Sunday, November 22, 2009

Sunday 11/11 (Weis) Quickie

I think we need to appreciate the level of schadenfreude in effect right now about Notre Dame and Charlie Weis. Aside from ND fans, who wasn't cheering last night when UConn won at ND?

Because, any day now -- literally, at this point (probably 7 days) -- Weis will be fired and Notre Dame will hire Brian Kelly and Notre Dame will go back to being pretty good.

For now, they are not good -- and that is largely Weis's fault. He is overmatched; he has been overmatched for years. He SHOULD go. And I'm sure ND fans will be happy about that.

I tweeted this yesterday: The humane thing to do would be to fire Charlie Weis today, rather than let him get pilloried for another week. It's going to be brutal.

Throw Rich Rodriguez in the same boat: In his second year at Michigan, he has actually regressed -- the team will finish last in the Big Ten. In a league that mediocre, that's saying something. Given how conservative Michigan is, I can't imagine they will fire him...yet.

I am disappointed in Stanford -- that was a nice little bandwagon for a couple of weeks. Toby Gerhart probably didn't hurt his Heisman chances (CJ Spiller didn't exactly light the house on fire yesterday for Clemson), but winning would have helped.

It's also too bad to see Arizona lose out on the Rose Bowl at home to Oregon -- this should have been a dream ending for them. As soon as the students started crowding the sidelines -- even with Oregon driving -- you knew Arizona was going to lose the game. Student jinx.

(There's still time for Oregon State to pick up the magic and run with it -- love a one-game "play-in" for the Rose Bowl between bitter rivals. But Oregon looks pretty good right now.)

More notes:

*Obviously, you know my feelings about Tim Tebow (7 posts yesterday at TimTeblog.com), but John Brantley is going to be very very good next year.

*TCU's win over Wyoming was more impressive than Texas' win over Texas. TCU will be at the top of my BlogPoll ballot this week, and like Utah a year ago, it's a shame they won't get a shot at either the SEC champ or Texas. (Last year, I thought Utah was the only team with a shot to beat Florida... they scared me more than any other team.)

*Les Miles ruined what should have been a terrific win for LSU at Ole Miss.

*Please don't compare the Yale coach to Bill Belichick -- I can't believe folks are actually using "pulled a Belichick." First of all, he tried a fake punt, not a typical designed offensive play. Second, it was 4th-and-22, not 4th-and-2. Third, Harvard's offense wasn't exactly lighting the field on fire (like the Colts' offense was); punting was the optimal strategy.

*Boise State fans might think I hate them, but I really do think they deserve a BCS at-large bowl bid ahead of Oklahoma State and (ugh) Iowa/Penn State. The tough reality is that Boise is going to get vaulted by both for an at-large bid.

*Why will Colt McCoy win the Heisman? (1) Tebow will knock out Ingram; (2) Gerhart's team doesn't have the national relevance anymore; and, most of all: (3) McCoy's record-setting 43rd win -- Heisman voters LOVE giving the "lifetime achievement" Heisman when they can.

More:

*John Wall Watch: 21 pts, 11 ast in Kentucky rout of Rider.

*How valuable was Blake Griffin to Oklahoma? Just ask VCU. (Snap judgment: Griffin made Willie Warren look much better than he really was; Warren can't carry a team by himself.)

*Hey, all the Knicks have to do to have a winning season is play the Nets every game.

*Jennings Watch: 26 pts in another Bucks win.

So: Is it a big day in college football or a slow day when Notre Dame schadenfreude is the lead story? It shows what a big brand ND continues to be -- and all that potential, if they can just get a coach who can get the job done. Enjoy it now.

-- D.S.

3 comments:

CuseFanInSoCal said...

I'm not at all convinced even Brian Kelly can succeed at ND (at least not to the degree that would make ND fans happy, or even surpass what he's doing now at Cinci). Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, and now Charlie Weis have put up very similar records. Which is why even with Cinci's dismal facilities and tiny stadium, Kelly may stick around a while longer before bolting. Better jobs are likely to open up in the next few years. Within the Big East, Louisville is sure to be open this year and another 8-4 season may open up WVU next year. In the Big Ten, if RichRod doesn't get to a bowl next year, Michigan is open (a much better job than ND), Zook can't last much longer at Illinois (a better job, even if Cinci is going to kill Illinois this week), and JoePa has to retire at some point (also a much better job). Some midling SEC school will certainly fire their coach (or Spurrier will retire), because that's how they roll. Hawkins is doomed in Colorado, and Sherman's on a short leash at A&M. Erikson probably should be in trouble at Arizona State.

And in every single one of those situations -- or staying at Cinci -- Kelly has a better ability to compete for the national championship than he would at ND.

BobbyStompy said...

Shanoff, you are such a scumbag when it comes to your anti-Michigan bias.

When RichRod got hired, YOU WROTE: "Rich Rodriguez to coach at Michigan, leaving West Virginia: This is huge. Coach Rod represents the absolute best-case scenario for Michigan fans -- the absolute best coach available."

The Big Ten is completely on par with the painfully overrated ESS EEE SEE this year. How can you have the audacity to write off Rodriguez after only two years when you yourself spent all that time pimping him? Freaking ridiculous. Do you honestly think he's regressed that much as a coach in two years? That it really doesn't have anything to do with the talent he's working with?

And calling Michigan "conservative" for not wanting to fire him after just two years? When the first year was basically a wash anyway because the pieces were so completely out of whack to fit the system? Please.

Michael W said...

I like Gerhart's Heisman chances a little better than you, I think. True, Stanford may not seem nationally relevant at glance, but their one remaining game is against Notre Dame. You just know the "Fire Weis Bowl" is gonna get a ton of press either way.