennessee	1
19	Arkansas	--
20	Clemson	3
21	Boston College	1
22	Virginia Tech	13
23	Georgia	11
24	Texas A&M	1
25	South Florida	1

Dropped Out: Auburn (#13), Boise State (#20), TCU (#21), Hawaii (#24).

Another week, and another shuffled ballot. Obviously the biggest story around here is Michigan losing again at home. The good news is that at least they faced a Division-I team this week.

Still, it's become apparent that this team is in some real trouble. They basically quit on themselves in the second half, and I'm not sure how they'll rebound next week. Fortunately for them, they'll be playing another bad team.

Yeah, Notre Dame lost again, but were you really expecting anything different? I already expressed my feelings on the Irish's biggest problem at FanHouse, but I am pleased with the play of Jimmy Clausen thus far. Still, I don't want to waste any more time in this post talking about teams that aren't even on my ballot.

So let's get to the teams that matter.

• LSU - LSU looked fantastic on Saturday night. I was confident they'd beat Virginia Tech, but I didn't think they'd destroy them. I may have USC at #1 still, but LSU is more a 1a than a 2.
• Virginia Tech - Speaking of VT, they also happen to fall the furthest in my ballot this week. I dropped them from #9 to #22 as Sean Glennon went out and confirmed my doubts about his ability to lead the Hokie offense. Granted, it was against what could be the best team in the country on the road, but the Hokies looked bad.
• Oklahoma - After seeing the way they dismantled the Hurricanes, there was just no way I could keep them out of my top five this week. I can't wait for the Oklahoma/Texas game.
• Penn State - I bumped the Nittany Lions up quite a bit this week. I know they haven't played much in ways of competition, but from what I've seen they're the best team in the Big Ten right now. Anthony Morelli hasn't convinced me of anything yet, but he hasn't made any huge mistakes either.
• South Florida - I'm not really convinced they're a top 25 team yet, but anytime you can go into Auburn and beat the Tigers, I have to give you some props.
• South Carolina - Spurrier might be on the verge of making the Gamecocks a real threat after all. Going into Georgia and beating the Bulldogs is a huge win for a program that's struggled against the SEC elite the last few years.

As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Some Things I Won't Do

The weekend got off to a pretty tough start for me. I was at work on Friday when I received a phone call from my sister. Turns out my soon-to-be brother-in-law had an extra ticket to Notre Dame's home opener against Georgia Tech, and he wanted to know if I wanted to go.

I did.

Unfortunately(or not, after seeing the game), I had to work on Saturday as well, and couldn't find anybody to take my place. Why didn't I just call in sick, you ask? Some will tell you it's because I'm responsible, but I'll tell you it's because I'm a fucking idiot.

Anyway, I'm not sure what Joe would have wanted me to do for the ticket, but I doubt it's anything like what this Ohio State fan did for his.

(Thanks be to Deadspin for introducing us to the art of Poo-Diving)

The Jimmy Clausen Era Begins

You know what the best part about taking this last weekend off was?

I didn't have to write anything about Notre Dame's loss on Saturday.

I knew the Irish were going to struggle this season, but a 33-3 loss wasn't what I was expecting. Did I think Demetrius Jones would tear things up? No, that's why I thought Sharpley should have been the starter. Neither did well on Saturday, but Sharpley inspired more confidence than Demetrius.

Then Jimmy Clausen came in. He looked much better than either Sharpley or Jones, but didn't really put any points on the board either. Also, he was facing a Georgia Tech team that had taken it's starting defense out, and essentially had called off the dogs.

As I was watching, I thought to myself, "Shit. Now Clausen is going to start next week."

It's not that I don't think Clausen is good enough to become a good quarterback at Notre Dame. It's just I don't think he's ready yet. So having him start his first college game in Happy Valley against a Penn State team that played well in their opener could be asking for trouble.

Unfortunately, Charlie Weis doesn't care what I think.

Freshman Jimmy Clausen, who went into the season opener as Notre Dame’s No. 3 quarterback after offseason arm surgery, will start Saturday against Penn State.

Coach Charlie Weis opened his Tuesday news conference by announcing his decision but did not immediately elaborate on the reason for his choice.

So it appears the Clausen Era has begun in South Bend. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and Clausen will come out and throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns.

It wouldn't really surprise me, I mean Clausen is talented. The problem is ND's offensive line. They looked like a Pop Warner team trying to block Georgia Tech's blitz schemes. You don't think the Nittany Lions are going to see what Tech did and work it into their gameplan this week?

This is going to be a long season.

The Irish Can't Keep A Secret

Some loose-lipped Notre Dame blogger has wrecked head coach Charlie Weis' Big Surprise and let the cat of the bag (which is a good thing, cuz that kinda behavior these days could get you federal jail time).

According to several Notre Dame sources, Demetrius Jones will QB for the Fighting Irish this Saturday against Georgia Tech.

Lots of complaining already about the sophomore's skills and lack thereof, but apparently Weis thinks he's doing something right.

What worries me about Jones comes from Jones himself in an interview last year.

Q: If you could compare your style of play to a musician or singer, who would you sound like?

Jones: I would have to say I would sound like Michael Jackson because he is a show stopper and has the most complete package of a entertainer...meaning different styles of music, dance moves, attention getting voice and collaborating with other artists to add flavor to his music.

Excuse the language, Demetrius, but... Michael FUCKING JACKSON? Your style resembles that of a pedophiliac pop has-been who bleaches his face, wears a boy burkha and whose last good song came out when you -6?

Honestly, this is cause for great concern, I must sa -

Wait, what?

Q: Who has been your biggest influence in life?

Jones: Biggest influence in my life has been God/Jesus/the Bible. It has given me a understanding about life and what my purpose is on earth.

Phew. Okay, that's more like it. Last person I remember who answered that question the same way was then-Governor George Bush. And that turned out great, right?

Go, Irish! Go, Demetrius/Michael Jackson! Go, Jesus!