Michigan, ND/Barwis, Longo

Submitted by HAIL 2 VICTORS on

If you look over the ND message boards or are unfortunate enough to have a best friend that is an ND fan then you would know that when Michigan hired RR they were unabashed in there criticism of the hire.  ND fan was adamant that the spread could not be effective as a “core” offense at the Big 10 level.  ND fan also made much fun of our own Mike Barwis.  From mocking the videos of him on you tube to mocking Michigan fans excitement about the Barwis workout regimen.  Even after Charlie snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Michigan Stadium last year ND fan remained defiant toward RR and the spread.

Now Karma proves once again that she is just a bitch for ND fan as today with Brian Kelly ND fan everywhere is choking down his own insult.  If you spend some time on the ND boards they go on about their own version of Barwis in Longo and his Longo beach that will surely turn 2 and three stars into the equivalent of 4 and 5 stars anywhere else.  ND fan will need to give Brian Kelly (BK on their boards) time to get his own players in place.  Questions like will the BK spread work against a quality opponent.  Everything and anything that ND fan once made fun of is now upon them in spades!

ND fan is in almost the exact same place mentally as we were 2 years ago.  Of course the difference being there 5 star QB although injured remains and they have a quality receiver in Floyd.  The defense returns more leadership then anything RR had to work with.  Though there is so much transition ND fan has Michigan already circled on their schedule as a W.

Although I hate the Buckeyes for many personal reasons I enjoy beating ND even more.  This year more than any I want ND fan to feel the agony and despair of defeat in Southbend.   I want to watch the ND message boards melt down from fear, uncertainty and doubt.   I want ND to feel  our pain but delivered by our hand.

GO BLUE!

Comments

Jeff

January 20th, 2010 at 6:58 PM ^

I also had that ad. So I clicked on it. Hell yeah I want Notre Dame to pay more money to Brian for a click than just a view. Now I'm going to take a shower for visiting a Notre Dame website. I'll bring my computer in there since it needs to be cleansed as well.

Joined: 07/01/2008

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James Howlett

January 20th, 2010 at 8:04 PM ^

He was Hayden Fry's S&C guy. But, when Ferentz came in he bought Chris Doyle who's highly regarded. The guy I think is the best S&C coach in the conference and maybe, the country. Think I'd rather have Barwis than Longo, and Doyle than either of them.

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ldoublee

January 20th, 2010 at 9:40 PM ^

I have a hard time believing anyone who would rather watch ND suffer than OSU. Notre Dame has been languishing in mediocrity for over 15 years. Imagine if Ohio State was in that situation. The cries from the land of the Buckeyes would be too sweet to even comprehend. The point is: we've seen Notre Dame struggle for nearly 2 decades. I'd like to experience watching OSU go through the same thing.

Joined: 06/22/2009

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Tater

January 21st, 2010 at 12:21 AM ^

Quote: "We've seen Notre Dame struggle for nearly 2 decades. I'd like to experience watching OSU go through the same thing." It's really too bad the internet wasn't as umbiquitous during OSU's 2-10-1 stretch against Michigan as it is now. God, I would have loved to have experienced Buckeye schadenfreude after all ten of those defeats, especially when they went into the game undefeated only to lose to a UM team with multiple losses that year. It really wasn't all that long ago that Buckeye fans were filing out of the Big House at the beginning of the fourth quarter because their team was being blown out. Hopefully, this scenario will play itself out again soon when the pendulum finally swings back Michigan's way.

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ldoublee

January 21st, 2010 at 8:26 AM ^

I wasn't clear. I distinctly remember the Cooper years. However, during that time Ohio State was still a periennial Top 25, even Top 10 team. Notre Dame has been mired in mediocrity for two decades. There is a big difference. I was longing for some OSU suffering ND--not just against us.

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blueheron

January 21st, 2010 at 9:37 AM ^

If, as is often claimed, ND fans are similar to Michigan fans, here's what Kelly can expect if he doesn't win BIG in the short term: * complaints that he doesn't understand the ND "tradition" and that he is, in fact, soiling it daily * lots of "UNACCEPTABLE!!!!" on ND message boards * complaints that he didn't effectively utilize the available "talent" (the ND equivalents of Threet and Sheridan) * claims that he won at CMU and Cinci because he lucked out in recruiting * unfavorable comparisons to Charlie Weis, who will suddenly be remembered as fondly as Dan Devine * complaints that his mannerisms and presentation are coarse That's just a start.

Joined: 03/26/2009

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jsquigg

January 21st, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^

Wow. It's blasphemous to not enjoy beating Ohio State over everyone else. On top of that, while some ND fans are major d-bags, there are many good ones (my future brother-in-law). I think Brian Kelly was a great hire and I have nothing against him unless he plays UM.

Joined: 09/06/2009

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dahblue

January 21st, 2010 at 9:03 PM ^

While OSU will always be one of our biggest rivals, many from my era (Desmond's Catch was my freshman year) see ND as the biggest rival. Perhaps I use the term "rival" too loosely, but I've got nothing but hatred for ND. Maybe it's the pious, holier-than-thou thing that seems a bit wrong given the terrible scandals of the Church lately; maybe it's the garbage coverage we're forced to watch on NBC; or maybe it's just that ND students are as interesting as fat-free mayonaisse. Anywho...OSU is at least a Big Ten team...I can root for them in their bowl as it makes the conference better. ND winning only makes Lou Holtz work up a good lather. As the great ones say, "Fuck Notre Dame"!

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HAIL 2 VICTORS

January 21st, 2010 at 3:02 PM ^

I ask that you take into account... That I was born in Chicago and played football in the Catholic League North. Although there are many a Michigan fan from Chicago they are not found in the Catholic schools. Although I agree that there is many a good man that root for ND (ny best friend included) they also have a distinctive arrogance about them as they tend to look down there nose at Michigan where thay have no right. Considering that we are neck and neck with ND in all time wins and win% this rivalry in MANY respects is just as important as beating the D-BAGS of OhiO.

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sonofasonofadomer

January 22nd, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^

(Irish fan posting) I have gotten a sense on the message boards and recent ND articles that there is either guarded optimism (with the typical we will be AWESOME!! fanboys) or wait and see cynics (with a nice serving of BK is smalltime and will never be able to recruit, coach, etc). I would say its 50/50 at this point. I disagree that fans are taking the "wait until he gets his guys approach like RR". Aside from the injury to Crist, which is tough, the assumption is there is far better talent (based on star ratings at least) than he had at Cincy and there is no reason to not have a win now year (especially in light of our schedule). Regarding the S&C coach: As one recent article stated regarding S&C coaches, every new regime change pretty much runs the same exact stories. I think that is where you got the premise for your post. It is a blue and gold illustrated article title "conditioned to hear the same rhetoric". To sum up the article, every new S&C hire has guys "puking on the first day" doing "more than I ever thought I could lift!" and pushing themselves farther than they "ever thought humanly possible." The article quoted Barwis from 2008 lauding the strength of his teams and some specific players as a typical example, and then noted that they lost 7 of their last 8 games in '09. With that perspective, I think you'll find most ND fans are tentative at this point. We think BK was a very good hire, but with yet another spin of the coaching carousel a large portion of the fanbase is simply waiting to see it on the field. That is the only place I will be convinced that S&C, coaching, and the spread have improved. Finally adding a Training Table should help though... Whether or not I like Michigan, both teams being mediocre at best is not good for either program in my opinion.

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HAIL 2 VICTORS

January 23rd, 2010 at 12:33 PM ^

I agree that the ND fan base is 50/50 however that 50 that is this "wait and see" is the 50% of your fan base that is now waiting on Kelly that immediatley condemmed all things RR. I will be very curious to watch the 50% of the "lets wait and see" ND fan base when BK runs a double reverse on 3rd and less then 2 from the goal line as the Bearcats did against Pitt. I am so-so-so looking forward to my 2010 trip to Southbendover.

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sonofasonofadomer

January 26th, 2010 at 9:41 AM ^

...Southbendover...thanks for the classy point by point debate. I disagree that the 50% that is wait and see on Kelly immediately condemned RR. I think most ND fans were skeptical of RR as a hire because Michigan, and the Big Ten in general, have always been a power conference/team. You beat Florida that way. It is your DNA. WVU was never regarded as having a dominant defense, and whether or not public perception is correct, I did not see RR in the same mold as Bo and Lloyd Carr. PSU stuck with Paterno (whether or not you want to believe it is his assistants doing most of the work) and they have cycled back to a solid top 15 team, with early season top 10 potential. RR definitely needed to get his "guys" in, but (a point I made earlier in my other comment) Brian Kelly is not in the same spot. I think your assessment of the ND fans perspective on BK is incorrect in that sense. He has personnel, with the QB injury being the only potential major issue. If he runs a double reverse from the goal line it will be frustrating, but I am hopeful that he will at least teach his team to tackle Forcier once in a meaningful spot, and maybe run the ball at game's end so you have to burn another timeout (ala last year's game in big house). I like Kelly as a hire, but I will wait and see...

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3rdGenerationBlue

January 23rd, 2010 at 1:53 PM ^

Here are a couple questions for the ND fans (Irish) that hang here: 1) How many ND coaches have a tenure longer than 10 years? 2) What is ND's record over the last ten years? 20? 30? 40? 3) What is ND's bowl record during the above time frames? Nothing screams tradition like a revolving door of coaches and a middling win-loss record. In terms of Ohio State, as much as Michigan fans dislike the Buckeyes having them go undefeated before Michigan plays them serves Michigan's interest on multiple levels. But having ND lose lots of game creates more distance in the all-time standings even if it undermines Michigan's strength of schedule for a given year. Personally I always root for other Big Ten teams when they aren't playing Michigan and root against ND no matter who they are playing.

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Irish

January 27th, 2010 at 1:33 AM ^

1) 4, Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian and Holtz 2) '00-'09 record 56-51, '90-'99 record 85-35 so '90-'09 its 141-86 '80-'89 record 75-39 so '80-'09 its 216-125 '70-79 record 111-21 so '70-'09 its 327-146 3) '00-'09 1-5 '90-'09 5-10 '80-'09 7-13 '70-'09 13-15 So your point is what exactly? ND's tradition is to lose and fire coaches regularly? Well if you can actually comprehend those numbers, it looks like ND's tradition is actually to win, and when coaches win they aren't fired, OMG is that a revelation for you? OMG another revelation, each of those coaches has a statue of them at ND. I wonder if that could be an indication of something special, nah I mean everyone has a statue of themselves at their old college, right? ND's tradition started in 1887 not 1987, if you want to actually do some critical thinking, go back and find out how many coaches have ever stayed at the same school for 10 years or more. I think you're in for another OMG revelation!

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