2008 British Open Preview

Ok, for this year's WEISND British Open coverage, I figured we would head down to Naples, Florida and turn it over to the man who knows more about the PGA Tour than anyone I know. So without further adieu, please welcome special guest blogger Kenny Riddell as he graciously allowed us to put his widely read annual British Open preview on our measly site this year. Needless to say, he is VERY excited for Thursday to get here. I would say that this guide is "for entertainment purposes" only, but where is the fun in that?? After you read it, you might as well head right over to http://www.sportsbook.com/ to put a couple pounds (or euros if that's your style) down because you won't find a better preview anywhere on the internet. Great stuff. Enjoy!!

Hello friends and welcome to the 2008 British Open Preview. This year’s Open will be played at Royal Birkdale, a course that boasts previous champions such as Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller (who shot a 63 in the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont) and Tom Watson. Wouldn’t it be great to join that list of decorated past winners?

Well, one person who doesn’t think so is Mr. Kenny Perry. K. Perry has unquestionably been the hottest player on tour not named Eldrick over the past 4 months. But a month after he decided to stay home for the 2008 U.S. Open, he has again opted to skip a major and instead will play in the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee this week. Kenny P. is sure to be a hit on the cocktail party circuit in 15 years when he boasts about his 3 wins at the John Deere Classic and doesn’t have a major on his resume. How is Kenny Perry going to live with himself knowing that he was the hottest player in the game in 2008 and he skipped two chances to win major championships when Tiger Woods was unable to play? He would easily be in my top 2 if he teed it up this week. Again, I don’t think he will regret these decisions in the future at all.

At this point Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger has his finger squarely on the panic button. Tiger Woods is out for the season and quietly reminded us all that he could give a damn about the Ryder Cup by taking about 3 seconds to reject an assistant captain offer from ‘Zinger. Phil Mickelson is likely discussing “no driver” strategies with Dave Pelz, has 8 wedges in his bag and will probably make a phone call to Taylor Made to switch his equipment the day before the event. Azinger’s third best player (Perry) has decided to skip two majors this season, just recently stopped wearing shirts that have tobasco sauce bottles all over them, hooks every shot he looks at (including his putts), shoved a 5 foot putt about 3 feet to the right to lose the 1996 PGA (coincidentally also at Valhalla, the site of the 2008 Ryder Cup) and followed it up with a violent knee collapse/putter raise to act as if the putt burned the edge. And to no one’s surprise he lost the ensuing playoff. So what I’m hinting at here is unless Anthony “AK23” Kim can break out his best Kirby Puckett impersonation and tell the fellas to “hop on his back”, I think it’s safe to say that Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, and Darren Clarke will be pouring champagne all over themselves and chugging Guiness at Valhalla again in ’08. But hey it’s only July and you never know who could pull a 2007 Steve Stricker and get hot at the right time.

Back to the 2008 British Open. I’m sure this decision will come back to haunt me but I did not include every player in the field for this year’s Open preview. As is tradition at the Open, some unknown playing on the Asian Tour will jump out to a 3 shot lead on Thursday so it might be a good idea to get familiar with the names below. My apologies if one of these players does his best imitation of Thomas Levet (who is in the field this week) and contends on Sunday.

Thomas Aiken, Brad Lamb, Peter Fowler, Chih Bing Lam, Scren Kjeldsen, James Kingston, Danny Chia, Joshua Cunliffe, Adam Blyth, Wen-Chong Liang, Damian McGrane, Douglas McGuigan, Hennie Otto, Ewan Porter, David Smail, Richard Sterne, Andrew Tampion, Toru Taniguchi, Hideto Tanihara, Oliver Wilson, Anders Hansen, Angelo Que, Brendan Jones, Darren Fichardt, Gregory Havret, Peter Hanson, Richard Finch, Richard Green, Peter Appleyard, Philip Archer, Jon Bevan, Rohan Blizard, Greg Bourdy, Gary Boyd, Ariel Canete, Simon Dyson, Pelle Edberg (brother of Stefan?), Johan Edfors, Ross Fisher, David Frost, Tom Gillis, Jon Baptist Gonnet, David Horsey, Barry Hume, Hiroshi Iwata, Shintaro Kai, Douglas Labelle II, Pablo Larrazabal, Michael Letzig, Jonathan Lomas, Prayad Marksaeng, Michio Matsumura (I think he’s one of the iron chefs), Jeff Overton, Reinier Saxton, Thomas Sherreard, Scott Strange, Yoshinobu Tsukada, Simon Wakefield, Anthony Wall, Philip Walton, Paul Waring, Steve Webster, Martin Wiegele, Chris Wood, Azuma Yano or Nick Dougherty.

It also pains me to say that my good friend Duffey Phelps will be without his favorite player this week. Freddy Couples is not playing and he will be missed.

So without further ado, let’s break down the rest of the 2008 British Open field!

Just looking for some free Titleist ProV1’s from the range and a two night stay in a luxury hotel

Shaun Micheel – Still can’t believe this guy is a major champion. If anyone is wondering what the PGA Tour will look like after Tiger Woods retires, look no further than the 2003 PGA Championship. Here is your top 5 from that year:

1) Micheel
2) Chad Campbell
3) Tim Clark
4) Alex Cejka
5) Jay Haas

A ratings bonanza if I’ve ever seen one. PGA Tour Commish Tim Finchem must call Tiger every hour and ask him when he is planning on retiring so he can just quit on the same day.

John Daly – Big JD is in the field thanks to an exemption from his improbable victory at the Old Course in 1995. Saw some recent pictures on the internet of him in a Pro-Am drinking 40’s with Kid Rock so I’m sure he’ll be bringing his “A” game to Birkdale this week.

Ben Curtis – This category is quickly becoming a list of players that you have to check pgatour.com just to make sure that they really did win a major. Yup, Big Ben won the 2003 British Open. Also rocks a sponsorship with the NFL. I wonder if he will break out the Dolphins and Giants gear this week to commemorate the first NFL game played in London last season. We can only hope that the giant Jason Taylor robot shows up as well.

Todd Hamilton, Paul Lawrie, Angel Cabrera, Michael Campbell, David Duval – Not much to say here other than they are all major champions and I’d be astonished if any of them made the cut. Cabrera actually has some real talent but, as weird as it sounds, the man needs to pick up his smoking habit again! Ever since he banished the cancer sticks he’s been playing most of his shots from the heavy stuff. Let’s hope that the Marlboro Man finds Angel on Wednesday so he can stick around to see the weekend.

Benjamin Hebert – Sadly, Benjamin is not related to former Atlanta Falcons great Bobby Hebert. They both have a similar shot at winning this week.

Graeme McDowell & Storm – Two Graeme’s in the field this week. Neither has a chance.

Good to see you are still playing and we wish you the best on the Champions Tour

Greg Norman – Hey, congrats are in order to the Shark! Just got married to tennis champ Chris Evert. Pretty amazing that he is here this week considering he has about $600 million and probably arrived in a G5. Enjoy the pot pie, Greg!

Colin Montgomerie – Will be a fan favorite (as always in Europe) but hasn’t been playing particularly well this year. You can bet that he’ll have his game in tip top shape in time for the Ryder Cup though. Maybe the most accurate driver of the golf ball not named Fred Funk.

Tom Lehman – A former British Open champ who quietly put together a tie for 6th at this year’s Players Championship. I can’t imagine he’ll make any noise this week but good to see him out there still hacking.

Sandy Lyle – If I could trade places with one player for one shot in the history of golf it would have to be Sandy on the 72nd hole at the 1988 Masters. Sandy striped a difficult fairway bunker shot to about 7 feet just when it seemed that he would never get his arms into the coveted green jacket. Now he’s throwing back scotch and trading barbs with the Golden Bear every April at the Champion’s Dinner at Augusta National. Stones of steel on this man and I hope the crowds pay him some proper respect on Thursday and Friday.

Tom Watson – Speaking of proper respect, how ‘bout a little dap for Mr. Tom Watson? Birkdale was the sight of Watson’s 5th Open win so he is sure to be a huge fan favorite this week. It’s too bad legendary “essayist” Jim McKay passed away earlier this year because you can bet that he would have given a dusty montage involving Mr. Watson at this year’s Open. Let’s hope that Tom Rinaldi is up to the task and I’ll keep the box of Kleenex close by just in case. Maybe the Shark can loan his G5 to Dick Enberg for the weekend? Oh my! Might be asking for too much there.

Mark Calcavecchia – Hate to put Calc in this category but had to find a spot for him in the preview. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Calc’s name on the leaderboard at some point this week but anyone counting on him for gambling purposes will most likely be disappointed.

Mark O’Meara – I think we’re all surprised that Mark relinquished his duties of re-filling the ice bags for Tiger’s knee and decided to make this trip.

Talented, but could use a different approach

Charles Howell III – Chuck Howell III has to be one of the most disappointing players of the past few years. I’ve never been a big fan of David Leadbetter and young Chuck might unfortunately become the poster child for reasons not to get swing advice from this man. What a disaster. Let’s hope that he turns it around soon.

Rory Sabbatini – Uncharacteristically average year for Rory. I had the pleasure of watching Rory take a #2 break at the port-o-potty behind the 17th hole during the 2005 Memorial. He was also wearing camouflaged pants that day. Seems like an interesting character.

Zach Johnson – Hairplugs Johnson is going to have to step it up if he wants to avoid being a “can’t believe that guy won a green jacket” player. His application is in and the committee, consisting only of charter member Mike Weir at this point, is ready to approve it if he doesn’t turn it on soon.

Jim Furyk – Hard to say he’s having a bad year when he’s currently 15th in the Fedex Cup standings, but we’ve come to expect more from this man. Rumor has it he has been struggling with the blade, but of more concern is his fondness for Tommy Bahama button down golf shirts. Switch to the two button Vineyard Vines golf shirts, Jim, and you will be draining bombs all over the track. Can't help you on the hair situation, though.. Keep the hat on I guess.

David Toms – What in the world is going on with David Toms? I was quietly touting him as a future 3-time major winner and now he looks like he has been taking lessons from Ian Baker-Finch. He’s a big LSU Tigers fan so I like to think that he hitched his wagon to the CBS crew of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson this past SEC football season and is experiencing a prolonged hangover.

Aaron Baddeley – Another promising young player who hasn’t been getting it done recently. Hasn’t quite been the same since his disastrous 2007 final round at Oakmont. I watched him in the Accenture Match Play against Tiger and he was hitting snap hooks that were about 5 yards above the ground. It was like watching a midget-version of Kenny Perry hack it around. Great putter though and the British Open greens are notoriously slower than the PGA Tour greens. If he gets hot with the wand, watch out.

Retief Goosen – Still hasn’t quite recovered from his epic final round meltdown at the Pinehurst #2 U.S. Open a few years back. Retief certainly has a ton of game and I hope he gets back to where he was soon. Maybe he should try to get struck by lightning one more time.

Stuart Appleby – Stu isn’t necessarily having a bad season. Just kind of doing what he always does. I guess we just have to be patient until he blows another Sunday lead at the Buick Open and secures his 2009 tour card with a T3. Also made a terrible decision to cut his flowing locks which probably cut his fan galleries in half. Bring back the shag, Stu!

Davis Love III – It has been a rough couple of seasons for Mr. Love. I heard from someone that he has been busy designing golf courses. He’s not going to win this week but he’ll probably wear a couple of nice Polo shirts.

The “Experts” will probably like them this week but I don’t

Sergio Garcia – No one is expected to step up his game during Tiger Woods’ absence more than this guy. The interesting thing here is that outside of Tiger, I don’t think anyone on the planet can hit a golf ball better than Sergio Garcia. A recurring theme in this preview has been how well each player has been putting of late. Well no one has been putting as poorly as the young Spaniard (Vijay included). Sergio has absolutely mind-boggling talent from tee to green and could easily run off 5-7 majors in the next 10 years, but he is just not going to be a consistent major winner without improving his putting. It was nothing short of amazing to see him win the Player’s this year with the way he struggled on the greens that week. I don’t have the exact numbers but I want to say he averaged close to 31 putts per round that week. 31! How do you win a golf tournament of that importance by putting the ball 30+ times a round??? I’m not saying he can’t win one major (and hell he should have won last year’s British Open), but to be the player everyone knows he can be he has got to find a solution to this problem. Tiger Woods has 14 majors because he makes about 90% of those tricky 10 footers for par. Sergio has zero because he makes about 5% of those. All of that being said, if Serge can somehow win a major with his current putting stroke, I think it will be the British Open. You just can’t expect him to contend playing on greens that are running 13-14 on the stimp-meter at the Masters, PGA and U.S. Open.

Camilo Villegas – Another player with a lot of talent but hasn’t been able to consistently put it together. I really don’t like his golf swing these days either and he would be well advised to schedule an appointment with Butch Harmon. It’s amazing how far he can hit the ball despite what seems like a 5 second at the top of his swing. Must be pretty strong from all that HGH he is rumored to be taking. Shhhh…

Rocco Mediate – I am as big a Rocco fan as the next guy but I can’t see him carrying over the magic he captured at Torrey Pines. Quick story about the Rock. About 6 months before the U.S. Open, I saw Rocco at my local grocery store (Rocco is also a resident of Naples, FL). He was wearing a “Rehab is for Quitters” t-shirt, had a massive gut and was eating potato chips in the aisle of the store. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked to see a suddenly leaner Rock dueling it out with Tiger all weekend at the U.S. Open after that episode. Only in golf.

Adam Scott – Always a fan favorite with the ladies but hasn’t shown he has the game to win a major. Is it too early to start calling him overrated? Gotta improve with the putter if he is going to be the player everyone thinks he can become.

K.J. Choi – Big Choi has confused me in the past 12 months. Just as I was preparing myself mentally for K.J. to eventually win a major, he becomes erratic and inconsistent with the putter. So now I find myself totally unprepared for a Choi win this week.

Mike Weir & Trevor Immelman – It’s probably a mistake to include them in this category but it’s hard to put them anywhere else. I actually have high hopes for the I-Man’s future but his post-Masters struggles have been well documented. Is this going to be a recurring theme for reigning Masters Champs? If an above average player wins a jacket is he going to go in the tank for over a year? Between Hairplugs Johnson and the I-Man, we might just have to root for Tiger, Phil and Vijay to win the jacket for the rest of time so we can keep The Masters prestigious.

Justin Rose – Ladies and gentlemen, meet the poor man’s Nick Faldo! I was in shock when I watched him play at the Traveler’s Championship a few weeks back. Talk about mechanical! He was having a hard time taking the club back without hitching twice on the takeaway. The funny thing is that he has an almost perfect swing. Just grip it and rip it, JR. Loads of talent but I can’t see him winning until he gets over those demons.

Looking to gain some experience and excited about not getting carded at the pubs

Anthony Kim – I am a card carrying member of the AK23 fan club but even I can’t bring myself to pick this young sensation to win in his British Open debut. You have to learn how to play overseas and something tells me that young AK23 will pick up on it quickly. Not in time to do some damage this week, though. I will say that he is the most promising young player to come on tour in a long time; maybe even since Tiger. He chokes up on his driver about 6 inches and still bombs it just about as long as anyone on Tour not named Bubba Watson. Very, very impressive young player.

Martin Kaymer – Not a widely known player in the U.S. but has been receiving rave reviews from some pretty high profile players recently. Both Ernie Els and Gary Player have projected great things from the 24 year old German and let’s just say he is officially on my radar. A future Masters champion? Not out of the question.

Brandt Snedeker – I know he already gained experience at this year’s Masters but I still think his game needs a lot of work before he is going to consistently contend on the PGA Tour. Brandt sprays the ball all over the course and has been getting by with his putter and raw talent in the past year and a half. I’d like to see him have a great career but it concerns me that he is not huge off the tee like a lot of the other young guns. Maybe I am biased, but I like my young guns to be long. Wow, that sounded pretty awkward. Let’s just move on.

Sean O’Hair – Great looking swing and having another strong season. Unfortunately, he has been putting atrociously for a few months now and is pretty much a lesser version of Sergio Garcia at this point. Since O’Hair, Garcia and Kenny Perry are all sponsored by Taylor Made and Adidas, doesn’t that mean that Perry has to come down with a violent case of the yips soon? Please? We might have to check into this theory in about six months. Maybe those Clima-Cool shirts Adidas has been selling can hurt your putting stroke.

J.B. Holmes – Love John Holmes’ big drives but more importantly I love the black golf glove! My good friend Stan Ferger was the first to profess his love for the black golf glove and I am seconding his much respected opinion. J.B. is still pretty raw but if he keeps improving he could turn out to be everything John Daly never was. Please keep the Oreos and Jim Beam away from this man. Thanks.

Guys I’ve heard of but won’t bore you with a full paragraph

In the spirit of the category let’s keep this brief.

Ryuji Imada

David Howell

Robert Karlsson

Lucas Glover

Soren Hansen

Niclas Fasth

Tim Clark

Robert Allenby

Bart Bryant

Rod Pampling

Craig Parry

Stephen Ames – Mr. Ed!

Scott Verplank

Alex Cejka

Kevin Stadler – I’ll bet you $100 that a commentator makes the obligatory “He doesn’t look anything like his father!” joke this week. I’ll even bet you that it’s Tirico who does it.

Jean Van De Velde – Would be a great story.

Matt Kuchar

Rich Beem – Bud, Sweat and Tears is a great book.

Scott Mccarron

John Rollins

Paul Casey

Boo Weekley – Probably the most interesting player on this list besides Beemer but I try to limit my association with people named Boo. I had to stop reading To Kill a Mockingbird for this very reason.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….Might want to get the bookie on the line

Nick O’Hern – Make no mistake about the order that these picks are in. I have listed Nick O’Hern at the top of this list because I believe he has a very real chance to win the golf tournament this week. The southpaw has been playing great golf of late and do not be surprised if you see him on top of the board sometime on Sunday. If you saw O’Hern on the golf course you would not believe that he is one of the best players in the world. He is exactly that. Very sneaky with his game and I really like his chances. His game reminds me a lot of my good friend Jared Henry’s. Also a left hander on the golf course, Jared lost some pretty substantial money on Big Brown at the Belmont this year and I would love nothing more than to see him recoup some of those losses on an O’Hern win. This pick was particularly for him so keep an eye out.

Jeff Quinney – Another guy who has been playing lights out in 2008 is Jeff Quinney. He is more of an athletic player (if that makes any sense) that I think is very clutch. If he doesn’t come home with the jug I would argue that Captain Azinger has got to include him on the 2008 Ryder Cup team. Gutsy player and seems like he would be a great teammate.

Woody Austin – The Volcano has picked up right where he left off in 2007 and appears to have the game to win a major. The only problem is his terrible propensity to choke his guts out down the stretch. Just a couple of weeks ago, Woody bogeyed the last 2 holes at the Traveler’s Championship and his face turned a shade of purple that hasn’t even been discovered yet. Awkward moment and I think everyone was fearful for his caddy’s life. Hence the nickname, The Volcano. Gotta love Woody though and I think he’ll be in the top 10, if not 5. Is anyone else disappointed that he has taken on the new nickname “Aqua Man” after his nose dive into a lake at the President’s Cup last year? Admittedly, it was a hilarious event but “The Volcano” has got to be one of the best nicknames of all time. Allow me to be the first to attempt to bring it back.

Miguel Angel Jimenez – This is the last time I include “The Mechanic” in my sleeper picks if he doesn’t do some damage this week. He has to step up this year or else he is officially off of my list of sleepers forever.

Andres Romero – Briefly morphed into Vinny “The Microwave” Johnson in last year’s Open with 10 birdies (!!!!) on Sunday to finish 3rd in the Open. I can’t see him doing that again this year but he did come in 8th in the 2006 Open as well. Could he be a British Open specialist? We shall see.

Hunter Mahan – When I was first introduced to Hunter Mahan, the first thing that came to my mind was “douche bag”. He had the wrap around shades, orange shoes, soul patch, and gigantic belt buckle look going and I just couldn’t get myself to like the guy. But lately I have been feeling a Duval-esque connection with Hunter and I really like his swing. He is currently leading the tour in Greens in Regulation and it is no surprise when you look at how he swings the golf club. Great looking young player and certainly has the talent to win a major right now.

We’ll be seeing you on Sunday

Justin Leonard – A name flying under the radar! I like his chances and he has been playing well. I really like him in British Opens because the courses are not lengthened to 7,500 yards as the American majors have grown fond of doing.

Geoff Ogilvy – This guy has the demeanor to win 4 majors. I watched his entire Thursday round at Torrey Pines and it was a thing of beauty. Just an easy going style of play and appears to be a pretty clutch player. It’s been almost 2 and a half years since he won the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and I’m a little disappointed he hasn’t won another major since then. He’s got a young family so maybe golf isn’t his top priority these days. Still has a great shot this week.

Steve Stricker – Well it’s that time of year again. Hot dogs are on the grill, baseball is in full swing and, yup, Steve Stricker is warming up his golf game. Stricker is probably the most popular player amongst his peers on tour (with apologies to Jerry Kelly) and always seems to turn it on in the late summer months. He doesn’t hit the ball exceptionally long but this guy can make a ton of putts when he gets going. I would argue that he has wrestled away the crown of “best putter on tour” from Brad Faxon, who held the crown for about 15 seasons. Well done, Strick, and we will be rooting for you.

Luke Donald – I know, I know. This is the kind of pick that is popular in the fraternity houses where no one knows anything about golf and everyone gets a chubby because they can scream LOOOOOOOOOOOKE all weekend long (no, they’re not booing). But I actually like Luke for the same reason I like Justin Leonard this week. Birkdale is going to be playing a rather pedestrian 7,180 yards and that opens the door for a lot of the shorter hitters to play well. So put your pastel Lacoste shirt on, flip your collar, and start tossing the football out in the front lawn with your bros and let’s get all fratty up in this preview.

(Editor's Note: Luke Donald is injured and out of the British Open)

Fredrik Jacobson – Hey let’s add a little spice to this preview, shall we? Fredrik is one of the most colorful players on tour and thank god he is here this week because this tournament is going to feel like a Hooters Tour event with Tiger not participating. Jacobson (pronounced Yock-obson) has been playing great recently and I think he’ll introduce himself to the world with a flourish on Friday and Saturday before a colossal Sunday meltdown that would make Thomas Bjorn blush. Look for him in the top 7 when the smoke has cleared.

Will be disappointed with anything but the Claret Jug

Phil Mickelson – Been a strange year for Skinny Phil. Yeah, he’s second in the FedEx Cup standings but you get the feeling that he is just not comfortable with the Butch Harmon swing changes yet. My theory is that Phil is the most stubborn guy on the PGA Tour and no matter how good his swing doctor is he’s always going to do Phil-type things. So, instead of waiting around for Phil to become as consistent as Tiger in the majors, I’m just going to start becoming comfortable with the fact that he is going to win 1 major every 3 years or so. For the record, I’m eagerly anticipating an Alex Rodriguez-type infidelity scandal involving Phil in the coming years.

Ernie Els – It appears to be another year of wasted talent for the Big Ern as he just can’t to seem to get back to his 2000 form. I can’t really criticize the guy though because he has been working on his game. It just appears that he is working on the wrong things. I’m not expecting much from him this week (although he was a little feisty at the U.S. Open).

Vijay Singh – My favorite player of all time is heating up at the right moment and I think he’s got to be in your top 10. Quietly pieced together 4 sub-70 rounds at the Traveler’s. Could the curious decision to change his swing at 45 years old be paying dividends? We shall see. Although his swing has been tweaked, Vijay (which means “Victory” in Hindi) still is the slowest walker in the history of the game and frequently stays on the putting green to talk to his caddy for about 10 minutes after he holes out. I’m sure the groups playing behind him have great things to say about the Big Fijian. As always, I love Vijay’s chances this week.

Padraig Harrington – Padraig has been relatively quiet since his triumph at last year’s British Open but you know Paddy will have his game firing on all cylinders at Birkdale. Let’s hope his cousin, former Oregon Ducks legend Joey Harrington, is not lurking in the grandstands authoring poetry and longing for the touch of a woman’s cheek. Gotta have the defending champion in your top 10.

4th, 3rd and 2nd Place (In that order)

Ian Poulter – Ian is best known for his interesting wardrobe but the guy has a ton of game to go with his ridiculous threads. I once watched him hit a 185 yard low hook from the trees that must have curved about 40 yards before landing about 2 feet from the hole. Talented player and has all the shots to win the British Open.

Henrik Stenson – I famously professed my love for Henrik’s game in this year’s Masters Preview (authored by fellow golf enthusiast, Stan Ferger) and my position remains the same. This guy is going to be a superstar in the game of golf and I will remain on his bandwagon until they throw me off. How can you not love a guy that has Nick Faldo’s old caddy, Fannie, on the bag? How can you not love a guy who’s a little salty with the media? The guy has got big time game and I think he’s going to win a ton of golf tournaments. But is it his time? No.

Stewart Cink – Did you know that Stewart Cink is the 5th best golfer in the world right now? Did you know that he is leading the PGA tour in top 10’s this season and is 5th in scoring? Stew has been nothing short of outstanding this year and I think he is ready to contend in a major. For those of you that don’t remember, Stew did his best Scott Hoch impression at the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills and might as well have been using a hockey stick for a putter for the next 3 to 4 season. Stew has gone to everyone’s best friend, the belly putter, and now he’s improved his short game from atrocious to adequate. Whatever works. He’ll be right there on Sunday but you can bet that his putting stroke will be VERY shaky.

The Champion Golfer of the Year

Lee Westwood – Pretty popular pick here because of Lee’s rock solid performance during the weekend at Torrey Pines. If I was making the pick for that reason I would say that I’m an idiot and I shouldn’t have written a 5,300 word British Open preview. No, I’m picking Mr. Westwood because he has been one of the best players in the world for the last 2 years. He’s just not as well known because he chooses not to play on the PGA Tour full time. It’s a shame because he is pretty much a rich man’s Darren Clarke. As it seems to be every two years, Westwood’s talent will again be on display at the 2008 Ryder Cup. I shudder at the thought of Captain Paul sending Phil Mickelson to play Westwood in the match play. If that is the scenario, I will calmly lay the keys of my 2006 Hyundai Sonata on the table and slide it to my bookie as collateral for a Westwood win. The British Open is a different kind of tournament and Lee knows how to play these types of courses all too well. It will be pandemonium in the streets of London as the Englishman hoists the jug and celebrates his first (of many) major victories.


Enjoy the tournament!

Re-Examining the Bob Davie Era

Sean, your post below in the Willingham thread got me thinking for a minute.

Could the Bob Davie era have been saved??

I'm not going to try to pretend that Davie was a successful coach by any stretch and he clearly had to be terminated after the disastrous 2001 aeason, but do you think there was anything that could have made his term at ND more successful?? What held him back?? Was it the
offensive coordinator thing?? Did he just not have the magic?? Was he just not a good in-game coach??

I always felt like Davie was a pretty good football coach (or FOOOOTBAWWWL coach if you prefer Davie speak), but he just couldn't get over the hump. We'd get close to turning the corner and wouldn't come through for whatever reason.

There were only two things you could count on with any Bob Davie coached team (everything else was up in the air):

1) Great special teams
2) Great pep rallies

No joke, Bob Davie will go down as the greatest pep rally guy in the history of the event. Say what you want about him as an actual coach, but he would have the fans absolutely fired up and ready to run through walls when we left the JACC on Friday evening. If we hired him in the Chuck Lennon role as a permanent pep rally host, I would be perfectly fine with that.

Let's flash back to some of the key moments in the Davie era and examine why he couldn't get over the hump:

1) The Jarious Jackson injury against LSU in 1998 -

My freshman year at ND was probably the best team we had in my four years there. In all honesty, that was a pretty darn good team in many ways. With Autry Denson and Jarious Jackson and Malcolm Johnson to go with Anthony Weaver and Kory Minor and all those DBs (just hearing names like Benny Guilbeaux and A'Jani Sanders and Ty Goode brings back great memories), we actually had some really nice wins that year: Michigan, at Arizona State, LSU, at BC, a good Purdue team led by Drew Brees. I don't think I will ever forget that goal line stonewall on Mike Cloud by Jimmy Friday in the BC game. One of the greatest plays I've ever seen.

Anyway, that team was on its way to a BCS season that year until Jarious got hurt in the end zone on a kneel down play at the end of the LSU game. You could blame Davie for it I guess, but it was mainly just a lot of very bad luck. If Jarious didn't get hurt, we would have beaten USC and been headed to a major bowl game. As it turned out, we stunk up the joint with Eric Chappell filling in at QB against USC and blew the game. And while we played ok against Georgia Tech in a very competitive shootout (Joe Hamilton played the game of his life in that game), you could tell that it didn't mean as much as a BCS game would have. Had ND won that USC game and maybe taken Florida's spot in the Orange Bowl to play Syracuse, we would have had a great chance for an 11-1 season and a top 5 type ranking.

I always felt like that team was a little underrated, but the controversy from the Jarious Jackson injury and the collapse at USC really tarnished that season.

By the way, was there a more underrated ND player in recent years than Jarious Jackson?? I always thought he was a very good QB at ND, but you rarely hear his name anymore. Jarious had some great performances in games (the LSU game immediately comes to mind), and I will always be a fan of his.

2) The back to back meltdowns at Michigan and at Purdue in
1999

These two games back to back probably were the most heartbreaking games in my 4 years at ND. We outplayed both teams and somehow let both games slip away. The Bobby Brown touchdown and ensuing unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave Michigan great field position for their final touchdown drive was an awful break for this team. Same goes for not finishing off a great drive to win that Purdue game. After those two games, we were never the same in 1999. It seemed like we had all the pieces for a great year, but the team completely fell apart and stunk it up for the rest of the year.

If we had pulled off the Michigan game and closed out the Purdue game, would those wins have dramatically changed the 1999 season?? It's certainly a possibility. I know we had a late season collapse, but maybe this team would have have been more motivated in those games if we had some early success. Davie's downfall was that he could never right the ship once things started going bad. If we had a little momentum going early in the year, maybe 1999 could have been a more successful season.

3) The 3rd and 9 conversion in the 2000 Nebraska-ND game

Everyone points to Davie's decision to let the clock run out in the 2000 Nebraska game as the quintessential moment where Davie just didn't "get" ND and the ND mystique, but a more critical moment in the game actually occurred in the overtime period if you ask me. Nebraska
had a 3rd and 9 from the 24 yard line in the overtime. If they don't convert the first down, their kicker is going out there in front of 80,000 rabid ND fans for a 41 yard field goal to force a second overtime. I would have liked our chances in that scenario. Instead, Crouch somehow finds that tight end for a diving catch, and two plays later, he's running into the endzone for the game winner. Just a backbreaking sequence of events.

If we had somehow pulled out that game, I think the perception that Davie couldn't win big games might have changed. And if the other unlucky break of the 2000 season (which we'll get to right below) had gone a little differently, maybe we would have had a real shot at playing for a national championship.

4) The Herb Haygood Game

4th and 10. Herb freaking Haygood. 68 yard touchdown pass with 1:48 left in the game to win it.

Probably the biggest stomach punch game of the Davie era. We played well enough to win the game, and it was heartbreaker to lose on a fluke play like that. If that pass falls incomplete, maybe Bob Davie would have been the first coach to lead ND into a BCS Championship game. Just another "what if" in the Bob Davie era. You could say that Davie created his own bad breaks with mediocre coaching, but it is a recurring theme that we had a lot of bad luck at the end of games when he was at ND.

5) The Fiasco Bowl

The 2001 Fiesta Bowl was probably the beginning of the end for Davie. Even though he got the contract extension, it became obvious after that game that Davie had been exposed and that we were really far from being an elite program during his tenure. It turned out that Oregon State was a lot better than we had imagined, and there was quite a bit of NFL talent on that roster with Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh.

But it was such a bad performance that it seemed to have a carryover effect into the next season. Lovecchio was never the same, and it seemed like the team lost faith in Davie at that point.

The only reason I bring up the Fiesta Bowl is because I wonder how seriously we prepared for that game. I know as a fan that I underestimated Oregon State, and it's possible that the team did too. Would we have benefited from playing a bigger name team that would have drawn our attention?? If we had been more prepared and focused for that game, would it have been a much more competitive game?? Possibly. Perhaps Davie's reputation wouldn't have been in the tank
if we had played them reasonably tough and lost a hardfought game.

Anyway, those are my "what ifs" for the Bob Davie era. If some of those scenarios had played out a little differently, perhaps his career at ND would have been viewed in a little more favorable light. He probably would have still been fired after 2001 because the team
was not even close to competing for a national championship, but I don't think there would be the utter hatred for Bob Davie that there is today if Bobby Brown didn't get that celebration penalty or the 3rd and 9 fell incomplete or if Tony Driver didn't get caught in no man's land as Haygood sprinted by or if a healthy Jarious had led us to a win over USC and a BCS bid.

I always sort of liked Davie and wanted him to succeed at ND, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Luke Harangody

Interesting blurb from CNNSI's Seth Davis on Luke Harangody (and Scott Martin if you keep reading further).

• Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said he wants last year's Big East player of the year Luke Harangody to play with less emotion next season. "He tends to overreact when he makes a mistake," Brey said. "He needs to learn to forget about things and get on to the next play." Though Harangody, who will be a junior, didn't put his name in the NBA draft this year (Brey said NBA people told him Harangody would not have been a first-round pick), you have to figure next season will be his last in South Bend. Still, the Fighting Irish won't suffer too badly when he leaves because Brey has two quality transfers who will be eligible in 2009-10: Ben Hansbrough (from Mississippi State) and Scott Martin (from Purdue). The 6-7 Martin is an exceptionally skilled player who might be the most talented offensive player in Notre Dame's program right now.



What does everyone think about Davis' statement that Harangody is playing his last season for ND next year?? I'm not sure what I think at this point. My first thought after reading the article was to laugh it off and think to myself that there's no way Harangody is leaving for the pros after next year, but it's probably a stronger possibility than I would like to admit. If he wants to get to the league and start earning a salary, I can understand why he would consider the idea. Late first round picks are guaranteed 3 year deals at around $1 million a year. That's pretty good coin for playing hoops, and he can get his career started a little earlier to get his free agent eligibility clock ticking. I guess it will really depend on his NBA draft position after next year. If he's a first rounder next year, I wouldn't blame him for leaving and would imagine that he will at least test the waters and make a decision after finding out where he stands in the draft. If he's not a first rounder, I would think he'll be back at ND for his senior year. Is Harangody a first rounder if he has an All-American year next year?? I don't know, but I would think that he would be in the mix.

Selfishly, I would love to see him stay all four years, but I can understand why Harangody would leave after next year if he's a projected first rounder. Harangody is what he is. He's not a finished product just yet and does have room to improve his game, but he's also not one of those raw, high upside guys who could seriously improve his NBA Draft stock by staying in school as long as possible. Harangody is never going to be able to play himself into the lottery or anything like that, so it'll really just depend on whether he can sneak into that first round next year or not. If he has a first team All-American type season next year and leads ND to the Sweet 16 and is a projected first rounder, his stock will probably be about as good as it is going to be. There's really nothing that he would be able to gain by coming back to ND for another year under that scenario (unless he just loved ND and playing college basketball and really wanted to be back for his senior year). If he has a chance to put $3 guaranteed million in the bank and set himself up financially for a long time, it would be awfully tough to turn down (especially when you consider injuries and the possibility that scouts will have another year to break down his game and find flaws). It seems like some college players almost wait too long to go pro, and it ends up hurting their stock. Case in point, Chris Thomas was a mid to late first rounder as a sophomore and wasn't even drafted by the time he became a senior.

It will probably also depend on how strong next year's draft class is going to be. If it's a deep draft, maybe he comes back for his senior year hoping that the 2010 class will be weaker. If it's a real thin class and he has a shot at the middle of the first round or something like that, I would imagine that he'll leave.

As far as whether or not Harangody will be a solid pro, let me go on record saying that he will be a solid rotation man for someone. Harangody is not going to defend anyone in the NBA, but the guy can flat out score and fights for rebounds like no one I've ever seen. He will work hard, act professionally, and he'll be the kind of guy who can come off the bench and give you instant offense. He can knock down that elbow shot, he's money from the free throw line, he can finish on a break, and he'll get you rebounds just by sheer will and tenacity. There's a place for those types of skills in the NBA. He doesn't have a ready-made position in the NBA, but it seems like there a lot of undersized power forwards who are making a name for themselves in the league these days. If Jason Maxiell can contribute off the bench in the NBA, then Luke Harangody will be able to make an impact. Someone on NDNation said he could be a Corliss Williamson type player, which is a great comparison for Harangody.

No matter what Harangody decides to do after next year, I just wanted to say that it has been a pleasure to watch him. He's the best player I've seen in an ND uniform since I've been a fan of the team, and I'll probably start cheering for whatever NBA team he ends up on.

By the way, credit to Mike Brey for producing some pretty decent NBA players out of nowhere. The fact that Chris Quinn was a starting NBA point guard last year is a testament of course to Chris Quinn, but also to Mike Brey and his staff. Same goes for Matt Carroll.

Finally, it is VERY exciting to read Davis' report on Scott Martin. I was impressed with him last year in the few times that I watched Purdue. Actually, there were a few games where I saw a white guy scoring and making great plays for them and thought to myself "man, Robbie Hummel is a stud." It turned out that the guy I thought was Hummel was actually Scott Martin. He's going to be a really good offensive player in our offense. Good shooter, very skilled, versatile, decent interior game.

Darrin Walls

UGH. Tough pill to swallow. I hope all is well with him, but he is going to be missed this year. Our best corner.

http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/24505454.html

Probably time to take a peek at the depth chart. We do have a lot of talent at cornerback, but there's a little uncertainty now with Walls out. I hadn't really thought about the cornerback position in awhile because it had seemed like one of our true strengths as a unit, but it's probably going to be a position to keep an eye on in fall camp. The secondary still looks like a strong unit with Bruton and McCarthy back at safety and Lambert at corner, but Walls was definitely our best cover guy.

http://www.uhnd.com/football-items/2008/2008-notre-dame-spring-depth-chart/

If the cornerback position is going to remain a strength, we'll need Gary Gray and Rashon McNeil to show that they are ready for big minutes right away. By all accounts, both guys sound like they are going to be good players (especially Gray).

ND - Miami: Make It Happen, Part 2

From today's South Bend Trib:

A story in the Miami Herald this week reported that Miami athletic director Kirby Hocutt wants to schedule marquee opponents and would be interested in speaking with Notre Dame about one of ND's off-site games. The off-site games, which begin in 2009, serve as a home game for Notre Dame from a revenue and television rights standpoint, however. And that means a rekindling of the heated rivalry could be difficult to schedule. "Our understanding from the ACC is that their member schools are not permitted to participate unless they can retain the television rights, and that's not really what the format is," John Heisler, Notre Dame's senior associate athletic director for media and broadcast relations, said Thursday. "Our intention was for us to retain the television rights, and in effect, they're already part of our NBC agreement." Notre Dame and NBC last month announced a five-year extension of the contract to televise Notre Dame football home games, running from 2011 to 2015.Playing a home-and-home series may also be difficult. "Between playing three Big East schools, three Big Ten schools and USC and Stanford and Navy, we're already having to take a break with some of those people relative to home-and-homes," Heisler said. "So I think numbers are going to make it difficult with all those things in place as we move forward, at least for the time being." Notre Dame and Miami have not played since 1990. Notre Dame holds a 15-7-1 advantage in the series.


I can live with the fact that the ACC regulates their conference schools playing neutral site games, although I have to believe that there is still a way for ND to be flexible and not take ALL of the revenue from such a game. But for Heisler to come out and say that because we are playing STANFORD we can't pull off a home and home with The U is the most ridiculous statement I ever heard. Did I miss the lifetime contract we signed to play Stanford every year? Please, Mr Heisler, tell me exactly what Stanford brings to the table? Let's see what would get ND coaches, players, recruits, alumni and fans more excited: a home and home with Miami or freaking Stanford on the schedule again. Seriously, sometimes the crap that comes out of the athletic department these days makes me embarrassed to be a Notre Dame alum. Our school is more content to play Stanford every year than go out and schedule a marquee game, and is more concerned with finding a cushy bottom feeder school to play these neutral site games and keep all the money than actually finding a challenging opponent that would attract national attention and make ND football relevant again. It's disgusting.

Mailing it in

Here is Washington's current list of football recruits for 2009 (note: Notre Dame currently has 11 recruits and even bad programs like Washington State and Arizona have some recruits lined up):

NONE. NONE! ZERO! 0! Are you kidding me??! Ty is literally hanging by a thread at Washington, and yet he has zero recruits signed so far. Probably 95% of Washington fans want him gone, Jim Mora is lurking in Seattle as a possible replacement, he's on every "hot seat" list in the country, and the guy doesn't even care enough to line up even one recruit for next year. You couldn't even possibly try to mail it in more than he has so far.

This is the guy that Notre Dame got ripped for firing and still does to this day?? Ty Willingham??? Seriously?? Maybe the laziest coach in all of American sports?? The guy with a grand total of ZERO recruits who is setting back Washington football for a decade (and almost did the same for Notre Dame football)?? The guy who threw out comments like "last time I checked, we've won four of our last six" as if he deserved some sort of congressional medal of honor?? The guy who loaded ND's roster with 2 star recruits and crippled our program?? The guy who perfected the stoic look while his team competely collapsed around him??

Where are all the columns apologizing to Notre Dame for making the right decision?? Why isn't Michael Wilbon on PTI every day telling the world that Ty Willingham has ZERO recruits for Washington coming in even though his team went 4-9 last year and desperately needs talent?? To say it's a double standard would be the biggest understatement of all time.

I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to call Washington a bunch of "racists" and "a win at all costs program" when they fire Ty after this year. I can't wait to say that "Washington sold its soul" for victories. I can't wait to say things like "The University of Washington and their fans are clearly racist for wanting to get rid of Willingham. If they weren't so concerned with petty things like actually winning games and bringing in recruits and selling out their stadium, they would see that Ty has a lot of integrity and that he's never had a bad day." I might write a 5000 word article on this blog in fact just to rub it in (not that any Washington fans even read this blog. Does anyone read this blog??)

Just seeing that clown's face still chaps me off. Maybe I shouldn't care so much about a failed coach like Willingham, but I don't think I will EVER get over what was said about ND in 2004 even though we CLEARLY did the right thing by getting rid of that lazy clown. I won't be satisfied until he is gone from college football and the media apologizes to ND for slandering the school and the program like it did. Somehow I suspect that I will be waiting a very long time for that apology, and that the media won't be as hard on Washington as it was on ND.

There isn't a score high enough for me when we play them on October 25.

ND-Miami: Make it happen

The U is calling us out for a game. Memo to the new athletic director, we want this game. Get it done, and I'll be there with a "Catholics vs. Convicts" tshirt ready to go. We haven't played Miami in almost 20 years, so it's time to restart the rivalry. They are actually a good opponent for a neutral site game instead of a home and home since we have had bad experiences down at "The OB" in the past. Get this game to a fan-friendly neutral site somewhere on the east coast, and it would be a huge game. Heck, I'll play them at Del Boca Vista retirement community if they want. ND-Miami is a no-brainer, and it's a perfect fit for NBC to use for its primetime telecast vehicle. We don't even need a new AD to say yes to Miami for this game. Then again, knowing our current administration, we'll probably turn it down and immediately use that spot for Baylor. Why set up a game that fans would be excited about for years when you can set up a 48-0 win over Baylor in front of a half-full crowd and about 13 viewers on NBC??

Here's the article from the Miami Herald with the relevant text:

"Hocutt said UM won't play FIU but wants to book marquee opponents and would be interested in speaking with Notre Dame about one of its new, annual prime-time neutral site NBC games."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/597430.html

Just seeing that "ND to renew storied rivalry with Miami" headline on the front page of ESPN.com would be awesome and send an immediate message that we are always willing to line up marquee games.

I'll throw out a perfect venue as well. Giants Stadium. If ND wants to barnstorm, let's take our act to the biggest media market in the country.


Miami is on record saying they want a game. The ball is in our court. We should respond quickly with two words:

"Anytime, anywhere."

If we don't respond, the silence will be deafening.

I Got a Fever, And the Only Prescription is More Federer-Nadal

All Hail the new king of Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal earned the respect and admiration of the world with one of the finest played tennis matches of all time. If you missed it, or want to relive some of the spine-tingling points, the BBC produced this fantastic montage.

The big question remains - how much an impact will this match have on the American powers-that-be? That would be you, ESPN. The television giants pull the strings in shaping what the majority of people react to and care about with their endless supply of talk shows harping ad nauseum on the same (non) stories for days/weeks on end. Will they care enough to hype two of the greatest champions of our time, even though it's a Swiss and a Spaniard? Or will it get trumped by breaking news that Brett Favre ran over a groundhog on his mower in Kiln, Mississippi, and dislodging its bony remains might affect his throwing arm should he decide to contemplate the prospect of possibly un-retiring to play football again? Erin Andrews and Rachel Nichols will bring us all the coverage.

What's wrong with appreciating greatness when it Danza slaps you across the face? (And btw, there's a surprise waiting for you as the first image when you Google "danza slap." As if we needed more confirmation where he got his break in show business). Where's the debate on this terrific rivalry and its historical context? Will Federer recover? Will Nadal keep this torrid pace up? This is pertinent sports news.

The ATP Tour needed this booster shot of adrenaline since no American men have posed any threat on the Grand Slam stage for a while. If Bill Simmons had his way, tennis would be dramatically altered. It's quite ironic that his first line was so prescient seeing as the match was, arguably, the best in the last 20 years. Here's hoping Bill tuned in Sunday morning for the entirety of the match, because he would have been glued like I and countless others to the action that blended a chessmaster's guile, a gladiator's grit and gamesmanship without peer.

Tennis isn't in trouble. It boasts two of its brightest and most talented stars of this generation both at the apex of their game and challenging one another to greater heights. If anyone thinks that Federer is on the cusp of a downward spiral, slow your roll. The guy has been through more crap this year and still competing at a world-class level, even if the Slam titles have eluded him. It's a testament to his ability that he's gotten as far as he has, especially at the Australian and French. Yes, American tennis is down. Way down. But the sport is cyclical. Frankly, it's probably a good thing that there isn't a great up-and-comer because he sure as hell won't be prying any majors away from these two for some years.

Will we see this picture again?









I would bet my life savings on it. Can't wait to see a pissed off Roger out to prove something in Flushing Meadows. Also looking forward to Nadal applying his surging confidence to triumph on the hard courts of NYC. We'll be in for a treat.

And while we're on the subject of tennis - mad props to Ryan Sachire on his promotion to Associate Head Coach at Notre Dame. Not sure when Coach Bayliss will be hanging up the clipboard, but we've got one hell of a coach in the wings if/when that happens. I'd love nothing better than to see Sach get cozy in the shadow of the Dome and lead the guys for years to come.

My All-Star Team

I'm not very happy that Jason Varitek made the All-Star team. I know, it really doesn't mean anything, but it just rubs me the wrong way when a guy batting .215 with a sub .650 OPS is recognized for his accomplishments. So here is one guy's All Star Team:

NL
C- Brian McCann - Shocker, right. I'm not upset about that Soto pick. Good ol fashioned home team bias on this one.
1B - Lance Berkman - A no doubter
2B - Chase Utley - Hasn't done much in a month, and surprisingly good numbers from Dan Uggla, but the Phightin's are in 1st place ahead of the Fish
SS - Hanley Ramirez - Not even close. If HanRam doesn't switch positions he will go down as one of the best offensive shortstops ever. Does anyone do a better job at identifying prospects in trades than the Marlins?
3B - Chipper Jones - David Wright will have this spot locked down for the next 10 years, but he is a distant second this year. Although everyone can put to bed all those Chipper making a run at .400 thoughts (ok, maybe I was the only one hyping it up) He is down to a 'pedestrian' .379 right now.
OF - Ryan Braun - STUD. Should be a perennial selection.
OF - Matt Holliday - He missed some time and is still putting up incredible numbers. Am I the only one who thinks that Rockies team is still dangerous in a very sub-par NL West? If they could ever get Tulo healthy and hitting, I see a run in them yet.
OF - Carlos Lee - A lot of choices (McLouth, Beltran, Burrell, Ludwick), but I'm going with the most proven of all of them. All Carlos Lee does is drive in runs, and he's already over 70 this year.
SP - Dan Haren - I'm not going to be blinded by Brandon Webb's wins, and I gave serious consideration to Volquez and Lincecum, but Haren has been so consistent that he's too good to pass up. 103 K's and only 20 walks, sub 1.00 WHIP and a sub 3 ERA. Good enough for me.

AL
C - Joe Mauer - Really by default. I guess I just have to come to accept what Joe Mauer is. He's not going to be a power hitter, he's not going to be a run producer. He'll get on base, score some runs and handle a pitching staff. Looking over the list of AL catchers, that is more than most of his competition does.
1B - Jason Giambi - Are you ready for some facts. The AL has a severe shortage of quality one baggers right now. Morneau and Youkilis appear to be the top competitors to the 'stached one. The Giambino has more homers, a higher OBP and much higher OPS. Sorry, he's starting at first for me.
2B - Ian Kinsler - This one isn't even close. Maybe a bigger no brainer than NL SS. I didn't even know how good Kinsler has been. He might be my midseason AL MVP.
SS - Orlando Cabrera - Ughh. Where have all the AL shortstops gone. Could have gone with Mike Young, but I'll reward Cabrera for doing it for a 1st place team.
3B - Alex Rodriguez - A case could be made for Evan Longoria, and he definitely would be a reserve on my team, but ARod has been too good.
OF - Josh Hamilton - He's been awesome. Volquez has shown signs of being human, while Hamilton keeps producing. Would be interesting to see if you gave Rangers GM Jon Daniels truth serum if he would do that trade again.
OF - Grady Sizemore - Lots of locals getting a little ticked off that the Indians continue to bat their only true power hitter in the leadoff spot. Sizemore really has become a #3 hitter.
OF - Carlos Quentin - Toss up for me between Quentin and Jermaine Dye. I'll give it to the guy who has been more consistent. Don't know why Arizona dumped Quentin so quickly. Wonder if they wish they had kept him and not resigned Byrnes to a monster deal. Ouch.
SP - Cliff Lee - Consideration given to Duchscherer and Halladay, but Lee has been lights out. 99K's and only 19 walks. All this from a guy who spent most of last year in AAA after sucking it up for the Tribe.

Harden to the Cubs

WOW. Just when you thought the NL Central couldn't get any hotter, the Cubs go out and trade for one of the most talented arms in the game. There's some risk here, but it's still a good gamble for the Cubs. I don't think they gave up much to be honest. Patterson and Murton are marginal players, and Gallagher is a 3rd starter at best. With their resources, the Cubs can always find a Gallagher type player on the free agent wire (see Dempster, Lilly, etc).

Not sure if anyone read Buster Olney's blog post, but he seems to imply that Billy Beane knows that Harden is about to get hurt again. At this point in Billy the Great's career, I have no reason to doubt his judgment. This could be a great trade for the Cubs or Mark Mulder 2.0.

For what it's worth, I think it's worth the risk for the Cubs. They needed to get a front end starter, and Harden is definitely that when he's healthy. If you have Zambrano and a healthy Harden with that lineup and bullpen and manager, the Cubs would be far and away the best team in the National League and probably the best team in baseball.



Either way, Wrigley is going to be rocking and rolling all summer (not that it isn't already). It's going to be pretty exciting to watch the Brewers and Cubs battle it out for the division. Then again, if Harden goes on to dominate the NL Central for the next ten years, I am not going to be a happy camper as a Reds fan.

Beasley vs. Rose

Interesting start to the NBA summer league last night with the Beasley-Rose match up. I know it's just summer league, but it's interesting that Beasley was far and away the best player on the floor. I was a proponent of drafting Rose and wasn't all that in love with Beasley as a player, but it will be fun to see how this debate plays out.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=080707orlsummerleaguemiachi&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

Just to get him on the record, here's my brother's email from a couple weeks ago about the draft. I'm not saying that I endorse his view on the Beasley-Rose debate, but it got me thinking a little bit. Just some food for thought. He is the only person who I respect as a sports fan who has gone on the record in favor of taking Beasley, so he could be in line for some serious bragging rights if his prediction pans out. Needless to say, he was feeling pretty good this morning and stands by his statement that the Bulls blew the draft. We shall see!

Here's the email:

"As far as the picks, I'm starting to think the Bulls really blew it. I think Rose is going to be a good player but Beasley is just an absolute man child. You can just put it in stone that Beasley is going to be an 8 time all-star. Rose probably will be too but point guards in the NBA are always a gamble. I don't think Rose is a good passer either. Chris Paul is so good because he pushes the ball and sees the floor better than anyone in the league. Rose is more of a scorer but he's only 6'3 so I don't think he'll be able to get to the rim as easily as he did in college. Put it on the prediction board that I think the Bulls will regret that pick. Everyone is point guard crazy because of what Paul and Deron Williams have done but I just don't think Rose is that kind of player.

Anyway, those were my thoughts. I also think that O.J. Mayo will be out of the league in 4 years, Joe Alexander might end up being the best player in the draft (best post-pick interview I've ever seen by the way. Check it out on youtube if it's available. Confident guy who just boldy says "I can't WAIT to get there and get started". Love that guy), and the Blazers are going to absolutely destroy everyone in the league for the next 10 years. What a draft."

Running of the Bulls is back in Spain

The running of the bulls is back and better than ever in Pamplona, Spain. During the first day of the running 13 people were injured. As the week moves on one can assume there will be more of the same.
Let the hilarity ensue!!

13 are injured in Pamplona's running of the bulls

Daredevils kicked off the running of the bulls Monday with a long, messy and particularly dangerous dash through the streets of Pamplona, with 13 people injured but none gored, officials said.

The half-mile sprint through cobblestone streets turned chaotic because the pack of six half-ton beasts became separated early in the route after plowing into a crowd of people, some of them spectators.

Some of the bulls fell and two ended up running on their own. One of those became disoriented, trying several times to turn around and go back toward the starting point. But herders waving sticks eventually guided it to the bull ring where the course ends.

Inside the ring one black bull fell down and stayed there for nearly a minute, as jubilant runners scampered about.

The Spanish Red Cross said 13 people were injured, with head, rib or other injuries from falling or getting trampled.

It said six were Spanish and the rest were from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Romania and South Korea. No names were given. The worst off was a 37-year-old Spaniard with fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen, the Red Cross said.

The whole run took just over four minutes, which is a bit slow by the standards of Pamplona's Fiesta de San Fermin, as the festival is known.

It was the first of eight scheduled runs. The most crowded ones will be next weekend, when the throngs of thrill-seekers will swell dramatically as people pour into Pamplona from out of town for two days of revelry and Adrenalin.

The fact that this year's festival began on a Monday meant a lighter turnout.

"There were a few tense moments, but I think everything went quite well. There were fewer people than at other times," said 29-year-old runner Aritz Lopez, from Bilbao.

Many of Monday's participants wore traditional white trousers and shirts and red kerchiefs around their necks. They carried rolled-up newspapers — a tool for gauging how far away a charging bull is.

Before the sprint, local runners paid tribute to a beloved Pamplona native, Inaki Ochoa de Olza, a veteran mountain climber who died in the Himalayas in May. He also was a regular runner at San Fermin.

The running of the bulls became world famous with the publication of Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and also is known for its all-night street parties.

Since record-keeping began in 1924, 14 runners have died.

The last fatality from a goring was a 22-year-old American, Matthew Tassio, in 1995. In 2003, a 63-year-old Pamplona native, Fermin Etxeberri, was trampled in the head by a bull and died after spending several months in a coma.

On Sunday a young man died after falling 30 yards from an ancient wall that encircles the old quarter of Pamplona. Authorities identified him Monday as Aidan Holly, a 23-year-old from Ireland, and quoted friends as saying he had been drinking.

ND Hoops Update

As far as I'm concerned, it is NEVER too early to discuss Notre Dame basketball. I know football season is approaching, but let's get a little rundown of what has been going on lately in the world of ND hoops (don't worry ND football fans, there will be plenty for you in the near future).

First, congrats to Coach Brey on the new extension to 2014-15. I'll admit to being a Brey apologist, but I think we have the most underrated coach in the country. Brey is on the verge of doing big things at ND, and it's time to get on board and show him some support. I'm looking right at you, ND administration. Get the man the facilities that he deserves, and we might start seeing some blue chippers trickling into this program. It is borderline miraculous what he has been able to do in luring players to South Bend with the resources that he has had to work with. Brey is an asset to this university, and it is time for the school to start treating him that way.

Quick recruiting update - We've been on this Ryan Kelly kid for quite some time, and it looks like he's now emerging as a top 20 recruit. I'm sure that Duke and UNC will come calling, but it would be great to steal this guy out of their backyard.

Mild concern on the current roster. Carl Scott broke his foot, so I don't know where he will fit in this year. He probably isn't looking at huge minutes this year anyway with Hillesland and Ayers ahead of him, but I am hoping that he finds a niche on this team at some point. Just watching him in the warmups at the South Florida game, he's an impressive athlete. Probably the one guy on the team with game-changing athleticism.

Who is starting at the three and four now that Kurz is gone?? Will Ayers slide back in to the starting lineup or is there going to be some sort of "big" lineup with Hillesland and Zeller. Can Hillesland play the 4 if Ayers started at the 3?? Should Zeller be starting?? I'm not seeing that, but I also don't really like Zeller as a 6th man for this team. I'd almost say that I like Nash to become the new sixth man with Zeller also coming off the bench as a 3rd big man. Throw in Peoples as a 3rd guard and maybe Abro coming off the bench, and that's a decent bench.

Scheduling update - For years and years, ND fans have been complaining about the weak nonconference schedules that have hurt our RPIs and our NCAA chances/seeding, but things have taken a dramatic change for the better this year. In retrospect, I am ok with how the schedules have played out the last couple years. Brey was guiding younger teams in need of a confidence boost, so it made sense to get some wins under our belt before conference season. We started out a little slow last year with the losses to Baylor and Georgia Tech, so playing a bunch of tough OOC games could have put us in a serious hole.

With the veteran team returning, Brey and the boys have seriously amped up the schedule. I like the move. This team has been playing together for three years now, so we should be ready to go right out of the chute.

Quick rundown of some of the scheduled OOC games:

at Loyola Marymount -

A fairly interesting game before heading out to Maui for the Maui Invitational. Should be a good warmup for us to get ready for Maui, and it would be a decent RPI win in the weighted system for road games. Considering that we have had problems on the road in Big East play due to a lack of experience on the road, I like that we set this game up to get our feet wet away from home. It's been a few years since we played a mid-major on the road, so hopefully we are ready to play.

Maui Classic -

Obviously, this tournament is going to be a great experience for "our guys" (to borrow a Mike Brey phrase) with Alabama, Indiana, North Carolina, Oregon, Saint Joe, and Texas in the field. Wow, it would be great to make a run in Maui and prove that we are a legit top 5 team. Are we the second best team in this field?? UNC is going to be ridiculous this year, but we can beat everyone else. Would love to play UNC in the final.

Ohio State - Color me fired up!! Just mark your calendars now for that December 6 doubleheader with ND-OSU and IU-Gonzaga. WOW. We might have to get a weisnd.blogspot.com road trip together for that one. I'm definitely getting tickets. Looking forward to seeing Lucas Oil Stadium in person.

OSU should be a great matchup for us.

Freshman point guard - Crater

Freshman center - Mullens

Freshman wing - Buford

6'4 power forward who has the body of a shooting guard - Lighty

sophomore shooting guard - Turner

Harangody is going to score 35 against Ohio State, and Tory/KMac should light them up. With our experience, we should be able to win this game comfortably. Good game for RPI purposes.

UCLA -

WOW. Probably the marquee game on the schedule. 3 straight Final Fours on their resume, so it could be a tough task to go to Pauley Paviloion and beat the Bruins. A win here would be unreal and probably put us into the #1/#2 seed conversation.

Conference schedule:

Connecticut

Louisville

St. John's

Georgetown

Marquette

Rutgers

Seton Hall

South Florida

Villanova

at Connecticut

at Louisville

at St. John's

at Cincinnati

at DePaul

at Pittsburgh

at Providence

at Syracuse

at West Virginia

Looks like we have "two fer" games with UConn, Louisville, and St. Johns. The Big East didn't do us any favors this year. Not an easy slate by any stretch, and Brey mentioned in the South Bend Tribune that we have an "A" schedule this year. I guess you had to figure it was coming with all of our success the last couple years. It'll be interesting to see if we can break the Big East consecutive home wins record. Gtown, Louisville, and Connecticut look like our toughest home games this year.

Bottom line, the schedule is going to be much tougher this year, but it will work out really well for us if we are as good as we are all hoping. If we do well in Maui, play UCLA tough, win the other games and put together a 13-5 type year in the Big East, we are in great shape for a really high seed. I won't even broach the #1 seed talk at this point, but it is fun to think about.

Now is the time to get on board with ND basketball. If you wait any longer, you're missing out. This program is set up for a Sweet 16 (and beyond??) type run this year, and there looks to be very little drop off with Hansbrough and Martin coming in for 2009 to go with Harangody. and Tory Jackson.

The Brew Crew is All-In

STOP THE PRESSES!! Milwaukee fans, put down that brat and the High Life and listen up!! Your team just pushed all its chips in the center of the table. CC Sabathia, reigning Cy Young award winner in the AL is headed to join the Bernie and the Boys for a run at the NL Central, and perhaps beyond.

Couldn't be more excited about this deal - as an apologist of the Senior Circuit, it warms my heart to see an NL team on the verge of making some noise suddenly become a dark horse World Series pick. The Brewers have plenty of offensive firepower, and now can trot out a 1-2 punch of Sabathia and Sheets (if he can stay healthy - knock on wood). That's a pretty potent combo in a short series. Arizona won a World Series with that formula.

Also, as a Chicago resident, things were starting to get a little too warm and fuzzy around here. I will admit to agreeing that the buzz around the city can be fun with a contending baseball team (or even two, as appears to be the case this year). But watching the Cubs threaten to run away with a division crown and receive the title "Most Dangerous Team in the NL" just doesn't fit right with this guy. Cub fans are much more tolerable when they're miserable about something. Now I can be treated to a few weeks of grumbling about why Hendry didn't make a play for CC (he didn't have the prospects) and legitimate fear of being overrun in the division (a definitely possibility at this point).

As for the Tribe, I must admit I was a bit surprised to see them pull the trigger on this deal so soon. But taking a little closer look at the deal, its clear that there were several issues driving Shapiro towards closing this out:

1. The Brewers represented a very attractive trading partner - good farm system, including guys at positions of need for the Indians (i.e. LaPorta, the sure-fire, can't-miss corner OF with pop that the Indians have been missing since Manny was being Manny at the Jake).

2. Rumblings around baseball seemed to indicate some of the bigger boys - the Red Sox, the Yankees - were going to sit this one out. Sure, they might end up signing CC next year, but they weren't going to give up their prospects to get him.

3. Because of the Brewers ability to negotiate from a position of strength, they could afford to make a reasonable trade offer, and demand a quick answer. Apparently one of the driving forces behind this deal was Milwaukee's desire to get CC some starts in the NL before the AS break. They made a showcase deal that included a great prospect - LaPorta - and made it clear that their other studs (including Alcides Escobar) were not going to be involved. The Indians could pick and choose from A-ball guys but be happy they were getting a sure thing in return.

Bottom line, although the Brewers come up smelling like roses in this deal (acquiring a Cy Young winner in his prime for a playoff run, hold on to most of their best young'uns, and receive compensatory picks should CC walk in '09), the Indians get a guy in LaPorta who will likely be battling for a starting corner OF job as early as September of this year. Due to CC's contract situation and the lack of big names involved in the bidding, this may have been as good as it got.

In any event, the NL Central becomes one of the better stories for the 2nd half of the season. I'm sure all of Brewers Nation has July 28 circled on their calendars - the Cubbies come to town for a 4-game set, perhaps with 1st place on the line. And let's not forget - bringing CC to Milwaukee gives the Brew Crew two guys in the lineup over 3-bills!! The buffet table won't know what hit it.

Federer v. Nadal

There are a lot of things I'm excited about this weekend. America. The Sixers making Josh Smith an offer he can't refuse. Hitting the links on Saturday. But nothing tops the expected King Federer - Rafa showdown on Sunday morning. I'm already giddy in anticipation of Breakfast at Wimbledon. I can't wait to hear an Enberg Essay on how dominant these two players have become. And I can't wait to see Roger silence the doubters and maybe, if he's feeling feisty, ask Djokovic how he has enjoyed his fortnight (I REALLY wanted to get in the use of fortnight in this post).

AMERICA

If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

BROOMS

Are the Rays the best team in baseball?? At this point, would anyone be that shocked to see them on the short list of World Series contenders??

Dickie V says Scott Kazmir is the best pitcher in baseball. I'm not even sure I disagree with that statement. You could argue that James Shields is as good a #2 as anyone in the game. With their rotation and a potent lineup, they have the type of team that is built for a short series.

What do you think??

What's in a tier??

As the ten people who actually read this blog are well aware, there's been a lot of consternation in recent years about the future of Notre Dame's football schedule. If you care about seeing legendary games along the lines of 1988 Notre Dame-Miami and 1993 Notre Dame-Florida State ever again in Notre Dame Stadium, you are probably as concerned as I am about the recent changes to ND's football schedules.

We'll get into some other thoughts in a minute on ND's schedule, but I wanted to address this recent "tiers" discussion that has been going on the last couple weeks over on NDNation.com. As an ND fan and alum, I appreciate their efforts to bring the issues regarding ND's decision to lighten the schedule to the forefront for discussion, but I think that the recent "tiers" stuff is a classic case of overanalysis. Everyone is trotting out various models (4-4-4 vs. 3-6-3) for schedules and throwing out formulas for which teams are "tier one" programs and which teams are "upper tier two" programs and whether a team belongs in "tier two" or "tier three." While I enjoy the discussions of whether Cal is a "tier one" football program, is that really the point here?? It seems like the topic has veered off course a little bit.

For the record, I'm as hot and bothered about the proposed changes to ND's scheduling philosophy as anyone. The fact that Kevin White and John Heisler were out there openly turning down home and home matchups with Alabama and Georgia because of a prevoius commitment with UConn still bugs me to this day. The powers that be at ND have been preaching the "no new heavyweights" mantra and are demanding to play our road games in pro stadiums. If these proposed schedules are the ones that we'll be seeing for the next decade, then my interest in Notre Dame football will significantly decline. I'll still watch the games on tv, but it's going to be tough to get me excited to go up to South Bend for that proposed 2010 home schedule. Can't wait for that 5 week stretch of Army, Navy, "Buy game" (read: Duke), Rutgers, "Buy game" (read: UConn). We've basically formed the Notre Dame football conference for future opponents: Navy, Stanford, Purdue, MSU, USC, UConn, Michigan, Pitt, BC, and Army. What a league!! Ugh.

ND is a legendary program because we have always had the attitude that we will play "anyone, anywhere." Now, it is Pete Carroll and USC who are telling the world that they'll play "anyone, anytime, anywhere." Anyone who roots for ND and cares about our legacy in the college football world should be concerned about the decision of the athletic department to dumb down the schedule in the name of revenue generation and an easier path to the national championship. Kevin White's version of "anytime, anywhere" was to play Baylor in Dallas and UConn in East Rutherford. Whoopee. That's not the Notre Dame way, and fans don't want to play a soft schedule. I don't want to take the West Virginia route to get to the BCS.

NDNation has done a great job in the last year or two driving home this point, but I don't agree with the idea that we need to follow a particular formula for setting up the schedule. I'd prefer to use a different term: the smell test. Does our football schedule pass the "smell test"?? If you look at our schedule, does it look like a quality schedule?? Do other college football fans (i.e. SEC fans) respect our schedules?? I don't need categories or formulas. I just want to look at the schedule and see interesting games, big matchups, good balance, and some potentially good road trips. I'd like to see games against teams from all different conferences, and games in different regions of the country. I don't care whether Texas A&M or UCLA are tier one teams or tier two teams. Both those teams would be interesting and exciting opponents for a home and home series, and it doesn't matter to me whether they fit some predetermined quota for "tier one" teams.

Our athletic department has made a conscious effort to avoid seeking out games like the ones mentioned above, and that's the most important issue. I don't care whether we play 4 tier one teams or 3 tier one teams. The bottom line is that Notre Dame's future schedules are not up to par with past schedules, and let's focus on doing what we can to get more quality games on the schedule.

Some other thoughts on the ND schedule while we're here:

The SEC -

Here is a list of all the SEC teams we're scheduled to play in the next ten years:










Yup, NONE. What the heck happened to SEC teams?? Why don't we schedule them anymore?? We can line up a 10 year deal with UConn but can't find some room for Alabama or Florida?? We have Nick Saban practically begging us for a game, and we're telling him that we have a "no new heavyweights" policy?? WHAT ARE WE DOING??

And to make matters worse, word has come out that Georgia asked us about a home and home series, and we asked to play the "road" game in Atlanta instead of on Georgia's campus. Are you kidding me?? It's flat out insulting for us to ask someone like Georgia to play their home game in Atlanta. Did Kevin White miss the memo that Georgia is in the top 5 this year?? Same would go for asking Texas to play their "home" game in Dallas instead of Austin. Those schools are every bit as big as us in terms of negotiating clout, so it's ridiculous to think that they wouldn't expect a home game out of the deal. It's just a terrible way to come to the negotating table. White was giving out terms that no reasonable program would agree to and then not budging on it. It's not a coincidence that Kevin White wasn't able to land big names on the future schedules when he was taking that style of negotiation. Georgia called us about a deal, and we couldn't get it done. Based upon all the other evidence of White's scheduling philosophy, I find it hard to believe that Georgia was the problem in that negotiation.

If we're not going to play the SEC, at least give me a game like Clemson or Virginia Tech or somebody like that. Or how about a lesser SEC team like South Carolina or Arkansas?? Is this so hard?? What happened to getting some big home games on the schedule?? Who the heck is going to attend these November games against UConn and Army and Baylor?? Does ND really think we're going to want to go to those games??

No New Heavyweights


It's never a good sign when your athletic director is openly telling the world that we don't want to play any more "heavyweights." For you fans of the tier system, he's talking about big games. Marquee games. Games against teams like Texas and Alabama and Florida and Auburn and Nebraska. Games that make you pump your fist when they are announced. Games that you are so excited about that you have trouble sleeping the night before the game. Those kinds of games.

I like playing USC and Michigan every year, but I'd like to add one more "big name" team to the schedule for a home and home series every year. You could usually guarantee an LSU or Tennessee type game on the schedule, or maybe someone like Florida State. It gives us a little variety, and I like taking road trips to places like Tennessee, LSU, Bama, Texas, etc. The SEC teams are playing 4-5 powerhouse teams a year, so I don't see why we can't get 3 good games on our schedule. I think we should have at least one big time SEC or big time Big 12 team (or Miami/FSU) on the schedule every year. I'm not asking for 10 top 10 teams a year. Just one. There is some clamoring for four tier one games a year, but I think four is unnecessary. If you add one big time game and make other adjustments (which we'll get to), that type of schedule would be plenty tough. We supposedly have added Oklahoma for 2012 and 2013 (no contract signed yet), so it would be nice to build on that momentum.

It's more of an attitude than anything. With USC,you know they probably would play anyone, anwhere, and at least they are trying to put together the best schedule that they can. With our AD, we have an attitude like "well we don't really want to play too many road games and we don't want too many heavyweights, so we lined up November games with Baylor and Army....enjoy!!" It just doesn't fly with me.

Road Trips

What is going to be the big "road trip" for the students these days like we had with Nebraska and Tennessee and FSU and other games?? A trip to Foxboro for freaking UConn?? I'm pretty sure that won't match up to watching ND march into the home of the #1 ranked team in America with 80,000 cornfed Husker fans cheering them on. And I don't think that going to see ND-Baylor in Dallas will live up to the pandemonium of walking out of a completely silent Neyland Stadium singing the ND fight song after shocking the world in 2004.

Could you imagine being an ND student in 2008?? No SYRs, no underage bars, no tailgating, Reslife breathing down everyone's neck, now no good road trips for football games because our athletic department is afraid to schedule some good teams. Good god, I'm pretty sure I would be filling out my transfer paperwork within a few months.

7-4-1

Probably the three most infamous numbers these days in Notre Dame sports. After the recent NBC contract extension (which is a great thing for ND football as far as I'm concerned), it pretty much confirmed the long-rumored 7 home games-4 road games-1 neutral site game formula as our scheduling policy through 2015. NBC wants a night game, so we are giving them a night game on a neutral field (brief comment---why is ND so afraid of having a night home game?? God forbid we actually have an intimidating home environment for a change).

Honestly, I don't have a huge problem with this 7-4-1 setup in some ways, but it doesn't work with all of our other obligations. With our 3 game commitment to the Big East, the 3 "rivalry" games (USC, Navy, Michigan), and the inexplicable long term commitments to Purdue, Michigan State, and Stanford, there's no room for any other home and home matchups. If we are only playing 4 road games a year, they are already used up with those previous commitments. So if you are looking to see a home and home with Alabama or Texas or Miami, there's no room now that ND has boxed itself in with the 7-4-1 policy and all the other commitments.

The 7-4-1 can work as a model for scheduling if we need the revenue and want to keep pace with other schools who are playing 7-8 home games a year, but we need to make some changes if we're going to see the variety on our schedules that the fans want to see. One obvious solution would be to cut down or rearrange some of those long term partners. Let's address those one at a time.

Stanford

Of all the schools who are permanent or semi-permanent on our schedule, the one that makes the least amount of sense is Stanford. Do you all realize that ND has played Stanford for the last 12 straight years and 19 of the last 21 years with no end in sight?? Why is Stanford a permanent fixture on our schedule?? How did this happen?? I don't get it. Unless we're talking about the greatest golfer of all-time, what is even remotely interesting about Stanford athletics??

Stanford football is just plain lousy. Other than the 2005 comeback win at Stanford, I can't think of one highly anticipated game with them in the entire history of the series, and yet we play them every single year. I don't see what they bring to the table, and I definitely don't see the need to play them every year. I know that we like to play a game out west every year and need a west coast opponent when we play USC at home, but is Stanford the only option?? Why?? It's not like there are a ton of ND alums in the Bay Area (the game at Stanford never seems to be sold out), and it's not really a hot bed for recruiting talent. Why not mix it up with some other schools and use the west coast road trip to visit some other parts of the west??

If I was in charge of scheduling, the first thing I would do is announce that the series with Stanford has been reduced from a yearly event to a rotation with other Pac 10 teams. Move Stanford into a rotation with Cal, UCLA, Arizona State, Oregon, and Washington. If we replaced Stanford with a home and home with Oregon, that would be a HUGE upgrade to the schedule alone. Adding Oregon to our home schedule would be a unique game that would generate excitement, and the return road trip out to Eugene would be entertaining. I refuse to believe all the hype about the "intimidating" atmosphere at Autzen Stadium, but I'd love to head out there to check it out and see for myself. Moving Stanford into a rotation with other Pac 10 schools is an obvious solution to the limitations of the 7-4-1. Honestly, that move alone would make our schedules much more interesting.

Purdue and Michigan State

While I do have an interest in playing Purdue and Michigan State on a regular basis, I'd like to see a couple changes in our relationship with them. Personally, I'd like to see us occasionally take Purdue and Michigan State off the schedule for the purposes of opening up a spot for a big home and home game with someone like Texas. We're using all our good early season spots (when conference teams are playing their nonconference schedules) on Purdue and Michigan State. If we want to get some big games on the schedule, we need to open up spots for them early in the year.

Another option would be to demand that these teams play us in November or we move on to someone else. We absolutely NEED good opponents in November. I know I keep harping on this, but you cannot close your season with Navy, Army, Rutgers, Duke, Pitt, Stanford. If we are going to be playing those types of schedules down the stretch, we are going to get crucified by the national media.

We're just asking to have the ESPN hacks all over our backs as soon as these schedules become public. The last thing I want is to see a 12-0 ND team get dropped in the polls in a couple years because our schedule wasn't good enough. And if people don't think we will get screwed by those types of schedules, they're kidding themselves. You can't trot out that kind of schedule and expect anyone to take you seriously, especially when we aren't in a conference and don't have conference championship games or anything like that.

So if we want to beef up that November schedule, it makes a lot of sense to ask Purdue/MSU to move some games there. If they don't want to do it, move on to someone else.

The Big East

The Big East takes a lot of flak from ND fans, but I don't have any problem with playing 3 Big East teams a year. The Big East has been great for the hoops program, and I like the idea of showing loyalty to our partners in the Big East by making the commitment to play them in 3 games. The Big East is a good league. They don't have the powerhouse teams (LSU, USC, Michigan, Texas type games), but just about everyone in the league is a solid middle tier game. A lot of the Big East teams (UConn, South Florida, Louisville, Cincy) are up and coming programs, so some of those games could turn out to be barnburners. We could line up home and homes with Rutgers, Pitt, WVU, South Florida, Cincy, Louisville, and UConn, and they would be good additions to the schedule. There is no difference between playing those teams and the Purdue/MSU type teams. 3 Big East teams a year is fine with me. I also like that they are willing to play us in November.

Heck, I would be ok with a 10 year deal with UConn if we were simultaneously working on some home and homes with Georgia, Texas, Florida, etc. But Kevin White tried to set up schedules so that UConn is potentially going to be one of our "big" games, which is absolutely comical. It is a big game compared to Baylor and Duke, but not against our historical standards of scheduling. And if we can't get games with Georgia or Texas, then go get the next best thing and line up some games with Clemson, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Oklahoma State, Cal, Arizona State, and UCLA type teams. Not all of them, but maybe a couple. If we struck a deal to play at Arkansas in October and then Clemson at home in November and then reversed them the following year, I would be very pleased and very excited. It's certainly better than building a November schedule of Navy, Baylor, UConn, Rutgers, Stanford and expecting to get any respect out there. The 2010 schedule has consecutive games against Army, Navy, "Buy Game" (UConn), Rutgers,"Buy Game" (Baylor/Duke??), and then USC. You gotta be kidding me. That's a borderline MAC schedule until the SC game.

The neutral site game

Of all the games announced in recent months, it seems like the one game that has bothered ND fans the most has been these neutral site games. To be perfectly honest, I like the neutral site games and think they add intrigue to the schedule. The two games that have been announced (Washington State in San Antonio in 2009 and Arizona State in Dallas in 2013) are fairly solid games against respectable Pac 10 teams. The ASU game in the new Cowboys Stadium should be a doozy now that Dennis Erickson is running the show in Tempe.


With that said, I am concerned about some of the other proposed games. Other than the two announced games, it that all the other proposed neutral site games involve Army and Baylor. Considering that we are already facing the possibility of having to schedule 2-3 "buy games" at home every year, why are we also setting up neutral games with Army and Baylor?? We don't need that many weak games on the schedule. If we're not going to schedule someone decent like ASU, why not use that neutral site game to take care of one of our other commitments (Big East team or Navy)?? If we played Navy in the neutral site venue, we could use their spot to get a home and home series with someone else. If we played South Florida in New Orleans instead of Baylor, there's another option for freeing up room on the schedule. When John Heisler is saying "we don't have room for anyone else," he's being disingenuous. We don't have room for anyone else because we've chosen to box ourselves in. If we were thinking creatively, we could have the neutral site game and the 7-4-1 arrangement and still have a quality schedule.

Michigan, Navy, USC

As far as I'm concerned, these games are the cornerstones of our schedule and should always be on there. We have 3 locks and the other 9 should be at our discretion. Start the year with Michigan, USC, and Navy in pen, and then get working on 9 interesting games from there.

The way our schedule is shaping up in the future, it is actually going to be among the weaker schedules in the country. I don't like that at all. 7 home games, only 2 big games, one neutral game against a Baylor type opponent, and 4 road games. That's WEAK and going too far in the other direction. No one is going to remember another ND-Baylor game, but we will all remember an ND-Texas game. Isn't that what college football is all about?? I know we want to get to the title game, but isn't there something to be said for the journey?? Won't it be more satisfying knowing that you took on the best and beat the best?? I'm not asking for 5 huge games a year. I just want to see three. Right now, we only have 2. That's not good enough.

Proposals:

Just looking at the 2010 schedule, it would be so easy to tweak this:

Current 2010
S04 PURDUE
S11 MICHIGAN
S18 at Michigan State
S25 STANFORD
O02 at Boston College
O09 PITTSBURGH
O16 vs. Army (Chicago)
O23 vs. Navy (Baltimore)
N07 **BUY GAME**
N13 RUTGERS (tentative)
N20 **BUY GAME**
N27 at USC

A proposed 2010 schedule incorporating some ideas discussed earlier:

S04 PURDUE
S11 MICHIGAN
S18 PITTSBURGH
S25 at Boston College
O02 STANFORD
O09 NAVY (Orlando)
O16 at Arkansas
O23 RUTGERS
N07 at Michigan State
N13 CLEMSON
N20 UCONN
N27 at USC

Move Navy to the neutral site, push MSU toward the end to get better November games, sign up a home and home with Arkansas and Clemson for late in the year, and sprinkle in the Big East games to balance things out. Our schedule suddenly would have 6 good games to end the year, and we can get some major respect from the pollsters.

Same for 2011:

Current 2011

S03 at Purdue
S10 at Michigan
S17 MICHIGAN STATE
S24 at Pittsburgh
O01 SOUTH FLORIDA
O08 **BUY GAME**
O15 vs. Army (Orlando)
O22 USC
O29 RUTGERS/NAVY (resolve conflict)
N05 CONNECTICUT
N12 **BUY GAME**
N26 at Stanford

My proposed 2011 schedule

S03 ARMY
S10 at Michigan
S17 MICHIGAN STATE
S24 at Pittsburgh
O01 SOUTH FLORIDA
O08 at Clemson
O15 CONNECTICUT (Foxboro)
O22 USC
O29 NAVY
N05 at Purdue
N12 ARKANSAS
N26 at Stanford

Move Army to the first game, move Purdue to the end, add Arkansas as another good home game. Good balance in all three months.

If you want to get an additional heavyweight into the mix, how about these two sample schedules??

Rice
Michigan
Syracuse
@ South Carolina
Stanford
@ Maryland
bye
Texas
@ Pitt
Connecticut (neutral-Meadowlands)
@ Navy
Michigan State
@ USC

3 power games (USC, Michigan, Texas), 4 weak teams (Rice, Syracuse, UConn, Navy), and 5 mid-level teams (USF, Maryland, Arkansas, Pitt, MSU,Stanford). 2 HUGE home games with Michigan and Texas.

Duke
@ Michigan
Clemson
Purdue
@ Syracuse
BYU
bye
USC
Navy
Louisville (neutral - Orlando)
@ Alabama
Rutgers
@ Cal

3 power games (Bama, Michigan, USC), 3 weaker games (Navy, Syracuse,Duke), 6 mid-level games (BYU, Purdue, Rutgers, Louisville, Clemson,Cal). There are two legitimately good homes games there (Clemson and USC). Plus, the added bonus of an awesome road trip to Tuscaloosa.

Isn't that infinitely more exciting than the currently planned schedules?? That's just the tip of the iceberg. We can use our 3 rivalries, 3 Big East games, and then have fun setting up the next six. If you move Big East games and/or Navy to the neutral site and occasionally drop or move Purdue/MSU, you can even accomplish these schedules under the 7-4-1 format.

Get it done. Don't know how Kevin White couldn't figure this out.

To conclude, I'll finish with ND's football schedule in 1988 (our last national championship) with their AP ranking when we played them

MICHIGAN (#9)
@ Michigan State
Purdue
Stanford
@ Pittsburgh
Miami (#1)
Air Force
@ Navy (neutral)
Rice
Penn State
@ USC (#2)

Isn't that the type of schedule we're talking about?? 4 traditional powers (Michigan, Penn State, USC, Miami), 3 cupcakes (Air Force, Navy, Rice), and 4 mid-tier teams (MSU, Purdue, Stanford, Pittsburgh). 2 huge and memorable home games (Miami and Michigan). Keep in mind that it was an 11 game schedule. I imagine that we probably would have added another mid-tier team if it was a 12 game schedule. In other words, it's just about perfect in terms of what the fans want.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is look into your past to find the answers.

Mustache, God Bless You

Having just rejoined the fraternity of proud Mustachios.
I would like to take a minute of your time to revisit some of the better mustaches from our favorite and sometime unfavored athletes from the sports world. Let first tackle the best mustache floating around the MLB.
Jason Giambi has a stache that would make former Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly give a silent nod in affirmation. What can one say about this soup stainer? If you want to get out of a slump or go on a hot streak you grow a mustache. Giambi saw his average drop to a paultry .191 that was almost Andruw Jones esque. Fate stepped in, in the form of outfielder and teammate Johnny Damon. Damon trying to break up the monotony of the season convinced Giambi to grow a Lady Tickler. The Gold Thong didnt work but this seams to be the ticket. Giambi has raised his average 80 points to a respectable .264 with 17 HR and a .945 OPS. This all could be just lip service or the fur above the lip? You Decide? I for one beleive in the power of the mustache.

Of course the mustache is not just relagated to the Baseball Diamond.
The NFL quarteback has had a rich history of nose neighbors. Jake Plummer pulled this doozy while throwing left handed interceptions for the Broncos. But Jake was one of many great 'staches. Jeff George had a fanny duster that was 70's porno eque. One of the best is fronted by Broadway Joe. When he wasn't wearing pantyhose or asking to kiss Suzy Kolber he was rocking this gem. Maybe if he still had his Upper Lip Deal Sealer, Ole Suz would have given him a Monday Night rub and tug.

But there are the few failure out there in the sports world that bring down the awesomeness curve. Case and point Lionel Tyrone Willingham. This is a man that exudes mediocrity and tries to hide it behind stoic stares and nonsensical quips to the media that answer no questions at all. Willingham has made efforts to quell this mustache farce. He has been seen sporting a full goatee. An obvious attempt to thwart his downward spiral at Washington and save his job long enough to get back out on the Links. Word on the street is that Mustaches cure slices and lower your handicap by at least 10 points.

And to close out this diatribe on the Mustache I would like to show off a few more legendary 'staches. The clueless stanger, the gentleman caller and for no good reason not Joe Tiller.