Should the Big East Oust Notre Dame?

The Big East Conference should seriously explore evicting part-time member Notre Dame.  They should forget warnings, ultimatums, and strong notes.  It might be time to clean house.

Down here in the Sunshine State, we have a law called "Three Strikes and You're Out." You commit three serious crimes, you're put away for good.

Last week Notre Dame committed their third serious infraction against a conference member—their third in the last 18 months.

STRIKE 1: When Notre Dame walked all over Cincinnati, when they disregarded the Bearcats football program and enticed their coach, Brian Kelly, to leave Cincinnati in the midst of an undefeated season. Notre Dame violated an unwritten conference law: don't screw your neighbor.

This is comparable to Leo Durocher leaving the Brooklyn Dodgers in the middle of the season, to go cross town and assume the managerial position of the hated New York Giants;this just isn't done!

I remember when Tom O'Brien announced in December 2006, that he was leaving Boston College to become the football coach at North Carolina State.  This was not your average coaching change.

I don't recall the exact details, Boston College was very new to the conference at the time, so it wasn't the same as jumping from one long-time member to another, but it certainly was rare.

This was only the third time in the long history of the ACC, that a coach left one ACC program for another.

I know Houston Nutt went from SEC member Arkansas to another SEC member, Ole Miss at the end of the 2007 season, but he was asked to leave. I'm sure other intra-conference coaching changes have taken place, but one is hard pressed to recall when.

STRIKE 2: In May 2008, Rutgers walked away from negotiations of a proposed six-game football series with Notre Dame. Talks broke down when Notre Dame failed to budge on its demands, that Rutgers play its three home games in an off-campus facility that would be half-filled with Notre Dame fans.

This incident outraged New York Times sports columnist Harvey Araton enough to write, "Makes you wonder why the overcrowded Big East puts up with Notre Dame at all."

Araton also wrote, "How humble of Notre Dame to visit Ronald Reagan in the Rose Garden at the White House on Jan. 18, 1989, resisting all temptation to call for a meeting at a neutral site more to its grandiose liking."

STRIKE 3:  On Aug. 4, 2009, the Hartford Courant wrote the proposed football series between UConn and Notre Dame is "All but Dead."

Notre Dame wanted UConn to play their home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass, and the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ.  Let me put it another way: Notre Dame didn't want UConn to play any of their home games in the state of Connecticut.

Only Notre Dame could have the audacity to ask a fellow conference member, a conference member whose football team beat Notre Dame just a couple of weeks ago,  to play all their "home games" at neutral sites.

Contrary to popular belief, Notre Dame football was in a conference 20 years ago.  They were one of 45 schools that made up the "independent conference." Times have changed;they haven't.

Conference members work together. They believe "if it's better for the whole, it's better for the individual."

Notre Dame uses the other members of the Big East for their own interests.  Why are they still a member of this conference? Is the Big East so delusional that they think they have a chance to get Note Dame to become a full-time member?

Even if Note Dame decided it's time—time to join a conference and petitioned the Big East to accept their football program, would it even be worth it?  Maybe Notre Dame should go back to playing basketball as an independent.

Notre Dame has acted like anything but a conference member. They've acted like a conference destroyer and this recent display of unconference like conduct, should be more than enough for the Big East to explore taking the appropriate steps leading to their eviction.

The Big East should stop clowning around; it's time. Temple University was kicked out of the conference. They didn't live up to conference standards and the Big East acted. 

Not cooperating with the other members, the way Notre Dame has, should be offensive enough for action to be taken.

The Big East needs to get a pair and put Notre Dame on trial! This should be one of the first orders of business for 2010.

Earlier today, Notre Dame athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, made it very clear that Notre Dame had no intention to join the Big Ten Conference. The Big Ten may not know it know now, but Notre Dame probably did them a favor.