Round 1: Hoosier Daddy?

What you wanna bet... 

We ain't started yet.

Baby, stick around!

Dateline:  Notre Dame, IN 

It was Jim Nance, former college roommate of Fred Couples and Mr. "Hello, friends" introductory line of the Masters telecast guy, who also coined the expression, "A Tradition Unlike Any Other" for that tournament. 

And as well deserved as that descriptor surely is for Augusta, it'd be hard to argue that those words aren't even more perfectly applicable to the December 20th experience at Notre Dame. 

First playoff game on a college campus ever. What other place in the country should this happen?

And with an 8pm kickoff, you had hundreds of tailgaters lining up -- at dawn -- in agreement, wanting to get that party started.

You also had the ESPN Game Day circus there with all of their excess.  

(Note:  I actually went back and watched their show from this day.  And yes, with the notable exception of Saban and Herbstreit, they really, truly, are clowns.)

Finally, you had a dusting of snow for a nice winter wonderland, mini-snow globe look.  

And for anyone wondering whether the climate related to having a December game outside of the Sun Belt or an indoor venue was going to have a dampening effect, think again.  

The whole thing looked and felt special and... appropriate... that this college football 'first' should be at du Lac.

Game on!

Quote of the Week

"We don't just beat Top 25 teams, we beat the sh*t out of them."

It's rare that this blog goes to the same source for more than one quote in a year.  That's typically reserved for guys like Churchill, Lincoln, Oscar Wilde... fellows that have pithy insights that provides fodder upon which one can ponder and possibly learn from (or in my case, later plagiarize in order to make oneself look more clever than one really is).

But, as been said ad nauseum, the December 20th playoff game at Notre Dame was a day of firsts and lets just give Indiana coach Curt Cignetti his due in back-to-back weeks.  

Here's a shocker: I actually don't think he's as big of a douche as he appears.  He just may be as arrogant as he comes off -- but one suspects he knows he needs to infuse his team with a massive dose of confidence that has never existed in the program's history.   (How often did the broadcast point out they are the losing-est program in NCAA history? A lot.)

So you have to say some stupid, over-the-top stuff and hope your team believes it.  

Nice try, coach.  (And good luck next year following this act.)

Word of the Week

Used in a sentence paragraph:  After the alcohol cleared Jerrence's system, which is to say, yesterday... with a clear(er) mind, he pondered the state of Notre Dame's physical well being as well as his own psychological health.

Rylie, we hardly knew ye

He found it paradoxical  that his guarded (and atypical) optimism toward ND's chances against the #2 seeded Georgia Bulldogs was, at the same time, wed to a recognition that the Irish's attrition of its highest quality players had gotten to a ridiculous, almost untenable state.

It's one thing to lose a key starter, even two.  It's quite another to lose -- for the year -- your All-American CB and DT as well as the starting LT and C as well as your two best Edge rushers.

Who survives that?! And yet, this team was exhibiting a quiet 'we will not be denied' attitude that suggested betting against them would be at your own peril. 

Playoff: Game 1 Thoughts  

Indiana wants me --

Lord I can't go back there...

Be careful what you wish for, Hoosiers.

Other thoughts:

1.  Add one new achievement to the program's cache, State Champs.

2.  Was there an actual 'play of the game'?  Practically speaking, probably not.  In hindsight, the win never really looked in doubt.  That said, a few that represented momentum shifting moments, with both short and possibly, long-term implications:

• Watts INT (Mr. Clutch)
• Love's 98 yd. TD (When is the world gonna realize how good this guy is?)
• Jeter's 49 yd. FG  ("I'm back!")
• Leonard-to-Faison  (Do my eyes deceive, a deep threat?!)

3.   Even with the flu, Jeremiyah is the fastest guy on the field.

4.  "You don't prepare them in a week. They've been preparing every single day all season long."  

Freeman's response after having yet another important starter go down and having to thrust someone into a high pressure role. 

I think this guy knows what he's doing.

5.  I would sign up tomorrow for McElroy & McDonough as the permanent Notre Dame football announcing team.

The Brackets

Buddy's Buddy

On a day (night) so momentous, the event did not lack for high end candidates to win the coveted Buddy award.

Let's start with our tailgate hosts, principally (I believe) Messrs. Flaherty & Castellini who created (negotiated?) an indoor-like tailgate environment that was not only hugely beneficial in it's 'shelter from the cold' practicality but also provided a semi-surreal carnival atmosphere befitting anyone who thought it was a good idea to be standing outside, drinking, in mid-December in South Bend.

No creepy clowns, just enchanting hostesses. 

And by the crowd size, a whole lot of people did.  

Tangentially, Bonnie Behrens was short-listed by virtue of her jambalaya contribution which was nothing short of fantastic -- and may I say, pairs nicely with her husband's Bloody Mary's.

Lastly, I was going to nominate myself for successfully walking back to the Napoleon Street rental house after that tailgate.  

By myself.  In the dark.  

(Hey South Bend, would it kill ya to spring for a few street lights for the neighborhood?) 

And then, to successfully navigate the key pad of one of the house's three front doors.  (At least it looked there were three by the time I got there.) 

But this week, Buddy's gotta be ALL ABOUT THE FOOTBALL.  And even then, the choice wasn't easy.  But we're going with a guy who's turning out to be Mr. Everything for the team, Jordan Faison.   

I'm too lazy to look up his stats -- don't think he got quite to 100 yards receiving but he's clearly become Leonard's go-to guy, both on critical 3rd downs as well as anything resembling a deep ball.   

And on special teams, he's THE gadget guy, responsible for the two biggest plays the team has had (even if the one was incorrectly called back).  

And you know what?  They're gonna need him.

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

At this point, one can reasonably say the long-term health of the football program looks pretty bright.  They've got a coach that, even with some very public missteps, gets better every year.  They have, arguably, the best coordinator combination in the country. And recruiting -- both high school and portal -- is very good even as the monetary insanity increases almost exponentially.

But who cares about long-term? 

Right now, the horizon stretches only as far as Wednesday night.

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

Fast forward to the morning of Jan 2. Notre Dame just beat Georgia, 24-23. To get to that result, I think there needs to be a serious “Freeman out-coaching Kirby” narrative. If that’s the case, what phase of the game is this most evident where Freeman and Co. shine? – Jordan L.

If Notre Dame wins on Wednesday night, three things need to happen.

1. Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden soundly beats Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo on the headsets. Considering one starts a defense that ranks No. 1 nationally in pass efficiency defense, No. 3 in scoring defense, No. 5 in yards per play allowed and No. 1 in turnovers forced while the other will start a quarterback with 80 snaps this season and zero starts, this matchup should be there for Golden’s taking. Georgia spent the entire year as a pass-first offense with Carson Beck. Now it’s got to pivot to a run-first approach with Gunner Stockton. If losing Mills changes Notre Dame’s defensive line rotation, losing Beck changes Georgia’s entire offense.

2. Don’t lose the turnover battle. Notre Dame lost it just once all season, a minus-two performance against Northern Illinois when Riley Leonard threw two interceptions. The game feels a lot more like Texas A&M when Notre Dame picked off Conner Weigman twice while not turning it over at all. That’s the kind of stuff you need to do to win a rock fight.

3. Create an extra possession on special teams. What blocked punts were to Brian Mason, fake punts and kicks have been to Marty Biagi. None was bigger than the fake punt pass from Tyler Buchner to Mitchell Evans against USC this season, although the Jeremiyah Love fake punt run against Duke last season was close. Notre Dame doesn’t need to do anything heroic on special teams, but if the Irish win, stealing a possession feels essential.

Source: The Athletic

December 30, 2024

Cocktail of the Month

Most of the intrepid souls who ventured to South Bend, probably know that I watched the game alone... unaccompanied... alone... back at Maison du Ungie.

How sad (read pathetic), one must be thinking.  

But in truth, more times than not, a solitary experience is my preferred forum for ingesting high stakes ND football, lest my proclivity for near constant, unhinged overreaction be misinterpreted as latent, "what part of 'restraining order' don't you grasp" instability.

Besides, I wasn't entirely by myself.  I had my 15 year traveling companion, Glen, with me.

Glenfiddich.  And he doesn't judge my quirks.  Though he may be an enabler.

Haruki Murakami's

Whiskey, neat

1949 -- 

In the words of the celebrated Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, "Whiskey, like a beautiful woman, demands appreciation.  You gaze first, then it's time to drink."

Murakami's surrealist fiction reveals his long-held affection for the spirit.  The Scottish Cutty Sark finds mention in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and IQ84, and a man named Johnnie Walker appears in Kafka on the Shore.

Japan has a strong whiskey manufacturing tradition, the island nation being home to Yamazaki, Nikka and Suntory -- each with their loyal fans and high-end vintages.  But Murakami also appreciates the Western brands -- some of them inexpensive and scoffed at by connoisseurs -- that carried him through university and during his time as a barman at jazz clubs. 

*  2 oz. single malt scotch (dealer's choice)

 -------------------

Pour your single malt into a rocks glass.  

Savor the whiskey while Charlie Parker's sweet saxophone sounds linger on your record player.

Source:  How To Drink Like A Writer

Writing by Margaret Kaplan

A long way from happiness...
Not forever, but just for now.

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

1                Georgia

Wager 2024

Update:  15 finalists, only six got all four games correctly.  And if ND doesn't advance -- I know, perish the thought -- we may have a winner by Thursday morning...

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.

So here we are -- 11 games of consequence left in the season, not that one can't celebrate some of the other completely inconsequential bowls that still litter the media landscape.

...looking at you, Michigan vs. Alabama.  

And if Texas A&M hadn't blown a 17 pt. lead against USC, we'd DEFINITELY be calling out the Trojans here.

Still, caring about games where the majority of the squads are of the JV-level... even I, dedicated schadenfreudist, feel a teensy weensy bit of self-loathing over generating a positive buzz over that.

And yet, I soldier on.

14-0.  Game over. 

1)  Indiana.  I hate to pick on the Hoosiers but when your coach talks smack as much as he does, one needs to be reminded that actions have consequences.    

Plus, we're in full zero sum, 'kill or be killed' playoff mode.  

Sorry, IU.

2) Tennessee!.   And suddenly Lane Kiffin's Twitter account went silent.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

"SEC!  SEC!  SEC!"

Oh, you'll be hearing a lot of that tonight...

Terry's Tools.

The few, the proud...

Coming to the end of yet another year...

Less games, less opportunity for questionable behavior.

So, not a big section this week. Plus, it's the holiday season -- a time for tolerance and forgiveness, oui? 

Oh hell, maybe I'm just fatigued.  One does get tired of chasing stories of these miscreants.  (I would imagine even Van Helsing got tired of continually tracking down vampires.  He probably thought, the world's not gonna miss one virginal maiden, are they? I can take a night off...)

Then again, I haven't seen Nosferatu yet so maybe not.

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

1) Cam Ward / Da U.   There was a considerable number of hot takes about this...

To summarize:  in a perfectly meaningless Pop Tarts bowl, Mr. Ward (a likely 1st round draft choice next April) chooses to play -- ostensibly only to break a college passing record. Once accomplished, he said 'no bueno' for the rest of the game and the Hurricanes lose by a point.

In the grand scheme of things, who cares, right?  

And yet, not a good look for Cam. And the media LOVES optics. But the question is:  who's the real tool?  Is it Ward and seemingly playing only for singularly selfish reasons -- or do you look at the coach and say, WTF?  And more likely, this was discussed beforehand between the two.  (It's totally understandable that the coach might want to see the back up QB play a half.)  And interesting that the school did not make the kid available for the media post-game, ostensibly hanging him out to dry.  Nice.

2)  Curt Cignetti.    At the risk of appearing like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth, I'm not a hater of coach C.  But he is being called out, here, for calling an incredibly gutless game plan.   

From the start, (fair catching every kickoff?) to calling run plays on 3rd and long to the 4th quarter punt near midfield with 11 minutes left, down 17... 

At least go down swinging, coach.  

If one were a Hoosier fan, I'd be massively disappointed in my head coach's performance.

Name of the Week

When is a name not a name but possibly a...

Typo?

Meet Georgia DL, redshirt freshman, a transfer from South Carolina:

Xzavier McLeod

It's unclear whether the 'X' or the 'z' is silent.  

But remember this name 'cause you'll probably hear it Wednesday night. 

                                           

Final Thought

While I am not buying into the Georgia back up QB trap (I expect him to play reasonably well even as I'd hope coach Golden to thoroughly confuse him)... 

there are certain things that make this feel like... destiny.

Notre Dame vs. SEC blue blood.

Sugar Bowl. 

New Orleans. Site of the single most clutch play in (modern) Notre Dame history, 51 years ago almost to the day.

Friends of the blog attending the game:  make it happen!

And so will the 'ND can't win the big game' narrative

.