Notre Dame's football leadership council rejected a proposed bowl game late this morning.
Fitting end for the Irish.
Fitting end for the Irish.
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Damn. I was going to bet against them for the hell of it also. Oh well. A more deserving team will get the bid anyway.
Excluding the players, everyone that has an attachment to the ND program of the past 6 years should be thoroughly embarrassed and unemployed. This was the work of mismanagement/poor coaching.Comment -
Just what is the "Football Leadership Council", and what weight does it have? I was under the impresson that the A.D. and school president make that decision, and everything else is just "advisory". I finid it hard to believe that Notre Dame would turn down the national exposure on T.V. According to the A.D, Notre Dame will accept an invite, and he has the last word on this. Now he may change his mind, but what good would come from it? He would just be admitting that his team is a failure. Not good for the returning kids. Also losing that extra practice would hurt. UCLA fans can rejoice if this is true, because they may get a bowl bid out of this.Comment -
Wow, that's shocking... An extra game can only help the team moving forward.Comment -
that's gayComment -
It now seems as if the report is true. I have been told that the Notre Dame A.D. has said that it is "very unlikely" that the Irish will play in a bowl. The reason is rather simple. They could not stand the thought of losing to a MAC team, and Temple, Ohio, and Central Michigan could certainly beat this Irish team.Comment -
ouchComment -
This just sums up the fact that the Irish are pussies, enough saidComment -
Thank God I'll be spared watching this team play to the level of some shit MAC team in a bowl game. Except for Golden, Manti, Floyd, and Rudolph, everyone on this team could transfer to another school and I wouldn't be upset. I can't wait to not give up 35 points a game under the new coach and have players that realize the game is 4 quarters long.Comment -
The Leadership Council is what is sounds like. A few of the upperclassman players whose advice AD Swarbrick sought when deciding whether or not to go to a bowl game. He did make the final decision, but it was under the recommendation of the players.
Notre Dame doesn't need any national exposure on TV. They have the widest fanbase of any team and not playing some shit bowl game this year isn't going to change that. What they need is to get a new coach and move on.Comment -
I never thought I would see the day when Notre Dame was afraid to play Temple, but that is exactly what has happened. Notre Dame is afraid to lose to a MAC team. Can any Notre Dame fan defend what is obviously an act of cowardice from Notre Dame? The "Golden" Dome has turned Yellow. I can hear the recruiting now: "Do you really want to play for a school that is so afraid to lose to a MAC team that they ran and hid from a bowl invite?" This is going to be a disaster for Notre Dame. What coach would want to coach a team that was afraid to lose a game?Comment -
BDQH,
It's not cowardice. I know many of the players on the team, and I can tell you first hand that some of them wanted to go (you probably know who they are -- the ones that play hard on Saturday) but most of the guys just have had a generally shitty attitude since the Navy game and would rather take the time off and go home for the 3 week Christmas break then stay at school in the below 0 weather practicing for some shit.com bowl game. It's also embarrassing for Notre Dame to get in the habit of thinking that 6-6 is acceptable and that we deserve to play in a bowl game after a 6-6 season.
It made sense last year with Weis coming back to have a game that was kind of the first game of the next season to get out the bad taste of the Syracuse and USC losses and go into the winter and spring ball with a little more optimism. There is absolutely no reason for ND to go to one this year to play against some MAC team in a bowl game no one will watch under our WR coach and recruiting coordinator.Comment -
But how will this look recruiting wise? If I am chasing a kid who is thinking about Notre Dame, do you not think that I am not going to use this against the Irish? Do you really think that people watch NBC when Notre Dame is playing? The only people who watch are the die hard alums or wanna-be alums. They could not even draw a decent rating aginst USC. If what you say is true, then Notre Dame has a lot of players who should not be on that team. Too bad for Clausen, because he just lost an important chance to showcase his talents to Pro Scouts.
I think the kids at Notre Dame are just afraid to lose again. I think it is that simple. Notre Dame has been reduced to an "also-ran" school. They certainly will never become a consistant power in college football again. They simply have way too much going against them. They have watered down their schedule considerably, a strong point for them in previous years. They have lost 8 straight to USC. Notre Dame was a great footbsall power, but those days are gone for good. Oh sure they will have the occasional great year. They may even win a N.C. But they will never challenge every year like they used to. Too many great teams out there now. Too many great coaches. The Irish have a lot of rebuilding to do.Comment -
The majority of players would certainly want to play another game. This decision is a strange one.Comment -
Bad move, could have used the cash to pay towards Charlie's departure.Comment -
Only Cathloics and people living in South Bend really care...............
Why are not taking about other teams on the bubble.
The ND mystique disappeared 20 years ago.......just another team until they decide to join a conference.Comment -
Had Hawai'i won or USC snuck into the Top-14, they weren't going bowling anyway.Comment -
Which they never will. This is unfotunate. I think it is safe to say that the Big 10 has passed them up. There is always going to be an Ohio State, or a Penn State, or a Michigan, or an Iowa to make life miserable for Notre Dame. They barely got by Purdue this year. Now the Big East certainly offers more opportunity, especially if Kelly gets the HC job. Every year you have a team that gets hot, and the occasional 2nd team that does well, but the rest are basically schedule fillers. UConn, Rutgers, USF, Louisville, and Syracuse all leave a lot to be desired. Pitt runs hot and cold. Wet Virginia has tailed off. Cincinnati has been very good of late, but that is of late. If the Irish make a move, it should be to the Big East. They are already pretty much tied in with the Big East when it comes to Bowl afiliation.Comment -
This can't be final. How can you turn down a bowl bid. This will look horrible and create nothing but bad press. There has to be somebody smart left at ND that will convince them this is not in their best interests.Comment -
Nobody cares.Comment -
I guess the Irish didn't go down "fighting"Comment -
ND says no thanks to the monies that goes with a Bowl
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Unfortunately, it'll probably take a coach who lives on the edge of cheating to bring back any real stronghold to Irish football.Comment -
Bad move, if I was an underclassman I would leave the scholl.Comment -
Isnt there millions in it for them if they play? What gives?Comment -
ND has $2 Billion..... they don't need no stinkin $750k from the GMAC Bowl.Comment -
It will look fine recruiting wise. It has nothing to do with being afraid to lose. Remember, before last year, Notre Dame almost always played in a bowl game against better opponents. Because of their national draw, the bowl committees would fight over them and they always ended up in a one better than they deserved.
ND is in a transition period. Swarbrick said as much. He said ND supports the bowl system and would like to play with one, but these are odd circumstances and it really doesn't make sense for this team to play in a game.
As an older guy and a long-time college football fan, you can't really believe this. Every team goes through ups and downs. ND has been down for 15 years at the max. To speak in such absolutes is ignorant. I think you recognize as much and are just doing it for dramatic effect. USC lost 11 games in a row to ND at one point. Just because ND has lost the last 8, you think they are "gone for good"?I think the kids at Notre Dame are just afraid to lose again. I think it is that simple. Notre Dame has been reduced to an "also-ran" school. They certainly will never become a consistant power in college football again. They simply have way too much going against them. They have watered down their schedule considerably, a strong point for them in previous years. They have lost 8 straight to USC. Notre Dame was a great footbsall power, but those days are gone for good. Oh sure they will have the occasional great year. They may even win a N.C. But they will never challenge every year like they used to. Too many great teams out there now. Too many great coaches. The Irish have a lot of rebuilding to do.
While I agree with scholarship limitations today among other things, no one team can dominate for decades like they used to (although Florida is coming close, they will eventually fall off as it appears USC is beginning to do). Remember Alabama was on the verge of collpasing as a major power too, before the Saban hire. Same with USC before Pete Carroll (who was not their top candidate as you remember). ND is at a similar point right now. With the right hire, we can come back from a down period just as Alabama did with Saban and SC with Carroll.Comment -
I can tell your first hand this is not true. Some of the more prominent players want to play. But the majority do not.
The $ is not an issue at all. 2 or 3 trustees will pony up and pay the buyout by themselves. Not to mention Charlie is donating much of this buyout back to the university. He's also giving 70k to each assistant per year of service. Not the best college head coach, but one of the best guys around. I've never seen a wider gulf between perception and reality when it comes to a person than with Weis.
Completely false. I'm from New Jersey and was a huge football fan (college and pro) growing up. I can promise you people in NJ and NY only care about (a) the teams that are winning/competing in big time bowl games or (b) Notre Dame. No one talked about USC before Carroll or Alabama before Saban or Florida between Spurrier and Meyer. But people always talked about, cared about, and watched Notre Dame. The passion I saw people without any affiliation have for ND is one of the reasons I wanted to apply here.
Think about, with the exception of Notre Dame, virtually every other big time football program is a state school that really only applies to its alums and the people who live near it. You think anyone outside of Ohio gives a shit about Ohio State? You can insert any other region and state school.
And I have yet to see a valid reason that ND should join a conference. It basically plays half the Big 10 and half the Pac 10 anyway, so strength of schedule isn't a valid reason. It played a more difficult schedule that Penn St. and Ohio St.--the two most prominent Big 10 teams--this year anyway.Comment -
This is just what the players want. No practices means they can get into bar fights more often.Comment -
IrishTim has makes some good points on the issue.Comment -
This sucks, I was looking forward to the Irish getting the snot beat out of them by a MAC team or maybe the cheerleaders from Florida.Comment
