Neutered?
It's in Hil-dog's testicle lock box.
Some good games, but they are rendered meaningless with the LSU-OSU finale.
Call moi disgruntled.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 12:15 pm | #

Nightmare season number 1 behind us.

It's up to CW, some new (please!) coaches and the players to turn it around.

Hard to get much worse than the Navy choke.

Glad to turn the page.
ThE LoSt BoY | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 12:30 pm | #

I haven't heard much talk about how ND faced 10 bowl teams this year. It doesn't mean we didn't suck (we did) and it doesn't mean that making it to a bowl makes you a good team (it doesn't), but the schedule had to magnify the deficiencies of this team.

Let's hope that 2007 is the last year that ND is the only Indiana football program NOT to go to a bowl. Ugh.
IndyTom | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 3:34 pm | #

Indy Tom:
Great post. Not enough attention has been given to that fact.
Lush | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 6:31 pm | #

I can just hear Rodriguez's first talk to UM. You dogs got LLoyd Carr fired, I won't give you that chance. *Giter in thar to the wight room. *WV accent.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 7:36 pm | #

In the spirit of "off topic but what the hey", a weird story coming out of Baltimore has former N.D. player/current Raven Gerome Sapp facing trial in February for allegedly assaulting the team's former long snapper Joe Maese on December 29th. Bizarre.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2...aven-joe-maese/
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 7:39 pm | #

A DB allegedly attacking a big OL!! What is the world coming to??
Lush | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 7:56 pm | #

Omar Hunter has decommitted, for anyone who hasn't yet heard. He says the decision was based on wanting to be close to home, yet he's *apparently* considering USC. Hmmm. He also criticized, saying that he's watched how we play and he doesn't think it fits him. I sense a certain Florida coach has been whispering in his ear.
Irish Jugg | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 8:22 pm | #

You know, if Omar or anyone else doesn't want to come to ND, it's all for the best. We should only want guys who really want to be at ND and appreciate what an honor it is to graduate from ND. Go Irish.
Loretta | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 8:26 pm | #

Here's the link on Omar Hunter:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/r...tory? id=3176505
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 8:30 pm | #

anyone watching the Sugar? "Bonerama", a trombone band, is playing the national anthem. Might be a bit hard - er, difficult - to take the anthem seriously.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 8:39 pm | #

unbelievable.. at least Florida lost to Michigan. I love seeing the SEC get beat especially to the BIG TEN. As for Hunter, i dont want anyone playing for the Irish that isnt a true Domer.
bk | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 8:40 pm | #

bk-

what about the 1 or 2 guys that will inevitably-well, hopefully-commit to ND at the last minute? are they "true Domers" despite not going public today?

just curious.

ryan o'leary of bgi has some required reading for anyone ready to cast stones at hunter:

http://www.blueandgold.com/conte...ntent/? aid=4878
kmf | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 8:49 pm | #

Looks like McKnight from U$C is the real deal.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 8:50 pm | #

kmf

what are u talking about..are u saying u dont want Domers on are team?
bk | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 9:00 pm | #

kmf - O'Leary missed the point on his article. I understand what he's trying to say, and I don't like the "he's not a true Domer" type of comments, but O'Leary isn't doing any favors by mixing and matching examples of Munir Prince and Brian Smith with those of Omar Hunter.

The issue isn't always the fact that kids change their mind. No issue there. It's the manner in which it goes down sometimes.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 9:05 pm | #

O'Weary? Isn't he the guy who accused ND fans of being racist for rooting against Demetrius Jones? How did he arrive at that conclusion? How did he extrapolate to that conclusion and from what body of evidence? Just wondering, You know.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 01.01.08 - 11:47 pm | #

BK-

Most "Domers" know the difference between "are" and "our", and can spell out "you". Choosing to go to ND doesn't make one a paragon of virtue, nor does choosing not to go to Notre Dame make you a lesser person. Pat's right--sometimes the manner in which minds are changed is not the best. But I personally knew quite a few jerks while I was under the Dome, and they got diplomas just like me. Chances are, there were a few people who thought I fell into the "jerk" category myself. ND, for the most part, tries to do things right, and yes, IS superior to many institutions in how it handles football, academics, admissions, etc. But the whole "well if he didn't want to come, he must not have been 'Domer' material, he wasn't good enough" attitude is just silly.
Nate | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 6:41 am | #

Notre Dame is fortunate to be enjoying the recruiting success that it is currently having. The caliber of players choosing to play for the Irish over the past two seasons, combined with the class Charlie will sign in February, is more than talented enough to become a great college football team.
I have pointed my finger, ad nauseum, at the sorry play of our offensive line as the biggest factor as why N.D. struggled in '07. And by "struggled" I mean horribly sucked. If you recruit and covet world class players, you have to offer world class coaching. And I endlessly harped that Latina and Mendoza are failing the likes of Sam Young, et al. When I read the article where Hunter de-commits, he basically said that the coaches are great guys, but SOME OF THEM are lousy coaches. Charlie must do all that he can do to make damn sure that his staff is as strong as possible. Too much of that coaches fraternity loyalty to lousy coaches will cause our program to languish because 1) great high school players won't be honed into great college players, and 2) other programs such as Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and USC will sell their superior staffs and basically scare the bejebus out of kids by convincing them that their talent may not be cultivated enough at N.D. to give them their best shot at "playing on Sunday". And that is quite ironic since Charlie's whole shtick is all those gaudy Super Bowl rings, and his ability to develop future NFL'ers.
The good thing is that Notre Dame should field a much more competitive team in '08, and that should translate into success on the field. And in college football, success begets success.
It would be nice to sign Omar Hunter. But never fear. We have plenty of terrific players in place, and more on the way, and if Charlie can make '07 seem like just a weird aberration, we'll get the '09 or '10 version of Omar Hunter. I expect that some coaching changes are in order after Signing Day, translating into better play on the field and even better future recruiting classes. Coach 'em up, Charlie!
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 9:07 am | #

As I recall Hunter was very interested in Michigan and then "committed" to ND after visiting both schools on the same trip. If he was so quickly swayed from UM, he probably is prone to quick decisions, just like many other high school kids. I understand that he is/was rooming with Braxton Cave at the UnderArmour Game. That experience should give him his best understanding of what an ND student is all about. It is unfortunate that he has been influenced by the negative recruiting of UrbanLiar's toadies however he seems like a good kid and I wish him well (just not against us!).
Doc Possum | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 9:55 am | #

I just hope he's not influencing Braxton Cave with any nagging doubts. Here's to a great group of talented players coming in.

CW has mentioned that he's not going to make any personnel decisions until after signing day. What kind of an effect will that have on players who sign with ND just to have their favorite coach (perhaps) fired the next day? Is he just waiting until it's too late for them to back out?
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 9:58 am | #

You guys are reading way too much into this. First of all, I dont even blame Omar entirely because I believe coaches will tell players whatever they want to hear so they will committ to them. In my opinion, a "Domer" is someone who loves Notre Dame and is willing to put out their full effort in order to have success for their school. I not saying Omar wasnt good enough for Notre Dame at all, just simply saying that we should want players who are completely committed to the goal of winning a championship at Notre Dame. No big deal guys.
bk | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 10:33 am | #

Is the Kelly Green blog link broken or is that blog gone?
hulk | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 11:03 am | #

sure everyone read this already,

http://therockreport.blogspot.com/

but if not, it's worth reading. makes you wonder why any kid would really trust some coaches/staffs.
yz | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 11:28 am | #

and in the spirit of the post, if they are going to have a champ game, let's just do away with conf affiliations for the rest of the bcs games. sure the winner of the sec gets a spot, but don't lock them into the sugar bowl. that way i don't have to watch consecutive blowouts yest aft/night. if the playoff is the ultimate goal (which i'm against), then letting teams play anywhere will speed that process up.
yz | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 11:49 am | #

If you tell a coach you're going to the school you ought to go. Hunter told Weis he was coming to ND and he should have stuck with it. Now we're down a defensive lineman we thought we were going to have (at our weakest position on the team in terms of depth). That's the annoying thing about "verbal" commitments. Wait until signing day if you aren't 100% certain you want to go somewhere. Hunter sounds like the type of guy who should have waited because he was all gung-ho about Michigan and then suddenly chose Notre Dame. He cannot make up his mind. When he inevitably chooses Florida I'm sure he'll have lingering doubts about that, too. I hope that whomever is on the field next year truly wants to represent Notre Dame with dignity and works their butts off.

GO IRISH!
Fighting Binny | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 12:22 pm | #

Yz,

Why on earth could you possibly be against a playoff? I didn't know that anyone outside the Bowl Commissioners and University Presidents was against the playoff.
Michael | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 12:34 pm | #

I just read that post on The Rock Report that yz posted. If all that about Urban Meyer is true, then he is scum. While I'm well aware that recruiting is not a pretty business, it's not all THAT bad. That's why it irritates me so much when (as in the case of O'Leary) someone says, ND does it too. No, we don't, at least not in that way.
Jade | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 12:52 pm | #

In light of all the Hunter decommit talk, how about a little love for Brandon Newman, our original NT of the future! I hear he's tearing it up at the Army AA Bowl. Go Irish!
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 12:56 pm | #

Also, didn't Newman visit last year and Abiamiri told him something along the lines of, "there's our nose tackle, right there?"
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 12:57 pm | #

here's to 2008: the first year in a while in which we haven't started off with a loss
red | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 2:06 pm | #

Irish Jugg --

Yes, Ohmar says he wants to remain close to his family's home and yet he is still considering USC.

Makes perfect sense to me. . . .
Just put them on the Reggie Bush housing plan.
Don E. Brook | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 2:13 pm | #

Jade, do you know for a fact that when it comes to negative recruiting, ND doesn't do it, "not in that way"?

My guess is you probably weren't there, inside the players' homes, hearing exactly what was being promised. (I'm not chastising you, just pointing out that nobody knows what really goes on in a recruiting pitch.)

In my opinion, trying to distinguish the varying degrees of negative recruiting is to quibble over semantics. I'm not trying to paint every coach with the same brush, but to think that Weis and his guys are completely above the fray is probably a little naïve.

I seem to remember hearing some rumors about ND coaches talking to recruits and taking shots at Illinois' coaches. Unfortunately, the state of recruiting is such that you can't haul in a Top 10 class without slinging a little mud.

I'd like to think that ND always takes the high road. Unfortunately, I doubt that's the case.
kmf | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 2:20 pm | #

first of all, i don't like the bcs either. all it is is the power conferences banding together to ensure themselves most, if not all, of the revenue from bowl games, given all the tie-ins beyond the 5 bcs games.

as far as the playoff, i just don't agree with the idea of a 3 game playoff format for college, as the reg season is now 12 games. if you go back to a 10 game reg season, i'd have to at least reconsider. but at that point i think they should have to get rid of conf champ games as well. none of that will ever happen. this isn't the nfl, why treat it as if it is? and if you bring up the rest of the ncaa football divisions, don't they start playoffs in mid nov or something? personally, i like the idea of nd playing sc in la every other year at thanksgiving.

secondly, it reduces the importance of the reg season. all that matters is being ranked in the top 8. i like every game to matter, for every team.
all a playoff does is give teams a second chance, and penalize the two teams who did everything right all season long. and it rewards ever weaker scheduling. there have been a lot of complaints about tOSU's ooc sched this year...what could possibly motivate them to rethink that if the only goal is to be in the top 8? and really don't like the thought of watching a home slate that could look like nd's next year.

i wish there was a way to really reward teams at the end of the year for playing a brutal sched, like usc has done last couple of years. i think the rose and sugar bowls yest showed that strength of sched needs to be weighted more heavily than it is now.
yz | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 2:35 pm | #

I believe the USC Omar is referring to is South Carolina.
David | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 2:45 pm | #

yz, I'd like to agree that every game matters, but I'm not sure that it does anymore. At least not this year because every team kept losing. However, for non BCS conference teams they DO have to win every single game in order to even have a long shot at a BCS bowl. Take Hawaii for example. They went undefeated this year, the only team to do that. However, LSU lost 2 games and is still in the National Championship game.

Does anyone know why the NC game is so late this year? Have I missed something? Why are Rutgers/Ball State and Bowling Green/Tulsa this weekend? They should have been played a month ago.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:12 pm | #

Anyone following the AA game? There's a ton of video on the rivals page. Robert Blanton looks incredible, and John Goodman is just a blur running down the field (although he had a bit of the dropsies).
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:13 pm | #

Sorry for the triple post... I am aware that Hawaii played bad teams and LSU lost close to better teams. I was also hoping Hawaii would do better against GA, but man did GA shut them down.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:14 pm | #

yz,

Strength of schedule is a huge factor in the current BCS standings. Not directly, but the computers consider it and the voters definately consider it. That is why Hawaii was ranked so low, even though they were undefeated.

Not that I am defending anything in the system, just pointing out that having a strength of schedule component in the rankings is redundent.

The current system is the worst we have ever had. The bowl system was always a silly way to determine a champion, though I admit it adds to the luster of the regular season, but the BCS, just eliminates the importants of all the bowls and the only one that matters is the BCS Championship Game. While still flawed it would have been much more intersting if yesterday's matchups were: Sugar: LSU vs West Virginia, Rose: OSU vs USC, Orange: VaTech vs Oklahoma; Fiesta: Georgia vs Hawaii (or maybe not Hawaii). Or at least something like that. Four bowls could have had National Championship implications.
pups | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:15 pm | #

i have no idea how some of the computer rankings are calculated, but since the coaches' poll and harris are 2/3 of the weight of the bcs, not sure just how much computers really can matter. especially given the shenanigans in the coaches poll, which would argue against sos from being too important.

in any event, i think that at least 2 2-loss teams deserve the title shot in place of tOSU.

i guess my real complaint is that everything points to more and more uninteresting games during the season (i.e. the 6 home, 1 neutral, 5 away game idea). and i should have been clearer earlier....it seems like nd's home sched in 5 years will look like the pos that next year's is on a regular basis if all this comes to pass.
yz | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:40 pm | #

Here's a funny little stat that someone brought to my attention today. Urban Meyer, in three years at Florida, has taken his team to only ONE BCS bowl game, and CW, in the same three years, has taken N.D. to TWO. Granted, Florida won the national championship in their game, while N.D. lost to both tOSU and LSU. But with the state of the two programs, it is completely counter-intuitive that N.D. has outperformed Florida in that one (and only one!) way. Tidbits like this made me "King of the Bar Bets" for several years running in the late 80's/early 90's!
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:45 pm | #

Regarding USC supposedly being a finalist for Omar's services, I've seen a fair bit of speculation that it's a plant by Meyer so that he can claim to have beaten the Poodle for a recruit.

@Binny, I guess you're going to renounce Brian Smith, then? After all, he committed to Ferentz before backing out to go to ND.

Personally, I don't have a huge problem with a guy deciding to decommit, but he damn well better be upfront with the coaching staff that he originally committed to so that they're not blindsided on signing day. Lying about it is a very low-class maneuver and reflects poorly on the character of the player.
Mr. Wednesday | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:47 pm | #

yz, keep in mind that the objective rankings (as calculated by computer programs) wind up operating against the raw vote totals for the teams involved, so they can have a comparitively big impact when teams are closely-bunched in voting.
Mr. Wednesday | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:49 pm | #

I would add that distance to ND is a BS excuse, as last I knew Delta operates direct flights between Atlanta and South Bend. It's no more difficult for his family to get to South Bend than it is for them to get to Gainesville.
Mr. Wednesday | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 3:52 pm | #

Mr. Wed. I would disagree quite a bit with the distance issue. Buford is probably at least an hour (with no traffic) from Hartsfield. It's about a hour and a half to SB from ATL. Figuring time at the airport, security, etc. this would easily turn traveling to SB into a trip of around 4-5 hours. Gainesville is also about a 4 or 5 hour drive (maybe 6 from Buford as it is north of the city). I would argue the drive is much more palatable than the flight. Figuring the cost of a tank of gas back and forth, you are talking a significantly smaller cost to go to Gainesville, Auburn or Columbia as opposed to ND. In fact, I haven't flown into South Bend in years because the cost is so ridiculous.

Also, I drove through Gainesville yesterday and it was 75 degrees. I know SB enough to know it was not 75 degrees this week.
Michael | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 5:51 pm | #

yeah, in SEC country, USC doesn't equal Southern Cal.
highnoon | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 6:04 pm | #

Omar Hunter is one player. Yes, a good one. A difference maker? That remains to be seen now, doesn't it??
Lush | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 6:34 pm | #

I've seen Brian Smith's name tossed around a little bit and would like to remind everyone of the circumstances of his backing out of his verbal commitment to Iowa.

Brian Smith's father is Chris Smith, Notre Dame's bad-ass fullback from 1981 thru 1984. CW did not offer Brian Smith a scholly until Ben Martin of Cincy LaSalle chose the UT Vols at the last minute. Lots of lobbying had been done on Charlie for nearly a year, but he didn't think that Brian had enough ability or talent to play for N.D. So Brian verbally committed to Ferentz. Ferentz knew that daddy Chris wanted his son to go to Notre Dame, but with no offer, Iowa was their "fallback". When, at the eleventh hour, Charlie offered Brian a scholarship, the Smith's called Ferentz and apologized profusely for choosing Notre Dame since a scholarship had just been offered and accepted. Weis didn't allow the Smiths any "think it over and get back in touch with him". He offered, they accepted. Bada boom, bada bing.

The difference? Smith didn't have an offer on the table from Notre Dame when he chose Iowa. Everybody at Iowa knew that Brian Smith would go to Notre Dame if he were to get an offer.

A quick point of irony: Chris Smith, Brian's dad, was a 1981 graduate of Cincinatti LaSalle High School, and his son would not be playing at Notre Dame today if Ben Martin (also of LaSalle) had not chosen Tennessee over the Irish on Signing Day.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 8:23 pm | #

One note on Ben Martin, I don't believe he saw any playing time at UT this past season and has probably been red shirted despite the Vols having season long problems stopping the opponents running game. Chris Donald was also red shirted and was declared academically ineligible for the Outback Bowl against Wisconsin.

I don't know what kind of players Martin and Donald will turn out to be but I sure liked what i saw of Brian Smith and look forward to seeing more of him next season.
Knoxville Irish | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 8:48 pm | #

Omar Hunter = Gerald McCoy
= Everson Griffen
= Ben Martin
= High Impact D Lineman
= Not gotten by ND

Why do they not sign on with ND? Because we haven't played consistently great defense for 15 years.

Until we start stopping people on defense consistently, we won't have any credibility in going after high impact players that Florida, LSU and USC want. Show and prove, as they say.

That said, kudos to Coach Brown into landing two potential noseguards, two strong defensive end prospects and a number of strong outside and inside linebacker candidates. In a few years we will be stout upfront as we are becoming in the defensive backfield.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 8:55 pm | #

Martin was a medical red-shirt. Knee injury in late Aug. early Sept.
ND was late on Griffen, McCoy, starter for OU, and still surprised that CW, did not think Brian Smith could play for the Irish!
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 10:17 pm | #

With the exception of the constipated look on Urbie's face, these bowl games have been about as much fun as standing in line at the airport. Fortunately, while searching for that last Murphy's in my parents' basement, I came across a commerative bottle of 7-UP "pop" from ND's 1973 National Championship, complete with the full schedule and scores (we didn't play Michigan that year...anyone know why?) Dad says I can take it home to Southern Cal. Merry Christmas to me!
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 10:26 pm | #

Ocmj,

We didnt renew the Michigan rivalry until 1978. We played Northwestern, Purdue and Michigan St from the Big Ten that year.
Doug | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 10:56 pm | #

If we can land Mike Martin that may soften the blow of losing Omar Hunter a bit.
Doug | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 11:01 pm | #

Thanks, Doug. I don't know my ND history as well as most bloggers here. I guess I was around 12 when that bottle came out.

On another note, Urbie showed his true colors once again in his post-game comments. What a jackass. Unfortunately, I can't copy the link due to a malfunctioning mouse, but check out herloyalsons.com or JVan's post on NDnation's board.
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 01.02.08 - 11:55 pm | #

OC mj

Interesting article. Also, the one below it documenting 8 UF player arrests and reportedly 5 that were not included. Character.
GB | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:55 am | #

Good article in the SBT about Brandon Newman.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/...8801030399& NL=1
GB | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 8:32 am | #

Will viagra help Urbie's with his reptile dysfunction?
Doc Possum | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 8:48 am | #

We got my son a sports facts calendar for Christmas and one of the facts that it had on there for January 2 was "1989 - Notre Dame beats West Virginia for the National Championship." That brought a smile to my face remembering the game and the good time I had out there, at least, until the Fiesta Bowl which reminded me of just how different the 2 teams are now. Hopefully, we can get back to that level again soon.
ND'90 | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 9:00 am | #

Regardless of school is there a correlation between SAT/ ACT scores and decommits.

Bet there is.
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 10:16 am | #

d. payne:
you're saying dumber players will decommit more often than smarter players?
if ture, not sure i agree, what's the implication for n.d.?
M Jelic | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 10:20 am | #

Sorry for the dumb question, but has anyone heard definitively who will be enrolling early this month? I have heard Trevor Robinson, Braxton Cave, and Ethan Johnson rumored. Are those for sure? Any other possibilities?

Happy New Year everyone and GO IRISH!!!!
GO IRISH!!! | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 11:39 am | #

M Jelic:

Not knowing the scores in question.. one can only comment in a generic sense be it ND or any other school.

I think the best way would take the universe of all recruits at all top Division I schools and their respective scores.
Follow this with de-commits at all such schools , with their respective
scores , and see where the chips fall.

By having the full universe of scores for all prospects at all schools and the universe of "de-commits" one could draw INFORMED conclusions regarding ND's commits versus other schools.

Finally you have the issue of privacy which is a legitimate one.

In previous article on this subject over the years, it seems that it is not
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 12:02 pm | #

To continue, it was implied that such info was public knowledge.

I must admit I get a little out of my depth in statistics...but it would be an interesting study.
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 12:05 pm | #

so word on the street is omar hunter jumped ship?
buttface06 | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 12:10 pm | #

kmf-- No, I obviously have not been in the recruits' homes, and I understand what you're saying. But I think you and I and everyone here know pretty darn well that if Notre Dame were even remotely up to anything as shady as Urban Meyer seems to be doing in recruiting, everyone would know about it and would be talking about it. Because bashing ND and finding any chance to call them holier-than-thou and hypocritical is the nation's favorite pastime. (Obviously, I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.)

I said in my comment that recruiting is never a pretty business, no matter who is involved, including Notre Dame. But I like to think that it's as clean as possible around here, and firmly believe that if anything truly unseemly were going on, everyone would know. Remember everyone making a pretty big deal about Vaas' text messages to Arrelious Benn last year? That was pretty minor, and everyone was on ND for that.
Jade | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 12:37 pm | #

Sean Cwynar and Trevor Robinson are the two players enrolling early.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 1:30 pm | #

Jade is right. If ND was doing anything really wrong or illegal, espn would already be all over the story and Mark May would be talking about it for the next month.
bk | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 1:47 pm | #

i guess what I am asking is,

did Omar Hunter decommit, or b/c he is looking, is ND no longer reserving a scholarship for him, thus decommitting him by default?
buttface06 | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:01 pm | #

In today's SBT from D. Crist:

"'Everyone was saying, 'Are you surprised this class stayed together?' We're more surprised that we lost one. This is an extremely tight-knit class. You could ask any one of these guys the same question, and they'll give you the exact same answer verbatim. We don't want any loose ends in the family. That's how we feel We are a family and we feel very strongly about that. We're now brothers. That's what we are."

That is very encouraging.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:02 pm | #

buttface06:

It's kind of hard to tell. This SBT article (actually a pretty decent one by Jeff Carroll for once) kind of makes it sound like ND pulled his scholarship. But I think Hunter also decommitted, so it's kind of hard to tell.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/...393/1021/ Sports
Jade | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:11 pm | #

Scholarship OFFER, I guess I should say.
Jade | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:12 pm | #

From what I can tell Omar no longer lists ND in his top choices. Now, what he's actually thinking in his head is anyone's guess. I'm also not sure if he called Charlie Weis and told him he's officially no longer committed. I think he may have told a reporter at the ESPN AA camp or something but that might be it.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:18 pm | #

I'm also trying to avoid validating the ESPN game at all by not reading related articles, so I haven't been following much of the Hunter story. If he signs he signs, but I'm not going to lose sleep if he wants to go elsewhere.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:20 pm | #

As I read about Cam Cameron being fired, I can't help but think of him trying to justify not taking Brady Quinn to angry fans last draft.
Shadow Hawkins | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 2:48 pm | #

@Anon upthread, Ethan Johnson says hi. Ask USC fans how they feel about losing him to us.
Mr. Wednesday | Email | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 6:18 pm | #

OC mj wrote:
"I came across a commerative bottle of 7-UP "pop" from ND's 1973 National Championship, complete with the full schedule and scores (we didn't play Michigan that year...anyone know why?) Dad says I can take it home to Southern Cal. Merry Christmas to me!"

Hey OC mj,

That 1973 bottle was mine. I left it in the basement to help preserve it all these years...you know, like a wine cellar kind of thing. Did he give you my Joliet Catholic Football commemerative 7-up bottles, too? I will place a call back East and get to the bottom of this, but my hunch is that the Murphy's Stout played a roll in this "transaction" that the two of you engaged in.
Love,
Your Bro in No. Cal
nbaynd | Email | Homepage | 01.05.08 - 1:53 am | #

Finder's, Keepers...But your Joliet Catholic bottles remain somewhere in the depths of the basement. Nothing, and I mean Nothing, gets thrown away. Besides, it's my birthday! Throw a little brotherly love my way, would ya?
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 01.05.08 - 1:12 pm | #

Crist to Floyd in the army game was great to watch, especially over a Michigan DB recruit. Hope to see that for years to come.
WyoMike | Email | Homepage | 01.05.08 - 3:48 pm | #