01-12-2004 11:20									#361
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Well, Wilbon is playing the race bit heavily in tomorrow's paper. At least Wilbon doesn't change his stripes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...-2004Nov30.html

	01-12-2004 12:30									#362
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That was a pretty crap article, even for Wilbon. Can't say I blame him, though; I'd be pissy too if I had to sit and be pwned by Kornheiser night after night...

	01-12-2004 18:55									#363
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quote: Well, Wilbon is playing the race bit heavily in tomorrow's paper.

And he's one of the less obnoxious black journalists when it comes to race issues. The late ESPN journalist Wiley was far worse (he claimed that James' Sabermetrics was racist because it devalued the stolen base, which black athletes were adept at).

	01-12-2004 22:13									#364
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mrmitchell, the entire conference is happy never to see Jones again. That kid had one hell of a career, and if you guys hadn't been in our division, I'd have enjoyed watching him.

	01-12-2004 23:07									#365
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quote: That was a pretty crap article, even for Wilbon.

I figure he's never going to give ND the benefit of the doubt because he dislikes ND.

	01-12-2004 23:15									#366
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quote: Originally posted by DanS I figure he's never going to give ND the benefit of the doubt because he dislikes ND.

Which means he's sane... it's like hating the Yankees .

	01-12-2004 23:32									#367
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Except that the Yankees have an unlimited budget, so it makes more sense to hate the unfair game. Division I-A has the equivalent of a salary cap for players.

	01-12-2004 23:40									#368
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ND aint the Yankees any more, and never will be again. I was surprised they canned Willingham. Whoever they hire next will be gone in five years or less. They don't have the drawing power they once had. It will take them another decade to realize that they are no longer the university of football.

	01-12-2004 23:44									#369
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When you say "drawing power", what do you mean precisely?

	02-12-2004 00:25									#370
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Less Recruits are interested in playing for Notre Dame. There are several reason for this:
a) The increase of cable coverage of football. Most top schools games get coverage.
b) Relative decline in catholic high school football programs. Im not sure if this is national but it's certainly the case in my area 10 years ago Central Catholic and Bethlehem catholic were the top programs, now it's Whitehall and Schuykhill Haven (public schools) both send 1 or 2 players to a Big Ten Team a year. This is also part of the reason for Penn States decline; they use to get almost all of these kids, with Notre Dame poaching a few catholic school recruits.
C) Increased recruiting by other big schools, Miami and Florida State are now recruiting in PA, I don't think this use to be the case.

ND is still a big draw in the Midwest but not what they once were.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on 02-12-2004 at 00:33

	04-12-2004 12:00									#371
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The fact remains that ND should have at least a modest advantage over most of its competitors in recruiting.

a) You're right in that cable coverage is better. However, ND still has an edge in the national picture over every other team. There is value in that.

b) I don't know if you can make a generalization regarding catholic high school football programs. In any event, ND recruits most from public schools.

c) This is a big factor. ND and USC were probably the only national recruiters once upon a time. However, ND still does recruit nationally, which is an advantage over most other schools.

The biggest factor is probably the low number of scholarships authorized. More schools are getting top talent.

	04-12-2004 12:08									#372
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Btw, it's funny the criticism that Notre Dame is getting. Much of it is quite venemous. I think this demonstrates that ND does still have the best tradition in college football. People care enough to hate it as well as love it. This is very reassuring to an ND fan.

People can't muster the venom for other schools that did the same thing as ND this year. All ND is asking of its coaches is that they field competitive teams. This isn't asking for the moon, and I expect that ND will be competitive with the right coach. Maybe not national championship contenders, given the challenging schedule, but definitely competitive. I don't know whether firing Willingham was the right move, but it should be obvious to anybody who has watched ND faithfully, that he did not field competitive teams the last two years. Maybe somebody with a fresh approach will be helpful.

Last edited by DanS on 04-12-2004 at 12:32

	04-12-2004 12:14									#373
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The top four in the SEC east should be interesting to watch now. Meyer apparently didn't really believe that ND was his dream job. It will be fun watching Richt, Spurrier, Meyer, and Fulmer battling for a berth in Atlanta every year.

	04-12-2004 12:34									#374
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Meyer has won on talent that others have recruited. In this instance, perhaps he has taken the more pragmatic route by going to Florida. Maybe recruiting isn't one of his favorite activities. I do think that ND has some very good players, though. Walker was at times very exciting to watch this year. Even Brady Quinn has shown some good stuff.

Last edited by DanS on 04-12-2004 at 12:47