Humbled Notre Dame fan here...

theballguy · Jan 11, 2013

Fantastic post. Thanks also for acknowledging that we do indeed have a different way that we go about our business compared to UGA, Florida and LSU. They do have some great players no doubt but they do jaw way too much, taunt other players, poke eyes and self-hype too much. (From what I understand though, after all that jawing and we started running the ball down Georgia's throats, Chance Warmack (OL) started telling Georgia players the ball was coming over him, try to stop it).

Something I did want to say about your boys (The Great Fighting Irish) -- I pointed out to my son -- look how Coach Kelly has these men still playing even if they were getting beat, they didn't stop. Yes they did get gassed a few times, but they did not quit. That to me was very commendable. Very proud of our team but honestly, I was proud of the way the Irish never quit.

I'm sorry for you this was not a more enjoyable game but you can bet Coach Kelly understands what level he has to get his men up to. I have no doubt he can eventually accomplish this. I just hope we're not his victims but life has a funny way of working out that way. We may be the guys who get beat when that time comes. I hope we're as classy about it though as you obviously are. It's all cyclicle. One team can be up and then down very quickly -- see Auburn 2010 (maybe a bad example as it was way faster than usual due to winning the wrong way). I digress. Go Irish!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!

nsideirish54 · Jan 11, 2013

Thanks for the welcomes. Really nice board you have here. To respond to a few posts:

The whole ND bashing Bama fans as "cousin lovers" "trailer park dwellers", etc. makes me sick. It is NOT representative of our fan base at all. I would love to disown these people as ND fans. First, do they not realize how many trailer parks are in Indiana?! Talk about hypocritical.

Second, have they looked at our roster? We have players from South & North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky..pretty much every SEC state except Alabama and Louisiana (you guys, Auburn and LSU have those on LOCK DOWN). I don't think our fans would be calling Tuitt (from Georgia) "trailer trash" or a "cousin lover". And besides our football team, our school has a huge amount of students from below the Mason-Dixon line. Hell, one of my best friends from my ND days is from the great state of Georgia.

Third, and most importantly, it simply isn't true (as I am sure you all know). In my line of work, I've had the pleasure of working with people from all over the South and they are always extremely pleasant, laid back but very intelligent and knowledgeable at the same time.

I just hope that small idiotic portion of our fan base doesn't cast a bad light on the rest of us. Every large fan base has those idiots who make you shutter when you see them wearing your school's apparel.

Another quick point about Kelly...I think he is recognizing the talent in the South and trying to make inroads down there. California, Ohio, etc. do provide some great players but lack the depth and "ready to play size" that a lot of Southern states have. Our defense is littered with players from SEC country. And our incoming class has the two top RBs from Florida, a big DE from Georgia, and a few other players out of Florida and Kentucky. It is tough pulling players away from SEC schools, but we are trying.

twofbyc · Jan 11, 2013

nsideirish54 said:
Thanks for the welcomes. Really nice board you have here. To respond to a few posts:

The whole ND bashing Bama fans as "cousin lovers" "trailer park dwellers", etc. makes me sick. It is NOT representative of our fan base at all. I would love to disown these people as ND fans. First, do they not realize how many trailer parks are in Indiana?! Talk about hypocritical.

Second, have they looked at our roster? We have players from South & North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky..pretty much every SEC state except Alabama and Louisiana (you guys, Auburn and LSU have those on LOCK DOWN). I don't think our fans would be calling Tuitt (from Georgia) "trailer trash" or a "cousin lover". And besides our football team, our school has a huge amount of students from below the Mason-Dixon line. Hell, one of my best friends from my ND days is from the great state of Georgia.

Third, and most importantly, it simply isn't true (as I am sure you all know). In my line of work, I've had the pleasure of working with people from all over the South and they are always extremely pleasant, laid back but very intelligent and knowledgeable at the same time.

I just hope that small idiotic portion of our fan base doesn't cast a bad light on the rest of us. Every large fan base has those idiots who make you shutter when you see them wearing your school's apparel.

Another quick point about Kelly...I think he is recognizing the talent in the South and trying to make inroads down there. California, Ohio, etc. do provide some great players but lack the depth and "ready to play size" that a lot of Southern states have. Our defense is littered with players from SEC country. And our incoming class has the two top RBs from Florida, a big DE from Georgia, and a few other players out of Florida and Kentucky. It is tough pulling players away from SEC schools, but we are trying.

Great original post, and this one as well. It's nice to see someone who recognizes how football should be played, has a distaste for blowhard fans and is very classy. As someone famous once said, I can't define it, but I know it when I see it...or, in this instance, when I read it.

Al A Bama · Jan 11, 2013

russtang said:
Amy Bragg, the sports nutritionist plays a big role in the physical part also.

Here is a nice article to read:
http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/8810489/espnw-menu-alabama-nutritionist-playbook

Come on guys! Don't give away all of things that Bama does to get players Saban ready. They may catch up sooner than you think. However, I'm sure Coach Saban is always looking at a new way to make improvements everywhere in the program.

RTR!!!!!!!

Al A Bama · Jan 11, 2013

Ole Man Dan said:
GREAT POST...

It takes swallowing a little pride and a measure of guts to step up and admit your shortcomings.
You have both the humbleness and Knowledge to see whats necessary to get to the next level.

We are especially proud of Scott Cochran our Strength and Conditioning coach.
Coach Cochran is one of the best at turning boys into men.

PS: Notre Dame needs to forget about doing 'Stare Downs' in the future...
It's about the only complaint I would make about a good Notre Dame program.
You were a pretty classy bunch.

Those stare downs may work against people/players/teams that you can intimidate. Not a Saban coached team. Coach Saban is the only intimidating factor at Bama.

deliveryman35 · Jan 11, 2013

Nside,

Great post to start this thread. Like others have mentioned, I too believe you guys have finally gotten a coach that, if he stays, will have ND back in the hunt year in and year out. When it comes to college football, I'm a traditionalist! I think the game is better off when schools like ND, Bama, USC, etc. are relevant and contending for the NC. It's obvious that Kelly can recruit and I think he can develop players too. I personally hope we meet again down the road--we still need to even up our all-time record against you guys(5-2 now in ND's favor).

KrAzY3 · Jan 11, 2013

First, it is really astounding to see some of the negativity that is being spewed about Alabama and the Crimson tide. I saw a pretty normal gossip site, that rarely even discusses football making this whole racists stereotype and it was just ridiculous. I guess if these people don't see Alabama, and how well represented it is they can have this silly image of inbred hicks on their mind. There is still prejudice to overcome.

Secondly, Notre Dame fans should be prideful about the season they had. In my mind, they are still the second best team. They beat the Pac-12 champ, they beat the Big 12 champ, they beat a couple of the better Big 10 teams and they deserved their ranking and their title game shot.

derek4tide · Jan 11, 2013

Thanks for the kind words.

bamapuppy · Jan 11, 2013

People can say what they want about Notre Dame, but Notre Dame does have tradition, and much more class than the corndog fans :biggrin:. And to nsiderirish54, you might not know that corndog fans are LSU fans.

nsideirish54 · Jan 11, 2013

KrAzY3 said:
First, it is really astounding to see some of the negativity that is being spewed about Alabama and the Crimson tide. I saw a pretty normal gossip site, that rarely even discusses football making this whole racists stereotype and it was just ridiculous. I guess if these people don't see Alabama, and how well represented it is they can have this silly image of inbred hicks on their mind. There is still prejudice to overcome.

Secondly, Notre Dame fans should be prideful about the season they had. In my mind, they are still the second best team. They beat the Pac-12 champ, they beat the Big 12 champ, they beat a couple of the better Big 10 teams and they deserved their ranking and their title game shot.

A few friends of mine were discussing after the game that we should get a big banner that says "CHAMPIONS OF THE UNION". haha....I think we are better than any team north of SEC country which I guess is something to be proud of.

TIDE-HSV · Jan 11, 2013

nsideirish54 said:
Thanks for the welcomes. Really nice board you have here. To respond to a few posts:

The whole ND bashing Bama fans as "cousin lovers" "trailer park dwellers", etc. makes me sick. It is NOT representative of our fan base at all. I would love to disown these people as ND fans. First, do they not realize how many trailer parks are in Indiana?! Talk about hypocritical.

Second, have they looked at our roster? We have players from South & North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky..pretty much every SEC state except Alabama and Louisiana (you guys, Auburn and LSU have those on LOCK DOWN). I don't think our fans would be calling Tuitt (from Georgia) "trailer trash" or a "cousin lover". And besides our football team, our school has a huge amount of students from below the Mason-Dixon line. Hell, one of my best friends from my ND days is from the great state of Georgia.

Third, and most importantly, it simply isn't true (as I am sure you all know). In my line of work, I've had the pleasure of working with people from all over the South and they are always extremely pleasant, laid back but very intelligent and knowledgeable at the same time.

I just hope that small idiotic portion of our fan base doesn't cast a bad light on the rest of us. Every large fan base has those idiots who make you shutter when you see them wearing your school's apparel.

Another quick point about Kelly...I think he is recognizing the talent in the South and trying to make inroads down there. California, Ohio, etc. do provide some great players but lack the depth and "ready to play size" that a lot of Southern states have. Our defense is littered with players from SEC country. And our incoming class has the two top RBs from Florida, a big DE from Georgia, and a few other players out of Florida and Kentucky. It is tough pulling players away from SEC schools, but we are trying.

This does bring up a technical question. Kelly was known for running a flavor of the spread in his previous stops. Of course, recruiting for a pro set, like we use, or a spread requires different types of players. Do you think Kelly is recruiting to change offenses or staying with what was successful this year? We've had a closeup view of a team falling between two chairs, in Auburn. First, they hired Malzahn and he installed his system - had the OL lose weight, etc., and it worked well enough to win the NCG. Then he left, and after a year, Chizik decided to go to a power running attack, but he lacked the OL or QB to make it work. Now Malzahn is back as HC, and they're going back to the spread. I just wondered if Kelly's intentions were showing yet in recruiting...

JDCrimson · Jan 11, 2013

nsideirish54 said:
A few friends of mine were discussing after the game that we should get a big banner that says "CHAMPIONS OF THE UNION". haha....I think we are better than any team north of SEC country which I guess is something to be proud of.

This is precisely the sort of backhanded comment that makes it so enjoyable in beating ND's tail... Yeah, that's the Auburn way, if you cant win the real championship make one up. Notre Dame - "2013 People With No Understanding or Connection to the South National Champion".

For the record, I actually felt sorry for ND somewhat the other night even despite their tradition of upstaging practically every other program throughout history. Given all the work ND put into the season, anyone would have wanted them to put up a better showing.

bama_wayne1 · Jan 11, 2013

Thanks for the kind words. You are a classy person as is your coach. I look for great things for ND in the future.

Redstripe · Jan 11, 2013

Thanks for the nice words. I, for one, had a great time tailgating with the Notre Dame fans around us, they were super nice and fun. Lots of mutual respect from two great fanbases. Best of luck to the Irish next year.

scrodz · Jan 11, 2013

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad to see that the posters here are more tolerant of lurkers than the fans at UHND.

nsideirish54 · Jan 11, 2013

TIDE-HSV said:
This does bring up a technical question. Kelly was known for running a flavor of the spread in his previous stops. Of course, recruiting for a pro set, like we use, or a spread requires different types of players. Do you think Kelly is recruiting to change offenses or staying with what was successful this year? We've had a closeup view of a team falling between two chairs, in Auburn. First, they hired Malzahn and he installed his system - had the OL lose weight, etc., and it worked well enough to win the NCG. Then he left, and after a year, Chizik decided to go to a power running attack, but he lacked the OL or QB to make it work. Now Malzahn is back as HC, and they're going back to the spread. I just wondered if Kelly's intentions were showing yet in recruiting...

We are curious about this too. Our incoming class features probably the best offensive line haul in the country as well as the #2 rated RB. But it lacks that elite WR. I think most fans are hoping we stay with the pro set after we saw what it is capable of when you have an elite O-line and big, fast RBs. It is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Kelly hasn't been able to implement his traditional offense used at his previous stops because his first QB (Rees) was unbelievably unathletic and Golson was just a RS freshman this year who had trouble grasping the playbook fully.

We also may have (another) QB battle on our hands. Gunner Kiel (the 5 star QB who snubbed LSU) isn't going to sit around 4 years behind Golson. Most ND fans want Golson but Kelly has always said that no one's job is ever safe. He will play the best player regardless of their age.

CapstoneTider · Jan 11, 2013

Notre Dame recruits the same way it did 15 years ago, scouring the country for highly rated but slow players (compared the SEC). The biggest factor- difference in speed. When the game was crunched to the middle of the field, Notre Dame could out brawn you, but not today. Serious recruiting in the deep south is needed. Even the corn bread mid-westerns cannot match the size and speed of elite SEC defensive lineman, which has contributed to the decline in teams like Nebraska. I think it's o.k to say that there are more 6-5 260 lb speedsters per capita in the South than anywhere else in the country. Everything aside, you need more big/fast lineman which we are 3 deep.

Thanks for posting.

Quicksilver · Jan 11, 2013

nsideirish54 said:
I've been 'lurking' for a while on this board and have found it really insightful. I'll definitely be sticking around. Good people on here.

One more quick thought--I am really sick and tired of everyone from ESPN analysts to trolls on ND boards to freaking LeBron James saying that Oregon should have been in that game and it would have been a better matchup. Have they all suddenly forgot the Oregon-Stanford game?! Oregon's offense was bottled up when they had to face a strong, physical defense. Well, Bama's defense is stronger, more physical and FASTER than Stanford's. No way Oregon's offense would have been flying past the Tide's D.

And, Oregon's defense?! They couldn't stop the helpless USC Trojans. What Bama's O-Line/Lacy/Yeldon did to ND's defense would pale in comparison to what they'd do to the Ducks.

Bama is on top right now and is the envy of the college world. The standard is set and now we are all playing catch up.

And then there's good old Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports writing recently that we'd have seen a better NCG if Texas A&M had played Alabama last Monday instead of Notre Dame. Of course Dodd was one of the lead howlers last year when two SEC teams met for the championship, but I guess we aren't supposed to remember his grumbling on that topic.

Quicksilver · Jan 11, 2013

nsideirish54 said:
A few friends of mine were discussing after the game that we should get a big banner that says "CHAMPIONS OF THE UNION". haha....I think we are better than any team north of SEC country which I guess is something to be proud of.

I was at the 1989 Alabama-Penn State game in Happy Valley, the famous (at least in Alabama lore) "desperation block" game that we won 17-16. A Penn State fan behind me remarked "I wish we had had nuclear weapons at Gettysburg."

edwd58 · Jan 11, 2013

Okay irish54, our hospitality only goes so far... once you start talking about trying to slip into our backyard and making off with our recruits, well, we'll go to fighting you over that.

Here's wishing you... 'moderate' success going forward, lol. Congrats on your season, it'd be awesome for our schools to schedule a home and home in the not too distant future.

Roll Tide!

Humbled Notre Dame fan here...

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