Who is burning?
Who is burning?
Effigy...
Can we now lay to rest the SEC superiority myth?
Dateline: Flint Lake, IN
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| Happier times... |
- the NOLA New Year's Eve tragedy
- ND having a legitimate high stakes football game for the first time in, maybe, a decade
Both being unfamiliar, if not (sadly) unexpected territory for the ND football fan.
That said, the fact that the game didn't get played on 1/1 did two things for Jerrence:
1) it curtailed his alcohol consumption by ~90% (for that day)
2) allowed him to wistfully reflect on New Year's Days past, circa 1980's Chicago, when the Irish played regularly in these type of big games.
We're talking nostalgia.
And there would be adult beverages.
It was fantastic.
And more than a little notable in that this would invariably come after a night of some pretty hard New Year's Eve reveling, putting on display an innate resilience in a bunch of 20-somethings that screamed,
"Sure, we know this isn't smart! We know that this defies all conventional wisdom - as well as every sound health-related protocol... but we're doing it anyway. Because we're young! Invincible! Stupid!"
That youthful fortitude... the 'against all odds', the 'I defy you to bet against us' attitude so typified by this year's football team every Gabe Rubio stepped up to replace a Rylie Mills -- I saw similarly, lo those many years ago amongst my Class of '79 cohorts:
Every time Cincotta would pass out, there'd be a Brian Ward (eek!), often with a Sharpie in his hand, committed to being Even. More. Idiotic.
Disturbing? Undeniably. Impressive? Unquestionably.
Notre Dame Nation, I think we might actually be back.
Quote of the Week -I
"It's God, it's country, and it's motherf*cking Notre Dame."
Pat Coogan
If the football thing doesn't work out, Pat, you've got a bright future as a motivational speaker. (Just perhaps not at the elementary school level.)
Quote of the Week -II
"That's not gonna work."
Marcus Freeman
When Georgia called a timeout with :43 left in the first half to ice Jeter, Freeman walked toward the field, smiled, pointed to the UGA sideline and told Jeter this.
The kid then drilled the 48-yarder.
How very Holtz-ian.
Quote of the Week -III
"We've got your back."
Al Golden
The scene: 6:00 left in the 3rd Quarter. Georgia has just scored to cut ND's lead to 10.
50 yard line. The Irish go for it on 4th-and-1... and don't get it.
Golden turns to Freeman... the defense immediately holds Georgia to 8 yards in 4 plays, allowing ND a short field which they convert into a FG (and the game's final 23-10 margin).
Word of the Week
By and large, he was pleasantly surprised by the near unanimity of credit given to the Irish by the media with the conclusion being not only did Freeman out coach his more accomplished Georgia counterpart, the team physically "out SEC'd" the SEC's top dog.
Almost no one perceived it to be a fluke.
Ultimately, Jerrence took much delight in watching Ryan Clark -- both a proud LSU / SEC grad and a prouder Notre Dame dad -- eviscerate Newton's argument, even if it was impossible to actually shut him up.
Playoff: Game 2 Thoughts
We are the goon squad
And we're coming to town... beep beep!
So much for the Irish being 'out physical-ed' by Georgia...
Other thoughts:
1. (Re) watching the game sober is a really interesting experience and a couple, ultimately inconsequential, things jumped out at me:
-- while I do NOT believe 'the fix was in', objectively the refs' repeated poor calls genuinely could've cost ND the game. In particular, their inability to accurately spot the ball cost the Irish at least one critical 1st down. It's a wonder they got the fake punt thing correct...
-- I've come to the conclusion that fans, especially ND fans, don't grasp that most (not all) TV announcers are simply rooting for a competitive game; a blowout is not in their (or the networks) best interest.
I listened to McElroy and McDonough (again, hello, sober!) and if you think they were especially pro-Georgia or anti-Notre Dame, that's because you want to perceive that. That's a tough way to watch a game.
Okay, I'm off my soapbox now...
2. A lot has already been written that the win was testimony to ND's skill in the transfer portal.
And notwithstanding their less quantifiable contributions as great teammates / solid citizens, this would be a tough argument make about the group's contributions over the course of the season -- Sean McDonough stated during the game that transfers made up only 13% of the team's starts during the season. I still believe one could've categorized the group's 2024 performances as follows:
- Leonard -- a season long work-in-progress
- Clark -- the only one who's genuinely exceeded expectations
- Heard -- pretty much what one expected, a depth piece
- Collins -- never a legitimate #1 WR
- Jeter -- given the injury, MIA for over half the season.
- Harrison -- given kicker leg strength these days, not that much opportunity to strut his stuff his KR skills.
- Oben --before this game, Le Grande Déception
This is not to diss these guys and Lord knows, better late than never on their performances... it just seems a convenient narrative to start using ND as a poster child for a savvy transfer portal strategy. ND's season seems more about The Next Guy stepping up. The transfers just happened to be this week's heroes.
3. Sorry, Bulldog Nation but Gunner Stockton was not the reason Georgia lost. In fact, the kid played really well (and threw a GREAT ball). The whole narrative about 'we had our back up QB' was, ultimately, without substance. But if that helps you sleep at night...
BTW, the kid looks like he's gonna be really good. Now watch him hit the portal!
4. Fun With Numbers, Part I. If you were told before the game, the following...
- Jeremiyah Love runs for 19 yds
- Riley Leonard passes for 90 yds
- ND commits 10 penalties for 78 yds
...are you still taking the Irish?
5. Bowling For Dollars (or, The Law of Karmic Consequences). By not joining a conference, ND's playoff financial pay day, so far:
- Round 1 $4M (plus $3M for expenses)
- Round 2 $4M
- Round 3 $6M
Suck on that, Big 10 and SEC.
One more game summary...
I could listen to the ND radio play-by-play guy all day!
The Brackets
Buddy's Buddy
I did want to clear one thing up: there's been a common perception that the voting on this award can be influenced. Which is to, say, bought.
And I'm here to state -- emphatically -- that's absolutely true! We are open for business! And we take Venmo, Zelle, crypto...
That said, even without (sadly) the influence of any transactional tipping of the scales, this week's Buddy choice was a toughie.
One's immediate inclination was to say, "You are indeed sooo back, Mitch Jeter!"
Or coach Biagi (though you might want to have a word with Bryce Young about his path-to-the-punter technique).
Honestly, if one buys into the notion of 'complementary football' the special teams contribution was the game's biggest X factor (we could've predicted how both the offense and defense would likely fare) -- even our Aussie punter had probably his best game.
And yet, re-watching the game, it's impossible for this judge to not cast his vote for Riley Leonard.
Sure, Riley only threw for 90 yards but there's no way ND wins this game without his dual-threat abilities. Georgia has struggled to stop the QB run game all season and that continued.
He rushed 15-for-89 yards, had three runs of 10+ yards, and his running accounted for half of ND’s first downs.
Georgia pressured him on almost half (46%) of his drop backs. Yet he was sacked only once and had zero turnover-worthy plays. Fun fact: His turnover-worthy play percentage is 1.6% this season, tied for 5th best out of all Power 4 QB's.
And how about just his willingness to sacrifice his body for The Cause? (Not to pick on Sam Hartman, but who remembers him pussying out on a critical 3rd down early in last year's. Ohio State game?)
Riley has taken a lot of grief for everything he doesn't do well -- maybe it's about time people start recognizing the invaluable (if less splashy) things he does do.
RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)
Like many (all?) of you, getting over the hump of winning this game -- and doing against bona fide SEC royalty -- probably engendered a certain amount of nostalgia...
...at a time which ND football has spent a great deal of time in the metaphorical desert. Whether we're actually finally out of it remains to be seen.
But, damn, it's a really nice oasis and the Sampson excerpt below highlights how meaningful it is for those far closer to the program than us.
Nice.
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The media doesn’t get into Notre Dame’s locker room often. And that’s fine. But the major bowl games allow locker room access, which pulls back the curtain (literally) on what a team is really like when no one is watching.
The elation, exhaustion and every other emotion in Notre Dame’s locker room isn’t something I’ll forget, probably because I’ve never seen it in 24 years on the beat.
RJ Oben clutching the game ball he probably never thought he’d get.
Marty Biagi keeping it together while discussing the death of his father and the birth of his twins last month. 
The eye black of Cross having long since come off, the sixth-year senior taking it all in.
Mike Denbrock telling a reporter how much he wanted this … for longtime beat writers who’d covered all three of his stints here.
Junior Tuihalamaka walking out with a College Football Playoff souvenir, which looked like the bracket.
Notre Dame’s win was 31 years in the making. So was the locker room scene.
Source: The Athletic
January 4, 2025
Cocktail of the Month
Two things (at least, before Friday) most of the world didn't understand:
1) Notre Dame could actually beat up Georgia
2) Almost everything James Joyce has written.
Today, only one of those remains true.
James Joyce's
Dublin Coffee
1882 -- 1941
The light music of whiskey falling into a glass made an agreeable interlude.
-- Dubliners, 1914
What could be more quintessentially Irish than James Joyce and a Dublin coffee?
This recipe, adapted from The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book (1954) would have kept the coffee-loving writer of Finnegan's Wake, Ulysses and Dubliners warm on characteristically rainy, overcast Dublin days.
* 1 tspn. sugar
* 4 oz. hot coffee
* 1 oz. heavy cream
------------------------
In a heatproof balloon wine glass (a wine glass with a bulbous shape), combine Irish whiskey and sugar.
Pour in coffee, and stir slowly.
While stirring, slowly add cream in a circular motion. Let the cream settle on top; do not stir again.
Source: How To Drink Like A Writer
Writing by Margaret Kaplan
Schedule 2024
August
31 @Texas A&M W
September
7 Northern Illinois L
14 @Purdue W
21 Miami (OH) W
28 Louisville W
October
12 Stanford W
19 @Georgia Tech W
26 Navy W
November
9 Florida State W
16 Virginia W
23 @Army W
30 @USC W
December
20-21 Indiana W
2025
January
2 Georgia W
9 Penn State
Wager 2024
Update: Round 2... yet another reason to dislike Ohio State, myself included, given all the people who had Oregon advancing...
Wins | Director - ND Equivalence | Domer |
12  Christopher Nolan | The Nick Saban of the film world - Nolan is Mr. Swing For The Fences Big Idea Guy, even if every effort isn't always a home run. But they are undeniably ... epic. Just like a 12-0 season. | Kevin C, Lini
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11  Martin McDonagh | Hello, he's Irish! Solidly predictable for always being really, really good. And as his reputation has been burnished, the star talent in his cast has followed. Sound familiar? | Jerrence, Daryl Jim S, Tim C. Jerry C, Mike C. Greg R., Bob S. George, Raz, Ted, Bob J. Peter, Tim S., Dave M |
10  David Fincher |
Pretty much a stud in both film and TV formats. Always interesting, albeit with palpably dark undertones... one is never sure how the story is going to end up. Much like a 10 win season will feel like. | Pat B, Mike B. Bill, Sloane, Alex Phillip, Randy
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9  Yorgos Lanthimos | Do I always understand what's going on his films? Nope. |
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8  Richard Linklater | Perhaps the product of recency bias - I quite liked 'Hit Man' - Linklater's films fall for this blogger into the "nice-fun-I see an interesting insight" category. They just don't feel especially memorable. Like we'd view an 8 win season. | |
7  Wes Anderson | When does quirky/idiosyncratic become tiresome? When you feel like you're watching - again - an inside joke that you're not included in. Anderson attracts an an all-star cast that no longer seems to add up to the sum of their parts. In a word, disappointing. | |
6  Lars Von Trier | Uncomfortable. Unpleasant. Disturbing. Often off the rails, his films might be 'art' but it's tough to call it many people's definition of entertainment. | |
Schadenfreude of the Week.
A new twist for this section: entirely guilt-free nominees! And maybe a little counter-intuitive since you don't even really need to have an axe to grind with the teams...
While it may sound lazy, when these teams stand in front of you and the big prize, their elimination is just... Darwinian.
As my daughters learned after only one viewing of "The Lion King," it's the Circle of Life.
So put on your 
big boy undies and 'man up.' It's kill or be killed.
big boy undies and 'man up.' It's kill or be killed.
1) Alabama. Having just said the above (!), it is a little personal when it comes to Alabama, the SEC and playoff time.
How does one otherwise being cool with semi-cheering for Michigan?!
The first of the two big dominoes to fall...
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| Trevor meet Adon |
Not even a little bit.
Getting this 12 year monkey off ND's back might be the epitome of experiencing both shared euphoria for our school as well as blissing out over beating the SEC's current 800 lb. gorilla.
De-lish.
Terry's Tools.
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| The few, the proud... |
It's to the point where we've got three meaningful games, in total, left -- not that we can't still celebrate other losers (as you'll see below).
So let's handicap our schadenfreude candidates:
1) Penn State. If one thought Curt Cignetti was obnoxious, meet James Franklin. Plus they're in our way...
2) Ohio State. Let's throw Ryan Day into the Holy Trinity of coaching douches.
3) Texas. I kind of admire coach Sark for (hopefully) conquering his drinking demons. But if we get that far and they're the opponent, you gotta go down and I'll be dancing.
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Athens, GA's favorite sons said it best...
It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture...
Did it cost them the game? In hindsight, no. But try telling that to unhinged Bulldog Nation as they reach deep into their bag for any rationale for their loss.
Does the kid even show up back on campus for 2nd semester? Gotta be 50-50 at best. And let's hope the family is keeping their dog in the house for the foreseeable future.
2) ESPN. And was it really necessary to keep the camera on the kid for as long as you did? Were you just trying to make sure every liquored up loon in the Southeast got a good screenshot of the lad? Kinda surprised you didn't post a home address and cell #...
Um, yeah, Doug, when a team is driving for what could be their ticket to the Final Four... you do it call it 'in this situation.'
I didn't hear you opine the same thing for Jack Kiser's goal line PI call in the 4th quarter (a call I thought was far more questionable than the targeting).
Perhaps just stick to basketball.
4) James Franklin. Consider this a PSA so everyone understands the character, or lack thereof, of our next opponent's head coach. From an ND message board poster:
Name of the Week
Sure, he's only a walk on at Notre Dame.
A mere 5'9" cornerback. And not exactly coming from a recruiting hotbed, Beijing.
As in, China.
Does he have any chance of seeing the field? Probably not.
Meet...
Charles Du
What's so special about him, you ask?
Well, beyond the fact that he's made the playoff traveling squad so he must have something going for him...
Oh, and that Chinese background with a jersey name to match and some day, really screw up some body calling the game?
I live for the day an announcer -- preferably Joe Tessitore -- has to announce him..
Final Thought
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| My faithful companion |
Whatever. It recently led to a family conversation about what anyone's 'lucky' go-to was for watching big games.
I've been quite clear that mine is identifying (after weeks of arduous vetting) a lucky liquor as my viewing companion -- selflessly taking life expectancy off my liver for the greater good of the team.
Yours might be a particular piece of clothing... a specific 'lucky' chair to watch the game in... or perhaps not even watching the game live at all (lest one feels like your presence brings negative mojo, or signifies a portent of doon, like the flying dutchman of lore).
Or maybe it's just as simple as striving to attend every game.
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| MVP's! MVP's! MVP's! |
As the advert says, it's not weird if it works.
So -- what's yours? We'd like to hear it, maybe in the email string?
Go Irish!
