Irish Blogger Gathering: Heart of Darkness Edition

The second edition of the Irish Blogger Gathering, this week featuring questions from OC Domer. And here are my responses - enjoy!

1. Who was your first Notre Dame hero?

I didn't grow up with ND football. In my childhood world, the Chicago Bears were the team to watch. In an era of bad/horrible Bears teams, one player stood out - Chris Zorich. He always showed up, played hard, and made Sunday a little more enjoyable. Long before I paid any attention to Notre Dame, I had a favorite player who happened to have gone there.

2. When was the first time the Fighting Irish broke your heart?

I still don't like to think about this one. October 15, 2005. The week before, the mood on campus was incredible - everyone knew ND could beat USC, and it was all anyone could talk about. The pep rally was held at the stadium, Corso couldn't speak from the in-stadium set because his words were drowned out with chants of 0-6 whenever he started, and my friends and I had gone out every night that week (I'm not sure how this made it different than any other week in law school, but it sure felt different). There was no possible way that the game could live up to the hype - and then it did.

I was near the field in the student section, so I didn't have a great view of what happened at the end of the game. All I knew was, the ball came loose at the other end, I looked up at a scoreboard that read 00:00 with ND up 31-28, and I headed for the field. A few seconds and one Bush Push later, I had gone from the greatest elation I have ever felt regarding ND football, to heartbreak.

And I still haven't re-watched the end of that game.

3. Let's suppose for just a moment that for whatever reasons the Notre Dame football program begins to slide into what looks like long term mediocrity, or even long term suckitude:

A. NBC doesn't renew the television deal, and the package offered by the Versus network makes it clear that remaining independent will mean a lot less $$$ than joining a conference and sharing in their TV deal. Should the Irish join a conference? If so, which? Why that one?

I'm going with keep the Irish out of a conference if the only concern is monetary. I just envision lots of backlash from the alumni and fans, not to mention years of bad press ("ND can no longer claim they ever acted out of anything other than greed").

If you change up the equation - for instance, if a college playoff system was implemented, and the only way for Notre Dame to participate would be to join a conference, I would be all in for joining up. In that situation, I would obviously go with whatever conference offered the best possibility for entry into the playoff system on a regular basis. Most likely, that would be the Big Ten (although the Big East or ACC would probably not field as strong a field, I assume that any college playoff system would take polls and strength of schedule into account, and this means the Big Ten is probably a better place to be).

B. Over time, Notre Dame becomes the football peer of Duke and Syracuse, lucky to win four games a year, rarely posting a winning season. What should the University do? Drop football? Join a conference (or a lesser conference)? Drop down to Div-IA (the FCS Division)? Schedule 12 cupcakes each season?

I like the idea of joining the Ivy League, but in my own selfishness, I am going with scheduling 12 cupcakes a season. What can I say? I like wins, and I don't really care who they come against.

C. The Indiana legislature has been taken over by a coalition of tee totalling, non-violent religious groups that outlaw both beer and football, and the University is forced to end the football program. To which college football team do you switch your allegiance, and why?

Easy - Northwestern, because I went there for undergrad. As an undergrad, I went to the games, but football was not a priority in my life at that time (unlike now). In reality, I probably pay more attention to Northwestern football now than I did when I went there, even though my allegiance has been to Notre Dame from pretty much the moment I stepped on campus for law school. Plus, Northwestern can use all the fans it can get, and a tailgate pass for the season is approximately the same cost as a tailgate pass at Notre Dame for one game.

4. While on campus on a football Saturday you stop by the Knights of Columbus building to get your traditional steak and gristle sandwich. You also take the opportunity to pop inside the building to use the restroom before following the band over to the stadium. While waiting in line for the bathroom and watching the endlessly running Rudy on the K of C television you make the acquaintance of an older gentleman with a beard. He's rather short, but very energetic for his obviously advanced age. You allow him to cut in line in front of you. When he comes out of the restroom, obviously relieved, he thanks you and and then steps in really close to you and whispers in your ear. "I'll grant you two wishes. The first - Notre Dame will beat any team you choose for the next ten seasons. The second, the Irish will also lose for ten straight years to any team you name. Quick now, what two teams will they be?!" You blurt out your two answers, and he disappears into the crowd. What two teams did you pick, and why?

First wish? Beat USC for ten years. Second wish? Lose to USC for ten years. Note that the second time, the older gentleman did not qualify my wish with "the next ten seasons." All us lawyers and our loopholes.

5. I'm a terrible predictor. I'm pretty good at analysis, but I'm no good picking games because I almost always pick the Irish. But we need to get on the record here. Notre Dame has games left against North Carolina, Washington, Pitt, Boston College, Navy, Syracuse, and USC. Pick the winner of each of those seven games. Assign each pick points based upon your level of confidence in the pick. Most confident pick gets a 7, least confident pick gets a 1. Each value 1 through 7 must be used once. A perfect score of all picks correct would be worth a total of 28 points. The member of the Irish Blogger Gathering with the highest point total wins a prize of my choosing at the end of the regular season. In case of a tie, the tiebreaker is the member who has the best overall season based on quantity and quality of posts to their blog from now through the end of the season, as voted by the members of the Gathering.

Here they are:

1 - Least Confident - Notre Dame over USC.
2 - Notre Dame over North Carolina.
3 - Notre Dame over Pitt (and if anyone has two tickets they want to sell me, I will love you forever!).
4 - Notre Dame over Boston College.
5 - Notre Dame over Navy.
6 - Notre Dame over Washington.
7 - Most Confident - Notre Dame over Syracuse.

Oh yes, that's right, I just picked Notre Dame to win out the season. Consider that Kool-Aid drunk.