Pre-Playoff: Barbarians At The Gate

I fought the law

And the law won... 

Dateline:  Flint Lake, IN 

It's not secret that I believe The Cosmos speaks to me.  This, of course, is coming from the guy who thinks the house cats talk to him.  

And don't get me started on those trash talking chickens.  The one named Cruella is particularly irritating.  If she wasn't, now, a productive egg-laying member of the household, she'd be the primary ingredient in Kay Corrigan's family favorite chicken casserole recipe.

But I digress. 

Back to the Cosmos:  I believe I received a message when recent Notre Dame historical memorabilia crossed my digital desk -- in remembrance of a dorm skirmish long ago.  

"Sit around the hearth, children, and I'll tell you the tale of The Great Dillon-Grace War over a hot bowl of..." 

Know this:  Every battle has its patriots.  As well as its martyrs.  

Someone who is willing to 'take one for the team.'  Who, with steely resolve, knows what has to be done.  And executes, personal consequences be damned. 

Even if it means ending up, metaphorically, getting hoisted on his own petard by the Dean of Students.

So it's good to know that when vandals from the south advance, only a few truly recognize it's "Repel! Repel! Repel!" time -- and by any means necessary.

(And does anyone actually think a firecracker could 'damage' a Dillonite -- physically or mentally -- any more than they already were?

Now, the fact that Dillon somehow received war reparations for attacking Grace Hall only
shows what savvy negotiators they were.  No wonder so many of them turned out to be excellent lawyers and financial managers.  As for their warfare-related acumen -- hey, let's attack a high rise, they'll never see us coming -- well, it's safe to say no one in that dorm was gonna be splitting any atoms, military tactics-wise.

Go away, Big Red... or I shall taunt you a second time!

Hell, one viewing of Monty Python And The Holy Grail should've taught them that.

So next week, we have new Vandals from the South approaching.  

Hoosier Nation, prepare to be similarly received.  

And the question becomes this:  who on the Irish is going to be their selfless patriot, their Ungie? 

Quote of the Week

Mr. "Google Me. I Win Wherever I Go..." and, now apparently, the Coach of the Year, Curt Cignetti does love to talk.  

I don't know if the new, tricked out athletic facilities even have bulletin boards any more -- perhaps they have video monitors running on a loop -- but coach Cignetti could have his own Netflix limited series for all the stuff he says.

Gotta believe it's caught ND's attention.

Word of the Week

Used in a sentence paragraph:  Jerrence looked back fondly on his college years and pondered the less obvious parallels he saw with the current ND football program.

There were many impressive student leaders back then, just as there is athletic leaders now.

There's also a fair amount of 'dare to swim against the tide' bravery on display, even if, in the late '70s era student that courage was manifested in a more recalcitrant attitude than perhaps today's football team (and its leadership) demonstrates.

Still...

On one hand, more than one defiant class of '79 student -- who may or may not have led a food fight in the campus cafeteria -- probably found his actions identified to the Dean of Students office.  

-------------------

Brief digression:

Q.  Did the university have a dedicated workshop just for replacing the constantly broken South Quad guardhouse gates?

-------------------

Yet, ND Football's very existence as a committed independent in the NCAA ecosystem has been viewed in pretty much the same way:

To them, we are that irritant student with a stubborn, unwilling attitude to 'get with the program' and sit at the cool conference kids' table.

Too freaking bad.

Playoff Pre-Game 11 Thoughts  

 Get ready

'Cause I come...

The Committee, "so Bama is out, right?".

1.  Sadly, we didn't get the warm weather opponent we wanted.

2.  It's probably not gonna matter -- it's gonna be cold for everybody.

• Today's forecast says windchill in the 10-15F range by kickoff, with a reasonable chance of snow throughout the day.

3.  I understand conference champions getting automatic playoff bids.  I don't (now) understand them getting automatic byes.

• One would expect this to change next year, yes?

4.  I still don't understand why Mountain West champ Boise St. got a bye.

5.  If the pressure is on ND to win a playoff game (and it is), it should be exponentially greater for 'Big Game' James Franklin.

The Brackets

RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)

Rarely, does this blog provide any information of actual value.

But Mr. Sampson's mailbag of this week might provide some genuine insight re what one can expect to see next Friday night.

Specifically, will we have to potentially endure an in-stadium crowd that isn't overwhelmingly pro-ND?  

Short answer:  not likely.

-----------------------------------

Historically, Notre Dame has had trouble keeping its home stadium blue and gold for games of this caliber. Ohio State last year was a major improvement, but playing an in-state opponent having its best season ever in a playoff game seems like an even harder test. What, if anything, can Notre Dame do to mitigate the problem? – Josh B.

Some of the mechanisms Notre Dame used for the Ohio State game are in play here, mainly that College Football Playoff tickets never went to market. Anecdotally from the stories I’ve heard from fans who did win in the lottery, they seem to be $1,500 donors and up. Or they went to season ticket holders, which makes the CFP access by far the biggest perk of having a season ticket to Notre Dame Stadium. So, those are the basics.

But the biggest methodology Notre Dame can use here is there’s no historical comparison for this game. Will there be more Indiana fans in the stadium than if Notre Dame was hosting SMU or Clemson or Tennessee? Of course. The Hoosiers’ season and the proximity to South Bend makes that a sure thing. There will probably be a few Indiana fans in the Notre Dame student section considering the crossover between schools. Still, we’re talking about a first in Notre Dame football history at a place that doesn’t do a lot of firsts. And the fan base seems to have latched onto that based on the ticket prices on the secondary market. They’re running double or triple the other first round games.

It’s also worth comparing the Notre Dame teams that had “red invasion” games. The Notre Dame team that lost to Nebraska in overtime early in 2000 was coming off a 5-7 season when the fan base had basically quit on Bob Davie. The Notre Dame team that lost to Georgia in 2017 was coming off a 4-8 season as the fan base began to turn on Brian Kelly. And the Notre Dame team that lost to Cincinnati was a tough watch in every way.

This Notre Dame team is 11-1 and has won 10 straight.

If playing the first home playoff game in the new 12-team era with a team the fan base seems to fully support doesn’t get people to not sell their tickets, nothing will. Because in the end, that’s the only fail-safe approach to keeping the red out.

It’s on the individual fans, not the university itself.

As of Friday morning, there are more than four times the ticket listings for Tennessee at Ohio State (4,400+) on SeatGeek as Indiana at Notre Dame (1,000+). SMU at Penn State is 4,000+ and Clemson at Texas is 3,000+ in terms of ticket listings for sale on SeatGeek.

Hypothetically, let’s assume all 1,000 of those ticket listings for Indiana at Notre Dame are blocks of four tickets. And that Hoosiers’ fans buy all 4,000 of those tickets to go with their 3,500 allotment. That’s a roughly 90/10 split of Notre Dame/Indiana fans. Hardly a sea of red.

Source: The Athletic

December 13, 2024

Cocktail of the Month

Christmas time.

A season of giving and festive, yuletide revelry.

And in Jerrence's household, significant holiday libations.

Starting with eggnog.

Edgar Allan Poe's

Eggnog

1809-1849

Although legend holds that Edgar Allan Poe died drunk on a street in Baltimore, updated research shows that his delusions, belligerence and rapid decline might've been caused by rabies.

Like whatever creature sunk its teeth into the famed poet and playwright, this eggnog, passed down from the Poe family, has bite -- but more likely to leave you slumped in an armchair than encephalitic in a gutter.

Serves 8

*  7 egg yolks

*  1 cup sugar

*  5 cups whole milk

*  1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

*  1 1/2 cups good brandy

*  1/4 cup dark rum

*  nutmeg, freshly grated, for garnishing

 -------------------

Stir together egg yolks and sugar in a small bowl.  In a small saucepan, warm 3 cups of whole milk over a low heat.  Whisk 1 cup warm milk into egg mixture, slowly so as not to scramble.  Add milk and egg mix back into the saucepan, stirring until combined.  

Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream.  Stir off heat until mixture is cooled. Add remaining 2 cups of whole milk, brandy and rum -- stir to combine.  Top with nutmeg.

Drink to your telltale heart's desire and then, as quoth the Raven, "drink some more." 

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

Operators are standing by...

Wager 2024

Thanks again,everyone, for participating this year.  15 entrants still alive -- to be decided via a simple pick the 11 game playoff bracket and we'll see who does best.

Sadly, no literary / pop cultural questions to answer.  You've all -- well, mostly all -- have proven yourselves to be skilled operators of the Google machine.   

And if you're not like Mr. Castellini who (I believe) can recite T. S. Eliot's 'The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock' from memory -- as well as virtually any song lyric outside of the rap genre -- where's the challenge when you can go full AI on me?

Let us go then, you and I,

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherized upon a table...

A poem which, come to think of it, may've inspired that very first Linipalooza...

Finally, all those whose names aren't highlighted below, I don't think I received the $25 entry fee.  If you could send it to me sometime before January, I'd appreciate it.

Venmo is @Terry-Corrigan.

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 Matt L., Brian M. Jay, John L. Ray, Blair John P.
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, Jim B. Sloane, Alex Phillip, Randy Mike G., Jerry P Gutsch, Mark Jim T., Brian W
9 Yorgos Lanthimos	Do I always understand what's going on his films?  Nope. But the ride is pretty enjoyable even when you don't know where you're going or even how you got there. Ultimately, you might end up appreciating it more than you thought at the time.	Alvin, Garrett
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.

How does one populate a schadenfreude section when there are no games to actually celebrate?

Oh give me more credit than that.

But I am lazy.  And it's been a long year so consider this my attempt at economizing. 

1)  UConn.  We're talking Women's basketball.   

As this blog has previously stated, I'm surprisingly not a particularly passionate Geno Auriemma hater.  

Ever since Muffet retired and their rivalry (enmity?) dissipated (maybe), the ill will from the two programs has similarly appeared to have lessened.  

(It's probably been helped that UConn is no longer the 800 lb. gorilla of the sport and Geno's ego has diminished accordingly.)

Still, ND beating them remains a very big deal.  By all acounts, the Joyce Center rocked, a bunch of WNBA players / ND alumna returned and the Irish's double digit win was no fluke.

5'6" Hanna Hidalgo is the real deal.

2) SEC!  SEC!  

Terry's Tools.

The few, the proud...

THE Ohio State.

The gift that keeps on giving.

With apparently, a state-wide holiday cornucopia of twits.

Sorry, Dr. Bob.  Sorry, Judge John.  Sorry, Barb. But your state leadership is making Indiana look intelligent.

And I didn't think that was possible.

Understand that this presumed bill would only apply to the Buckeye's stadium.  So if you're playing the Cincinnati Bearcats, the Ohio Bobcats, the Kent State Golden Flashes or any other team in the state of Ohio... feel free to plant flags, flowers, or if you're a Corrigan, a beloved pet.

The Ohio electoral process at work.

2) De'Vondre Campbell.   Now I get why the Packers cut him last year. 

The scene:  3rd quarter of the 49'ers Thursday night game against the Rams. Tie score. Mr. Campbell is told to go into the game.

He (presumably) politely declines. 

"No thanks, I'm not feeling it today.  In fact, think I'll just head to the locker room. Did you notice it's raining out?"*

*Blogger speculation. 

Meet soon-to-be former 49'er (and possibly, ex-NFL) LB De'Vondre Campbell. 

Name of the Week

Timing is everything -- this week's nominee born 2 1/2 years after the 9/11 attack.

Geography matter too -- he grew up in south Jersey, 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia, that city of Brotherly Love. 

He had parents who must've believed quite strongly in the adage, "that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

He must've been very popular with the other children in the playgroup -- and their parents:

"Hey mom, can I bring a friend over for a sleepover?"

"Sure, honey, what's his name?"

"Jihad."

"Um, let me talk to your father first..."

Jihaad Campbell

Alabama LB (and future 1st round draft choice of the Detroit Lions).

Lucky for Mr. Campbell,  he's really good at football. 

And more fortunate for him that we live in an age of extraordinary tolerance where everyone accepts, nay celebrates, an individual's difference.

Especially when they're playing for our favorite team.

Final Thought

Week 12: 84 Days

 Ready or not, gonna make it to the city

This is the night to go to the celebrity ball

Celebrate! Celebrate!  Dance to the music!

Dateline:  Flint Lake, IN

Sadly, I have no interesting anecdotes to share as a starter.  No dramatic interaction with the sociopathic chickens, no wacky observations from the granddaughter, not even a pithy insight from the 99 year old matriarch.

No, just quiet reflection on a really interesting football season, starting with this:

Q1.  If someone had told you on Friday, September 6th, that at season end Notre Dame would be ranked #4 in the nation and virtually locked in for a 5th or 6th seed in the playoffs, would you take it?

A.  In a heartbeat.

Q2. If someone had told you on Sunday, September 8th, that at season end Notre Dame would be ranked #4 in the nation and virtually locked in for a 5th or 6th seed in the playoffs, would you believe it?

A.  Not a chance.

Q3.  What's Jerrence's favorite aphorism?

A.  "Crisis doesn't create character, it reveals it."

And that sums up Notre Dame football 2024.   And the final chapter hasn't even been written yet.

Dare to dream.

Quote of the Week

"What happened?"

                                   Ryan Day

Minutes after the OSU-UM game

You tell me, coach.  What I saw was an Ohio State team that played to their opponent's strengths. 

Huh.  Well, that was a choice. 

Granted, not many others would have made that particular one.  But you do you, Ryan.

And probably still at Ohio State.  Or maybe somewhere else.  Let's first see how the playoffs go for you.

Word of the Week

Used in a sentence paragraph:  Jerrence thought, this is painful to watch.

Sophomore CB Christian Gray, who had been heretofore very dependable... solid... and undeniably a critical piece of possibly the best secondary in the country...

...was getting toasted.  Repeatedly.  

Weird. Particularly after having had a really good 1st quarter against the Trojans.

Shades of Clifford Jefferson!  This was bad.  

And yet, there was something strangely noteworthy about his demeanor:  he manifested no evidence whatsoever of the tough day he was having.  In a manner resiliently stolid, he carried himself in a workman-like fashion, right up to...

The Play.

After that, it was primal scream time.

Note:  Precious few have talked about the remarkable balance Gray exhibited to make the catch, maintain his balance without touching the ground and then going 0-to-60 the other direction.  

The INT, alone, would've been super clutch.  The ensuing return was spectacular. 

Game 11 Thoughts  

Only fear breaks the silence

As we all kneel pray for guidance...

They say history is written by the winners so, over time, Saturday's 49-35 win will probably be viewed in a somewhat more comfortable, possibly even a "never in doubt" light.

But we know better, don't we?

'Cause with roughly 4 minutes left in the game, SC driving... down by 7... things didn't looks so in control.  And at that point, if that game went into OT, who'd a felt good about ND's chances?

A rhetorical question.  Who knows.  The fact is, it didn't.  All 60 minutes of the game matter and SC couldn't finish.  

End of story.  We win. Party time.

Yet more than a few thoughts are activated after watching that game, some more relevant than others:

1.  "Go West Young Man."

• If you've spend even 5 minutes with me this football season, you've heard me pontificate on the issue (especially as it pertains to Big10 football) that the travel between west coast and midwest was going to be a strong factor in determining outcomes.  As everyone on this blog knows, jet lag is a real thing.
• So ND traveling to LA on the day before a noon kickoff struck me as... flawed.
• And ND traveling to NYC the week before struck me, now, as... reckless.
• Against two teams with polar opposite offenses to plan around.  Hmmm.
  

Net, perhaps ND's defense's less-than-sharp performance shouldn't have been so surprising.  And not necessarily indicative of a systemic 'chink in the armor.'  

If you found yourself thinking these guys don't even look like they're playing the same defense, maybe they weren't. What they looked like (to me) was a group that was physically and mentally spent.

And yet, talk about 'digging deep' at the end.

2.  Depth Has Its Limits.   

• If one takes a cursory glance at the snap counts for the team, you'll see a lot of players played almost the entire game -- starting with the CB's who did play every single snap.
• Think they might've been gassed?
• And before one criticizes Golden (as an example), who else was he going to put in?  He's already playing freshmen!

The fact is, it's remarkable the depth ND's already shown this year (and at hugely critical positions (e.g., LT, CB, Edge)).  But at some point, it's gotta run out.

3. The O.     When was the last time we needed the Offense to keep us in a game?

• More than few people grumbled after Leonard's bad INT -- showing just how fragile his bandwagon is -- but not me.  And outside of that throw, I thought he played really well.
• Does Denbrock run him too much (Jay)? Maybe. Probably. But Saturday was a 'leave no bullets in the chamber' game and if that's what they needed to win, so be it.
• RB's or OL?  Chicken or the egg?  Who gets credit for the run game dominance?  And why can't it be both?
• We know the RB's are really good.  But there are some pretty big holes being opened by guys who've now strung a season of playing together. They may not be Joe Moore award-level caliber but they're pretty good.

4. Kicking.  

• The definition of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result -- would seem to apply here.
• Here's the concerning thought:  this now looks more like a mental, not a physical, issue for Jeter.  Can three weeks of 'therapy' address it?  We gotta hope so.
• Does misery really love company?  Jeter wasn't even the worst kicker of the weekend:
• College:  Ohio State's guy.  Perhaps he's in Witness Protection by now.
• Pro:  Justin Tucker. (Perhaps the best kicker in NFL history, currently can't hit the ocean from the beach.)

5.  CFP Madness.

"The end is nigh..."  or at least the final playoff seeding picture is near.  (I think it's all determined Sunday afternoon.)  Here's how it looks right now with the critical games seemingly: 

• Oregon vs. Penn State  (Go Ducks!)
• Georgia vs. Texas (Go Longhorns!)
• SMU vs. Clemson (unclear who we want...)

Buddy's Buddy

If one hangs around me enough in sports-related situations, you'll know that I am comically bad at prognostications.

If I predict something to happen, almost invariably the opposite occurs.  And I'm pretty sports category agnostic:  it could be a Majors golf tournament, a March Madness bracket... you name it, I'll probably get it wrong in an impressively polar opposite degree of magnitude.

If I went to Vegas, I'd be The Cooler.   

Which brings us to Saturday.

As everyone surely witnessed, Jeremiyah Love was en route to a potentially historic game.  Not a stretch to think he'd hit 200 yds and probably 3 TD's.

But as is Denbrock's (admittedly successful) pattern, he spells Love for a period, giving Jadarian Price some reps.

Early on, it did not go well.  As tough as Love looked running, Price's proclivity to bounce everything outside looked like a bad idea against a fast, aggressive USC defense -- so much so I implored the football gods (and Denbrock) to consider, might this be the game to go with a more singular, more appropriate runner?   Which is to say, leave Jeremiyah in the game.

Then came the Love injury and that option went out the window.  

Yet, Price stepped up and flourished:  12 carries, 111 yards, 1 TD -- which kept SC having to respect the run.

A reoccurring theme this entire year has been 'Next Man Up' and for my money, never was this back up's play more critical to the win than Price's.

On a final, hugely cynical note:  With the transfer portal opening this week, I think Jadarian made himself a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY.  I just hope it comes from a Notre Dame source.  With a new QB next year, we're gonna need the 1-2 punch of Love & Price.

RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)

I'm a 'glass half full' kind of guy.

So, a disconcerting as Saturday's game might've been, especially on the defensive side (and I think there's a number of one-time reasons for that) one can still identify silver linings to take from the game.

And it would appear that Mr. Sampson thinks so too. 

And given how much juice coach Freeman squeezed out of the NIU loss, one has to believe he can leverage a USC scare for a few more games.

-----------------------------------

This all feels like a bit of narrative engineering, but does Notre Dame benefit from playing with fire against USC? 

Marcus Freeman said he wasn’t concerned the Irish haven’t been pushed in almost two months because of the roster’s maturity, focus and all those other intangible coaching points. 

And maybe there’s some truth to that. 

But a refresher on what it feels like to have your football life flash before your eyes has to at least be helpful, right? If Notre Dame still benefits from the disaster of Northern Illinois, can’t it also benefit from nearly skidding off the road in Los Angeles?

Source: The Athletic

December 3, 2024

Cocktail of the Month

Bear with me on this week's theme cocktail but it goes like this:

By the 4th quarter, Notre Dame was flatlining:  the offense got super conservative and the defense -- when they weren't racing the length of the field with poorly thrown USC passes -- couldn't seem to stop anything.  (That final, meaningless USC drive was especially disgraceful.)

So a cocktail called 'Corpse Reviver' seems more than apt. Had I known about it at the time, I probably could've used it after the game. 

Natalie Clifford Barney & Renée Vivien's

Corpse Reviver #2

1876-1972                        1877-1909

Among the beverages that she raised to her lips was a cloudy elixir in which floated a cherry harpooned on a toothpick.  I laid a hand on her arm and cautioned her.

"Don't drink it."

"I've tasted it," I said, embarrassed.  "It's... deadly.  Be careful, it tastes like some kind of vitriol." 

I dared not tell her that I suspected a practical joke.  She laughed, flashing her white teeth.

"But these are my own cocktails, ma pethith Coletthe.  They are excellent."

-- Colette on Renée Vivien, The Pure and the Impure, 1932

For over 60 years, American-born poet and fragment writer Natalie Clifford Barney welcomed artists, intellectuals, and writers into her Parisian home, establishing one of the great salons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Though Barney never established great fame or acclaim as a writer in the United States, as an ex-pat she was a key figure in the intellectual and artistic movements that swept through Paris at the turn of the century and once more after World War I.  She counted among her friends Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Ezra Pound, Virgil Thompson, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway and more.

An openly gay woman, Barney held court with several lesbian and bisexual writers, fostering the careers and social lives of Djuna Barnes, Colette, Sylvia Beach and Renée Vivien, the British imagist poet who would become one of Barney's lovers.  Vivien in particular was known to enjoy frighteningly stiff cocktails.

*  1 oz. gin

*  1 oz. Lillet Blanc

*  1 oz. Cointreau

*  1 oz. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

*  1 splash absinthe

*  Maraschino cherry for garnishing

 -------------------

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine gin, Lillet Blanc, Cointreau, lemon juice, and absinthe, and shake to combine.

Strain into a coupe glass.  Garnish with the cherry. 

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             1st round playoff game at ND Stadium -- see you at Stayer!

Wager 2024

Congratulations, Team 11!  Way to persevere for 10 straight weeks.

Now on to the final Wager tie-breaker:

• The Good News: there likely won't be any cinema or literature trivia questions.
• The Bad News: with the impending playoffs dominating the new bowl seaosn, a March Madness-like "predict the bracket" is likely the way I'm gonna go to determine a winner.

Stay tuned for something next week as you'll have to complete it by the kickoff of the first game on the 20th. 

Finally, all those whose names aren't highlighted below, I don't think I received the $25 entry fee.  If you could send it to me sometime before January, I'd appreciate it.

Venmo is @Terry-Corrigan.

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 Matt L., Brian M. Jay, John L. Ray, Blair John P.
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, Jim B. Sloane, Alex Phillip, Randy Mike G., Jerry P Gutsch, Mark Jim T., Brian W
9 Yorgos Lanthimos	Do I always understand what's going on his films?  Nope. But the ride is pretty enjoyable even when you don't know where you're going or even how you got there. Ultimately, you might end up appreciating it more than you thought at the time.	Alvin, Garrett
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.

Have I beat the wine metaphor to death yet?

Oh, not even close.

Now we're to the point where guests are sitting at the table, they've been promised something good.  And the host, we'll call him Jerry, has promised something very special.

Could it be a Napa choice?  Maybe something Tuscan? Perhaps something from the Rhone valley... ooh.

A native Ohioan, who knew he could serve up such a special varietal, and from Columbus of all places, with savory notes of toasted buckeye.

------------------------------------

1) Ohio State.  In the annual Larry Corrigan "Root For A Tie With Lots of Injuries" game -- I really miss you this time of year, dad -- it was actually kind of easy to pick a side to support.

• On one hand, Michigan's season was already a disaster.  Getting curb stomped by tOSU would've been humiliating but otherwise incrementally marginal in adding to the year's poor showing.
• Ohio State, however, the story was much different.  Coached by -- if not the biggest douche in the country, certainly the whiniest -- had a cool $20M invested in this team being national championship caliber, with a class of seniors who'd never beaten Michigan...
• Guess what, they still haven't.

2) Miami.   You blew a 21 point lead against a team that was QB'ed by a kid that Ohio State jettisoned last year (oops).

What could only make this loss better is if somehow they sneak into the playoffs and have to play @ Notre Dame in the 1st round. 

Yeah, I'm looking at you mouthy mo-fo's... 

3) USC.   I'm aware that calling out SC could arguably be considered double dipping.  

But it is Rivalry Week.  And with this opponent, can piling on ever be considered excessive?  

I think not.  

Fun fact that one can share with your SC friends (although they are probably well aware of it): up to the ND game, going into the 4th quarter the Trojans led in every single game.

Perhaps they can pull a Greg Norman and find a league to join where you only have to play for three quarters.

"The Saudi's are on line 1, Athletic Director Cohen..."

Meanwhile, back in the SEC... 

Terry's Tools.

The few, the proud...

With Rivalry Week being a particularly volatile accelerant for bad behavior, it'd be difficult to call out all of the worthy individuals for, um, recognition.

Easier to award blanket commendations. Although one coach does seem to be worthy of stepping forward.

And unfortunately, Notre Dame is not immune from some constructive criticism on this front.

Let's call it a 'teachable moment.'

White pants?  For the love of God, who is it that thinks the white pants are a good look?

Flag planters .   The fact that the post-game flag planting bullsh*t seemed to have broken out at every rivalry game (except ND-USC) just proves how stupid virtually all college athletes are.  

Driven almost entirely by their id, why we assign any level of intelligence or self-control to the 18-22 year old male cohort is beyond me.

They are, as Defarge refers to our former son-in-law, toddlers. (I prefer the equally apropos descriptor, "dipsh*t" for both.)

Thank God we have responsible coaching staffs to rein them in.  

And pepper spray.  Lots and lots of pepper spray. 

Ryan Day.  "Ryan, We Hardly Knew Ye."  And for most of Columbus, OH, they're wishing right now they never knew ye.  

What was most telling re coach Day, Leader of Men, is when the melee at mid-field broke out, he did... nothing.  

No matter how he tried he could not break free

And the worms ate into his brain... 

Rylie Mills.   So Rylie, team captain... role model... 

...walk me through just what, exactly, were you thinking?   

It's still early in the game -- so the outcome was yet to be determined -- and you risk getting tossed for that (which everyone in the world seemed to see except the refs).

How was that helping the team? 

SEC Officiating.   This is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, except if you're a Georgia Tech fan but... it's as simple as this:  the Ramblin' Wreck got hosed on more than just one alleged penalty that allowed Georgia to stay competitive.

One is usually dismissive of the conspiracy theorists who say that the SEC needs the Georgia / Alabama brands in the playoffs (or maybe it's ESPN that's calling the shots).  But something wasn't right about a few of those critical calls.

Which is a shame because the Tech QB was a baller.  The kid (and the team) deserved better. 

MLB.  Runaway winner of the Stupidest Idea of the Week Month Year...

Name of the Week

Fun fact #1:  this week's winner shares a birthday with Jerrence.

That's nice, albeit super random.

Fun fact #2:  this week's winner received his nickname inspired by the central character from "Toy Story."

Even better (and equally random).

--  He was also one of the central characters for USC last week until he went down with a head injury.

--  Likely a nice kid and a very good player who will surely NEVER be known by his birth name.  

Jo'quavious Marks

Which is a shame because, as readers of this blog should recall, this blogger is a big fan of the strategic use of the apostrophe in one's name.  

I'm still toying around with a move to J'errence.  Or Je'rrence.

At any rate... upon further consideration, perhaps Jo'quavious being called 'Woody' is a win-win for everyone, yes?

Final Thought

Early buzz is suggesting a 12/20 Friday night game for ND's first round.  Current weather forecast?  Light snow, mid-teens wind chill.    

Please God, make the opponent a southern team.

"Abandon hope all ye who enter here..."