So, who do you despise more…
- Thread starter Frabjous
- Start date
The first time I went to a game at Notre Dame many years ago, I was cheering for the opponent. The ND fans were very nice to me. I went twice to cheer for Northwestern against ND. Again the Irish fans were great even after NU won. I have gone to scores of other ND games because my son went there. I have yet to find the arrogance that everyone attributes to the Irish faithful. I am bewildered by the hatred. Just because some of you might work with a couple Notre Dame a-holes hardly makes you experts on the fan base. My guess is some of you go at them with several chips on both shoulders. The knock on ND fans is baseless. Maybe the problem is not them. I write this because I’ve encountered undeserved belligerence from folks who go at me simply because I'm wearing ND gear. Physician, heal thyself.
Every fanbase has knuckleheads. Being from Chicagoland, I have probably been to 20 games in South Bend. I have never once seen opposing fans taking abuse there. I was wearing my NU gear for the Brian Kelly mismanaged debacle. If there every was a game to leave pissed as a ND fan, this qualifies. No issues at all. There are B1G schools where you getting treated NU much worse. At Wisconsin, I fear for my life sometimes!
I believe they get a lot of hate for a high percentage of over the top subway fans. They can be very vocal, with their only affiliation being Irish or Catholic. The admissions selectivity causes the perception of arrogance. Hey, but how is that different than NU? Been around graduates from both schools that give off this aura.
I know most don’t agree with this, but I was happy ND sent James home. Let’s see who he blames for this loss. I haven’t been to PSU, but their fans coming to NU can certainly be knuckleheads too with their dancing and taunting while Franklin throws unnecessary bombs to run up the score.
I despise PSU more only because I felt they didn't suffer enough for their transgressions several years ago.
As for Notre Dame, I think my hatred of them stems from something that goes way back to the 1980s and 1990s with their special love and considerations given to them by the media, like Tim Brown winning the Heisman or getting their own TV deal. It just became fun to root against them (like the Yankees or Duke basketball), partly because they were always good and partly because so many people gush over them. I always hated Nebraska for the same reason and have had special joy at their usual mediocrity since moving to the Big Ten.
I met my wife in 2002, and she's not a sports fan, so she knew nothing of 1995. I've tried to explain many times just how enormous NU's victory over Notre Dame was in 1995, and I'm not sure she'll ever get it. If NU beat another team ranked in the top 10 and favored by 28 to start that run that year, it would have been a great upset, but it wouldn't have been the same. Freaking Notre Dame! Beaten by lowly Northwestern!
As for Notre Dame, I think my hatred of them stems from something that goes way back to the 1980s and 1990s with their special love and considerations given to them by the media, like Tim Brown winning the Heisman or getting their own TV deal. It just became fun to root against them (like the Yankees or Duke basketball), partly because they were always good and partly because so many people gush over them. I always hated Nebraska for the same reason and have had special joy at their usual mediocrity since moving to the Big Ten.
I met my wife in 2002, and she's not a sports fan, so she knew nothing of 1995. I've tried to explain many times just how enormous NU's victory over Notre Dame was in 1995, and I'm not sure she'll ever get it. If NU beat another team ranked in the top 10 and favored by 28 to start that run that year, it would have been a great upset, but it wouldn't have been the same. Freaking Notre Dame! Beaten by lowly Northwestern!
Both passing games were pretty pathetic, but Penn State was BAD BAD BAD pathetic. Aller was horrible, which isn't new for him. He's very lucky he only had one INT. Penn State also had ZERO completions to wide receivers, which is wild.
ND is going to be a sizeable underdog to whichever team wins tonight, which is fair. Their defense is legit and Leonard is enough of a gamer to beat a more talented team if they make mistakes, which is exactly how they beat Georgia, but a crisp Ohio State has way too much firepower on both sides of the ball for them to compete. Too much of these playoffs have been determined by the ordering of the bracket, particularly the Ohio State - Oregon pairing.
Yep, brackets really screwed up the sequence of games. Ohio State -Oregon should never have been a quarterfinal game.
I had a delightful and sweet old lady as a patient who volunteered at all the ND football games. She was a superfan for sure and kept up with the team. I could tell from her pacemaker data when each home football game was because there was a big spike in heart rates and a fib only on those days😅
Shout out to PPD for calling Franklin’s implosion. He said before the game that James would find a way to blow it.
He was blowing it all game. Penn State OBLIDERATED ND in the first half but only had a 7 point lead!
It's hard to say that Franklin blew it, since, to my untrained eye, he does no coaching except to hold up 1 finger to call for a one point conversion. He doesn't call any plays on offense or defense, and simply stands mute on the sidelines slapping the hands of players' as they run off the field. He was a lousy coach when he was at Vandy, and I see nothing to indicate that he has suddenly seen the light at PSU. Penn State will soon tire of him if he doesn't win the occasional "big game".
On that last possession, all he has to do is go to the OC and say "Eat it. Get us to OT."
That is his responsibility and what he should have done.
There are two problems with that. First, he's probably not smart enough to make that decision. Second, it probably wasn't the right decision, since all PSU needed was a field goal. The bad decision was the decision to throw the ball over the middle rather than to the sideline where it could be thrown away if necessary. Relatively safe throws could have been made, and, if unsuccessful would have led to overtime in any event.
It’s not a tough call. He rarely shows any patience and just loses close games. The best Coach in America when he doesn’t face top 25 teams. The opposite when he does.
He's emblematic of the "you just coach and I'll just recruit and I'll beat you every time" system, except when he runs up against guys who recruit AND coach... it's not good.
(okay, sort of, their defense is well recruited and well coached and the offense is... not so much).
PSU was first and 10 at the 15 with :38 seconds left. Do you really think they were going to 55 yards in 38 seconds, even with 3 timeouts? The PSU kicker season long was 49, which meant getting to the 31 or so. Allar was hitting 50% of his throws at 6 yards per attempt. The wideouts had not caught a pass all game. Their longest play had been 27 yards (to Warren).
They were smart to run Singleton on the first play. It got them 13 yards. They were then at their 28 with 33 seconds to go. That is maybe 5 plays, assuming you save the last timeout for a kick. They were averaging 5 yards per play for the game. They still needed at least 40 yards to get into FG position.
None of that adds up.
Just eat the ball and play for OT.
The short field in OT benefits PSU and the run game. They were not stretching the field, and their best weapons in the passing game were the TEs and RBs. The short field also meant that PSU did not have to defend the deep ball, which ND was able to execute a bit in regulation.
The whole thing was a Franklin clusterf*ck.
Well, the offense had 2 thousand yard rushers, so the o-line must have been pretty good as well.
