Sept. 12, 2009: Welcome to Lou Holtz's Nightmare

If it wasn't so damn funny, it might be tragic.

A senior citizen who spent all week making silly comments and letting his prejudices cloud his thinking and then baring it all for a national audience.

It was almost painful watching the old fella make these statements knowing that there was a good chance that they could backfire horribly thus calling into question his ability to think clearly and once again risking his credibility.

Yet, there he was. Lou Holtz, calling for Notre Dame to beat Michigan (according to Holtz, the Irish were destined to go undefeated and play Florida for the national championship) and early in the week, calling USC the "university of spoiled children" as he exhorted the Buckeyes to beat the Trojans.

Result? 38-34 Michigan over Holtz's beloved Irish and 18-15 Trojans over the Buckeyes.

Damn.

It could have not gone worse for Holtz who picked these two games to hang his "prognosticator hat" on.

Holtz, who has made a nasty habit of overrating the Irish in the last few years, much to his chagrin, started early in the preseason with his assertion regarding the fighting Irish's supposed prowess.

I found Holtz's argument so silly that I wrote a rather uncomplimentary article on it about a month ago.

That article prompted a plethora of retorts from fans of the Irish who presented far more reasonable arguments than Coach Holtz.

Meanwhile, coach Holtz and his contempt for USC is almost legendary.

But when Holtz came right out and called USC the "university of spoiled children," I knew he was tempting fate.

As Matt Barkley drove the Trojans resolutely downfield on that legendary final drive at the Horseshoe, my mind kept flashing back to Holtz and his smug assertions regarding the Trojans.

When Stafon Johnson went in untouched to give the Trojans the lead in this hard fought game, I exclaimed to no one in particular, "How does that taste Lou?"

Yet, as the final seconds ticked off, I almost found myself feeling sorry for Holtz.

Almost.

Actually, rather than feeling sorry for Lou Holtz, I found myself feeling pleased for Mark May, Holtz's counterpart on "College Gameday," who provides the constant foil to Holtz by generally backing the Trojans, who have proved him right far more often than not.

Though May considers Holtz his friend and truly respects the wily, old coach, I couldn't help but feel that Mark May was smiling, perhaps even laughing deep down inside.

Guess what?

Me too.