The girls over at the Irish Band of Sisters Blog put together a little rebuttal to the Notre Dame preview I wrote this week, plus the extra comments I included to fill in anything the Irish faithful felt was missing. They open up with a couple of comments directed at your's truly.
Delusional?
Dropped on my head as a baby?
Little guy?
You must have forgotten eating the lead paint off my crib rails.
I am going to post the base of the article and include my comments in red. I have to tell you there isn't a lot of substance here, it is just the usual BS that we are Notre Dame, and because we are Notre Dame we are going to beat you because your Washington. Jake Locker can't even spell Tim Tebow let alone put on a Tim Tebow demonstration on the football field.
You have to like a guy that is loyal to his favorite team, but some of the comments, especially the one's about Oregon State, and Arizona lead you to believe he doesn't really know college football outside of South Bend, and it is very doubtful if he has ever even been to South Bend.
You either love Notre Dame, or hate Notre Dame. Once again here are some more good reasons to continue rooting against Notre Dame each week as the losses keep adding up.
Irish Rebuttal From Band of Brothers
There were a lot of responses across the ND message boards these past two days about John Berkowitz's preview of the Notre Dame - Washington game on Oct. 25. Although John put a lot of time and effort into his piece, I'm going to put my spin on this hotly contested debate.
Ok little fella, yes Notre Dame has a very strong contingent of Subway Alumni. Yes some probably have not had the chance to take in a glorious fall, football weekend in South Bend, but that doesn't mean they do not know a thing or two about football, especially Notre Dame Football! Also, Notre Dame is more like Northcentral Indiana, not Northwestern as he proclaims. Plus if he thinks the Huskies can beat BYU, then he's either, A) Dropped as a baby, or B) Very delusional.
(Since our family owns a summer home about twelve miles directly North of the Golden Dome we have a pretty good idea on the location. The Husky blog received around 40 posts from BYU fans who said I was spot on with the preview of their team, and quite few who felt UW would win the game. )
I definitely can think of a few teams that will be so-called "weaker" teams than Notre Dame that's on Washington's schedule. Arizona and Oregon State will definitely be down this season. Oh yeah, didn't the Irish beat UCLA last season? But what do I know, right?
(I don't think the Irish can beat UCLA, Oregon State, or Arizona in 2008. I'm not even sure if Washington will beat Arizona, and Oregon State. Arizona is actually up this season with one of the best offenses in college football. They do sport a defense that is almost as potentially bad as the Irish's. The Beavers have some holes to fill on defense, but they actually have the potential players to fill those holes, I wouldn't take them for granted with the players they have at WR, and RB. The point is the Irish will not be able to score enough points to stay up with the majority of Pac Ten teams in 2008.)
John's take is that Washington is this scoring machine. Yes the Huskies averaged over 4 touchdowns a game last season, while the Irish managed only a tad over 16 points per contest. On the flip side, Washington's defense was and IS a lot worse than the Irish! Kent Baer's stellar defense, which got him fired, gave up 31.6 points a game. ND's wasn't much better at 28.8, however a resurgence of talented Freshmen and Sophomores will be ready to make 2008 a season to remember. Oh yeah a guy named Tenuta should help too!
(You answered the question yourself, the Huskies averaged over 4 TD's per game against the toughest schedule in the country, and the Irish only averaged 16 points per game with a schedule that included such cupcakes as Duke, Stanford, Navy, and Air Force. Was Army, and Vanderbilt busy? Tenuta and Weis on the same staff....would love to be a fly on the walls during the meetings and at the all you can eat buffet. The chances those two inflated ego's are going to get along are pretty slim. Notre Dame's defense stunk in 2007, and there isn't much to indicate other than a new DC that they will be that much better in 2008. You lost your top DB this summer, and the national media thinks that your defensive line will regress this season, but what do they know, they just cover college football every week for a living. If 6-6 is a season to remember than the standards in South Bend are slipping. Make no mistake the Washington defense was the worst in our schools history in 2007, but there is reason for optimism that we can improve from absolutely terrible to simply average in 2008.)
The middle portion of his article is his little rant about Washington's offense and how unstoppable they are going to be. Fair enough, Notre Dame had a tough time of stopping the run. However, the Irish are going to be well tested before they face the Huskies. Also, Husky Stadium hasn't been intimidating to the Irish before, so I don't think it will be this time around too!
(Well tested, how about beaten down, and limping. This isn't your mother's Irish, this is a team full of doubt that had it's nose rubbed into the ground almost every weekend last season. They didn't lose close, they lost ugly, and when they lost ugly they figured out new ways to even look uglier the next week. You have to admit that game day coaching was pretty suspect in 2007, but hey, you rebounded against Duke, and Stanford.)
Lastly we'll go over John's infatuation with Husky QB Jake Locker:
I'll give John some credit that Locker is a good mobile QB. He did average 82 yards on the ground last season. In one of his responses to an Irish fan, John compares Locker to Florida's Tim Tebow. Yes, Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow. Ok, ok, ok, let's stop the man love and hippie dreams right there. Locker is no Tim Tebow. Locker has to be a good passer to be in the same breathe as Tebow. In fact, Locker is statistically the worst passer out of the O'Brien Preseason Watch List. Jake is one of two passers to have thrown more interceptions (14) than touchdowns (15). Wake Forest's Riley Skinner was the other QB in that category (12 TDs/13 Ints). Locker, however, has the worst completion percentage out of the entire group at 47.2%. There was only one other QB below 50%, Illinois' Juice Williams (48.4%).
(Ok, I admit it, most of the Northwest has a man crush on Jake Locker, and so do I. Jake had problems with accuracy in 2007, most first year starters do. He also had receivers that simply didn't hang on to the ball very well in 2007. We would usually count around six drops per game. that really skewed his average. Based on what we witnessed this spring, and over the summer Locker is improved, plus he will be throwing to an unsung bunch of young receivers who just may be the most talented group Washington has had in about twenty years.)
If you were wondering, Jimmy Clausen had 7 touchdowns to 6 interceptions, and completed 56.3% of his passes last season. Also I've heard plenty of folks complain about Clausen's age saying he wasn't a true freshman because he was 20, blah, blah, blah! Well I hate to break it to Washington folks, but Locker wasn't a true Freshman either. This will be his third year in Seattle, as he redshirted as a freshman. So technically Locker had the better advantage of being in practices of a entire season of the college game under his belt.
(I wasn't impressed with Clausen, in fact nobody was impressed with Clausen last year. He didn't make a good impression either when he reported in to Notre Dame camp last summer either. I think the kid has good potential, but he is going to spend a lot of time on his back again this season lining up behind the weak Irish offensive line. Everyone expects him to improve, and he better because 6-6 is a lofty expectation for this bunch of pretenders. Hey Jimmy the phone is ringing, and Damiel Teo Nesheim is on the line, and in your head.)
Finally, the media think the Irish will do better than John's perception of 6-6. In fact I've seen plenty of definite 7 or 8 win predictions. Just look at the video below to prove my point. There will always be doubters and haters of the Irish; but whatever way you slice it, Notre Dame has never lost to Washington and they'll definitely not let this happen this year either! I guess John and Husky nation just can't handle the truth!
(Anyone can pull a pro Irish video report out of their rear end. The season will be decided on the field, not by pre season media predictions. It is true Notre Dame has never lost to Washington, but the streak will end this year in Seattle. It is Irish fans that can't handle the truth, and the truth is your team isn't very good and is going to be stomped into the field turf by Jake Locker and company. Bring plenty of holy water, rosary beads, and bandages, you are going to need them.)
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2 months ago
John,
There is no doubt that this UW-ND game will be BIG. I also think it will be close. However, I have yet to read a clear comparison of both teams or anything logical from UW fans like yourself.
For example, you claim there are some major questions in regards to the ND defense. This is correct. We have a very young d-line and we lost Walls. Before Walls was gone, out d-backfield was one of the best in the nation. It is still deep but Walls is going to hurt. We also lost Law, who was simply a monster last year.
However, if there is ONE team on the ND schedule that has MORE to worry about in terms of defense it is Washington. Here is a little comparison using STATS and PLAYERS...not opinions.
Last year ND gave up 28.5 points per game. Washington gave up 31.5.
Last year ND gave up 4284 yards per game. Washington gave up 5803.
Last year ND gave up 2345 yards rushing pg. Washington gave up 2398.
Last year ND gave up 1939 yards passing pg. Washington gave up 3405.
Now moving to players.
ND lost Laws, Walls, Zibby, Brockingham, Stephenson. Only 3 were starters by the end of the year due to getting beat out by younger players.
UW lost Lewis, Gunheim, Reffitt and Afoa. All 4 were starters.
Now where it gets subjective is who is replacing these prospects. If you base it on projected talent, Washington does not come close to ND. However, we all know that rankings from HS mean nothing. So little can be speculated until the replacements play a few games. A better picture will be had on the week of the game.
Lastly on to coaching. ND ADDED one of the best defensive minds to a a staff that produced a BETTER product than Washington. Washington FIRED its defensive coordinator.
Now on to the offense.
In terms of Washington, they will have a chance in ANY game that Loker suits up for. However, he is just ONE player. Lets look at his supporting cast this year.
-Washington lost its #1 RB. His replacement rushed for 202 yards last year. No other player had more then 50 yards rushing last year.
-Washington lost its lost its #1 AND #2 WR/TE. Their replacements had 29 yards receiving and 0 TD's
-Washington lost it LG, C, RG and RT from last year.
In terms of ND, they have a VERY talented but still young team. I think that by the UW game mid season, the excuse for being young can NOT be used by ND on offense. Simply by then, most of the offense will have at least 12 games under their belt.
- ND is keeping its #1 RB. Also thier #2 and #3. All of which ran for more yards then the projected #1 for UW.
- ND lost its #1 WR/TE, but is keeping #2 AND added a 5star WR.
-ND lost only 1 guy on the line.
Now in terms of stats, Washington kicked the crap out of ND in comparison LAST year. However, outside of ONE player, those responsible for those stats are no longer playing for Washington. ND on the other hand returns close to 90% of its production and gets a year older.
So be a blind fan and call it for Washington. Hell I am at times blind for ND. But when you look at the numbers and who is playing THIS YEAR, it does not look good for Washington.
See ya Oct 25th.
2 months ago
Oh and FYI, it is ethical and in good taste to LINK to blog posts when you use them under your name.
2 months ago
Exactly what blog posts are you referring to?
You have to remember that what is posted on Bleacher Report is not specifically written for Bleacher Report. What these guys do is request permission to pick up a feed from various blogs, and then post it when they like.
What you need to do is visit our blog at http://uwfootball.blogspot.com/, and also the Irish Band of Brothers Blog http://irishbandofbrothers.blogspot.com/ so you can get a handle on what is going on. The two blogs are having some tongue in cheek fun with each other. If you visit in the middle you may pick up the wrong impression.
I could go on and on, but I am so tired of Notre Dame at this point that I will wait till the two teams meet on October 25th. We could have two completely different teams at that point due to injury, kids leaving, and new players emerging.
That is the joy of college football because it changes every year.
2 months ago
As a professional marketer both blogs did not do what was right. But then again both are blogspot blogs which is a pretty good sign of amateur hour.
When you use outside content, you give credit via a link and you format the post so it is obvious to the reader you are referencing an outside source. Something that is common for professionals or experienced bloggers. Like I said... a .blogspot.com says it all. Both of the blogs get a FAIL in my book.
You will wait because you posted a slam opinion post and were called out on it. But hey, why let research or facts get in your way. You can just back off and say you are tired.... It is ok son....I understand.
2 months ago
Honestly, thanks for taking the time to point it out, obviously you have plenty of time on your hands. Like most ND fans I have met you are truly special, and it will be enjoyable to watch Washington take it to the sainted Irish in October so we can all listen to the enlightened folk like you make all the usual excuses.
2 months ago
You state that the Irish team is "full of doubt." Where do you get that from? It's easy to say because ND had an awful year last year, and people reading will read that line and think, "Yeah, they lost a lot of games, that makes sense." But really, these are talented young men playing football in an environment of constant support and encouragement. In fact, ND-haters often mock the Irish for their over-confidence, not their doubt-ridden souls.
It's lines like that that make most college football blogs hard to swallow. Try a little more objectivity and a little less vitriol. Want an ND Blog that is fair and balanced? Check out www.rakesofmallow.com.
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