It's amazing that these idiots haven't figured that out yet. Every ND fan knows that since we all went ballistic on Dr. White when it was announced.
JohnWA | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 5:50 pm | #

... and knowing is half the battle! G.I. Joe!
IrishHoffy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 5:56 pm | #

No, wait, wrong promo.
IrishHoffy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 5:56 pm | #

I agree with JohnWA. I keep hearing that everywhere. Do sportswriters even check facts anymore, has published sportswriting become more like grammatically correct blogs?

$14 million down to around $4 million, that's, that's like twice as much as a $5 million difference!
IrishHoffy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:05 pm | #

All that hard work for ONLY 700k? For 700k you could get Alex Rodriguez for 4 games. Not a bad payout unless it's the playoffs.
UncleSmokeyStank | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:09 pm | #

Should we be concerned if we don't get invited to a BCS game? Doesn't the Gator Bowl still have a link with the Big East? Between West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers, if only one of those teams gets a BCS invite, what about the other two teams?

Acknowledging that ND puts butts in the seats for bowl games, it would be advantageous for the Gator Bowl committee to invite us to Jacksonville. If we go 10-2, getting blown out by USC, do we really deserve to jump ahead of an 11-1 Big East team for that Gator Bowl slot? Maybe not, and if we end up going to that game, I am sure we are going to be hearing about it... Hell, we are going to be hearing about it no matter where we go. Let's just win one for once.
B | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:17 pm | #

An at-large team needs 9 wins and a top 14 finish (as opposed to top 12 in previous years).
Dante | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:17 pm | #

We're a win-win for the BCS. Selecting us means they get the ND "OMGeveryonewillwatchbecausetheyeitherhateorloveND andwe'llselltonsofadds" factor, AND they save over $9 mil that they'd have to pay off to a team from a conference.
Joey | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:32 pm | #

What happens to the other $9.5 million that we don't get?
And also, I thought we had to win 9 games and be in the top 14, not 12.
John | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:48 pm | #

uhh, the 9.5 million goes to the Big East iirc. the bowl's still paying out the same amount. just not all of it goes to ND's coffers.
tedwick | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:50 pm | #

I say $1 million per arbitron rating...
schwappy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 7:12 pm | #

If we go 10-2, getting blown out by USC, do we really deserve to jump ahead of an 11-1 Big East team for that Gator Bowl slot?

Deserving's got nothing to do with it. The bowl games are not designed to reward deserving teams, but rather to pad the coffers of the tv networks and conferences.

With that in mind, we should strive for the best bowl possible agains the highest quality opponent. To hell with the mouth breathing jackholes who cry about fairness when their conferences are the main beneficiaries of this corrupt, capitalist bowl scheme.

Where's James Connolly when you need him?
Coach Leahy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 7:27 pm | #

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/c...iac/? cmp=vanurl


Anyone voting for game changing play of the week?
schwappy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 7:40 pm | #

I personally have no problem bumping Louisville for a bowl slot. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
iNDy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 8:00 pm | #

as if the officiating crew each week wasn't reminder enough, yet ANOTHER reason for fr jenkins to give kw his travelin' documents. the only thing more intolerable about the bcs-payout fiasco is that i have to believe someone higher up, outside of the athletic dept, actually ok'd it. and if we have the same deal as non-bcs conference qualifiers, what's the deal with the disparity? if it's just "you don't play in a conference with quality teams" argument, there's usually one bcs conference winds up that way each year, and definitely some divisions within conferences. while i know the bcs isn't an ncca product, shouldn't the ncaa care? they don't alter final four shares based on conference affiliation, do they?

coach leahy is right...the whole system sucks ass. just feels like nd got taken in by faulty reasoning.
yz | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 9:38 pm | #

I'm with iNDy re bumping the Cards .. or Mountaineers, for that matter. While I don't think our squad is all-time (still can't figure what the hell is wrong with the O-line) I have to think we beat those two teams like a drum.
Go Irish
Bill H | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 9:49 pm | #

We are not going to win the NC this year. We are not a Top 3 Team. We win continue to get screwed in the human polls, so here's the gig!

Win out.

Go to Bowl.

Win Bowl Game.

Win the recruiting game.

Come back stronger next year.

Compete for the NC.
Big Tobacco | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 10:25 pm | #

Are you guys going to have a photo galleries post?
Sean | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 11:48 pm | #

I agree with big tobacco. I don't care who we play or what bowl it is, let's just win a bowl game and not spend the next 8 months afterwards defending ourselves to our co-workers!
Darius Quinn | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 12:35 am | #

I am really happy Charlie came out and complained about the polls. Here is the article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/ne...tory? id=2637561

My favorite line is when he says: "One of the teams [Tennessee] that jumped us had the same game that we had. Another team [Florida] that jumped us wasn't even playing. They were home eating cheeseburgers and they end up jumping us. That befuddles me."
Smitty | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 1:40 am | #

I don't feel too strongly about the polls either way. And some people may have problems with Charlie talking about this. But it should be admitted that it is weird when a team doesn't play jumps us when we win.
Smitty | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 1:50 am | #

Well, Scott Van Pelt obviously doesn't read this site. SportsCenter just "reported" on Weis' comments, and van Pelt mentioned the "$14.7 million dollar payout that ND doesn't have to share with anyone."

Of course, SportsCenter is also showing a piece on Bill Buckner that they just showed 3 weeks ago, so it must be a slow news day.

(Hockey highlights, anyone?)
Kanka | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 7:53 am | #

ESPN receiving deluge of emails in...

3....

2....

1....
Nate | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 8:27 am | #

I kind of like that Weis mentioned the polls. Shows that he is adjusting to the inforutnate poll-itics of the collge game. Whether he is right or wrong, I like the fact that he is standing up for his guys. Also I think this shows that he thinks we still have a shot at the NC game. He know we have a BCS if we beat USC, so why else would he make a pt. of it, especially when we are the higher in the BCS than any of the human polls.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 9:46 am | #

please forgive the spelling and grammatical errors
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 9:47 am | #

Remember when a BCS game meant something? 700k difference? that's it?

Who receives the most blame - White for OKing it? or Davieham for forcing a fait accompli due to their years and years of abject mediocrity?
Tom | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 9:48 am | #

great point Tom. The AD takes a lot of visible heat for the deal, but no one seems to point out the on-field performance suffered. (i'm sure you can say that the AD is partially responsible for the on-field performance because he hired the head coach(es). i'm trying to say there's enough blame to go around.)

Maybe the next time the bowl contract is revamped, we'll be negotiating from a position of strength with a strong head coach.
everloyal | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 10:45 am | #

"Same as any other BCS team" is VERY misleading. The team that wins any other BCS conference is awarded $14 million dollars. They, being moronic communists then share that with their conference brethren.

"Same as any other at-large BCS team" would be more appropriate.
Kelley Cook | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 11:17 am | #

"Same as any other at-large BCS team" except ND gets paid regardless of if they make the BCS bowls or not. With Charlie at the helm, that shouldn't be a problem most years.

I agree that I like Charlie mentioning the polls. It fits in with his no BS style. There is a complete difference between lobbying for votes like some other coaches have done, and simply stating the facts. Hopefully some idiot sportswriter will catch those and really think how ridiculous his ballot is by jumping a team that has struggled twice against inferior competition (UT vs. 'Bama and AFA) and a team that sat on their butts all week over a team that gutted out a win against a BCS opponent with the #9 defense in the nation.
JohnWA | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 11:27 am | #

I have a hard time believing ESPN would let this story get in the way of their coverage of Kenny Rogers' hand.
Domer | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 11:36 am | #

"I agree that I like Charlie mentioning the polls. It fits in with his no BS style."

No BS? Well, let's consider what he said:

"One of the teams [Tennessee] that jumped us had the same game that we had. Another team [Florida] that jumped us wasn't even playing. They were home eating cheeseburgers and they end up jumping us. That befuddles me."

The Tenessee team that jumped Notre Dame has 1 loss by 1 point to #9 ranked Florida. They've beaten #12 Cal and a 6-2 Georgia team on the road.

The Florida team that jumped you has maybe the hardest schedule in the country and still has only 1 loss. They beat #8 Tennessee (on the road), #14 LSU, and their only loss is to #7 Auburn (on the road).

Notre Dame, by comparison, has beaten #21 Georgia Tech (on the road) and no other ranked team, while also getting blown out by #2 Michigan at home and playing multiple close games.

This isn't really example of a "no BS" style. Charlie's the one doing a lot of spinning, here.
William Swann | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 11:51 am | #

Not sure I follow Kelley Cook. I said the $4.5 million share that ND will receive is the same as any other BCS team, not the $14 million. I realize the conferences split the loot, but as far as I know, the team that is actually in the game gets approximately $4.5 million of it.

Actually, in order to be correct the statement should read "Notre Dame will receive the same $4.5 million dollar conference share as any other BCS team from a BCS conference."

If Boise State gets a nod, they get to keep the whole $14 million.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 11:53 am | #

Have you watched a single Georgia game? Worst 6-2 team, ever. They should have lost to Colorado and even their other wins were less than impressive. They have finally been exposed as soon as they played a decent team and there is no way on God's green earth that they will be anywhere near the top 25 this year. Giving any team credit for beating Georgia this year should automatically get you banned from making any further comments.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 12:04 pm | #

"Giving any team credit for beating Georgia this year ..."

Ok, how about the #12 Cal team they thumped? Or the fact that they've lost just 1 game by 1 point (to #9 Florida)?

The season isn't over by a long shot, and Notre Dame will get the chance to prove itself, but thus far in the season Tennessee has a better resume than Notre Dame.

"... should automatically get you banned from making any further comments."

The point I'm making is correct, and your coach happens to be in the wrong here. If you want to ban me for that, go ahead.
William Swann | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 12:22 pm | #

i agree that giving credit to a team for beating Georgia is ridonk, but come on Anon. Its not THAT they beat Georgia. Its HOW they beat Georgia. If i remember correctly only one other team in history has hung that many points on UG between the hedges
Domer03inbmore | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 12:30 pm | #

William Swann,
I agree with you that Tennessee has a more impressive resume to date (although they were lucky to escape Air Force) and UF is playing great as well. Its simply to early to tell who the better 1 loss team is. I think the problem with the dropping in the polls is everyone is saying they voted ND down because they struggled against UCLA and had to come back to win in the final minute. Yet Tennessee did the same thing and nobody mentions it. I don't think this is an issue of saying which team is better but rather what you punish one for you should punish all for. Stewart Mandel's column is a perfect example:

On Tennesse:
"Heisman candidate Erik Ainge finally cooled off, throwing three first-half interceptions against Alabama, but he rebounded to throw for 302 yards and lead a game-winning TD drive. Bad news for the Vols: RB LaMarcus Coker is expected to miss the next three weeks with a knee injury.
Next game: Saturday at South Carolina."

On Notre Dame:
"Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-1)
"Good teams win games like that," Charlie Weis said of the UCLA victory. No argument here. Great teams, however, don't require miracle rallies to beat the Bruins or Michigan State, don't get outgained by Purdue, don't lead Stanford 14-3 at halftime and don't lose to 47-21 to anyone.
Next game: Saturday vs. Navy"

While both statements may be true they are certainly cast in a different light. How about citing how Tennessee didn't lead until the last 3 mins.Or beat Air Force by one for that matter. How about citing how ND's D, the weakest link, stepped up in the final minutes to give the offense a shot.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 1:16 pm | #

ND Fan...and Charlie's dead wrong on this way. Yes, it WAS ridiculous the manner that Tenn & Florida past them (by not playing/winning close). But that doesn't change the fact that Tenn & Florida have better resumes right now...(Now Texas & Arkansa...THAT one's not debatable)


I think this is part of the current 'curse' that's on ND (let's call it the Fredo curse): Every year, any quality team that ND beat that was SUPPOSED to be good/decent ends up being terrible. The ultimare example of this has to be Tennessee from last year. How many crappy teams have Tenn had in the last 10 years, like 2? Yet the one year ND beats them, they get no credit for it...

Also, any year ND beats Michigan, Michigan ends up finishing like 8-4, but every year Michigan beats ND, Michigan goes to the Rose Bowl...It's like clockwork
Bryan ND '02 | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 1:27 pm | #

This season should be titled:

"Is it better to lucky than good?"
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 1:37 pm | #

This myth was repeated again on ESPN last night, but more a more amusing gaffe from those muttonheads was immediately following the snippet from the CW "cheeseburgers" interview - ESPN noted that the Irish are about to start their "Academy" swing, but then added(with an accompanying graphic) that we play USC on November 4th.

I'm not sure about you folks who are planning to go to Notre Dame Stadium that day in the hope of seeing the NC game, but I'm heading down to the Coliseum. ESPN is always right, let's face it!
BurbankSteve | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 4:40 pm | #

Kelley's point was that the payout to the teams that earn their way in is 14 million. They're just a bunch of stupid pinko commies and give away their hard earned dough to the likes of Indiana. The teams that limp in as a second place finisher in their conferences get the 4.5 million dollar consolation prize, which is all our wonderful AD could negotiate for us.
crazy tom | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 5:07 pm | #

Thanks Crazy Tom. I guess I should have been more clear. The team that goes to the BCS gets the $14 million and then immediately hands it over to their conference to loot and plunder. What they get back is around $4.5 million.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 5:24 pm | #

No, in the case of the Big Ten, the champion will only get back 1/11th of their $14 million.

Or 1/11th of $18.5 million if another of their comrades also goes to the BCS.

Some conferences give a double share to the winner, but none of them work out to $4.5 million/team.

Oh yeah, they will also get a share (after Purdue's expenses) of that huge Motor City payout as well as the purses other also ran bowls. In the case of the Motor City, $750,000 won't actually cover expenses, but who's really counting.

Solidarity Now!
Kelley Cook | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 5:38 pm | #

My mistake then. I thought the actual team that got to the bowl got to keep a larger amount than two shares. Obviously I need to go re-read the fine print. I guess I should hold off on calling out sports journalists then for failing to get the details rights. Or maybe they'll just welcome me to the club.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 11:15 pm | #

Re: the sharing of Bowl game payouts among all conference members.

The way I look at it, it's compensation for the Northwestern & Vanderbilts etc. for bumping up the collective grade-point averages of their respective conference.
Irish_Angst | Email | Homepage | 10.26.06 - 11:44 am | #

"So what happened in week 9 to solicit these changes?"

One thing that happened is that Notre Dame's only win against a ranked opponent (Georgia Tech) stopped looking so good after Tech got walloped by Clemson.

Mostly, though, I think the pollsters came to their senses. Both Tennessee and Florida have better records so far this season than Notre Dame.

Tennessee won big over #12 Cal, and their only loss is by one point to #9 Florida.

Florida beat #8 Tennessee (on the road) and #14 LSU, and their only loss is by 10 points to #7 Auburn (on the road).

Notre Dame, by comparison, won small over #21 Georgia Tech, hasn't won against any other ranked opponents, and got destroyed at home by #2 Michigan.

You can fault the pollsters for not noticing it sooner, but I don't see how you can fault them for correcting their error.
William Swann | Email | Homepage | 10.26.06 - 2:24 pm | #