There has been a lot of discussion among the Notre Dame faithful about this bowl game. None of the issues raised have really bothered me.
The Christmas Eve thing isn't ideal, but working at a smaller school, I understand the need to get on TV. Granted, ND isn't struggling to get on TV, but if it was another smaller school playing Hawaii, this wouldn't be an issue.
The going to Hawaii bothered me a little with the recent e-mail from ND's president about being mindful of excess spending. If there are unnecessary employees going on the trip, this becomes a much larger issue.
A 6-6 team being allowed to pick its destination doesn't bother me too much. They are bowl eligible and you could argue the coaches are to blame for the record.
Now, this last issue is still bothering me. I only read it 10 minutes ago and I'm going to be mindful of my emotions. However, the Irish are only using 10 practices of their allotted 15.
The biggest problem for the ND team was the lack of fundamentals. They don't play hard. They don't come out and instill their will on the opponent. That's not something you can just turn on. It's a trait that gets developed through physical practices.
Now, ND already practiced on Saturday and Sunday. Let's be optimistic and assume those were just fundamentals. They are practicing again this Friday and Saturday. Again, let's be optimistic.
There will be a limited practice on the 18th for players not with exams and then one on the 19th, before departing for Hawaii later on the 19th. Those practices will more than likely be less than stellar with the players just coming off finals.
The team is scheduled to practice on the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd. The 20th will be difficult with the time change. The 23rd will be a walkthrough as its the day before the game. The 21st and 22nd will be installing the game plan.
So, Notre Dame, a team that has a dire need for developing fundamentals and a new attitude, will have less than a handful of practices to develop that.
I guess the glass-half-full opinion would be that the team won't be developing fundamentals with coaches who will not be with the program in 2009.
We're approaching the point of erecting a big tent on top of that circus in South Bend, but I don't think we're there yet.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
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was at an ND event last night and there was a rep from campus, he mentioned that this would likely be a trip that loses money for the University, though there was talk that ESPN had sweetened the deal to get ND out there.
I think I'm just getting to be too much of a pessimist right now, but at one point in the season (EARLY) I was thinking, "okay let's get eight wins, go to a decent bowl and beat a decent team." Now I'm just thinking of the Syracuse game (toss out SDSU since it was first one) and wondering, "what's going to happen if we lose on national tv to a crappy team in a crappy bowl?" That's definitely not good for the team's psyche or prestige. My bright spot was the number of practices, but Bernie has dashed that (fairly so).
Newsflash - we are losing by at least 20.
Hawaii @ Hawaii is definitely in the top 10 toughest games that could be played. Period.
Look at what Hawaii did to BYU in 2001 when it looked like BYU would make the BCS. BYU was #8 and 72-45 was the final. I remember watching the game live until a Hawaii WR punted the ball into the upper deck after scoring and got tossed. For those that don't remember, here's the highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TinlsxJGUSo
And I'm not even going to mention what happened to Boise (a much, much better Boise than the one that beat OU the year before) out there last year.
You do not want to give Hawaii a reason to care or get excited about a home game, and ND coming to play is definitely a reason for them to get excited.
Bottom line: don't be surprised to see a score as lopsided as even 45-14. That's assuming we could somehow score 14.
Its going to be very tough to get our team focused to play this game. Team's that travel to Hawaii often treat it as a vacation and take a mental break.
With the lack of discipline and leadership on this team, its very hard to expect any worse.
Bottom line is that we are a better team than Hawaii, even if you account for how poorly we played down the stretch. We are immensely more talented and should beat them.
However, the Rainbow Warriors are 2 point favorites and if I were a betting man, I'd go heavy on Hawaii.
How would ND lose money? That must be because they aren't using the money they get from the BCS to pay for the trip.
If it is a $750K payout, look at how much they would be spending per person:
125 people: 6000
150 people: 5000
175 people: 4300
200 people: 3750
There's no reason that travel party needs to be above 150 people. I could even argue 125 people
I surely hope we aren't taking unnecessary people.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was above 150. The entire team travels to the Bowl, then you through in all the coaches/ support staff and their families. Then you're going to have all the big timers going, probably President's Circle, etc.
I don't know what the cost would be of chartering a jet though. Moral of the story is 1) the dude said we were losing money 2) even if we aren't we're not gaining much 3) ND being focused seems unlikely 4) West Coast Bias probably picked the right score
Well over 150 people travel for bowl games.
First, every Rudy on the roster travels regardless of whether or not they're a starter or the last man on the scout team. That's easily 105-115 guys there.
Then you've got the entire coaching staff, including GAs which will usually number around 20.
Next you've got the managers, trainers, and film people. That's another 15 or so.
Add in team doctors and more medical staff and there's another 5 or so.
And finally, you've got everything with a pulse in the AD that deals with football. You've got the AD, all the assistant ADs, probably some secretaries and other admins, etc. and you've got probably 10 more there.
So you're at 155-165 to travel pretty easily.
And it's not like food and lodging or airfare will be cheap for this trip. Figure a conservative estimate for airfare (even if they do charter a jet), food, lodging, and other travel expenses at $5000 per person for this trip and at a low-end estimate of 155 people traveling you're at a cost of $775K.
Is the band going? It wouldn't surprise me if they were. Add another 350 people...
The band is not going.
I was trying to make the point that all unnecessary members of the travel party shouldn't go. The president just sent out an e-mail talking about being more frugal with costs.
That's what bothers me.
When does ND worry about spending another chunk of change on football? Alternatively, why do we care? It's not like the school's going to go bankrupt and render all of our degrees void if they take 200 instead of 125 people to Hawaii. I just don't see the issue.
If we're going to a bowl, why isn't the band going? That's BS. If you're not going to take the band (who was definitely the ONLY positive last football season and one of the few this season), don't accept the bid.
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