Other than that, I don't see any likely picks baring [sic] a junior like Darrin Walls leaving early.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
John | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 12:56 pm | #

Substantial new post! I almost had a Ted Kennedy there!

Too soon?
Domer Guy | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 1:48 pm | #

Sorry for the above post. Just clicked over to CNN and saw the news re Kennedy's brain tumor.

Aaaaaand that's why I don't do comedy.
Domer Guy | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 1:51 pm | #

I have no doubt TT will distinguish himself enough to become a role player at Bend-on-Erie. Well done, Travis; you deserve a real shot after all your hard work and selflessness.
indy | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 2:14 pm | #

I think Faine was drafted in 2003?
Matty | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 4:13 pm | #

Great post, Pat. I've been jonesing.
A few thoughts your post provoked:
-John Carlson, integrity and character-wise, is everything that thug-rapist Jerramy Stevens was not. He will be a breath of fresh air for the fans and his teammates in Seattle. Plus he gets to reunite with Julius Jones. Thanks to Direct TV/ NFL Ticket, I'll check in on their game each week.
-Holmgren is really softening...that he consulted with Tim [Hasselback] about drafting Carlson is kind of out-of-character for the old control freak. I'm impressed. First Tom Coughlin, and now Mike Holmgren.
- For a little while, the Irish had TE's Fasano, Olsen, and Carlson on the squad together. That's sick.
-Glad that Zibby has Mattison in his corner. I really think Zibby will fluorish in Balto. Ed Reed and Ray Lewis will love him. They set the tempo, and Zibby fits their mould.
-The last paragraph of the post is a real buzzkill. Looking ahead to the '09 NFL draft and seeing that ND players will be absent certainly tempers my enthusiasm for the upcoming season. In stark contrast, the University of Spoiled Children will be as loaded with NFL caliber talent as any college team has been since Miami in the late 80's. They will be scary-good. I hope and pray that our underclassmen are able to carry the load. The O line's play will be critical.
So great to have you posting again, Pat!
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 5:50 pm | #

What Voice said. Welcome back pardner.
Domer guy; Don't worry about it. Any comments from Mary Jo Kopechne and her family on the Liberal Senator from Mass.?
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 6:32 pm | #

Voice-

The guy who Holmgren consulted with was Tim Ruskell - the Seahawks GM.

You might be confusing Tim with Tim Hasselbeck, who is Matt's brother, the Seahawks QB.

There. Now we're clear as mud.
kmf | Email | Homepage | 05.20.08 - 8:15 pm | #

Good to have you back, Pat.
GB | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 2:20 am | #

kmf,
Thanks. That is exactly what I did.
I recently met Tim at a golf event and, for a BC guy, he's a terrific fellow. His wife is Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View, and he relayed a few choice tidbits about his wife's co-workers.
Tim is with the Arizona Cardinals, now.
Thanks again for the assist.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 9:00 am | #

"The View" illustrates why guys take mistresses.. Or the misogyny of the network...probably both.
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 11:05 am | #

Mary Jo isn't saying much these days.
Pahk Yah Cah in Hahvahd Yahd | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 11:54 am | #

Is this thread now a political football?
indy | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 1:39 pm | #

Appropos of nothing...

A view of the dome cam reveals a very quiet campus. Ah those summer days of May post commencement.
Jim '72 | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 1:51 pm | #

Jim,

It's a great time to be on campus. My best time there was spent in St. Ed's during a summer school session. Very peaceful. Felt like I owned the place.
Hal | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 2:14 pm | #

A propos of nothing whatever to do with this draft analysis, check out this piece from our chums over at mzone.

http://michiganzone.blogspot.com...-were- like.html

I'm not neccessarily subscribing to the political parallels, but their riff on our dear friends in Bristol is pretty funny. (Sadly they couldn't find a game of their own, but I'll take the one they used)
Burbank Steve | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 3:25 pm | #

I'm just hoping for a .500 season. Baby steps.
Fighting Binny | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 6:50 pm | #

I think these guys got their due in the draft. For a awhile there, thanks to Davie Golfingham constantly running down our players to the press and underperformance due to poor coaching, ND guys were a steal in the draft. Zibby is the highest at S since Taylor, yet Deke Cooper has been in the league for years now and is a starter. Carlson the highest since Smith at TE, yet Fasano is looking like he will have a long career (and would have been drafted far lower had CW not showed up in time). You can go right down the list - Irish DL still in league who played for Davie (or who were until very recently), and guys who were poorly utilized or not coached up by both regimes (Jones and Ryan Grant come to mind). I think we're going to see some new respect for our guys once this year's juniors and sophomores hit the draft. Its about time. That SOB Davie cost some guys some money for sure. At least Golfingham didn't waste too much talent - its hard to do that when you don't recruit any.
Thundershaker | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 7:51 pm | #

I may have missed something, but besides the 1994 Spring game, when was Bobby Taylor a satefy for ND? He played corner in '93 and '94. As far as I can tell, Zibby is the highest drafted safety from ND since Jeff Burris.
cdawg | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 9:14 pm | #

Taylor started at free safety as a freshman. But you are correct that Burris is probably a better example since a majority of Taylor's playing time came as a cornerback.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 05.21.08 - 9:42 pm | #

Burris could just flat out play football. We had return guys and a slew of runningbacks in those days, but every once in awhile Holtz would let Burris take a punt or a pitch on an offensive play. And he would score a touchdown. One of the best players on a team that gave us our last really, really great year. (still repressing BC)
FlannerCock | Email | Homepage | 05.22.08 - 7:53 am | #

Threadjack (kind of):

Since we're talking about talented guys from the Holtz days, I went back to the SI.com Vault (totally cool that SI did that, by the way) and found probably my favorite Notre Dame football article of all time:
http://vault.sportsillustrated.c...68837/ index.htm

I apologize for the lack of a hotlink, but it really is worth copying and pasting into your browser. The first few paragraphs still give me goosebumps almost 20 years later. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

/Threadjack
Lujack City | Email | Homepage | 05.22.08 - 10:41 am | #

Hey, it hotlinked automatically. Huzzah! to Haloscan.
Lujack City | Email | Homepage | 05.22.08 - 10:41 am | #