Guest Blogging: Hoss Rants About Notre Dame Football

Rant No. 1

If you need depends instead of underwear, quit coming to the game! It is all of you old codgers why Notre Dame Stadium is not a scary place to play anymore. If the only time you stand up is because the person if front of you stood up, so you can't see, you need to not come anymore. If you want to try and correct this problem and actually start cheering like you did when you were a student, look at Virginia Tech. Va. Tech has got it right.

Rant No. 2

Season tickets are not a status symbol! I really don’t care how much money you make or how much you gave to the university. The fact is you are not a bigger or better fan than I am because you can give my annual income to ND.

Also, if you think you deserve tickets because you do, might I suggest you move your family to the East Coast and start attending Ivy League football games between Harvard and Yale? They don’t stand up and cheer as often as I do during games, and I won’t be blocking your view anymore. Plus, I hear instead of pop and hot dogs for concessions, they serve tea and crumpets. Also, for people that have certain problems, they also serve bran and prunes.

Rant No. 3

Quit trying to jump off the bandwagon when we do lose! College football this year has been nuts. Preseason polls had Clemson in the top 10. Penn state was barely in the top 25. Georgia was No. 1. The only preseason top 25 team the Irish have played and lost to is Pitt, and they took them to four overtimes.

Their other losses are to teams in/around top 25 now. They were 3-9 last year. Anytime a team improves from one year to the next is successful. Sure, they have not made leaps and bounds as far as the record goes, but they have in recruiting. When was the last time ND could say it had a top 10 recruiting class two or three years in a row? Think about this: Joe Montana’s son Nate is fourth-string. Think about that; really think about that.

Rant No. 4

People who think ND is better than every other college football team, just because it’s ND. Are you people kidding me? Really? News flash...No it is not!

Sure, our school has a lot more history than other schools, and, sure, maybe we wrote the book on college football, but Notre Dame is not the all-time leader in wins anymore, or in winning percentage.

Quit living as if Knute Rockne himself is going to make a special appearance at the next game. The Gipper, Rockne, and the four horsemen cannot help us anymore. I am not saying forget their spirit, please continue to believe that they are with us because they are, I am just saying the game since then has changed.

Rant No. 5

Give Charlie Weis a chance! Since we are a community that lives in the past, we should all remember what condition Tyrone Willingham left this team. Sure, Weis had a great season, then good, then bad, but this year is not ugly. Something else you rich alumnus should relate to with the stock market.

Willingham, most likely sensing his firing (where did he get that notion? Oh, sure, all of you told him), acted spiteful and did not do anything to help before his final year in recruiting. Only six linemen in total in his years led to 58 sacks last year, and starting a true freshman at quarterback was also his fault for not trying to bridge the gap, like all other major program coaches do.

You can’t tell me that if we would have a junior starting last year, which makes a senior this year, and juniors and seniors for an O-line last year, would we have gone 3-9. So with all of that said, let's see what has happened since coach Weis took over. Top recruiting classes, a sophomore quarterback that has grown under his tutelage, and, oh yeah, even with this so-so season it looks like we have another top 10 class coming in next year.

Anyway, just like the stock market, the bottom fell out and it’s trying to work itself back up. If all of you "richer than God" alums are going to fire him, please don’t tell him before all of the recruits are signed and on board. So, that way, the next coach has at least a chance around here.

Last couple of notes

It is always darkest before the dawn. I believe that the darkest was last year and it is just early morning for ND football right now. Next season and beyond will be sunny afternoons.

When you point a finger at someone, three are pointing back at you. What’s wrong with ND football alumni? All of you point to coaching which means three fingers are pointing back at you.

First finger, in my opinion means not standing behind the team and cheering them on to victory, believe it or not athletes live off the energy of the crowd. Second finger: Not giving coach Weis a chance before he starts to feel the pressure, let that man do his thing, let him get a full class through before you all let him go. Third finger: making coach Weis feel that a 14-point lead is good enough and that he should play conservative the rest of the game.

Running up the score is classified as five or six touchdowns to zero as a final score. When the score is 28-14 getting another score is called putting the game away. Another score after that is still OK because all it means is leaving no doubt. But I am telling you that coach Weis is afraid to do that because all of you put it in his head that ND has class, and we still would at 42-14. That is just beating someone soundly! Which we have not done in a LONG time. Because of you!

Lastly, I want to say this: I don’t care whom I made angry by writing this. I don’t care if you don’t like me. I believe these things needed to be said, and sometimes hearing the truth hurts. Also, there will be more nastiness from me. Trust me, someone needs to call the players to the carpet, and, without pressuring him with his job, Weis needs to be called out, along with the rest of the coaching staff.

Again, is this easy for me to sit back and write? Absolutely. Do I think I am better than all of you? No. Do I think I can do a better job than Coach Weis? No. I am just the guy telling all of you how it is.

Notes from Domer Law

I disagree with much of what Hoss says above. For starters, we should never be trying to emulate Virginia Tech in anything, including fan behavior.

But he asked me to post this, without editing, so here you go.

And I think the three fingers pointing back at you thing is ridiculous. It's up to the alumni and fans to keep the administration accountable for their actions, and I'm as vocal a fan as there is on Saturday afternoons. But when we lose every game we've played against opponents with winning records for the past two years, there is something wrong with the foundations of the program.